《A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic》 Chapter 1: Death and Punishment ¡ªThe Year 1894, The American Frontier also known as the Wild West.¡ª A deserted western town with its rundown buildings sported evidence of the recent shootout. The air was arid with the hot sun shining from on high. Tumbleweeds rolled about, and currently, there was a deadpan silence besides the crunching of dirt beneath leather boots worn by a well-dressed man approaching a wounded fellow, who was down on his knees and down on his luck. There were two uniformed men behind the wounded man and they held their guns to his head to ensure he stayed right where he was. "Henry Morgan, ''The fastest Gun in the West''" the well-dressed man said and let out a disparagingugh. The wounded man raised his head with the best mocking smile he could muster despite his situation. Pain wracked through Henry''s body with multiple bullet holes all over but he refused to appear weak. Even as he felt his life slipping away, he knew he couldn''t give his enemy the satisfaction. "Just listen to the awe in your voice, Agent Petey," Henry said with a weak chuckle, "I always knew you were a Fan." "Of your abilities? Sure. But no ability, no matter how great, can ever allow you to escape the wide-reaching hands of thew." Said Petey while brushing dust off his impable coat with the smug expression of a man who finally caught his Prey. "The times are changing and you, Mr. Morgan, are an Ember of a dying Era," Petey said as other uniformed men showed their faces now. All armed. They were the ones who had fired on Henry and had lost so manyrades in the process and now, along with the two behind the kneeling criminal, they awaited the order to either finish him off or take him in. They all hoped for the former. *Cough* *Cough* Henry spat out only a bit of the blood filling his lungs but it was enough to dye his lower lip and his chin, red. Agent Petey cocked his head to the side, "You don''t have long, do you?" "¡­" "This was always your fate as an Ouw. But not to worry. You''ll live a bit longer so you can face trial and hang for your crimes." "That''ll take too long," Henry mumbled and with every strength he still had, he rose from his knees and reached out for Petey like ast-ditch attempt to make an impossible escape. *Bang!* One of the Uniformed officers, fearing for his Superior, fired his gun into the back of Henry''s head, and even when he met an almost instant end, Henry smiled. He had lived quite the eventful life, did much he was proud of and some that he wasn''t but there was no way in hell that he would endure being humiliated. Sessfully forcing a quick end was HIS win¡­ Granted, it was a meaningless, painful, and sad win but it was a win nheless. ''Hmm, what''s this?'' Henry wondered because he could still see things even though he should have been dead. He could see the chagrined look on the face of the trigger-happy officer and he could see the bitter expression Agent Petey had that his victory over the infamous Ouw, ''The most feared Gunslinger of the Wild West'', was marred by such an Anti-climactic end. He had not even been the one to pull the final trigger. "Fuck!" Petey let out while stamping his Leather boot against the ground. ''Heh Heh,'' Henry chuckled to himself as Darkness swarmed him and he finally, truly, died. - - - ??? The time Henry spent in the darkness that shrouded him following his death was neither long nor short because he had no actual knowledge of the passage of time in any capacity. And then, as he tried to peer through the darkness for some outlook on what sort of afterlife awaited him, he suddenly felt himself lying on a bed and before long, voices started sounding around him. Strange, unrecognized voices. "Is it worth it to even heal him?" Asked a gruff male voice. "Yeah, might be better to just let the little prick bleed out. Haha." Agreed a feminine voice. Theugh at the end of the sentencecked any mirth at all and it was clear, that the woman Henry could not yet see was serious. As serious as the man she had agreed with. "What an awful thing to say," said a third voice. Feminine like the second but no doubt kinder. Henry felt his shirt being pulled up and, like a dyed response, he finally felt the wound that had already been discussed. It was no doubt a gunshot wound¡ª Henry had had enough of those to recognize it. The bullet was small, from a pistol, and passed cleanly through him out the other side. It stung but, having felt worse, Henry could endure. He heard the kind voice from earlier mumble a few strange words and then felt a warmth over the small wound as it began to stitch together. ''Well, I''ll be¡­'' Henry said in shock at what almost felt like instantaneous healing, ''Now, this I have to see.'' Henry did not know why he had remained silent and with his eyes closed so far but his curiosity quickly overrode whatever the reason was as his eyes snapped open to an incredible scene. A very beautifuldy with auburn hair had her two hands above his midsection and there was a green light shining over it as the now tiny wound closed uppletely. Whatever internal damage he had suffered was also mended along with the outward stitch. "All done," thedy said with a relieved smile and a kind twinkle in her green eyes. ''Wow,'' Henry thought looking at the sight of such a miracle, ''Is that¡­ magic?'' "So you''re awake now, you little Shit," said the annoyed man and his voice finally called Henry''s attention to him to see that the word ''man'' might not be entirely urate. Dressed in what looked like a tank top that molded tightly to his bulging pecs and with short sleeves that showed offrge biceps, the ''man'' appeared imposing. And that was without the wicked smile on his face as well as the extra long canines thrusting out the corners of the bottom row of teeth and out of his mouth entirely. The ''man'' was unlike any man Henry had ever seen. His skin had a strange thickness that made it seem almost leathery. A strange glint of perpetual malice in his brown eyes. "Huh?" Henry mumbled in confusion. He realized now that so far, these people had spoken like they knew him. "What do you mean ''Huh''?" Therge ''man'' asked, "Just imagine this nonsense. Imagine having to save your pathetic sorry excuse of a life because of a mistake YOU made!" "Devon¡ª!" snapped thedy who had just healed Henry. "Stay out of it, Yelena," said the third person in the room; Thedy Henry remembered had sounded as annoyed with him as Devon, therge ''man''. "Dana, he was just injured¡ª" Yelena started. "And so what?" Dana asked angrily, "You already patched him up, didn''t ya?" Dana spoke while staring at Henry with a smirk. Her eyes were narrowed in mockery and her ck hair, stopping at her neck, bobbed a bit following herst head movement. In looks, she wasn''t bad looking and Henry might have even considered her sleek skin-tight dressing sexy had she not been staring him down so viciously. Devon stepped forward and ''gently'' pushed Yelena aside while grabbing fistfuls of Henry''s shirt to pull him up to his feet. Henry''s eyes were fixated on those extra-long canines and how they seemed so monster-like. "This bastard needs to be taught a lesson," Devon said and let out a wicked chuckle, "And if I happen to break him, sweet Yelena can just put him back together again." "Taught a lesson?" Henry asked while grabbing Devon''s wrists, a part of his mind taking note that his hands seemed smaller than he remembered, "Taught a lesson for what?" He didn''t get a response but as he was getting dragged out of the room by Devon''s superior strength, Henry managed to catch his reflection in the mirror; Dark brown hair, deep-set ck eyes. A face that could be considered cute and had not yet gone through decades of gun-toting hardships. Henry recognized that face. It was him but it wasn''t the ''him'' of his prime who had tragically lost his life to an Agent of the Law, Rather, he was him as he had been Thirty years before that. It was him as a 19-year-old boy! Chapter 2: Quest and Reward ''Wh-What the hell was that?!'' Henry asked loudly in his head. He ignored getting pulled and simply raised his hands to the front of his face, but it only confirmed what he had already seen in that mirror. ''Did I- Did I somehow return to the past? But then, why don''t I recognize any of these people or where I am? Argh, What manner of Sorcery is this?!'' Henry roared in his head. At this point, Devon, therge man with the strange canines, had dragged him outside the building and tossed him to the ground. "Mmph," Henry let out but his mind was still reeling at this strange reality. "Get up, boy," Devon said with a cackle, "Punishing you isn''t going to be much fun if you justy down down there and take it." As Henry got to his feet, his arms shook. Not out of fear but rage. How dare this muscled moron interrupt his very important thoughts. Who the fuck did he think he was? *Ti-Ding!* Right then, an rm sounded in Henry''s head and a screen projected out in right in front of him. "More sorcery," he mumbled, looking around for where the rm hade from before he read the words on the screen. [Your desire to stand up for yourself resonates with the ''Powerful forces that be'' and you have Received a Quest; Quest: The Half-orc Devon wants to punish you. Defeat him instead. Reward: Full initialization of the System along with all the benefits it entails. (Good luck!)] ''Quest? Half-Orc? What¡ª?'' "What are you standing around spacing out for?" Devon''s voice was sudden and Henry realized the seconds he had spent reading the mysterious message had cost him precious reaction time. *Bam!* The blownded on the side of Henry''s face, sparking a stinging pain that caused him to feel dazed as he staggered back a few steps. He shook his head and although the pain of the blow remained, he was no longer dazed and was better prepared for what came next. Even more so since the mysterious screen had vanished from his sights. Devon threw another blow, a gloating smile on his face. Henry saw iting and in the second before itnded, he called his years of experience in hand to handbat to mind. His instincts took over¡ª The blow slowed. ''The blow''s path¡ª I can see it,'' Henry thought and immediately moved his head out of the way. His movement was awkward. Despite the years ofbat knowledge he had, this teenage body was not at all trained or capable. ''This is not my body,'' Henry thought to himself resolutely because, at Neen, he had been in enough situations to require toughening up and could undoubtedly handle himself in a fight. Nothing about this situation made any sense but he had to shut all that off to the side and focus. Devon''s eyes widened as his blow met nothing but air. ''He dodged? Impossible!'' Devon recovered quickly from his miss and threw out a second blow with his other fist. ''I can still see it," Henry thought with his face screwed up in concentration. He dodged again, his feet almost tripping because of how alien his movement waspared to the non-existent, muscle memory. With a sessful second dodge, Henry decided it was time to throw a punch of his own. He had only just extended his smaller, clenched fist when a kick came at his side. He could see the Kick''s path but he had no shot at dodging it. Not at such a close range and not with the reach Devon had. Quickly, Henry raised both his arms for a block, *Bam!* The kick hit and the impact of it shook Henry''s weak bones as he was sent rolling many feet away. Dana and Yelena were watching now and others were showing their faces as well. While Yelena cringed at the blows Henry suffered, Dana sniggered while making and throwing fists of her own at some non-existent enemy. Henry got to his feet while cocking his arms as though to shake off the numbness that was starting to set in. And then he red at his opponent and ran toward him. Devon looked surprised and then he grinned, "Idiot," he muttered under his breath and threw out a punch when Henry was within range. Henry ducked and with one hand against the ground for support, he kicked out at Devon''s knee, putting every bit of strength still in this strange body into that move. *bam!* "Ah, you little shit!" Devon yelled as he wobbled. "Ha!" Henry yelled out as he kicked at Devon''s other knee bringing therge Half-Orc down a few inches. Devon''s face screwed up in pain realizing he might have underestimated his opponent but as veins popped out of his arms and he prepared to strike out again, Henry went after a his next target body part; He rose from the ground, clenched hisparatively small fist and punched as hard as this body could, at Devon''s throat. ''First the throat¡­'' Henry recited in his head. "Ack!" Devon choked while raising a hand to the affected area. Now on his knees. ''¡­ And then the crotch,'' Henry finished his mental recitation with a smile as he kicked hard at the half-orc''s family jewels. He could have gone for that from the start but that was not how he had been taught; When you can afford to, always break down your opponent. "ARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!" Devon yelled with a pain that resonated with every man spectating the fight. They all grabbed their crotches in solidarity and their faces screwed up like they shared the man''s pain. In contrast, Henry was grinning with satisfaction. This young body was bruised from the heavy attacks he had suffered, the side of the face had swollen from the blow Devonnded but he felt pride. That pride was reinforced by the rm that sounded in his head followed by a message. [Quest Completed] [Dispensing Rewards¡­] [Commencing Full System Initialization¡­] Henry froze. His eyes wide as his head began getting filled with memories that were not his own. He remained rooted to the spot while he watched and experienced everything this body, that bore an uncanny resemnce to the him from his youth, experienced. His mind felt like it was swelling and it was an unpleasant feeling especially since there were now two distinct memory streams of every single day he had lived up until the age of Neen. [Congrattions on a sessful Initialization. You now posess the memories of Henry [Nost name], your doppelg?nger in this Parallel world.] [You have Received One Grand Quest.] [Daily Quests are now Avable.] [You have gained ess to your Status screen.] "Hey, boy!" Devon''s voice broke through Henry''s confusion and the screen vanished so he could see therge Half-orc get up shakily while still wincing at the pain in his groin. "We''re not done yet," Devon said. Henry grinned with a wild look in his eyes while he got into a fighting pose. Resisting the urge to wince at the pain of his bruises, "Alright then,e at me. I''ll kick your dinkle however much I have to, to keep you down." As Henry sifted through the memories he had just received, he recognized Devon as the main muscle of the ''Dionisio Gang''. A group of criminals and ouws banded together for a grand dream of escaping thew to and where they could enjoy their ill-gotten gains. He understood this situation was not a unique one and Devon had had an issue with him ever since he became a part of the gang five years ago. The ''foolish'' act that got Henry injured was just another excuse for Devon to pummel him. Devon raged and dug in his heels in preparation for an attack.His extra long canines especially giving him the look of a raging beast. Henry raised his arms determined not to be pushed around and it was then that a voice cut across the grounds, "That''s enough, both of you." The voice was calm but carried a strange mental push. Henry felt gripped by a force that ''pushed'' him toply and he saw that it was also the case for Devon who twitched as he stopped his charge. Again, Henry''s newly gotten memories came to the surface and he turned around to face someone else he now recognized; The Leader of the Dionisio Gang, Angus Dionisio. Chapter 3: Ironic Angus was a man in histe forties. He had a brilliant mustache that sat above his lips and a neat beard to cover a no-doubt prominent jaw. He was dressed in fine ck pants held up by a bold and exquisitely designed belt with an attached holster to hold a beautiful bronze gun with a white handle (A fine weapon that Henry slightly itched to get his hands on), a neat blue striped white shirt, and a ck waist coat to match his pants. Even while stationary, Angus carried amanding air but faced with it, Henry was only reminded of himself and the life he lived. There was some familiarity he felt and without even realizing it, Henry''s lips stretched into a crooked smile and only returned to a neutral shape when he heard Devon shift behind him, "Angus, this little shit¡­" therge half-orc started and Angus raised a hand to interrupt, "I am well aware, Devon, and I say again, that''s enough. Leave the boy alone." Devon frowned and with a final re at Henry, he let out a resigned sigh, "Fine." With a final snort, Devon turned around and walked away with a limp in his step. Clearly his groin was still sore and the sight of that caused Henry to smile in satisfaction. ''Shame I don''t have a gun in hand,'' Henry thought to himself, ''I would so much love to put a bullet in thatrge skull¡­'' "Henry," Angus called, pulling Henry out of his thoughts, "Come here, son." Henry approached him and watched as Angus looked him over with an intense scrutiny, "Since when could you fight like that, son?" The tone was gentle, almost kind but there was an edge of suspicion behind it. Henry''s heart skipped. Trapped in this almost alien body, potentially at the mercy of people stronger and better-equipped than he was, he was at an obvious disadvantage. If he was suspected of body snatching, in a world where magic appeared to exist and body-snatching might actually be possible, he might just get executed on the spot. ''I need to be smart about this,'' Henry thought. He searched his memories for what could help and then willed his heart to beat more naturally and for his body to rx, "I''ve been picking up tips from hanging around you guys," he said. "Really?" Angus asked with furrowed brows. His suspicion remained. "Well, I have been with the gang five years and I''ve known Devon almost as long. I would truly be hopeless if I haven''t learnt anything in all that time, wouldn''t I?" Henry asked. "Look at you being so articte. Since when could you stand to say more than five words to me all at once?" Angus asked. ''Crap'''' Henry thought. In his desire to assuage suspicion, he had ignored that this Henry was a coward of very few words. Beads of sweat were starting to form on Henry''s forehead when Angus'' brows rxed and he smiled, "I like it! Speak up more, Son. Maybe then, Devon won''t give you so much of a hard time." Henry let out a secret breath of relief, "Shame I don''t think words are enough to stop Devon from being a gigantic ass," he said. "Hahaha,can''t argue with you there but he certainly earns his keep. Anyway, it''s good you''ve been picking up those tips. Maybe soon you''ll be good enough to join us on a job. Until then though, stay away from guns, will you?" "Why¡ª" Henry started to say and then paused as he realized why. He looked down at his midsection where a bullet hole was still in his shirt and that area was covered in blood. The wound had been caused by a brief moment of silliness where his past self tried to shoot a gun, was shocked by the kickback and caused the bullet to go awry, strike a metal surface and ricochet. Just the thought of it caused Henry to cringe and he held the bridge of his nose in annoyance, ''The most feared Gunslinger in the West, injured by a misfire. Ironic, I think,'' Henry thought with a sigh and then, because it seemed appropriate, he let out a chuckle. Angus looked at him for a while and then said, "Go get yourself cleaned up, Son. And then see to your chores." "Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure," Henry said, turning away and all too happy to leave. The longer he talked to Angus, the more likely he felt it would be to rouse the Gang leader''s suspicion. Besides, he needed space to think about things and orient himself with this ''familiar'' and yet unfamiliar environment he now found himself. ??? Thanks to his new memories, Henry found where to take a bath and also found his chest of clothes for a change. ''Our taste in style is another difference we share, it seems,'' Henry thought as he pulled the clean shirt down, "Now, about the strange things I''ve been seeing¡ª" As soon as Henry thought of it, a screen projected in front of his face with the image of a sealed envelope that had a small (3) etched into the corner. Directed by his curiosity, Henry stretched out his hand and tapped the envelope, causing an animation to y out as the envelope unsealed, and a letter slipped out before the three notifications appeared, listed one after the other; [You have Received One Grand Quest.] [Daily Quests are now Avable.] [You have gained ess to your Status screen.] Naturally, Henry decided to go in order and tapped the first notification on the list; [Grand Quest: Make a name for yourself! You have now arrived at an unfamiliar environment and your newly received memories will only get you so far. Perform incredible deeds that cause your name to resound all over the world you now find yourself a part of. Be a person of renown by any means necessary! *Main Quests* and *Sub Quests* will be dispensed regrly to provide you with rewards and guide you on the path you should take. Good luck.] Henry read the message over and over. He already understood it on his first read but it was all so -interesting?- that he needed a couple of rereads. ''Easy enough to understand, I think. It''s basically telling me to be as well known as I was¡ª Well, maybe even better than that. Preferably without dying at the end of it all, of course. Alright, next¡ª'' With his brows furrowed, Henry tapped the second notification; [Daily Quests are now Avable. Who is Henry Morgan without a routine? The Daily Quests are designed to familiarise you with the strange and yet familiar body you have now found yourself in by being organised into routine acts that reward you uponpletion. Good luck.] Finally, there was the Third notification ¡ª[You have gained ess to your Status Screen]¡ª and as he had done for the other two, Henry tapped on it and watched as the entire notification page changed into an interface littered with numbers; ¡ª¡ª [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 1 (0/100 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: None] [Hit Points: 10/10] [Mana Points: 20/20] [Strength: 5] [Agility: 7] [Stamina: 5] [Perception: 7] [Skills: Marksmanship Lv. 1 Description: For years you cultivated your gun shooting talents and approach the limit of your previous world. Rest assured, those Talents have carried over. Passive Effect: You shoot Real good. Active Effect: +5% uracy. *Does not require Mana Points to activate.] ¡ª¡ª "I shoot real good? That''s it? I feel slightly insulted¡ª" "There you are!" A voice called from behind causing Henry to turn around and find himself facing a grey haired bearded man with bloodshot eyes and a protruding belly. Memories surfaced and Henry recognised the man to be Good ol'' Joe. ''Caretaker'' of the gang and the ''Giver of Chores''. The old Henry had spent a lot of time with Joe because Chores were all he was ever really good for. "What are you doing staring off into nuthin''?" Joe asked. His eyes narrowed almost stupidly as he tried to see what Henry had been staring at so hard. "Nothing," Henry said, shaking his head. Joe gave him a hard look like he was suspicious of Henry trying to ck off and then he grunted, "Come on. You have work to do. Better get to it." Taking a deep breath, Henry smiled, "Of course," he said, "Lead the way." Again, Joe was suspicious. Henry neverined about chores but never smiled when given them either. ''Something doesn''t feel right,'' Good ol'' Joe thought but then shook it off with a shrug and led the way to the stable for Henry''s first chore; Scooping up horse shit. Chapter 4: The Train Job ¡ªOne Week Later¡ª "Is he doing it again?" Dana asked with her arms folded while her eyes followed a figure running around the Dionisio Gang camp. "Yes, he is," Devon answered gruffly, "I''ve been hoping he dies of exhaustion all week but, no such luck." With a 7 in perception, Henry''s hearing should have picked up on the conversation but the wind rushing past his ear and his intense will not to pass out waved it all away as he put his all intopleting yet another Daily Quest of the week. [Daily Quest: (Category: Physical) Run a distance of 2km. Reward: 5 Exp] With a limited understanding of the System, its many numbers, and its rewards, Henry had paid little attention to it but just as the interface had said; Who was he, Henry Morgan, without a routine? Every day since Henry had been in this world, in this body, a Daily Quest had arrived with a *Ding* rm in his head. The daily quests so far had all been for him to run and Henry didn''t hate it. The one thing he did hate, however¡­ "*Huff* *Huff* *Huff* Henry, you Twat!" ¡­ was how absolutely useless this body was with physical activities and how that had not gotten better in seven days! "So¡ª *Huff* *Huff* So fucking out of shape. It''s just two kilometers and I feel like dying. Henry, you annoying Twat!" Of course, all insults Henry dished out were directed at the previous user of his new body. A parallel version of him who apparently had never thought to exercise even once in all of his pathetically short life. [Quest Completed!] [You have received 5 Exp] [You have sessfullypleted 7 Physical Stamina Quests.] [Stamina +1] While huffing and puffing, Henry deviated from his running course to sit in the shade cast by a tree and refresh himself with a drink of water before thinking to himself, ''Status,'' [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 1 (35/100 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: None] [Hit Points: 10/10] [Mana Points: 20/20] [Strength: 5] [Agility: 7] [Stamina: 5 ¡ª¡ª> 6] [Perception: 7] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 1}] Besides the +5 Exp after every daily quest, the single-digit addition to his Stamina was the most change the screen had been through all week. ''And soon, it will be time to scoop up more horse shit and move more hay. I don''t like this life,'' Henry thought with a sigh contemting an escape into a world not even his memories had prepared him for. And then¡­ [Grand Quest Updated! Main Quest: Complete a Job with the Dionisio Gang. Reward: 50 Exp] Henry furrowed his brows as he read the message on the screen, "That came out of nowhere," he mumbled only for the screen to vanish from his sights as he looked up at a man approaching his resting spot. The man looked to be in histe thirties with curly brown hair poking out of the sides of his hat. He had a thin mustache and eyed Henry with caution. Dressed in the stereotypical outfit of a cowboyplete with a tattered hat and a gun in the holster at his waist, the man-made Henry nostalgic for his past. "Henry," the man said. "Yes, Charles?" Henry answered. He recognized the man just as he recognized everyone else in the gang. Charles'' eyes narrowed, "No ''Mr. Charles''? My, my, You really have changed," he said before taking a breath, "Angus wants to speak with you. Come on." Charles turned around and led the way and as Henry followed, he found himself looking at the mansion the gang had made into their base. The Diniosio Gang had been at odds with thew for years and never stayed in one ce for too long in order to remain ahead of their pursuers but Henry knew, thanks to his memories, that this was the best location they had ever picked to stay; The Hadron Mansion, now falling apart fromck of care, had stood for centuries and used to belong to a wealthy family, who had been well known in the region andmanded so much influence, only to all be decimated in the space of a month. Rumor has it, that the cause of their demise was a Curse, and for fear of contracting the curse, locals stayed away from the Mansion and even moved their settlement many kilometers away. As long as the gang could ignore the threats of this so-called curse, the Hadron Mansion gave them a level of security and privacy no other camp had ever guaranteed. Charles led the way through the weathered doors and up the stairs into a room that looked like it used to be the main study for the Master of the house. There was arge table in the middle of the room littered with maps and other documents. Around the table were Angus, Devon, Dana, and about five other members of the gang. Including Charles who took his ce around the table as well. "Henry, are you well?" Angus asked without looking up from the maps on the table. "Huh? Yes. Yes, I am," Henry answered, looking confused as to why the question was asked at all. All week, he had had the littlest contact with Angus and many other members of the gang. His closest ''confidant'' was Good ol'' Joe who never failed to call on him for chores. Angus nodded, "Good, because you''reing with us," he said. "To where?" Henry asked, still confused. Angus made a vague wave at one of the maps on the table as he stared right into Henry''s face, "A Train ising through New Freudein. We''re getting on it, and we''re robbing it. You''reing with." A collective groan sounded out and Henry looked over to see Devon, Dana, and two other members of the gang at the table, ring at him and frowning in discontent. The others looked indifferent. "They don''t seem okay with this," Henry said with a small smile. "It''s not their decision. It''s mine," Angus said as he took steps toward Henry before cing a hand on his shoulder, "Five years you''ve been with us and I never thought you''d be good enough to help us out there but you''ve impressed me recently¡­" "By running around the mansion every day like a moron?" Devon let out without even trying to keep his voice down. Angus nced at him, "Yes, actually. It shows he wants to improve himself. And if you need any more proof of this, look no further than him standing up to you and beating youst week." "He didn''t beat me," Devon said with an exasperated groan. "Yes, he did," answered a prettydy with an amused chuckle. Henry recognized her as Triss; one of the fewdies in the gang. Her hair was a reddish brown and she was dressed in a vest, shirt, and trouserbo. The sleeves of her shirt were rolled up her forearms and her hands were covered by gloves. "He cheated!" Devon snapped. "And that''s¡­ bad?" Angus asked causing Devon to choke on his words. Angus continued, "We''re criminals. We rob, we cheat, we kill when necessary. That''s who we are. That''s who Henry is and that''s why he won." Devon frowned and a vein popped at his temple but he said nothing and just looked down at the table with his fists balled up. "Henry here was always one of us but simplycked the required¡ª constitution. But, I''m willing to give him a chance to prove himself out there. You''lle with us, Son. We''ll find use for you." "Do I get a gun?" "And have you shoot yourself again? Not a chance," Dana chipped in,ughing. Angus smiled too, "It''s better we take things slow. Survive this and then we''ll see to arming you with a weapon." "So what will I be doing?" Henry asked. "Like I said," Angus told him with a smile, "We''ll find use for you." "When do we leave?" "In half an hour. You should get ready." Henry looked from Angus to the others at the table; Devon was still frowning, Dana looked like she didn''t care and Triss smiled and winked at him. With a slight furrowing of his brows, Henry nodded, "Okay," he said before turning and walking out of the room to prepare. Chapter 5: Nyx To get ready, Henry washed up and put on a fresh set of clothes. A shirt, trousers, and jacketbo that were undoubtedly the best set of clothes the Old Henry had stashed away in his trunk. Then, Henry went to the fenced field behind the stables and for the first time since he came to this world, he wasn''t going there to shovel their crap or feed them but instead, to pick one to ride. The gang never made their journey by foot and while every one of them had a horse they were fond of ¡ªhorses that would not allow themselves to be ridden by anyone other than their masters¡ª, there were still a few fairly wild unbroken horses kept in the field, waiting to be imed. Or to eventually be sold off for cash. Henry didn''t waste his time looking at all the unimed horses one by one unsure which to pick. After one week of taking care of them, he had made his choice already. For him, it was the only good choice; The horse was a mare with a jet-ck coat. Her mane flowed down and fluttered almost elegantly. Of all the unimed horses, she looked the most agile, and speedy, and for as long as Henry had rode horses, those were his favorite type. A racehorse to get him where he wanted to go as fast as it possibly could. "Hey there, you," Henry said to the horse with a smile while holding up the reins. The mare stared hard into Henry''s face for a good few seconds before it snorted out a nonmittal greeting and kept its head in ce to be bridled. Henry ced a saddle on its back, buckled it, and with the reins in his hands, he led the horse out of the fenced field and further into the open where he gave it a few pats before putting his leg in the stirrup to lift himself into the saddle. Immediately he was seated, the horse became unsettled. She raised her head and shook it all over as though to free herself from the bridle. When Henry used the stirrup to signal her to move, she bounded forward and began to buck angrily to shake Henry off all the while making loud noises that called the attention of many members of the gang. Among this many was Good ol'' Joe whose eyes widened at the sight, "Henry! What in God''s name are you doing?!" He asked. Henry ignored him. For all of the horse''s bucking and aggression, Henry was not worried. This was not the first horse he had ever tamed. The most important thing to note was confidence and then he simply shifted his weight ordingly to make sure he wasn''t bucked off. "Easy there girl¡­ Whoa, whoa, easy, easy¡­" he said calmly while using the stirrup to gently nudge the horse''s side and convince it to rx. Henry took one hand off the reins and patted the mare''s neck, "You''re alright, girl¡­ Easy¡­" The bucking reduced. The horse harrumphed a few times but then mellowed while setting off in a small trot. It obeyed every indication Henry gave it. Moved when it was directed to, and pulled to a stop the moment Henry pulled on its reins. "Good girl," Henry told the horse with a smile while patting her neck. She let out a few proud snorts but Henry wasn''t paying attention because at that moment, an alert sounded in his head and a screen projected out in front of him. *Ding* [You have acquired the Skill: Taming Lv. 1] [You have acquired the Taming Active Sub-skill; Bonding.] [Would you like to bond with your tamed horse?] "Yeah, sure. Why not?" Henry said offhandedly. [Name your horse¡­] Henry gave it a bit of thought. "Nyx," he eventually said. Something about the horse''s jet-ck coat made the name seem perfect. The horse, now named Nyx, shook with delight and her trot gained a prance of sorts. A graceful prance that seemed like she was making a show of how much she liked her new name. At that moment, Henry felt something. As he patted Nyx''s neck with a smile, a warmth spread through him as he felt their minds link ever so slightly. He couldn''t only tell that she was happy from her expression or prancing but he could also feel it. [Bonding Complete!] As the alert sounded in his head, a new status screen appeared and Henry knew it was new because it was nothing like his; [Name: Nyx] [Creature: Horse] [Breed: Veren Racehorse] [Level 1 (0/25 Exp)]* [Hit Points: 20/20] [Strength: 25] [Speed: 50] [Stamina: 20] Henry''s attention was mostly on the asterisk on the corner of the level and EXP count so he clicked on it and was not all too surprised that it expanded into a window of information; *[Beasts bonded to the User receive 50% of the EXP gained by the User forpleting Quests. Daily Quests and certain unique events are an exception. Note: The 50% received by your bonded Beast does not reduce or otherwise affect the EXP you receive for Questpletion.] With his ride settled, there was very little else Henry could do to prepare for the train job. In his past life, he hadmitted many robberies so he knew how he would have prepared. The problem was, his status in the gang locked him out of all the good equipment. He was left packing ropes and some rations when he should have been packing bullets and stowing all manner of guns away on his horse besides the ones he should have had in the holsters that should have been at his waist. ''*Sigh* The powerlessness of it all,'' Henry thought while shaking his head. He was adjusting the straps of his saddle bag against Nyx''s body when the others walked out of the mansion finally. Angus in particr had a delighted smile on his face as he clutched a rolled-up map and used it to gesture and direct everyone to get their horses and get ready to ride out. Triss was on her chestnut brown horse as it trotted over to where Henry stood beside Nyx, "You imed her?" She asked. Henry looked up at her. She had a hat on and it gave her pretty face some shade but when the sun hit her hair, it appeared more red than brown. "Yes," Henry answered her. "We all agreed she was a stubborn one," Triss said with her head cocked to the side. Henry smiled while rubbing Nyx''s coat, "Part of her charm," he said. Triss returned his smile as she asked, "Did you give her name?" "Yes," Henry answered, "Nyx." Triss nodded in acknowledgment, "Fitting." "Thank you," Henry told her as he hoisted himself onto Nyx''s back and got ready to ride ording to Angus'' orders. A minute passed and he ''felt'' eyes on him. He looked to the side and saw Triss looking at him, "Is there¡ª Is there something on my face?" He asked, confused. "Huh? No, No. It''s just¡ª Well, you seem¡­ confident is all. Never noticed that before," Triss said. Triss and her brother, Stefan, were a criminal duo wanted all over the State and any attempt to leave the State would surely lead to their capture or worse so they joined an organized gang to help their chances of survival. They had only been a part of the Dionisio gang for two months or so and if Henry (Old and new) already had little contact with the gang, he had even less with Triss and her brother. Besides knowing their names, they were essentially strangers to him. It was the same for them as well. So when Triss gave him what was essentially apliment, Henry didn''t smile because he was ttered. Rather, he smiled because she was probably the first person he didn''t have to walk on eggshells around. Even if Devon the Half-orc picked on him and Dana seemed to despise the very sight of him, Henry doubted he was important enough to them to be gossiped about. So as far as Triss knew, this was who he had always been. Just then, Angus'' voice sounded loud from the head of their riding group, "Alright everyone, listen up. Our intel says the Train gets in by Noon so we need to ride fast. We miss getting on at the station and we''ll have to hijack it in motion causing a racket that we can''t afford. So now, get ready¡­" Henry tightened his grip on Nyx''s reins. For the first time since he had been in this world, he was actually about to do something actually exciting. "Let''s Ride!" A collective *Hya!* sounded out and Horses leaped forward into gallops at full sprints. Moving into a somewhat disorderly formation as they tore through the Hardon Mansion''spound, hit the road, and were off. Chapter 6: Kill-Reward The gang quickly broke into groups. There was the first group that knew what the train job was about and talked about it amongst themselves as they rode and there was the group that didn''t. Henry was the only one in the second group but he didn''t mind. As he rode, the wind blew against him and he had a bright smile on his face. He always got a sense of freedom while riding a horse. He could still remember his mount in his past life but when his thoughts went to how brutally the horse was gunned down by thew, he forcibly pushed the thoughts to the side. On a brighter note, he could feel Nyx''s excitement as she whinnied and galloped. Had Henry not pulled on her reins a bit, he had no doubt she would have bounded forward and overtaken every other horse in the formation. Being at the back of said formation, Henry enjoyed the istion. His eyes on asion looked to the side at the blurring of the green scenery only to have that view blocked when a horse drew back from the formation to ride by his side. The rider, Triss, smiled at him, "You nervous?" She asked. "A little," Henry admitted. He had been on many robberies and heists in his past life but never been on one without a weapon. He felt so powerless¡­ almost naked. "Ah, not to worry," said a male voice and Henry looked to the side to see someone else draw back from the formation, "Stay close and you''ll be fine," the man said. Henry looked at the man and he must have appeared confused because the man smiledfortingly, "I''m Stefan," he said. "I know who you are," Henry told him with an acknowledging nod. Stefan was Triss'' brother and the other half of their sibling criminal duo before they joined the Dionisio gang. Looking at them, you could easily see the resemnce. Same shade of hair (reddish brown) and good looks clearly ran in the family. "And I know you," Stefan said, a wry smile on his handsome face, "I admit, I wasn''t very optimistic about youing along for this job but Triss says there''s something about you. Just try not to stray." "Right," Henry said simply, looked forward and kept his sights trained ahead. The gang rode until they could see the town of New Freudein up ahead and then they took a small detour to hide in the cover of trees where they all dismounted. Angus pulled out binocrs and as he looked through them, he chuckled as the target train pulled into the station for a quick stop before continuing on its way. "Right on time. Joe, you''ll watch the horses till we get back," he called out, "The rest of you,e along. We''ve got a train to catch." Angus led the charge. The gang moved swiftly but cautiously, avoiding watchful eyes as they made their way to the New Freudein train station. At the very end of the target train was a cargo car that was mostly empty and had the least security. Everyone got on and they found cover while they waited for the train to get moving. Ten minutester and the train let out a long whistle and with steady *Chugga* *Chugga* sounds, it pulled along the rail track and away from the New Freudein Station. Angus got out of his cover then and gestured that the others do the same, "Alright,dies and gents, this is it. I''ve nned this for a while and mapped out the swiftest and safest way to seed," Angus found a horizontal t surface and unrolled the map he had brought along with him on it. Henry remembered seeing the map on the table in the meeting room earlier that day. "Remember, we have an hour before this train reaches the intersection at which point it''ll go past a second train that''s on its way back to the New Freudein Station. We must get on that second train before it gets away. Alright, we''ll move in teams. Stefan, Charles, Tony, you''ll take Henry with you and shake up the passengers for all the valuables they''ve got. Use force if necessary but avoid any deaths if you can." Charles snorted at that caution and Angus red at him, "We''re not killers. Not unless we have to be at least. The rest of you wille with me. We''re heading to First ss. That''s where the real prize is. Alright, masks on¡­" "Here," Charles said as he held out a spare mask for Henry to put on. It was a ck mask with cut outs for his eyes and nose and Henry promptly fashioned it on his head. "Let''s move," Angus said as he walked out of the cargo car with Triss, Dana, Devon, and a guy named Kirk following his lead. They climbed up the next train car and made their way across the roof to the First-ss Car. "Come on," Stefan told Henry as they walked through the next two cargo cars before arriving at a door to a passenger car that he promptly kicked in. *Bang!* "Alrightdies and gentlemen, cooperate and I won''t have to give the walls a repaint with your brain," Charles said in a deep voice as he brandished his gun out at the stunned passengers. Collective gasps sounded out but everyone remained right where they were. This was especially the case when Stefan walked in with a gun in each hand, "My friend is being unnecessarily crass but we do require your cooperation," he said with a smile. It went unseen because of his mask but somehow he was still charming. "Wh-what is this?" A man in a blue uniform asked with his hand reaching toward the holster at his waist. "It''s a frickin'' carnival, you dimwit. What the hell does it look like?" Asked Tony with his gun pointed at the uniformed man''s head, "Now, don''t do something as stupid as pulling that gun of yours. Take it out slowly, ce it on the ground and kick it this way." The uniformed man frowned and twitched a few times. His eyes darted out behind him toward the window in the door that led to the next passenger car like he was hoping for support. When none seemed to being, he did as he was told and kicked the gun towards Tony. It arrived at Henry''s feet instead. Henry''s eyes were glued to the gun. It was a revolver fully loaded with six bullets. For a good few seconds, Henry was transfixed. It wasn''t just the fact that his choice weapon seemed to have been delivered to him but also that a notification had appeared in front of his eyes on a semi-transparent blue screen. *[Gunslinger ss: Master of the Gun-toting arts. You are most inmand of yourself when you wield a gun. Your perception is heightened and you are scarcely to be caught off guard.] "Go on, Henry, pick it up. And try not to shoot yourself this time," Tony said. Charles and Stefanughed as well. "Ha ha, very funny," Henry said while rolling his eyes but he was smiling as he reached down, picked up the gun, and pushed it into his waistband. "Take this," Tony said as he handed Henry a bag, "Go around so these fine folks can hand in their donations." "Don''t be stingy people. Give all you''ve got," Charles said in that deep ''persuasive'' voice of his. Henry moved around and the people dropped their wads of cash, coin purses as well as other valuables into the bag. The handle of his newly gotten gun was out in disy but no one dared reach for it. And then, when they were almost done with the passengers, Henry saw something out of the corner of his eyes; The uniformed man took notice of the fact that the eyes and attention of Charles, Tony and Stefan were no longer really on him so he reached back and wrapped a hand around a spare revolver he had tucked away. In a split second, the uniformed man pulled out his weapon and pointed it at Stefan but right before his finger could clench the trigger¡­ *m!* ¡­ Henry pointed his gun and fired a single shot right between the man''s eyes. The death was instant and so were the screams of horror. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" As the screams rose in pitch, Henry received an alert from the entity in his head; [Congrattions! You have unlocked the Kill-Reward System!] [You have received 10 Exp] Chapter 7: Lucky? [Kill-Reward System: When you make a kill, the system will reward you with Experience (Exp) based on factors such as difference in levels between you and your Victims, the difficulty of the kill and so on. Note: The factors may vary and you may or may not be privy to the calctions. Happy Hunting.] "Nice shot!" Charles said, looking stunned. Stefan''s mouth was gaped. In the split second before Henry''s bullet punctured the uniformed man''s head, he had seen the muzzle of the gun pointed at him and his heart had leaped into his throat. He was surprised by the uracy of Henry''s shooting but even more than that, he was grateful. "Lucky shot," Tony said with a grunt. It was the only exnation that made sense as to how Henry, who injured himself justst week was suddenly a whizz with the gun. Stefan looked out the window on the door and his expression hardened behind his mask, "We''ve gotpany," he said. Henry''s gunshot had called attention of the uniformed man''s fellows and they were already stirring. "Take cover!" Charles yelled and the next second, shots were fired. The door''s window shattered. Bullets struck and stuck into wooden surfaces which they dented and ricocheted against the metal ones. Henry ducked. He saw his victim''s second gun but decided not to pick it up. His ''good luck'' would be far more believable if he used one gun than if he were to shoot two simultaneously. Instead of taking the gun, he searched the dead body for something he knew it would have. "Nice!" Henry let out when he pulled out a small ammo box holding 20 bullets that he quickly stashed away. He also found a wad of cash and tucked that away as well. Calmly, Henry took a few breaths. He looked over at the body of the man he just killed and looted and really, he felt no remorse. This was not the first time he had taken a life and he was sure it wouldn''t be thest. ''It would have been him or me. I''ll choose me every time,'' Henry thought solemnly. "Let''s go!" Tony yelled out suddenly as he ran forward and kicked the damaged door open. He had timed it just right for when one of the two enemies shooting at them stopped to reload and he wasted no time filling him with bullets. Henry stood up then. He shot once at the second enemy; *bang* A headshot that killed him instantly. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] Tony frowned. Once was lucky but twice? The four ¡ªHenry, Tony, Charles, and Stefan¡ª, moved then. There were more enemies beyond the next door and standing around would do them no good. The passengers cowered in their seats, shaking with their heads bowed. The eyes of the Dionisio boys were keen enough to spot valuables but now was not the time to collect. "More areing," Charles said as other uniformed men rallied in droves beyond the next passenger car door, "The space here is too narrow and we''ll get in each other''s way." "You''re right," Tony said, "Henry and I will head for the roof." "We will?" Henry asked, looking surprised. "Come on," Tony said pulling him once to make sure he came with him. The two heaved themselves up the passenger car until they were standing on its roof. It wasn''t a stable footing. Apart from the fact that the roof curved slightly, the train also shook as it chugged along on the rail tracks. What was negligent while standing in the train car was made worse thanks to the rushing air and open space. "Come on, let''s go!" Tony yelled out over the wind. "Where?" Henry asked. "Where else? First ss. Angus and the others probably need us. Also we need to get away before¡­" Tony paused and frowned. Two passenger cars away, three uniformed men had heaved themselves onto the roof and charged forward. They didn''t seem too bothered by the shaking train or the wind. And why would they be? They were opposing wind flow and were fairly muscled men with strong centers of gravity that gave them stability that Henrycked in this weak teenage body of his. "God damn it!" Tony yelled and raised his gun to fire two shots. They both missed. The train''s shake threw off his aim. Henry pointed his gun as well but he didn''t shoot indiscriminately. He took a second to aim¡­ That was a mistake. The uniformed man he was pointing his gun at was not as cautious and fired an almost wayward shot that still struck Henry''s body. [You lost 2 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 8/10] "Ah!" Henry called out as the bullet pierced his left shoulder but years of experience with a gun spurred him on and he fired his shot anyway. The bullet was not deathly urate but fortunately, with a metal *pang*, it struck the uniformed man''s gun and sent it flying out of his hand. "Argh!" The uniformed man yelled at the pain of his gun forcefully wrenched from his grasps. His face became colored with rage as he leaped and mmed his body into Henry''s. Henry, sluggish from the blood loss from his shoulder wound could not avoid getting body mmed onto the train car''s roof but by some luck, he managed to keep a hold of his gun which was fortunate since the uniformed man produced a dagger next. As his assant brought the dagger down for a deadly stab, Henry, driven mostly by reflexes, mmed the butt of his gun against the man''s temple. "Ngh," the man groaned, feeling dazed. Henry took his chance. He sunk his knee into the man''s side while heaving him off his body and off the train car roof entirely. "Ahh¡ª" the man started to yell but stopped suddenly as his head mmed against a rock and split open. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] Henry hardly cared for the notification. He remembered there had been three charging at him and Tony and in the few seconds he had spent getting body-mmed and shot, Tony had shot one man in the leg and was in a tussle with the second. The man who Tony had shot in the leg hobbled over, wincing but ever determined. He raised his gun, and readied himself to fire. Henry steadied himself as well and to further ascertain a sessful shot and reduce how long he took to prepare to fire, he brought to mind the fact that his [Marksmanship] skill afforded him a +5% uracy. For someone like him who was already so good with the gun, five percent was enough. [Activating Marksmanship Lv. 1 Active effect: +5% uracy] Even with the increased uracy, Henry still fired twice. "Ack!" The uniformed man groaned as he was inflicted with two fatal wounds. His body went weak, he fell to his knees, keeled over the side, and died. [Kill Reward: 10 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] *[Make use of your {Marksmanship Lv. 1] skill''s Active effect to earn Skill Exp and level up your skill!] That was another notification Henry hardly paid attention to because right then, Tony gained the upper hand in his tussle, pressed the muzzle of his gun directly against his opponent''s neck and fired. It was a bloody shot but it certainly got the job done. "You alright?" Tony asked with an eye on Henry''s shoulder wound. "I''ll live," Henry answered. He pulled out the ammo box he had stolen from his first kill and reced the five bullets he had shot so far so he had a full cartridge again. Tony reloaded as well and then they continued their journey across the train roof until they came upon a dire scene. "It''s Triss and Dana," Tony said gravely. The twodies were side by side. Their masks and hats discarded in the fights they had had. There were a few bodies around them but three healthy men still faced them, guns raised. Four more were joining the fray and climbing up to the roof. Henry and Tony could not let that happen. Tony killed one with a barrage of bullets and within that time frame, Henry fired thrice. And he killed three. With the uniformed men''s attention not on him and his added uracy bonus, there was no way he could miss. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Level Up!] [You are now Level 2] Chapter 8: Inventory and Loot [You are now Level 2] [Hit Point maximum increased to 20] [Hit Points: 18/20] [Mana Point maximum increased to 30] [You have 6 unallocated Stat Points] [You have unlocked ''Inventory''. INVENTORY: A sub-space storage interface essible to you through the slightest inclination of thought. Note: All Looted items will be stored directly within your Inventory.] Henry felt refreshed. He found himself closing his eyes and letting the feeling of rxation flow over him. He could think better and any sluggishness he was starting to feel vanished. "Hey!" Tony called, snapping Henry out of his rxed mood. "What?" Henry asked, sounding confused. "Is something wrong?" Tony asked, his brows furrowed with concern. "Nothing," Henry said, "Nothing, I''m¡­ fine." There was a pause between ''I''m'' and ''fine'' because as he looked around, Henry saw buttons floating above all the bodies that littered the train car roofs. The buttons were circr with the word [LOOT] written within. A notification appeared in front of his eyes almost immediately after. [Tutorial: Would you like to Loot the Dead?] "''Tutorial''?" Henry mumbled before reading the question, ''Huh, yes. I guess. Loot ''em." *Ching* [You have looted 10 Vens] [You have looted 80 Quids] [You have looted one Revolver Ammo box (x15 bullets] [You have looted 12 Vens] [You have looted 60 Quids] [You have looted one Revolver Ammo box (x9 bullets] [You have looted 1 metal ring] [You have looted 20 Vens] [You have looted 50 Quids] [You have looted one Revolver Ammo box (x12 bullets] ¡­ "¡­" Henry just stared, too stunned to speak. For every body on the train roof, there were at least three notifications. All following each other in an ever-daunting long list. But the ''Tutorial'' was not yet over. Arge rectangr screen appeared next. The screen was divided into smaller square boxes and at the very top of it was therge heading; ''INVENTORY''. In each of the square boxes was everything that had been looted so far. All neatly arranged. Most eye-catching of the arranged loot was the one square for the 287 Vens Henry now had to his name and another separate square for the 690 Quids that had also been looted. Vens and Quids were the approved currency. Vens being wads of cash printed on a Gold standard and Quids being copper-alloy coins with 100 Quids equating to a Ven. Anyway, Henry reached out to one of the square boxes and let out a chuckle as his fingers touched the cash it held. ''Impressive magic,'' he thought as he pulled his hand back. This was probably the most impressive show the system had had for him so far. Meanwhile, almost as though it had been nned, Henry and Tony''s fired shots spurred Triss and Dana to action. Dana sidestepped one of the guns pointed at her and with one knife in hand, she stabbed through the neck of one of the three uniformed men. Triss lunged forward and grabbed the wrist of one of the two still alive. She forced the gun''s muzzle up as the man fired several rounds and then managed to pull his arm down to aim it at the chest of the only other uniformed man still alive. The shot was fired and death was instant. As he saw his colleague die from his fired shot, the man''s eyes widened and he resisted harder against Triss'' hold, "You bitch¡ª Ack!" he let out as Dana grabbed him from behind and slit his throat, spilling his blood in liters.Ending his life in seconds. With their foes vanquished, Dana and Triss looked behind at the two who had spurred them to action. "What''s wrong with him?" Dana asked with a hateful re at Henry who was staring off into nothing. "The Blood loss might finally be getting to him," Tony said with a nce at Henry''s shoulder wound. "Who let him have a gun?" Dana asked, her re flicking to the revolver in Henry''s right hand. "He''s actually been doing pretty well with it," Tony said with a smile hidden by his mask before nudging Henry with his elbow. "Hmm, what?" Henry mumbled as the interface vanished from his sight and he saw the three were staring at him. "Charles and Stefan?" Triss asked. "Should be making their way over," Tony answered before following up with a question of his own, "Angus, Devon, and Kirk?" "Should have made it to first ss by now," Dana chimed in as she picked up two guns, handing one to Triss. "Then we''d better catch up," Tony said with urgency, "If we''ve met this much opposition already, who knows what''s protecting the real loot." Thedies agreed and led the way across two more Car roofs. Henry mostly looked around for anybody he had yet to loot, determined to take full advantage of this brilliant feature the System had presented him with. The First ss Car was very easy to spot. Its design was grander and the materials used to build it seemed to be of better quality. When the four climbed down and arrived at the door to the first of the First ss cars, they saw signs of a gunfight even if it was nowhere near the level Henry or Tony had seen so far. They pushed the door open and there stood Angus -his white shirt still pristine and his clothing fitting the grand aesthetic of the First ss lounge-, Kirk, with a cigarette in his mouth while he reloaded his gun and finally Devon whose clothes were stained heavily with blood ¡ªNone of which looked to be his¡ª had a massive shotgun in hand. The perfect weapon for a man with his visage. From the looks of things, there had been no passengers in First ss. The entire car had been reserved for the security meant to protect the cabin sealed away on the other side. It was from here most of the uniformed men they had killed so far had spewed out from. Henry counted ten bodies strewn about the lounge all waiting to be looted. Instead of walking over to each and tapping the individual buttons floating above them, he simply clicked the singr ''Loot'' button the System interface presented to him and smiled as the *ching* sound announced the arrival of all remedial wealth into his inventory. Of the three they met at First ss, only Angus still had his mask on. Kirk had apparently discarded his so he could smoke a cigarette and Devon looked like he was far morefortable with letting his face bathe in the blood of his kills. "Ah, you''re here," Angus said as Henry and the others walked into the lounge. The Gang leader checked his gun''s cylinder and then frowned at Henry and Tony, "Now, will one of you like to tell me who fired that first shot?" "I did," Henry said. "Ah, of course, you did," Devon said with a snigger that looked very gruesome with his monster-like canines and blood sshed on his face and clothes, "Who even let you have a gun?" "That''s what I said," Dana chimed in,ughing. Tony stepped forward, "Back off, will you? He had to do it. Stefan might have a bullet in his head right now if it weren''t for him." Triss'' eyes widened, "Wait, what?" Angus took a breath and held the bridge of his nose, "Be that as it may, you made things very difficult for us, Son. Battles across the train¡ª A ready firing squad waiting for us in here¡ª Things could have gone really badly." "I''m sorry," Henry said inly. "Oh well, we''re here now," Angus said turning to the Cabin door that sealed away their prize, "Thest barrier to make all this bloodshed worth it." Angus reached out to the door and at that moment, Henry received an alert in his head; [A Gunman armed with Magic has been detected!] [You have triggered a Sub-Quest; Defeat the Gunman and make his Magic yours. -Kill Reward: 45 Exp -Sub-Quest Reward: 30 Exp *Nyx will receive 50% of your Sub-Quest Reward. Your Exp count will not be impacted. Good luck.] Henry read through the message quickly and then his eyes went to the door. At that moment, his instincts warned him and he found it impossible to resist reaching out and calling out, "Angus, wait!" Angus'' hand touched the door and a loud *BANG!* sounded out as dark tendrils of intense magical energy sted the door off its hinges¡­ *Bam!* ¡­ mming the Gang leader against the other side of thepartment with a massive impact. Chapter 9: The Warlock and The Gunman The st that sent the door off its hinges was apanied by a widespread shockwave that sent every other member of the gang currently in the First-ss lounge flying all over. As the one closest to Angus when he was sted away, Henry faced the worst of the shockwave as he was sent sprawling into a chair with such an impact that his head struck the wall with a thud that no doubt cracked his skull. [You have lost 2 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 16/20] "Argh," Henry groaned with a hand to the back of his head for any wetness to signal blood loss. But then, just like the stunned others, his eyes went to the door that had just been sted open to see two figures step out side by side. One looked to be in his early forties and was dressed in a strange robe etched with intricate designs while clutching a brilliant-looking chest under one arm. He had a crooked smile on his face while twiddling the fingers of his free hand as they crackled with dark magical energy. The other looked younger and was the one who actually had Henry''s attention because he didn''t need any assertion from the system to know this fellow was the one his Sub-Quest had asked to be defeated; The Second man was easily above six feet tall, dressed in a uniform just as official-looking as that of the many dead men all over the train but with sharper and more embroidered designs that hinted at a much Higher Ranking. His brown hair was sleeked back and he had a trimmed beard around his frowning lips. In one hand, he held a steel sword with a simple hilt, and in the other, he held a gun; The strangest gun Henry had ever seen. Which was saying something because he had seen more than his fair share of ''innovative'' designs. The gun was a revolver with a barrel over eight inches long. It was a jet-ck color with interlocking scales that seemed to catch the light and gleam viciously. The trigger guard looked like six fangsing together in an almost horrific union and the part of the trigger Henry could see was twisted like a collection of acid-green spindly tongues of some monster from myths. The gun''s cylinder ¡ªwhich had a bronze serpent emzoned across every bullet segment¡ª, gave off an acidic green glow, and as the man fiddled with the gun''s hammer, the glow only got more intense. Shaking off the effect of the shockwave that had sted them all over, Tony, Devon, Kirk, Dana, and Triss got back to their feet and raised their guns to fire several shots at both the Gunman and the robe-wearing stranger by his side. Henry watched with his mouth open as a translucent shield formed of magical energy appeared in the space between the gun-shooting Gang and their targets and absorbed the kic energy from all fired bullets so that they fell to the ground like harmless pellets. The robe-wearing stranger smiled crookedly, his finger stroking the chest he held under his arm, "That you would even raise your guns at a Warlock such as myself should surely doom you all," he said with a chuckle before looking to the Gunman at his side, "Mr. Grant, do what your worthless underlings failed to do and dispose of them, will you?" "dly," Mr. Grant, the Gunman said as he raised his strange gun, pointed it at Kirk, and pulled the trigger. Henry''s eyes were fixed on the gun and its strangeness only got more captivating as Mr. Grant fired his shot. Two green dots glowed on the heads of each of the serpents etched on the gun''s cylinder and an array of runes appeared at the gun''s handle while the acidic glow increased to an intense emerald glow as the bullet finally left the barrel and struck into Kirk''s stomach. All this happened in the space of a second and Kirk didn''t even have the opportunity of moving in a futile attempt to avoid getting shot. "Ack!" He let out almost in surprise. He had managed to keep a grip on his cigarette when he got knocked back but it finally fell from his lips as he raised his head at the lounge''s ceiling and his face twisted in horror at the pain that began to wrack through his body. "Kirk¡ª" Tony called out. "Arrrgghhh!" Kirk yelled and from his open mouth rose a green cloud that spread all over the inside of the lounge. Watching the gas spread, Henry held his breath and also tore off his loose mask to press his nose into the inside of his elbow to make sure he didn''t breathe any of it in becausemon sense told him a green gas exiting the mouth of a dying man was not something to breath in. The others held their breath as well but then, Tony''s eyes widened. He saw Kirk''s bullet wound begin to ooze as green veins spread all over his midsection. The ooze quickly became a bubble that sizzled with an acidic *Tssssss* sound. He wasn''t the only one who noticed but he was the first to sound the warning, "Everyone get away!" Kirk''s midsection bubbled to a crescendo and exploded in an acidicbustive bubble that sshed bits of his insides all over their side of the Train lounge in the form of acidic goop. Henry dove down and took cover behind the chairs in front of him. The rest of the Gang tried to do the same. They weren''t actually fast enough to outrun an explosive st of acid but diving to safety was still possible¡­ ¡­ At least for most of them. "Ahh!" Triss cried out. A blurb of the acidic goop hadnded on her back, burning through her vest in a second. She managed to strip off her vest but the heat had already gone through her shirt and reddened her skin with an awful-looking steam rising from the wound. She wasn''t the only one who was unlucky. "Nghh¡ª" Devon groaned as his entire front was sshed with the goop and although he reacted almost as fast as Triss had and ripped off his shirt, the heat had gotten through and left a burn mark. However, although Devon''s burn mark steamed just like Triss'' wound, that was all it was; A mark. The skin was certainly charred but somehow looked no worse than a minor inconvenience. "A ''Half-Orc''," Mr. Grant said as he eyed Devon''s canines and then his chest, "I''ve heard tales of your monstrously thick skin. I hear it can''t stop a bullet though." Mr. Grant raised his gun and pointed it at Devon but before firing, he called out calmly, "Warlock, would you please?" "Of course," the Warlock said with a smile, and a secondter, formless energy carrying an unmistakable aura of magic began to flow from his robed body into Mr. Grant''s uniformed self. Henry watched as the Gun that had gotten dull in Mr. Grant''s hand began to glow up with its acidic green and understanding dawned on him; Whatever strange transfusion was happening was giving Mr. Grant the energy he required to fire his gun. ''We need to stop it,'' Henry thought with certainty. But how? He still had his gun but had seen that fail already. "Argh¡ª" Triss'' groan by his side pulled Henry out of his thoughts, "I can''t move," Henry heard her say. At first, he thought it was due to the acid that had sshed on her skin until he realized his muscles were starting to seize as well. He raised his head and saw Tony and Dana struggling as well. ''The gas!'' Henry thought with wide eyes. The green gas that had exited Kirk''s dying body was still all over the inside of the Train lounge and it had been hard for the others to focus on holding their breaths while looking for safety from the exploding acid. It was no wonder why Mr. Grant was calm, Henry realized. The gas ensured they were all helpless as he calmly filled himself with the magic required to fire another acidic shot. And just when things were starting to look bleak, Henry heard heavy breathing and looked to see Devon guzzling the gas like a maniac. The Half-Orc''s body shook with spasms as he struggled against the paralytic effect of the Gas and then, as Henry watched, Devon''s brown eyes gained a reddish manic glint as his muscles bulged. Devon gripped his shotgun and rose to his feet before taking threerge strides to m his body into Mr. Grant''s¡­ *BAM!* ¡­ Only to be stopped by the Warlock''s conjured shield. "You have resistance against paralysis?" Mr. Grant mused with slight surprise before shrugging, "Well, no matter." The gun powered up even more and then a voice cut across the train from at the very end of the lounge. "Warlock, cease your magic!" The voice was calm but carried a powerful ''push'' that mmed into the Warlock''s body. He twitched as his nerves, magical or otherwise refused to obey hismand. His magical transfusion ended abruptly causing the gun''s glow to mellow slightly but more important was the shield faltering and finally letting Devon collide his massive body into Mr. Grant''s¡­ *Bam!* ¡­ in an impact that surely cracked some ribs. Chapter 10: ‘The Hydra’s Sting’ Devon and Mr. Grant went toppling through the sted open doorway into the inner cabin of the first-ss lounge. As he watched the two stagger out of sight, Henry just reacted. The longer he stayed in the lounge, the more likely his muscles would truly seize and he would be paralyzed, so with a loose grip on his gun, he leaped over a few rows of chairs burned with acid and jumped into the inner Cabin right after Devon and Mr. Grant. Henry still remembered his Sub-Quest and knew he had a better chance of a sessful kill when he could actually see his target. As Henry leaped past him, the Warlock finally gained control of his limbs again. He didn''t care about Henry or even any of the slightly paralyzed gang members in the lounge. His eyes sought out the source of the ''push'' that locked his muscles in ce. At the other end of the First ss lounge, Angus Dionisio stood proudly. He had sessfully heaved the door off his body and looked like he was struggling against the paralytic effect of the gas in the lounge but he was smug. "A Vyker!" The Warlock said almost in surprised annoyance. He felt slightly ipetent because how could he have missed such obvious mutated magical energy even if it had been buried under a detached door? ''Vyker'' are people (usually humans) who have been subjected to an ult ritual to mutate them and grant them enhanced physical and sometimes magical abilities. The strength and potential of a Vyker depends on the materials used in his or her Awakening. ''Awakening'' being the term used to describe the process of a Vyker''s ''creation''. Of course, for such power and potential, there is a drawback or a boon depending on the Vyker''s outlook; Once created, a Vyker is tied to their creator. The only use they can make of their abilities is to serve their master''s or mistress'' wishes. "Well, Vyker¡­" "The name''s Angus. Angus Dionisio," Angus interrupted to say. "I don''t care. Just tell me, what Witch do you serve? Or is it a Wizard that has sent you after my Master''s possession?" The Warlock asked clutching the chest under his arm even tighter. "I want that chest for myself but I see no reason why that should be of any concern of yours," Angus said calmly as he raised his gun, "You should die now." He fired but the Warlock had recast his Shield spell and stopped the bullets before retaliating with a crackling sh of magical tendrils. Angus reacted with impressive speed and an almost heightened sense of perception as he rolled away before the tendrils were even fired and took cover behind some chairs. *Bang!* The Warlock remained in ce and sted a chair into Angus but the Gang leader leaped to safety behind another cover before then rising to fire a few more shots. All of which again failed to break past the Warlock''s shield. "It''s insanity to do the same thing over and over hoping for a different result, Vyker," the Warlock said, "What do you hope to achieve with your harmless shots?" "Put down your shield and find out," Angus said. The Warlock felt the wave of mental force m into him and attempt to force his nerves to obey, and heughed, "You caught me by surprise once. Now that I am aware of your ability, it will have no effect on me." As he spoke, the Warlock''s hand crackled with Magical energy that was rising to a powerful crescendo that put all his other attacks so far to shame but as he readied himself to fire, his muscles began to seize. With every ticking second, his nerves seemed to be getting disconnected from his brain. The magical crackling around his hand began to fizzle and for the second time that day, his shield began to falter. "What- What is this?" He asked, "Your ability- It can''t¡ª It shouldn''t work on me. Not while I am aware¡­ Not while my mental defenses are up." "That is most likely true," Angus said as he stepped out of his cover, "But I assume your shield was doing more than keeping out bullets. It was also keeping out the awful, odorless, paralytic gas yourrade set off. You were so focused on me, that you ignored everything else. The next time you put up your shield, you basically trapped yourself with it." The Warlock''s arm slumped to his side as the paralysis set in. Veins budged in his neck as he tried to amass some sort of magical surge to force his limbs to obey him. "It''s like I said," Angus said while sessfully staving off his own Paralysis, "You should die now." Angus fired his gun. Being so close to his paralyzed target, he did not miss and his bullet pierced through the Warlock''s unprotected forehead, sttering brain matter against the wall behind. The Chest the Warlock held under his arm fell to the ground first before his body followed soon after with a louder *Thud*. ??? "Arrgh!" Mr. Grant groaned as he was knocked to the floor of the inner cabin. The impact Devon made with his body had indeed cracked his ribs but he ignored the pain, tightened his grip on his sword, and swung in a wide arch. Devon''s eyes widened and he leaped away but even as he moved to avoid the potentially deadly cut, the Half-Orc cocked his shotgun and pointed it. Mr. Grant closed the distance between them and swung his sword, changing the direction of the shotgun''s muzzle right before the shot was fired with a bang causing heavy pellets to dent the inner cabin wall. Mr. Grant moved the de of his sword across Devon''s shotgun and cut a deep gash across the Half-Orc''s arm, drawing blood. Even as Devon howled in pain and the manic glow in his red eyes began to dim, Mr. Grant did not look happy. The strength he had put behind his sword sh should have cutpletely through his victim''s arm and not leave a ''simple'' two-inch deep gash. ''God damned thick skin!'' Mr. Grant thought but continued on the offensive. He took advantage of Devon''s moment of pain and smacked his shotgun out of his grip before moving in to make an even deeper cut at his target''s neck. Devon''s eyes widened. His muscles bulged again and he raised his forearm but even he knew that would not help him against a steel sword. However, right before Mr. Grant made contact, his trained instincts alerted him and he picked up the very slightest hint of the sound of a gun being cocked. His eyes widened and he leaped away from Devon right before a revolver bullet pierced through the spot his head had been only a second ago. As he slid to safety, Mr. Grant''s still widened eyes looked over to see Henry, annoyed by his missed shot, point his gun again and prepare to fire. With the slightest bit of thought, Mr. Grant hooked his leg into a metal stool by his side and heaved it at Henry. Henry''s eyes widened as the stool sailed over. It moved at a speed he had no time to react to and he was far too slow to even outrun it even if he had managed to react. *Bam!* The stool struck Henry in the chest cracking his sternum and knocked him back with a force that hit his already fractured skull against the wall for the second time that day. [You have lost 3 Hit points] [Hit Points: 13/20] Still, as his head stung and his chest ached, Henry blinked and remained conscious which was fortunate because a secondter, he saw Mr. Grant dashing over to swing his sword in a vertical arch. Henry leaped to the side but not nearly fast enough topletely avoid getting shed. [You have lost 5 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 8/20] "Ngh," Gritting his teeth, Henry fought against the sting of the cut and instead raised his gun to fire another shot. Calmly, Mr. Grant smacked Henry''s gun hand to the side sending the weapon out of his grip, and then swung his sword at his neck. Henry managed to react quickly enough to grab Mr. Grant''s wrist but even as he pushed with all his strength, Mr. Grant still had the upper hand and the sword''s steel de inched ever closer to his neck. Henry considered a low blow but his stance was so shaky that, if he moved his leg in that moment, he would lose his bnce and the little resistance he had managed to summon would be instantly lost. [You have 6 Unallocated Stat Points] Henry frowned as the message rang in his head. ''What does that matter?'' He asked. [Stat Points are useful to increase your Physical abilities through allocation. Would you like to allocate manually or would you like the System to allocate them for you based on current need?] "Do whatever you want!" Henry yelled out causing Mr. Grant to frown at him, confused about who he was talking to. [Stat Points allocated based on need] [+6 to Strength] [Strength 5 ¡ª¡ª> 11] Henry felt a surge of strength. He could feel his muscles be denser and suddenly, he wasn''t getting pushed back anymore! Mr. Grant already looked confused about who Henry was talking to but his confusion only got worse when he felt his push getting repelled by strength he didn''t think his opponent had. With a grunt of effort, Henry used every bit of his increased strength to push Mr. Grant''s sword aside before adjusting his stance so he could raise his leg and kick him in the stomach. He followed that up with a blow that stunned the uniformed man. As Mr. Grant blinked and began to regain his bearings¡­ "Rarrrr!" ¡­ a loud yell cut across the inner cabin as Devon charged over and mmed into the man. He continued pushing until he mmed Mr. Grant into the wall and then he mmed into him again and again with multiple grunts, always disrupting his opponent from mustering any sort of offense. Why Devon didn''t just pick up his Shotgun and end it all with one shot, Henry had no idea but he noticed that, as he was getting mmed away by an angry charging Half-Orc, Mr. Grant''s hold on his strange gun finally loosened and it fell to the ground a few inches away. Henry picked it up immediately and a chill crawled all over his arm carrying with it a tingle. A connection. A strange energy surged within him, filling the gun and lighting up its acidic green glow. [You have acquired a Magical Weapon. ''The Hydra''s Sting'' responds to you¡­] The message was longer and far more detailed but Henry could hardly be bothered to read it all. Not at the moment at least. He just pointed the gun''s muzzle at Mr. Grant and readied to pull the trigger. Chapter 11: I Still Don’t Like You As Henry powered up the gun in his hand and began to clench the trigger, a sh of messages projected in front of his face one after the other with barely enough time for him to even read what they said; [You have activated ''Acidic Combustion''] [Your Mana Points are insufficient to activate ''Acidic Combustion''] [''Acidic Combustion'' has been activated anyway] [Power reserves have been drawn from your Stamina¡­] [Power reserves are insufficient¡­] [''Acidic Combustion'' has been levelled down¡­] [Power reserves still insufficient¡­] [''Acidic Combustion'' has been levelled down further¡­] "Oh God¡­" Henry let out. He still couldn''t read any of the messages but suddenly he felt woozy. It was like he was sapped of all strength and so weak he could hardly keep his hand straight. But he still had a shot to make. [Activating Marksmanship Lv. 1 Active effect: +5% uracy] Henry didn''t aim for Mr. Grant''s head. With Devon''s body blocking the way and both his and Mr. Grant''s heads moving so much, Henry knew he was more likely to shoot Devon in the head or shoot the wall than he was to make a sessful headshot on Mr. Grant. Especially with his body being so sapped of Stamina. So Henry aimed for one of Mr. Grant''s arms instead. The one that used to be armed with the strange gun now in Henry''s grip remained mostly in ce and with the added uracy bonus, it was a rtively easy target. The shot was fired and the bullet pierced through Mr. Grant''s uniform sleeve and lodged itself in his arm. Immediately, green veins began to bulge all over Mr. Grant''s arm, steaming with a burning acidic heat as they extended to his shoulder, his head and most especially his heart. It was all over in a second. Like he had received a shot of poison directly to his heart, Mr. Grant raised his head and his mouth opened in a silent scream of pain he was never actually able to vocalise before he slumped against the wall, his head falling onto Devon''s shoulder as his body flopped. Lifeless. [Quest Completed] [Kill-Reward: 45 Exp] [Sub-Quest Reward: 30 Exp] *[Nyx has received 15 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] Henry couldn''t remain standing. He fell on his ass taking multiple breaths like he had just run a marathon. He felt more tired than he had ever felt in his life and it was all because he fired a gun. ''Insane,'' he thought as he raised the gun and looked it over more closely, ''It really is a strange design¡­ But beautiful too.'' "''The Hydra''s Sting''," Henry mumbled. He might not have read the System''s messages in detail but that name had stuck with him because it exined so much about the look of the gun. Now he understood the Serpent heads on the gun''s cylinder were Hydra heads and after counting, he affirmed that they were Nine for the maximum number of bullets the Cylinder could hold at a time. "Hydra¡­ Scales¡­ Acid shots¡­ Nine serpent heads. Very Clever," Henry said with a chuckle. All of it was in line with the Myths about Hydras he had heard in his past life so he had to admire the attention to detail of the one who had crafted the weapon. A screen projected in front of Henry''s face then with the information he had declined to read in detail earlier; [You have acquired a Magical Weapon. ''The Hydra''s Sting'' responds to you. You have unlocked 2 Magical Attacks; ? Numbing Gas: Shoot a magical bullet that turns your victim into a biological weapon and unleashes a Paralytic Gas cloud upon enemies and allies alike. Note: As long as you are in possession of ''The Hydra''s Sting'', you will be immune. Cost: 20 Mana Points. ? Acidic Combustion: Shoot a magical bullet that burns through defences (Magical or Physical) and turns any part of your Victim''s body into a cauldron of bubbling Acidic goodness (Or evilness). Note: Acidic Combustion burns and sizzles everything it touches. You will not be immune. Cost: 50 Mana Points.] With his eyes on ''Acidic Combustion'', Henry understood why his Mana Reserves had been insufficient and he also understood how his stamina of 6 was also not enough for support. What he was confused about though, was why the System had defaulted to the most costly attack avable when he shot the gun. Devon let Mr. Grant''s body go so that it could fall to the ground. The manic glow in his eyes were gonepletely now and he cradled his shed arm looking more annoyed than in pain. "Hey," he called to Henry. Henry looked up with furrowed his brows, "What?" "Why did youe here?" Devon asked. "I don''t understand," Henry replied, looking confused. "Why did youe IN here?" Devon rified, "I didn''t need your help." "Really?" Henry asked with twitching lips, "''Cause I seem to remember a sword swinging at your neck when I arrived." "I had it under control," Devon said through gritted teeth. "No, you didn''t. But don''t worry, you don''t have to thank me," Henry said graciously. "I wasn''t going to!" Devon let out, "Besides, I helped you too." "Not true but Okay. So, we''re even then," Henry said, his body still feeling weak, "Now that that''s settled, I need to rest." Devon was silent for a while as he sat on the ground too while tying a strip of cloth up his arm to reduce blood loss. He had his eyes on ''The Hydra''s Sting'' gun in Henry''s hand, "That gun¡­" Devon started. Henry stayed silent. "It''s magic, isn''t it?" Devon asked. "It''s mine. That''s what it is," Henry said firmly. Devon snorted, "I don''t want to take it from you. I wouldn''t want to use a pistol anyway. Too small. It''s just, that gun¡­ I don''t like how it feels." Henry raised a brow. This, he found interesting. The corner of his lips were twitching as he asked, "Devon, are you¡ª are you scared of my gun?" "I''m not scared. I''m never scared. But it''s evil. That gun. It has a negative aura¡­ Feels bad," Devon said and there was a slight quiver in his extra-long canines. "Hmm," Henry said and then chuckled, "If it has you this scared, I want to keep it even more." "I told you, I''m not scared," Devon said in his deep growling voice. Henry just shrugged and said nothing more. Another few seconds of silence passed and then Devon said, "You really have changed." "¡­" Henry remained silent, wondering where this was heading. "I still don''t like you," Devon said, "But at least this current you is not totally useless. Seems all you needed was to shoot yourself to finally actually do something to help the Gang." Devon stood up after that, picked his shotgun off the ground and walked out of the inner Cabin to join the others in the lounge. Henry remained where he was not sure what to make of Devon''s words but decided to push them aside. At least for now. Instead, he looked at the system ''Loot'' Prompt that appeared in front of him to reap all of Mr. Grant''s remedial wealth. *Ching* [You have looted 250 Vens] [You have looted 2 Revolver ammo boxes. X42 bullets] "What, no Quids?" Henry asked out loud in jest. In all seriousness though, he was surprised to find that Mr. Grant didn''t have any special bullets to use with ''The Hydra''s Sting'' so he popped out the gun''s cylinder and pulled out one of its bullets. It was a normal average revolver bullet. "The gun makes them magical," Henry realised, "Convenient." He popped the cylinder back in and with a single thought, he made the Inventory interface appear and ced ''The Hydra''s Sting'' in it before looking around to pick up the normal revolver he hade into the inner cabin with and then he left to join the others in the lounge. The green Numbing gas had dissipated already and everyone was back on their feet, shaking off thest few stubborn effects of their paralysis. Angus had the chest tight under his arm as they all stood around Kirk''s body, mourning his death. Henry took a step toward them before his eyes fell on the Warlock with a hole in his head. He tapped the ''Loot'' button immediately. [You have looted 320 Vens] [You have looted 10 Gold] [You have looted 1 Engraved Silver Ring] [You have looted 1 Magical Scroll] Henry''s mouth gaped. Gold! A coin minted in a distinct shape and the height of this world''s currency. One Gold was worth 200 Vens and he had just gotten 10 of them at once! Strange as this world might be, the prospect of amassing wealth excited Henry all the same but he had to remind himself of the solemn mood in the lounge and at least act like he was sad for the death of a rade'' he cared nothing about. Chapter 12: An Invitation And A Title The sounds of footsteps broke the mourning mood and the eyes of the gang members went to the entrance into the First ss lounge where Charles and Stefan were approaching. The two had cuts and bruises all over but looked rtively fine. "Oh," Charles said as he looked all over at the damages that had been done to the lounge before finally resting his sights on Kirk''s body, "We missed a lot, huh." "Where have you been?" Tony asked. "Well, with you and Henry gone, we had to move carefully. There was still a bunch of men shooting at us," Stefan said as he walked toward his sister. His eyes were on the acidic burn on her back, "Triss¡ª" he called in concern. Triss made an effort to look at her wound but then managed to smile even though it was clear it still stung, "I''ll be fine." Charles looked over at everyone in the lounge one by one before settling on Angus who looked slightly disappointed that they werete. He raised a hand and scratched the back of his head as he held out a looting bag, "Heh Heh. We didn''t just hang back for the fun of it. When there were no more mening at us, we went back to the Passenger cars and shook people up for what they had to give. The gunshots they had heard made them VERY cooperative." The sound of extra loot lessened Angus'' disappointment a bit and also reminded him to ask for the Warlock''s body to be searched, "His kind always have good stuff," he said. Tony stepped forward to perform the search and he spent an entire minute pulling out pockets and looking for hidden spots in the Warlock''s robes because no matter how hard he searched, there was nothing to be found. "That''s strange," Angus mumbled. It was so unlike a Warlock to have nothing at all. Henry had already taking a seat by the window and looked out of it, perfectly calm with the loot the others were looking for securely in his Inventory. Not once did he think to share what he had. The gang took seats in the lounge after that. They had finished slightly ahead of schedule so all they had to do now was wait for the intersection so they could hitch a ride on the train returning to the New Freudein. Twenty minutester, Henry was looking out the window when he received an notification from the System; [You have received an Invitation] ''Huh, all of a sudden?'' Henry thought, confused, ''An invitation from who?'' He tapped the message and an envelope appeared and unfolded with a short message, [The Great Craftsman, Elminster Eltugard issues you an Invitation. Will you ept?] Henry was only more confused. He didn''t know anyone called Elminster and could not understand why they would issue him an Invitation. Also, an Invitation to where? And why or how did they issue the Invitation to him through the System? While Henry was engrossed with the Invitation, Tony took the seat right across from him, "Are you bothered by something?" "Huh?" Henry said as he looked at Tony, "Why do you ask?" "Your brows are all scrunched together," Tony said. "Hmm, It''s nothing." "If you say so," Tony said and then lowered his voice, "So when did you get so good with the gun?" Henry''s right eye twitched, "I''ve always been a good shot?" "You shot yourselfst week," Tony pointed out. "A slight goof. No one is perfect," Henry said with a brazen face. Tony frowned, his voice still low, "But you ARE. At least, you HAVE been ''perfect'' all day. No one who can make so many sessful shots, shoots themselves on a goof." ''Ah, so suspicious!'' Henry thought while holding the bridge of his nose. "So what are you saying?" He asked slowly, "Are you suggesting I just suddenly got good?" Tony held his gaze, "No, I noticed some level of Experience in your actions. You''ve been good for a while¡­" Henry frowned and said nothing but Tony wasn''t done, "¡­ But, someone as good as you are, silently letting himself get seen as weak¡­ Quietly shovelling horse-shit, allowing yourself to be bullied until very recently and only showing your skills after you were made to go on a Job¡­" Henry''s frown got deeper. "I respect it¡­" Tony said suddenly. "What?" Henry let out, taken by surprise. "I said I respect it," Tony said with a smile as he leaned back in his seat, "To be so perverted and endure all that humiliation¡­ I could never do it. It takes a masochist to endure all that. You have strange tastes but I respect it." Henry blinked. It seemed Tony had rationalised the matter in his own way. Not the right way but probably the best way for Henry at the moment. "But you''ve shown off your skills now. You won''t be able to just hide away at Camp while the rest of us do the work, anymore. You''re one of us now." Tony held out a hand and Henry smiled as he took it and shook it, "I can live with that." Tony had been with the gang for a while. Two years to be precise and although that was a long time for Henry to have been ''putting on an act'', it was still the most believable exnation he had. At least the exnation that could temper the suspicions that had been rising in him all day. "The train''s here! Let''s go!" Angus called out. Tony stood up and walked away then and Henry let out a sigh of relief before he joined the others and got ready to jump trains. Henry jumpedst, letting the others go first so he had the excuse that he had ''learned'' from them how to make the jump himself. Of course, he needed no pointers. He had done many high speed hijackings in his past and knew better than them how to stick thending. The gang kept a low profile on their return to New Freudein. Apart from the fact that they were tired/injured, it would also do them no good to cause issues for when they got off the train at the Station. Just as they had sneaked onto the Train they just robbed, they sneaked off the one that brought them to safety and ran into the nearby woods to find Good ol'' Joe waiting with the horses. Henry walked over to the Nyx and the horse took a break from grazing to raise her head to look at him. She saw his wounds, most especially the one in his shoulder and nuzzled against it in slight concern. "It''s alright girl," Henry said while patting her neck, "It doesn''t even really hurt anymore." That was true. All the wounds Henry had sustained, including the cut to his side had lessened to dull aches and stings. From his experience with getting shot and cut, Henry knew it wasn''t normal but why would hein that he wasn''t in pain. "You''re back!" Joe said as everyone walked over to their horses, and then his eyes clouded over, "Where''s Kirk?" "He didn''t make it," Angus said as he got on his horse with the Chest still cradled under his arm. "What?" "We''ll talk more at the mansion. Come on." Angus led the way out of the woods and once they were all back in the road, they sped up into full sprinting gallops and arrived at the Hardon Mansion in minutes. The moment Nyx crossed the damaged gate into the mansion''spound, Henry received multiple Alerts from the system; [Quest Completed] [You havepleted a Job with the Dionisio gang¡­] [You have received 50 Exp] [You have received the Title ''Gangbanger''] *[Nyx has received 25 Exp] [Nyx has levelled up!] [Nyx is now Level 2] [Strength: 25 ¡ª¡ª> 30] [Speed: 50 ¡ª¡ª> 60] [Stamina: 20 ¡ª¡ª> 25] Henry felt it as Nyx''s muscles grew stronger in ordance to her stat increase. He also felt that she knew about her stat increase to the point where she suddenly stopped galloping and reared on her hind legs while letting out a proud whining sound. ''It''s all well and good that Nyx levelled up,'' Henry thought with the corner of his lips twitching as he eyed one particr notification, ''But what sort of Title is this?'' [Title: Gangbanger Description: You havepleted a job with the Dinonsio gang, carving a bloody path with your gun along the way and are now truly ''One of the gang''. Your Charisma has improved and people weaker than you will be more ''inclined'' to surrender their possessions to you with just the slightest bit of convincing on your part. The gang''s possible suspicions of your ''sudden'' skills will be tempered slightly. (However, It will not bepletely eradicated). The ''Gangbanger'' Title will remain for as long as you are member of the Dionisio Gang.] Chapter 13: Optional Quest Back in the Hadron Mansionpound, the gotten loot was shared with thergest share going to the Gang''s collective box for supplies and cases of emergencies. After that, everyone sought treatment from Yelena, the Gang''s resident nurse. Yelena had an entire wing in the Mansion to herself and she only used one room to act as a medical bay. There was a small waiting room right in front of its closed door and that''s where the injured gang members sat, entering the medical bay one after the other. Henry was soon the only one left in the waiting room and he spent the time alone investigating the items he had received from the Warlock. The engraved silver ring was nothing particrly special. Just expensive looking jewellery but the Magic scroll though, was a different matter. Henry unfolded it and heading the scroll in anguage he could read were the words; ''Arcane Tendrils''. The heading of the scroll were the only words Henry could read. The rest were in a strangenguage of runes and symbols that made his head ache at the very sight of it. Like trying to understand thenguage alone would cause his mind to break. [A Magic scroll written in Arcane scripts has been detected] [User has attempted to understand Arcane Knowledge¡­] "Oh?" Henry let out, intrigued. [User has failed!] "Wait, what?" With his eyes wide, Henry stared at the scroll harder. [User has attempted again¡­] [User has failed!] [User''s ss ''Gunslinger'' is unsuited for Arcane Knowledge] "Really? But¡­ I have magic. The Mana Points¡­" Henry pointed out. [Mana Points only power magic and are not enough of a foundation to gain Arcane Knowledge.] "So I''ll never be able to learn Magic?" Henry mumbled. ''That''s a bit of a bummer.'' Henry thought. Although he''d not really paid attention to it, he had actually been looking forward to sting magic from his fingertips. ''Could have added a whole new dimension to my shooting.'' [Magic scrolls written in Arcane scripts are not the only ways to wield magic.] "Oh, you mean with weapons like ''The Hydra''s Sting''. That''s not too bad, I guess." [¡­] "That silence. There''s another way isn''t there? Well, tell me," Henry said, his smile bright with excitement. [¡­] "You fucker! You were being quite chatty just now." The door to the medical bay opened then and Triss stepped out, "Thank you, Yelena," she said with a smile. "Don''t mention it. Come back for the follow-up sessions," Yelena said. "I will." Triss smiled at Henry and gave him that usual wink before walking away. As she walked, Henry saw a bandage patch on her back and his brows furrowed. Everyone who had had their sessions with Yelena came out looking as good as new. Even Devon''s chest burn waspletely gone. ''The acid did a number on her, huh.'' "Henry?" Yelena called, "It''s your turn now." Henry walked through the door Yelena held open and looked all over the inside of the medical bay. He recognised it well enough. Apart from the memories he inherited from the Henry of this world, this was also where he had first woken up. "You should take a seat and take off your shirt," Yelena called out as she closed the medical bay door. "Right," Henry said and did as she asked. Yelena turned around and her eyes widened slightly, "It''s been what, one week since you werest here?" She asked. "Yes," Henry answered, confused at her reaction, "What is it?" "Oh nothing. It''s just, you''ve changed a bit," Yelena said while gesturing at his body. Henry looked down and he raised his brows in surprise as well. His previously weak looking body had gained some definition. The outlines of abs were beginning to show and his forearms looked stronger than they had been that morning. ''Did¡ª Did increasing my strength cause this?'' He asked himself. It was the only reason that made sense really. When he looked up though, he made sure not to look surprised and smiled lightly instead, "I''ve been exercising," he said. "Hmm, that exins it," Yelena said as she sat in a chair in front of him while observing his wounds. The cut and the bullet wound in his shoulder especially. "That''s strange," she eventually said. "What''s strange?" Henry asked. "Your bullet wound. It doesn''t look like anything has been done to it but it''s already clotted. Barely bleeding," she said. "Oh." "Does it hurt?" Yelena asked. "Not that much," Henry told her truthfully. "That''s interesting," Yelena said and mused as she traced her fingers around the wound like she was trying to understand what caused the clotting of a wound that should be open and bleeding. Especially since it had not been cared for. "Well, it should make healing it easier then." As she spoke, Yelena began to project a warm green energy that radiated all over Henry''s body. Mending his wounds in seconds. [You have recovered 12 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 20/20] The bullet that had been lodged in Henry''s shoulder fell out too and Yelena picked it up and held it out to him, "Souvenir?" She asked. Henry shook his head with a chuckle, "No. I think I''m good. Thank you for the Healing and for the onest week." "Alright," Yelena said as she tossed the bullet into a bin, "And you''re wee." "It''s incredible by the way," Henry said. "What is?" "Your healing magic. Have you always been able to do it?" Henry asked. "Well that depends on what you mean by ''always''. I was born with Magic like many other witches or Wizards and such. But I didn''t learn to heal untilter," Yelena exined. "And how does it feel? Does it make you feel weak?" Henry asked. Remembering his situation with ''The Hydra''s Sting'' just earlier. "Weak? No. It does feel good though. To help people for a change," Yelena said and her eyes clouded over. Henry noticed. "Did something bad happen before?" He asked. Yelena perked up with a smile on her beautiful face, "No, no. Why would you even think that?" ''That smile is fake,'' Henry thought, ''But I probably shouldn''t pry.'' A few seconds passed and then Yelena broke the slightly awkward silence, "So I heard you all faced a Warlock." "Yeah," Henry said, "Well, the others faced a Warlock. I was busy with¡ª something else." "Hmm," Yelena nodded, "I heard nothing was found on the Warlock. That''s a shame." "How so?" Henry asked. "No, I wouldn''t want to bore you," Yelena said shaking her head and leaning back. "Nonsense. What is it?" Henry asked with an amicable smile. Yelena''s face clouded over again and she let out a sigh, "Well, I only know the one spell, you see; Healing. And it''s not even really a spell ''cause it''s very ''normal'' to me. It''s just¡­ when I heard about the Warlock, I thought ''Oh, he''d have had something that could change that'' but that wasn''t the case. But it''s fine really. It''s not like I was expecting you all to meet a Warlock while you were out risking your neck. And even if you had gotten something, you risked your lives for it. Kirk even died. What right would I have to¡­ Well, listen to me carrying on. You''re healed now. You should go." Yelena stood up from her seat and as he watched her turn away, Henry frowned, ''What was all that?'' He asked himself with brows furrowed with suspicion, ''Was she trying to fish for loot? Does she know I looted the Warlock. But how could she?'' Henry watched as Yelena walked over to a desk in the medic bay and shift through stuff aimlessly. She was clearly just upying herself so she wouldn''t have to turn and face him. ''Ah, fuck me,'' he cussed. "Yelena," he called. The Witch turned and her eyes fell on the scroll in Henry''s hand that he held out to her. "What''s that?" She asked. Henry sighed, "Something I managed to swipe from the Warlock before anyone else could. Take it." ''ording to the system, it''s no use for me anyway. Oh, but maybe I could have found someone to sell it to. Made some money. Ah, but I already took it out. Would be very shameless of me to take it back now. Hmm, but I can be shameless¡­ Ah, forget it. My big mouth led to this anyway.'' Yelena''s face perked up, her green eyes bright, "Wait, really?" She asked as she took a step toward Henry. Henry smiled. It was hard not to when she was looking at him like that, "Really," he said. "But you could have died getting this," Yelena said, "I couldn''t¡ª" "Take it," Henry said before adding in joking mumble, "My arm''s getting tired." Yelena reached out and took the scroll. A bright smile on her beautiful face, "Thank you." "You''re wel¡ª" Henry started to say before he was interrupted by the sounding of an alert in his head followed by a series of notifications, [You have gifted Yelena a Magic scroll.] [Yelena''s approval of you has risen.] [You have received 50 Exp] [You have triggered the Optional Quest: Yelena] ''Eh? What''s this?'' Chapter 14: The Grumpy Craftsman ¡­ "Do take care," Yelena told Henry at the doorway of the medical bay. "I will," Henry told her as he walked out the door. His bloody shirt back on. "And¡­ Thank you again for the Scroll. I truly appreciate it." Henry just smiled. He didn''t need any more assertion of her gratitude because the system already affirmed it. An affirmation in the form of the 50 Exp he received for his increased approval with her. With a final nod, Yelena closed the door and Henry let his smile drop with his eyes narrowed. With a single thought, the notification he had received minutes earlier appeared again and he watched as it expanded into an extra window with a description; [You have triggered the Optional Quest: Yelena] [Optional Quest: Yelena. The Witch, Yelena, has a secret. Discover what it is. Reward: 500 Exp. Note: epting this Quest grants you an almost certain chance of receiving a Follow-up Quest with an even greater Reward.] [Will you ept the Optional Quest? Yes / No] Henry read through the Quest description quite a few times and he never stopped narrowing his eyes. The reward alone made the Quest enticing but Henry knew, just frommon sense, that for the System to have included a reward ten times higher than any singr rewards he had received so far, it meant the Quest was either going to be very difficult or the Secret was incredibly massive. It could also very well be both. His hand hovered over the [Yes / No] column for a second before he clicked on ''Yes''. [You have epted the Optional Quest. Good luck.] The choice was a no-brainer. Why should he pass up the chance to acquire that much Exp when leveling up once had given him increased stats that improved his strength in an instant? It had even increased his Mana Point Maximum. Speaking of which, ''Status.'' [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 2 (180/200 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Gangbanger] [Hit Points: 20/20] [Mana Points: 15/30] [Strength: 11] [Agility: 7] [Stamina: 6] [Perception: 7] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 1} {Taming Lv. 1 }] "Oh?" Henry said as he eyed his Mana Points, "It''s recovering?" [Mana Points recover naturally. The speed of recovery is based on factors such as body Health and physical stamina. You recover Mana Points faster when your body is at rest.] "Good to know." Henry left Yelena''s wing but as he walked up the stairs toward the meeting hall to meet with Angus and the rest of the Gang, his mind was only on the optional Quest he had just epted. What was Yelena''s secret? Yelena had only been a member of the gang for Four months. Just as long as the Dionisio gang had been in the Hadron Mansion. In fact, when they arrived and decided to make it into a base, they found the Witch there, having already made the ce her home. Unlike everyone else in the Gang, she wasn''t epted. Rather, she was the one to ept them and she did it dly. Announcing readily that she had magic and could heal them of any wounds they might have. [You still have one unanswered Invitation.] [The Great Craftsman, Elminster Eltugard issues you an Invitation. Will you ept?] "Hmm? Oh yes. There''s still this," Henry mumbled as he turned away from the stairs and walked to his room in the mansion. ''I don''t see why I should ept a strange Invitation from someone I don''t know in a world I''m only just getting used to. I''ll decline.'' Henry thought while holding his chin between his thumb and index finger. [Are you Sure?] ''There''s no incentive to ept. Is there?'' [¡­] [You have received an Optional Quest.] ''Oh?'' [Optional Quest: Meet Elminster Eltugard. Reward: 30 Exp] [Will you ept the Optional Quest? Yes / No] Henry stroked his jaw with his brows raised, ''Pulling out a quest just like that. You really want me to meet this guy, huh. Alright, I''ll bite.'' Henry clicked ''Yes''. [You have epted the Optional Quest. Good luck.] The Invitation appeared again on the interface and with a small smile, Henry said, "I ept." He wasn''t sure what he was expecting but Henry was certainly amazed when a line sizzling with magical energy appeared in front of him and stretched into a wider circr shape that wrapped around his body and swallowed him whole. First, there was darkness. Henry felt like he was being pulled, but through what and to where, he had no idea. Then the pull stopped and the darkness was chased away by lighting from multiplemps fused into the wall of what looked like a workshop. Unfinished works littered multiple desks and even the walls. There were documents of strange but wonderful designs all over. Henry started turning around on the spot to take in every corner of the room. He had just realized there was no door or obvious exit at all when he heard a voice. "You actually came." Henry turned around and saw an aged man with a leather apron standing behind a counter. The aged man''s hair was stark white and reached past his shoulder. He also had a full and frankly magnificent beard that was as white as his hair and stretched down his chest. [Quest: Meet Elminster Eltugard] [Quest Completed.] [You have received 30 Exp] [Level Up!] [You are now Level 3] [Hit Points Maximum increased to 30] [Mana Points Maximum increased to 40] [You have 6 unallocated Stat points.] The notifications were delivered one after the other but Henry didn''t pay them too much heed. His eyes remained on Elminster as an ufortable feeling started to set in. "You invited me." "I did," Elminster said and the corner of his lips began to twitch before he eventually burst into a cacklingughter deep with malice. "HAHAHAHAHA!!! Every few centuries, one of you falls for the ''graceful'' invitation and it is never not satisfying. Alright boy, hand it over." "Hand what over?" Henry asked, confused. Elminster rolled his blue eyes, "Oh, don''t y coy with me. Give it to me¡­ Hold on, which one DO you have with you?" "I really don''t know what you''re talking about," Henry said. "You have an original Elminster with you. If you didn''t, you wouldn''t have received my Invitation and you would not be here," Elminster said in exasperation before snapping his fingers. A circle appeared around Henry''s feet and scanned upward and downward his body. As the scanning ended, Elminster stroked his beard with his eyes closed and a musing sounding from his lips, and then his eyes opened with understanding, "''The Hydra''s Sting''. Oh, it''s that weak thing? Well, an Elminster is an Elminster so I still want it back. Oh, but what is this¡­ A subspace storage. I''ll assume it''s only essible to you and I won''t be able to seize the gun by force. Well, not while you''re still alive at least but we can quickly fix that. Behold, my Automaton!" A second snapping of Elminster''s fingers and a new circle appeared on the ground in front of Henry. It rose off the ground and as it did, a figure materialized. It was tall and definitely not human. Not even living. It was made of metal and pieced together elegantly with Runic symbols all over its form while its eyes glinted a red that was clearly meant to emphasize how dangerous it was. "Wait wait," Henry hurried to say as the Automaton mmed a metal fist into a metal palm in intimidation, "You''ve been talking about ''The Hydra''s Sting''? You made it?" Elminster sighed, "Not my finest work I admit. Hand it over." Henry smiled uncertainly, "But I like ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and I want to keep it." "Well, you can''t. You have ten seconds to hand it over before my Automaton crushes you to paste. I know quite a bit about Sub-space Storages and I know, in death, your body will be mine to loot. Don''t test me." Elminster snapped his fingers a second time and the number ''10'' appeared on his Automaton''s chest. It started to count down. 9¡­ 8¡­ "Elminster¡­?" Henry started to say when an alert sounded in his head. [Grand Quest Updated! Main Quest: The Grumpy Craftsman. Elminster is determined to crush you but his malice is not totally without reason. Find out what the reason is and use it to negotiate a deal with him. Reward: 50 Exp *You will not be allowed to retrieve the magical weapon ''The Hydra''s Sting'' from your Inventory until you havepleted this Quest. Good luck!] ''You fucker!'' Henry thought. He was sure of it; The System had known this would happen and it had enticed him deliberately just so he would ept the Invitation and meet this lunatic of a Craftsman. ¡­3 ¡­2 ¡­1 "Time''s up!" The Automaton swung¡­ *Bam!* ¡­ And Henry went flying. Chapter 15: A Pompous Ass *Bam!* [You have lost 5 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 25/30] Henry''s back mmed into the wall with a force that caused him to arch while his internal organs shuddered at the impact. He slid to the ground but had no time to catch his breath or grimace at his pain because the Automaton''s fist came at his face next. Henry dived to the side but he had barely got away. The Automaton''s fist struck the wall and the wind from the impactful contact brushing against his face caused Henry''s eyes to widen at the danger he was in. ''Damn it!'' Henry swore and then brought to mind the Stat Points he had received minutes ago. Unlike thest time, he now understood how to use them and knew just what he needed in this fight. ''I''ll put 3 into Agility and 3 into strength!'' [Strength: 11 ¡ª¡ª> 14] [Agility: 7 ¡ª¡ª> 10] Henry''s muscles gained even more strength and his body felt lighter which was fortunate because the Automaton came at him again with its eyes glinting with an even deeper red. Like it was annoyed that it had not yet aplished its task. It became even more intense and relentless in its attacks. Henry believed that the Automaton didn''t have thoughts or emotions of its own and whatever it was showing was just an extension of its creator. Sure enough, when he chanced a nce at Elminster''s face, he found the old man ring with his arms folded impatiently. The next time a blow came at Henry, he sidestepped instead of dodgingpletely and when the Automaton''s forearm stretched in front of him, he grabbed it and pulled hard. The strength increase he had just gained from his Stats proved very useful as Henry seeded in his pull and then jumped to sink a knee into the Automaton''s metal jaw. Rocking the creature and causing it to stagger a few steps. Henry followed up, clenching his fist, he put in every bit of the strength in his body into a massive punch thatunched the Automaton into the wall with an impactful *Bam!*. Henry started to grin but that slipped off his face when he saw the Automaton stand to its feet almost immediately with a readiness to attack again. It was not human and felt no pain so unless it waspletely damaged, it would continue to attack until it aplished its task. Henry''s frowned but decided not to wait for the Automaton to try again. He dashed forward and bashed the Automaton with his shoulder but instead of staggering, the Automaton stood its ground and in a move of mechanical precision, it clocked Henry in the side of the head with a punch. [You have lost 3 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 22/30] Henry''s eyes rolled up but he kept his consciousness and by locking in his knees, he also did not allow himself to be sent flying. The relentless Automaton struck at him again and this time, Henry was able to dodge and retaliated with a massive upper-cut. *Bam!* His blow struck his mechanical opponent''s mechanical jaw and rocked it with such force that its head was knocked back, revealing a delicate groove right where the head met the structure meant to act as the Automaton''s neck. Pulling back his fist, Henry clenched and in a move whose speed was guided by his increased agility, he delivered his blow against that delicate groove before the Automaton could drop its head back in ce. *Bam!* *Creak!* Henry''s fist broke through the groove and sunk inside the creature''s neck, detaching that spot from it''s head and as he pulled out his hand, he saw the light in the Automaton''s eyes dim as its body lost power. With multiple creaks, it fell to his knees before slumping to the side in a metallic crunching *thud*. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] "Tsk," Elminster let out, "That''s my fault for making the power source so easy to reach." Henry''s eyes shed in annoyance. "Easy?" Elminster ignored him. "Well, I have more Automatons. Each one stronger than thest." Elminster prepared to snap his fingers and Henry knew he couldn''t allow that. "Wait!" He yelled. Henry considered drawing out his gun, the normal revolver, and firing a shot but knew there would be dire consequences if he failed to make the kill and he was not confident that he could. If Elminster could summon an Automaton with the snap of his fingers and could threaten to summon even more, then surely he could protect himself against a bullet. More so since he was apparently someone who made a weapon as Magical and deadly as ''The Hydra''s Sting''. Elminster raised a brow at Henry''s outburst, "Oh? Have you finallye to your senses? Will you surrender what is mine?" Henry nced at his inventory interface with ''The Hydra''s Sting'' locked away until thepletion of this Quest, and smiled wryly, "I wish I could. But I can''t." "Well, then, let''s continue. Your corpse will be far more cooperative, I''m sure." Elminster readied to snap his finger again and Henry threw his arms forward, "Wait!" Henry cried out, "At least tell me why you''re doing this?" Elminster frowned, "I already told you." "Yes, yes. You said you want ''The Hydra''s Sting'' back but you haven''t said why. Was it stolen from you? Is that why you''re so¡­ upset?" Henry was going to say ''crazy'' but decided to hold off on that. Elminster''s fingers pulled apart and he stroked his white beard, "No, it wasn''t stolen," he said gruffly, "But it might as well have been?" Henry let out a sigh of relief that the old man was at least speaking instead of summoning and he took a small step forward, "How so?" He asked. Elminster was silent for a while and then he scoffed, "They conned me, alright? What''s it to you anyway?" ''This old bastard!'' Henry thought angrily, ''You just tried to kill me, I have every right to ask questions!'' When he spoke though, he picked a more diplomatic approach, "Well, if you were to kill me, how could I be able to rest in peace when I don''t even understand why I died?" Elminster eyed him with his piercing blue eyes and then let out a resigned sigh, "I suppose you''re right. A quick history lesson and then we''ll get right back to the killing and the taking." "Sounds good," Henry said immediately just to get him to keep talking. He walked forward and watched as Elminster prepared himself to speak. Eventually, Elminster took a deep breath, "I''ve made many weapons, armor pieces even intricate jewelry pieces to adorn clothing and offer extrayers of protection, but I seek no mary gain. I only seek to further my artistic pursuit and build upon every creation so the next is better than thest. However, like any Craftsman, I couldn''tpletely forgo wealth. I mean, materials don''te cheap. So I lent ¡ªnot sold¡ª my weapons to anyone who could match my price. And many did because everyone knows, Elminster Eltugard is the best. You can''t see a fine work that isn''t either made by me orpared to the ones made by me. Of course, allparisons fail. No one does it better than me." ''What a pompous Ass,'' Henry thought. "But I''ve never heard of you," he said instead. Elminster snorted, "And where do you live?" "New Freudein," Henry said. "Bah! Of course you haven''t heard of me in such a backwards town. I doubt you lot even see a lot of magic there. In fact, how did you get your hands on ''The Hydra''s Sting''?" "Continue with your story, Old man," Henry said. Some of the annoyance he had kept in his mind so far seeping through. "Fine. Not like I care anyway. I just want it back. So where was I? Ah, yes. I lent my creation to the worthy ones who could match my price or exceed it in a bidding war but there was an understanding that it was only a lifetime deal. Once the one I lent it to, dies, the Weapon was to return to me. But those bastards proved sneaky. They devised contracts to make sure I couldn''t harass them. Stipted that I was not to seize any of the weapons outside of my workshop which meant, I had to wait for them to be brought to me. But I was a step ahead of them. My creations are mine after all. I ce failsafes on all them, causing increased strain to their wielder as the years go by. Increased weight, increased mana consumption. Basically anything that will force them to seek me out to have a tune-up." "That''s crafty of you," Henry said. "Yes, I thought so too. I was sure it would be enough but those bastards found subpar Craftsmen to bypass my failsafes. Not entirely but enough to make them wieldable so years go by and I can never get them back because they will never seek me out. So asionally, I send out Invitations. Hoping to ensnare the foolish ones to seek me out and meet their end or return my property. Which brings us to you and to what will surely befall you if you don''t Give Me That Gun!" Chapter 16: Striking A Deal [Main Quest: The grumpy Craftsman. Elminster is determined to crush you but his malice is not totally without reason. Find out what the reason is and use it to negotiate a deal with him.] The notification floated right at the corner of Henry''s eyes like a reminder. ''Alright, I now know the reason. What deal am I supposed to negotiate?'' Henry asked himself as the notification faded away. "Well?" Elminster said. "Well what?" Henry yed dumb to give himself time to think. "What do you mean ''what''? Hand it over!" Elminster said. "Hold on, this system of yours with the Invitations of death¡­ How sessful have they been?" Henry asked. "I don''t follow," Elminster said with a frown. "Well earlier, you said ''Every few centuries'' so I assume the Invitations haven''t been that sessful. And with all that white hair, you must be getting along in your years. I wonder if you''ll live long enough to have it all recovered." "I will," Elminster said with his brows furrowed, "But what are you getting at?" "Have you ever considered contracting someone to help with the recovery? Someone that is not bound by your contract and can harass the Wielders in your ce?" Henry said and with every word, he felt an assurance. He felt so rightly that this was the way to go. "My Automatons act on mymand so they count as me. I cannot employ them for the retrieval." "Your Automatons are not people so that''s not what I was talking about," Henry said. "Oh," Elminster said in realisation, "Oh, I see what you mean. Hahahaha, you must think me a fool. Myst dealings with people is why I''m in this situation. No one will take on such an undertaking without something to gain and I risk entering into another disadvantaged deal." "I''d assume you''re wiser now," Henry said. "I would too. But people can be so crafty and I''m not very good at human rtions," Elminster admitted. "Wow, really?" Henry said in a deadpan tone steeped in sarcasm. Elminster snorted in derision but said nothing. "I''ll do it," Henry said to break the silence. "You''ll do what?" Elminster asked. "I''ll help you retrieve your weapons¡­" Henry started. "They''re not all weapons," Elminster chimed in. "¡­ Whatever they are, I''ll retrieve them for you and I get to keep ''The Hydra''s Sting'' in the meantime." "Bah, why would I agree to that?" "It''s either that or you kill me and then wait another century for another to fall in your trap. I wonder how many more centuries you have left," Henry said. He couldn''t give up the Gun even if he wanted to anyway. "It''s worked well so far," Elminster grunted. "Has it really?" Henry asked with his head cocked to the side. Elminster stroked his beard with his eyes narrowed and his mind worked furiously before finally he let out a sigh, "Fine." Henry let out the breath he had not even realised he was holding as he nodded enthusiastically and took more steps forward until he was only about two feet away from Elminster with the counter being the only real barrier still separating them, "Good, good. I''m d you see sense." Elminster nodded, "Yes, yes. I''m very open minded, aren''t I?" "So what now? We sign a contract?" Henry asked. He noted that the System did not consider the Questplete which meant the ''deal'' had not truly been struck. Elminster eyed him and then said, "A contract will make my employment of your services official and count as you acting like my Proxy which will void my existing contract use of harassment. Let''s just shake on it." Elminster held out a hand and Henry looked from the hand to Elminster''s face, "Really?" He asked. "Really," Elminster said with a nod and a smile tugging at the corner of his lips and lifting his stark while moustache. "Alright then," Henry said as he took the hand with his right. For a second, nothing happened. He noted the hard callouses of Elminster''s hand as well how strong the grip was. It was so strong that Henry could not pull free. And then a sharp pain struck his palm and turned into a burning that seared his entire hand like the branding of hot iron. In a sh, Henry realised that was exactly what was happening. He was being branded! "Arrgghhh!!!" He yelped in pain and his knees went weak. He looked up into Elminster''s face and saw the old man grinning at him with eyes bright with a sadistic joy. "Yes, yes¡­ Feel the burn!" As painful as the branding was, Henry noted that he didn''t lose any Hit Points. The System apparently did not count it as an injuring process which he disagreed with as the burning continued to sear through him. And then, Elminster released his hand. As the pain began to subside, Henry looked at his palm and saw a rune glowing a bright, almost wicked, red. [You have received Elminster''s Brand] [Elminster''s approval of you has risen] [You have received 10 Exp] ''Getting branded makes him like me more? What a crazy bastard!'' Henry thought as he got back to his feet. He looked up and saw Elminster watching him with that sadistic smile on his face while still stroking his beard, "That brand is a far more elegant approach to our deal. I have not officially asked you to track down my possessions and seize them for me so I have not broken the use of my contract but if you don''t do as our deal dictates, that Brand will bring you here to me to face the death you have only narrowly escaped." "It''s gone." Henry said while holding out his palm to show that the brand was no longer glowing on it. "It would be inconvenient and unnecessary for it to glow all the time but it is there still. You will never be rid of it. Not until our deal is over, of course," Elminster exined. "So we DO have a deal then?" Henry asked. Elminster looked surprised that he would even ask, "Of course. That burning pain was not enough proof for you?" ''Oh it is. I just wonder if it''s enough for¡­'' Henry started to say in his mind when an alert interrupted him; [Quest Completed] [You have struck a deal with Elminster] [You have received 50 Exp] *[Nyx has received 25 Exp] *[You are now free to retrieve the magical weapon ''The Hydra''s Sting'' from within your Inventory.] "Come on, boy," Elminster said with a gesture at Henry and he turned around as a section of the wall that was littered with unfinished products began to sport lines that met until they formed a door that swung open. "So where will I find your creations?" Henry asked as he ducked under the counter and followed Elminster through the door that had just appeared. Elminster shrugged. "I have no idea." Henry was about to frown at the unhelpful statement but paused as he gazed upon the room Elminster had just led him into. Unlike the one they came from that was littered with unfinished products, this room seemed only to show off the best of Elminster''s creations. Brilliants swords, staffs, Spears, Armor pieces and many more adorned the walls but even more were the shelves on which small bottles holding varying colours of liquids were arranged in impable order. "Wow," he let out. "Impressive, isn''t it?" Elminster said proudly, "And these aren''t the even the best ones." "They''re not?" Henry said, sounding doubtful. He saw a rifle hanging on the wall and rubbed a hand over it. His body tingled with the magical power sealed within the weapon just waiting to be wielded. Elminster didn''t mind that Henry was touching the rifle. "All you see here are prototypes. Foundations for even better creations." Henry reluctantly pulled away from the rifle and his eyes went to the shelf of bottles with all manner of colored liquids within, "Those bottles?" "Potions," Elminster said, "Brewed by yours truly." "You make potions?" Henry said sounding surprised, "I thought you were a Craftsman." Elminster shrugged and was stroking his white beard again, "''Craftsman'' is a general term for what I am but, if we''re splitting hairs then I''m a Gunsmith, a cksmith, a Gold Smith, a Silver Smith, an Artificer¡­ Hell, you''d be hard pressed to find a trade I have not dabbled in. And, of course that includes potion making." Chapter 17: Elminster’s Stock Elminster took one of the potions off the shelf and handed it to Henry, "Here, have a taste." "Really?" Henry asked, genuinely surprised. Elminster smiled amicably. A far cry from the almost psychotic expression he had had earlier while aiming for Henry''s life. "Yes. Enjoy the wonders of Elminster Potion-making." With caution, Henry took the potion and eyed the bottle. Without prompting, a screen projected out in front of his eyes with an image of the potion bottle along with a description; [A Healing Potion brewed by Elminster The Great. A testament that his talents have no mortal limits. -Will Recover up to 20 Hit Points.] Henry''s eyes widened at the description. If what he read was true, then, with his Hit Point Maximum currently at 30, this bottle would help him recover more than half. "What are you waiting for?" Elminster said suddenly, "Are you worried it''s poisoned?" Henry shook his head, pulled out the potion''s cork, and drank the liquid. It tasted like water but like the most refreshing water Henry had ever had the pleasure to drink. From the moment the liquid touched his tongue, he felt a wave of relief as the healing energy spread all over his body. Healing any ache he was suffering from the punches he had suffered from his battle with the Automaton. [You have recovered 8 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 30/30] "How is it?" Elminster asked. "It''s good," Henry answered with a nod now holding an empty bottle. "Of course it is," Elminster said with augh. Henry listened to theugh for a while before a question dropped into his mind and he immediately asked it, "Is there a Potion that recovers Mana Points?" "Mana Points?" Elminster said looking confused, "You mean, Mana?" "Yes," Henry said with a nod while making a mental note not to refer to it as ''Mana Points'' to anyone else. That was clearly something he could only share with his System. "Well, of course," Elminster said, "But I will not be giving you a free sample. You want it, you''ll pay for it. Now ''The Hydra''s Sting''." Henry frowned, "You said I could have it. That was the deal." Elminster rolled his eyes, "I''m not taking it from you. But it''s about time I got to give it a real tune-up. Not that half-ass nonsense a subpar Gunsmith can manage." Rxing his brows, Henry pulled ''The Hydra''s Sting'' from his Inventory and handed it to Elminster. The Craftsman went over to a workbench and retrieved tools that shimmered with magical power and began to tinker with ''The Hydra''s Sting''. He picked it apart, cleaned it out, and inspected his inscribed runes. Among other things. Minutester, Elminster held the gun out to Henry, "Here," he said, "I trust you''ll find it even easier to wield." Henry took the gun and immediately received a Notification; [''The Hydra''s Sting'' has been touched by its maker and tuned to serve you better. ''Acidic Combustion'' now costs 40 Mana Points instead of 50. ''Numbing Gas'' still costs 20 Mana Points.] "Hmm," Henry let out as he read the notification. He raised ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and it responded by giving off a slight glow. Henry noted that even as the gun glowed and its muzzle was pointed at Elminster, the old man wasn''t bothered. If anything, he just looked amused. "Thank you," Henry eventually said. "Well, you''ll need to be prepared if you are to get back my creations. A lot of them are far more powerful than that thing you''re holding. Also¡­" Elminster trailed off as he pulled out a box and held it out to Henry who took it and opened it to find nine ck bullets tinged with Acidic green. There was an indentation of tongues on each of them. "Those bulletsplement ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and cut down on the cost of its magical activation," Elminster said but Henry was already reading the notification the System provided. [''Hydra''s Tongue'' (Bullet) x9 -Can only be loaded into ''The Hydra''s Sting''. -Cuts Mana Point costs of magical attack activations by 50%.] ''50 percent?'' Henry eximed in his head, ''Wow.'' With these bullets loaded and the tune-up the gun just received, Henry could fire Acidic Combustion twice, and if he managed to get his hands on some of that Mana recovery Potions, maybe even more. "Those bullets cost 15 gold apiece¡­" Elminster said. Henry''s eyes widened. ''15 gold¡­ That''s about 3000 Vens. That''ll cost all that I have put together and that''s just the price for one?'' As his mind worked on the calctions, Henry frowned but Elminster was not done, "¡­ But I''ll give you those 9 for free. They''ve just been here gathering dust anyway. And you can also consider it advance payment for the retrieval you will carry out for me. How about that? Generous, right?" Henry''s frown became a smile as he nodded, "Yes, actually. It IS generous." Elminster grunted, "Well, my generosity has its limits. If you want more, you''ll have toe back here and buy them." As Elminster was speaking, Henry received a notification from the System; [You have unlocked ''Elminster''s Stock'' With the brand now burned into your palm, you can enter Elminster''s workshop to purchase his rare stock of supplies. *Note: You will be unable to purchase his Weapons until his grievances have been soothed and his Creations have all been retrieved.] With a nce at the notification, Henry asked Elminster, "How much for the Healing and Mana Potion?" "I sell both for 20 gold each but in honor of our deal and because you now bear my brand, I can let either go for 15 gold," Elminster said with the silky tone of a sleazy salesman who was trying to make you feel like he had truly done all he could to help. Henry sighed. He pulled out the 10 gold he had gotten from the Warlock and 1000 Vens andid them out on a desk, "I want the Mana Potion." Elminster eyed the money and swept it away before cing a Mana potion in front of Henry who promptly picked it up for a notification like the one he had gotten about the Healing Potion. [[A Mana Recovery Potion brewed by Elminster The Great. A testament that his talents have no mortal limits. -Will Recover up to 20 Mana Points.] Henry eyed the bottle and let out a sigh, "This is such a good thing to have. A shame I don''t have more money. Don''t you think it''s pitiful?" "What is?" Elminster asked. Henry sighed even more heavily as he drew on every acting ability he possessed. He even ced a finger at his temple as though he was under stress, "It''s pitiful to have all that stands between me and survival be just a few coins, don''t you think? Being poor just sucks. If only¡­ *Heavy sigh* If only there was a rich Potion Maker who could afford to show mercy on this poor wretch. A shame that no one cares for the little guy. Such a shame." "Gods, you''re pathetic!" Elminster said, catching on to what Henry was doing. "I''m just thinking out loud. Why? Are you touched?" With a grunt, Elminster ced a second Mana potion on the table, "Here," he said. "Oh, a buy one get one free special? You have my thanks..." "Get one free, my ass! I''m giving you on credit. You''ll pay me back to thest quid!" "Well, if you''re offering it on credit, how about throwing in two Healing Potions." Elminster obliged and so Henry had two Healing Potions and Two Mana Mana potions while being 60 gold in debt because Elminster refused to give a discount on the three Henry took on credit so their costs remained at the original 20 gold apiece. "Alright now, get going," Elminster said waving Henry away. Henry quickly remembered an important question he had before getting side-tracked by talks of Elminster''s Potion-making skills, "Wait! How am I going to find your Creations? Where are they?" Elminster let out a breath, "I don''t know where they are. They''ve been strewn all about no doubt. I mean, you managed to get your hands on one in a town like ''New Freudein''. Who knows where the others wound up." "What?" Henry asked with his mouth gaped. He had been hoping for a clue. "But," Elminster said to re-spark his hope, "My Brand will guide you. Once one of my creations is within range, it will light up in your palm to alert you. That''s the best I can do. Now, goodbye." Elminster snapped his fingers and from the invisible brand in his palm, Henry felt a surge of magical power that activated an oval portal that sucked him in, taking him out of Elminster''s workshop and dropping him at the very spot he had been taken from in the Hadron Mansion. Chapter 18: Outcome Of A Power Test *** The day after the Train Job and Henry''s encounter with Elminster, he received an alert from the System that he had received for as long as he had been in this world; [You have Received a Daily Quest] "Oh?" Henry said with a confident smile, "More running exercises? Bring it on!" [Daily Quest: (Category: Mental) Meditate for One Hour. *Note: You will only be deemed to be ''Meditating'' when you have freed your mind of all wandering thoughts. Be simply ''Present in the Moment''. Reward: 5 Exp] "Huh?" Henry said as he read the message over and over again. He had never meditated in his entire life, past and current included. Nothing in the memories of the old Henry included Meditation or either. The ''Note'' that had been provided seemed more like a bunch of words rather than a tip on how to actually Meditate; ''''Only deemed to be meditating when you''ve freed your mind of all wandering thoughts''? What''s that supposed to mean?'' [It means, User, that simply sitting and doing nothing will not count as ''Meditation''] ''Why not? That''s what it is, isn''t it? Meditation is just sitting around and doing nothing.'' [¡­] Annoyed as he was, Henry did attempt meditation. He had the entire day to figure it out and it took almost as long because simply by personality, he always had so much on his mind. He was always thinking and that didn''t help. Sometimes, when Henry did seed in freeing his mind and simply let himself be ''present in the moment, some stray thought would pop into his head. For example, his ongoing Quest to find out Yelena''s secret. Other times, he just sat so still and did absolutely nothing to the point that he dozed off out of boredom. But, that evening, as he sat cross-legged in his room in the Mansion while working almost the hardest he had ever had to work in his entire existence, Henry finally received the ''very wee'' alert from the System; [Quest Completed] [Your ability to perceive the elements of the world has been strengthened¡­] [You have received 5 Exp] The Next day, Henry received the same Daily Quest. Since repetition had been the case the whole ofst week, Henry had expected as much but he still let out a disappointed sigh even though heplied. If for nothing more than the challenge to seed at something he never would have thought to try on his own. Besides, 5 Exp was incredible to him now that he knew what was the result of another level up. The second day was a struggle but easier than thest. The third day saw Henryplete the Daily Quest by Noon. On the Fourth day, Henrypleted the Daily Quest in three hours. On the Fifth day, Henry went beyond one hour of meditation and stayed cross-legged for an hour more. Ignoring the System''s notification ofpletion because he could quite literally feel his Perception spread from his body. Like a formless wave trying to take shape. It was strange but also wonderful. When he opened his eyes and let out a calm breath, Henry was smiling. He raised his hand and eyed his hand to stare at his palm. Everything looked and felt different even though they looked the same. He liked that. [A new Power grows within you¡­] With another Daily Questpleted Henry got to his feet and prepared to go about his routine for the day. He walked the mansion''s halls until he was at Yelena''s wing after which he walked to the door of the Medical bay and knocked on the door. "Who is it?" Yelena''s voice asked from behind the door. "It''s Henry." "Oh,e in!" Yelena said with excitement and Henry pushed the door open to see her sitting in her chair, poring over the scroll he had given her five days ago. "Good morning," Henry told her with a smile. "Good morning. You''re back," Yelena said. "I am." "That''s three times this week. If I didn''t know any better, I''d say you like spending time with me," Yelena said with a giggle. "What other reason could there be?" Henry said with a casual air as he pulled a chair and sat opposite her. But of course, there was another reason. The day before yesterday, on the third day of the Meditation exercises, Henry had a lightbulb moment; Wouldn''t it be easier to find out Yelena''s secret if he actually talked to her and got to know her better? It was certainly a better idea than skulking about trying to find out behind her back. So he came to the Medical bay ¡ªWhere she always was¡ª and knocked on the door. From his memories, Yelena was friendly enough but no one in the gang ever got far in a conversation with her. The longest chat anyone could manage was during healing sessions. Otherwise, she was always ''too busy'' for idle chatter. That did not seem to be the case with Henry. When he knocked on her door the day before yesterday and introduced himself, Yelena invited him in quickly and showed him the scroll he had gifted her. "Oh Henry, I''ve been reading the scroll, it''s incredible," she said. "So you can understand it then?" Henry had said with a small awkward smile, surprised by the familiarity. And then he remembered; [Yelena''s approval of you has risen.] ''Was this what it meant?'' Henry asked himself. "Of course, I can understand it. Can''t you?" Yelena asked. Henry shook his head, "It must be anguage of magic and not meant for me," he said still feeling slightly awkward. But that was then¡­ Now, he was used to it. So when he saw that, for the third time this week, he had walked in on Yelena reading through the scroll like she did not already know it by heart, he gestured at it with his head and a smile. "Still at it?" Yelena''s smile was bright, "Well, I know it all already but there''s always something more to learn. I just wish I could practice what I''ve learned a bit, you know." Henry gestured all over the room, "This seems like enough space for practice," he said. Yelenaughed lightly with a hand over her mouth, "Haha, tossing spells at a wall isn''t all that fun and engaging. I know because I''ve tried. If I just had a sparring partner though¡­" Yelena let her words trail off suggestively while looking at Henry with eyes wide with expectation. Henry''s brows furrowed, "Are you¡ª Are you asking me?" Yelena nodded while looking sheepish, "Will you do it?" "Alright," Henry said with a nod, "But in return, you tell me something about yourself." The truth was, as familiar as Yelena had started acting with him, she had remained very close-lipped about anything rting to her life. If Henry even suggested that she reveal anything, her eyes would cloud over and the mood in the room would dip with an ominous aura. Sure enough, Yelena''s eyes narrowed, "That''s a big thing to ask in return," she said while shaking her head. "Is it though? I''ve told you about myself." "Growing up in an orphanage and getting kicked out is indeed sad, Henry, but my past is¡ª Well, it''s different," Yelena said and she clutched the fabric of her gown in difort. "I won''t ask an invasive question," Henry offered, "It will be a simple one. I promise." Yelena still frowned but she let out a sigh of resignation as she stood to her feet. "Alright," she said, "But first¡­" She cupped her hands and chanted a few words under her breath and when she separated her cupped hand, a powerful wave of energy exploded with her as the epicenter. The energy oozed all over the inside of the room in a green healthy glow and standing within it, Henry felt a wave of Health flooding into his body. "This is my most powerful healing spell," Yelena said looking like she had not been at all stressed by such a powerful disy, "All injuries sustained within this room will be healed." Henry did a few stretching exercises as he smiled, "I like the sound of that. Let''s begin." "Of course," Yelena said and she was no longer frowning. In fact, she smiled with excitement. It was a beautiful smile that Henry could not help but return but that smile faltered when Yelena began to let out a magical energy with the force of a stormy torrent. Arcane tendrils began to take shape with dark crackling energy but it wasn''t one, it wasn''t two¡­ Henry counted at least Ten tendrils all lined up in front of Yelena like a curtain. Henry took on a stance but a cold sweat began to form on his forehead as his eyes widened, ''Something isn''t right¡­ Is that the same spell the Warlock used?'' There was no way that could be the same spell, Henry thought. And yet it was. It was the same spell just magnified at least Tenfold by a massive reserve of magical energy within Yelena''s beautiful and delicate frame. Worse yet, Yelena did not seem to realize she was conjuring a spell of a stronger level than it should have been. She just excitedlybined the tendrils in front of her into one singr st and fired. Even with his increased Agility stat, Henry couldn''t move out of the way. He was born down by magical might greater than he could possibly contest against. The attack struck him with no resistance from his end. The crackling energy wracked through Henry''s insides. Sundering his organs apart and shattering his bones. His heart was pumped so full of energy that it burst in his chest. [You have lost 30 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 0/30] [You have died.] Chapter 19: Aftermath Probably by good fortune, the shock of getting hit by the st, numbed Henry of all feeling so all the subsequent damages he suffered were bearable. He slipped into the darkness peacefully. "Ah, I''m back here," Henry thought as the darkness swarmed all around him, "So I died in a ''Power Test''. Who would have thought?" [Yelena''s ''Circle of Healing'' is in effect¡­] [All injuries have been healed and all Status Abnormalities including Death have been reversed.] [You have recovered 30 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 30/30] Henry felt full of life and felt a pull drag him out of the darkness before his eyes opened wide to find Yelena''s worried face inches from his own. "Oh gods, you''re alive!" She said with intense relief and driven by emotion, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. At first, Henry was pulled in by the warmth while his sense of smell was steeped in the sweet scent that wafted from Yelena''s body but then, his eyes widened in realization, ''That feeling of relief¡­ Did she not think I''d make it?'' The fact that Yelena had doubted that her ''Circle of Healing'' could bring him back even from death twisted Henry''s stomach into an ufortable knot. ''It could have all really been over,'' he thought with a deep frown. [You have cheated Death.] [You have aplished a Great feat.] [You have received 75 Exp] Reading the notifications, especially thest, Henry''s frown quickly became a smile. The trauma of a ''second death'' was almostpletely gone from his mind and he now saw this experience differently, ''Well, it''s as they say. No risk, no reward. No pain no gain. If I die again, do I get more Exp?'' Yelena pulled her head away, "I swear I didn''t know it would kill you," she said earnestly, "I swear!" "It''s alright," Henry said as Yelena let go of his neck and stood to her feet, her face in a distressed grimace. "Oh my gods! My ''Circle of Healing'' has never brought back the dead. For a second there, I really thought it was over." There were droplets of moisture at the corner of her eyes. She didn''t look impressed that her magic had aplished something so incredible. If anything, she looked shattered. "It''s fine. Really, I''m fine," Henry said. "I could have killed you. I''m so sorry," Yelena said as she looked away. Henry let out a small sigh, "Apology epted but you brought me back to life, so I''ll say we''re even." "You wouldn''t have had to be brought back to life if not for me," Yelena said. "Either way, I''m not dead. Next time, just go easy on me, okay?" Yelena turned around then with surprise in her eyes, "Next time? There''ll be a next time?" Henry looked like he was surprised she would even ask, "Of course." Yelena shook her head, "I-I don''t know," she said. "You''re going to make mistakes. You can''t let one misstep stop you from trying to BE better." "It was a pretty huge misstep," Yelena said. Her tone mellow. Henry shrugged, "Depends on perspective. I suffered it and I tell you it was not that big a deal." That was a lie. It WAS a big deal. But having motivated people before, Henry knew telling Yelena that would not help her. The worst thing for someone with potential was to allow trauma give them a mental block. He knew this from experience. Also, if she gave up now, how was he to experiment if more deaths would reward him with more Exp? Yelena paused and then a small smile stretched across her lips, "Well, I guess you''re right. But, it cannot be today. I don''t think I can do much of anything else today." "That''s fine," Henry said, "Tomorrow then." "Can you ask your question another time too?" Yelena asked, "Maybe when I''m not so shaken up." Henry searched her eyes and when he saw she was resolute, he nodded with a resigned smile, "Of course." ¡­ The next day, Henrypleted his sixth Meditation exercise and as he had done the day before, he went beyond while trying to give his formless perception the shape it so clearly wanted. He failed but the attempt itself filled him with a sense of aplishment. [Quest Completed] [You have received 5 Exp] Feeling refreshed and far more enlightened than he had ever felt, Henry opened his eyes and let out a rxed breath. *Knock* *Knock* "Henry?" Henry raised a brow in surprise at both the knock at his door and the voice that called to him from behind the door. "Triss?" Henry stood up and pulled the door open and there she stood. Her hair was the same reddish brown as it always was and her pretty face was inches from his own while she had the same smile she always seemed to have when she was looking at him. "Get dressed," Triss said striking a pose with her hands on her waist, "We''re going out." "Another job?" Henry asked. Triss shook her head, "Not really. It''s just the two of us heading into town. Come on, get dressed." A minuteter, Henry and Triss were walking out of Hadron Mansion and heading to the hitching posts for their horses. Triss walked ahead of him so Henry got a back view of what she was wearing. It was simr in style to what she had worn for the Train job (Hat, Shirt, trousers, vest, and gloves) but the clothes themselves were different. The only thing that remained the same was the belt that held her gun''s holster by her side. As his eyes trailed up Triss'' elegant form, Henry''s gaze fell on the part of her back she had been sshed with the acidic goop days ago. Henry could not help but be mystified that Yelena''s healing magic was strong enough to bring him back to life but it had failed to heal Triss'' wound in a single session. Triss still went to Yelena for follow-up sessions and Henry didn''t think that had stopped yet. "So why are we going to Town?" Henry asked as he mounted Nyx and Triss mounted her chestnut brown horse. With her reins in hand, Triss directed her horse and set off into a trot out of the Mansion''spound with Henry and Nxy by her side as she said, "A stake out of sorts. Angus just wants to know if it''s safe to wander about New Freudein and the neighboring towns. Word of the bloodshed on that train must have traveled here by now. It can''t hurt to be careful." For Six days, the Dionisio gang hadid low. ording to Angus, they just stole from a very powerful man and it would not be wise to act rashly until things had settled down well enough. Clearly, Henry and Triss were the advance group to brave the potential danger and, should they survive, give the Gang feedback so they can act ordingly. With all that in mind, Henry''s brows furrowed and his tone was serious when he said, "Of course." Triss nced at him, "You don''t have to sound like that," she said. "Like what?" Henry asked, confused. "Like you''re worried," Triss said with a small but beautiful-soundingugh, "We''ll be in and out before you know it. And hey, I''ll treat you to a drink." "Alright," Henry said with a smile but he didn''t think it would truly be as simple as ''getting in and out''. How could he when a notification had arrived from the System from the moment they left the Hadron Mansionpound and was still floating in front of his face with vague but ominous descriptions? [Grand Quest Updated! Main Quest: Aftermath. Quest Conditions; -Head into Town With Triss. -??? Reward: ???] Chapter 20: Langlot ¡ªNew Freudein Town¡ª Henry and Triss rode mostly in silence and as their horses trotted over the town''s boundaries, they cast their eyes around for any sign of high security that would make exploring the town difficult. The town was peaceful. It was noon so everyone simply walked about the muddy streets, going about their business or engaging in some mid-day drinking. Henry had memories of New Freudein. The gang had only taken refuge in this part of the country a few months ago and although most of his time since then was spent in the Hadron Mansion, there were moments when Henry was chosen to be among those who went into town to stock up on supplies. His eyes quickly went to thendmarks that were most prominent in the Old Henry''s memory; The Barbershop, The General store, The Local Gunsmith, and the Sheriff''s Station. Henry and Triss led their horses to Hitching Posts, dismounted, and tied their horses'' reins down. "So where to first?" Henry asked. Triss let out a breath as her eyes roamed the town until they fell on the Sheriff Station which she gestured at with her head, "If there''s anything to be worried about, we''ll find out there." As she spoke, Triss led the way from the horses and climbed short stairs until she was in front of the Sheriff Station but she didn''t push it open or knock on it. She just peered at the Posters stamped against the wall. Henry did the same. Looking at the ''Dead or Alive'' written under the faces of the criminals the Station was looking to capture, Henry smiled lightly in a twisted sense of nostalgia to when it used to be his wanted posters stered all over multiple towns. Anyway, none of the faces on any of the Posters were faces he recognized. That said a lot about how well the Dionisio gang had operated ever since they had made the Hadron Mansion their base. "Good," Triss said under her breath before she pushed the door open and walked into the Station. The deputies stopped their chat the moment she walked in with Henry right behind. Their eyes went first to her pretty face and her choice of attire before falling on the gun in the holster at her waist. Being armed was nothing all too out of the ordinary in the Town of New Freudein and there were quite a few reasons to be carrying a gun out in the open that didn''t automaticallybel someone a criminal. "And who might you be, Miss?" Asked a deputy with a smile but that smile faltered when his eyes fell on Henry''s face. He wasn''t sure why but there was something about the young man, the way he carried himself, that just screamed ''Trouble''! Henry noticed the Deputy''s eyes reaction to his face and the corner of his lips twitched. ''I don''t even have a gun on me ¡ªNot as far as he can tell, anyway¡ª so why is he so worried? The ''Gangbanger'' Title, maybe?'' Triss walked forward and ced a hand on the Deputy''s desk while leaning forward slightly, pulling the man''s attention back to her, "Triss. Bounty Hunter at your service," she introduced herself with a smile. Since the Deputy had not recognized her, she felt it was safe enough to proceed, "Noticed the wanted posters outside. They seem a bit tame. Is that really all there is?" "Ah, so you''re in search of a challenge," the Deputy said as he leaned back in his chair and then shook his head, "Well, those are the only miscreants our small town has to worry about. That is, besides the ''Train Murderers'', of course." Triss raised a brow, "The ''Train Murderers''?" She asked. Feigning ignorance. The Deputy let out a displeased sound, "Nasty bastards. ughtered so many men on a Train that went through here just days ago. News arrived the day after. From what we learned and from how many were killed, they''re a horrific group. It''s a shame we don''t know who they are." As the Deputy was speaking, his voice went low into some threatening tone but he didn''t direct the tone or his gaze at Triss but instead at Henry who was standing behind her. He still couldn''t shake that feeling of trouble. "I see," Triss said while straightening up, "A shame then. None of those posters will do. Once you''ve put a name and face to those horrible murderers, I will be more than happy to track them down for you. For a fee, of course." The Deputy took his eyes off Henry and became focused on Triss'' pretty face and her confident smile, "And we will ept the help," he said and as Triss and Henry turned around to walk out of the Sheriff''s station, he called out to add, "And do keep a lookout. Any suspicious activity could be the clue we need." "Of course," Triss said as she let the door close. "Why was he looking at you like that?" She asked Henry as they walked to the saloon next to get that drink she promised him. "You noticed?" Henry asked with a raised brow. Triss nodded, "He seemed worried about you or something. Have you met him before?" She asked. Henry shook his head, "First time I ever saw him." ''So she noticed the look but didn''t have the same reaction to me. Maybe the ''Gangbanger'' Title doesn''t apply to the members of the Gang. That would make sense, I guess." The moment Henry and Triss stepped into the Saloon, eyes went to them and there was a period of a few seconds where the clientele just stared at the two. Triss met it all with a smile as she and Henry walked up to the bar. She ced a few Quids in front of the Bartender, "Two." The Bartender took the Quids, cleaned two sses, and filled them with alcohol almost at the same time the bar clientele finally decided to look away and mind their business. "Drink up," Triss told Henry with a smile and she picked up a ss, "You can drink, can''t you?" "Of course," Henry told her with a chuckle as he lifted the ss to his lips and drowned it in one gulp. The Old Henry had only tasted a drink once and vowed never to try again. Henry though, was used to the burn of alcohol and smiled to himself when the taste of it in this world was not all too different. "Wow. Look at you," Triss said and she truly looked. In the days since the Train job, the Redhead could not help but notice differences in Henry''s stature. He seemed to have grown an inch or two, his physique lean and shaping up to be lethal. His face had shed thest of its roundness and was looking more mature. Plus, the few times she caught sight of him doing field chores for the gang, his muscles were getting defined. It was quite a considerable bit of change in just a few days. An interesting bit of change. Henry felt Triss looking at him and in all fairness, he was looking at her too, "So, about the ''Train Murderers''¡­ What now?" He asked as the Bartender refilled the sses. Triss shrugged as her voice went down to a whisper, "You heard the Deputy. They don''t have names or faces. It''s as we expected but it didn''t hurt to be sure. ''They'' will be interested to know." Henry, of course, understood that ''They'' were the rest of the gang. Triss was choosing their words carefully and avoiding name-dropping the gang in case of listening ears. A few more minutes passed. Henry and Triss had downed more drinks. Neither looked to be getting tipsy and the fact that Henry could hold his liquor was one of the things they talked about. *Bam!* The sound caused all conversations to cease as all attempts took went to the source. Five men stood at the entrance to the saloon, led by a man with an ugly scar across his left eye and a wicked grin stretched across his face as he ced down the leg he had used to kick open the saloon door. The man''s eyes swept all over the saloon and stopped the moment theynded on Triss''s face and let out a satisfied chuckle. A dark sound. "You know how long we been waiting for you rats to finally show yer faces?" Triss frowned but the look in her eyes was one of recognition, "Langlot!" She said underneath her seething breath and her hand went slowly to the gun in the holster by her side. Chapter 21: Quest Conditions Made Clear Langlot¡­ Henry recognized the name. It belonged to the Langlot Gang who had made New Freudein their Territory and mark long before the arrival of Angus Dionisio and his gang. There had been many fights between both gangs. So many that Triss, a rtively new member of the Dionisio Gang, looked at the men with intense distaste. Henry, however, did not recognize any of them because the Old Henry never joined the rest of the Gang in battle and their many skirmishes. The man leading the group waltzed into the saloon, his grin getting even wider across his rough face while his fellows chuckled sinisterly from behind him, "Knew yer couldn''t stay away for too long. Would only be a matter of time, I said." Triss rxed a bit. ''They couldn''t possibly attack me here,'' she thought. "Colm O''Hearn and the Langlot boys," She said with a small smile, "How bold of you to show your face here." "I can say the same abou'' you," Colm said with augh as he got even closer to Triss. He nced at Henry and although he did not recognize him, he knew instinctively that he was an enemy. Triss scoffed, "Why would I have anything to fear? It''s not my face on the wanted posters. It''s yours." "And yet, here I am," Colm said with his arms spread. Triss'' eyes narrowed and she cocked her head to the side in slight confusion, "How ARE you here?" Why would Colm risk capture or worse, death, toe here? ''Something doesn''t feel right.'' Colm chuckled, "Temporary pardon. You''ve all been very busy. Robbing a train and killing so many¡­ Why, I''m almost impressed." "I don''t know what you''re talking about," Triss said. Her hand gripping the handle of the gun in her holster. Colm sniggered confidently while shaking his head at Triss, "I wouldn''t do that if I were you." As one, the sounds of guns being pulled out of holsters sounded from the men behind Colm O''hearn, and in barely a second, four gun muzzles were pointed at Triss. All cocked and ready to fire. Henry frowned from behind her. He hid his hand away from sight and reached into his inventory to pull out his normal revolver while keeping his senses keened for the moment to attack. Triss took her hand off her gun and ced it on the bar instead. The bartender looked between the two opposing sides with his eyes wide but his mouth shut. "Good," Colm said, "No reason to have this get messy." "What do you want?" Triss asked. Henry saw her hand moving closer to the ss she had been using to drink only minutes ago. Colm rolled his eyes, "What do you think? You''ll lead us to that hideout of yours, of course. Been driving Doran crazy not knowing where you bastards are holed up." Doran Langlot was the Leader of the Langlot gang. Just as he didn''t recognize Colm and the others, Henry had no idea what Doran looked like but he knew the name. Triss'' hands kept inching toward the ss but stopped when Colm said, "And it''s not just for us. Yeah, we were out raiding when they came. Let me tell you, they were strong. Numbers meant nuthin'' to ''em. They would have killed us but they wanted information. Information on that thing yer lot stole on the Train." Triss looked troubled, "What¡ª Who are you talking about?" With a delighted grin, Colm continued almost like he hadn''t heard the question, "They thought we was you but then one of them sort of sniffed the air and said it weren''t us. Doran knew then¡­ He knew it could only be you lot. So we struck a deal. We told ''em we could get you. I said you''d eventually show your faces. We just had to wait. The momen'' I saw you walking in here, I sent the signal. They''ll be here soon and we can get this ''little'' issue sorted." Triss leaned closer to the bar as she whispered to Henry behind her, "Henry?" "Hmm?" "Jump over!" Triss acted then. She grabbed the ss her hand had been inching toward and tossed it at Colm''s face. It shattered and broken pieces pierced his face as he let out a cry, "Ahhhh. Bitch¡ª!" For a second, the Langlot boys froze, and then, when Triss and Henry leaped over the bar as one, they opened fire. The frozen bartender fell to the ground soon after, with holes all over his chest from where he had been struck by bullets meant for Triss and Henry. "We need to get out of here?" Henry''s eyes widened as the shots kept striking the wall above their heads and the people in the saloon continued to yell in fear at the gunshots, "You''re not going to fight?" He asked. Triss shook her head and quickly crawled toward a door behind the bar with Henry following her closely, "Too many of them," she said, "Plus, from what Colm said, we need to get away from here as fast as we can." She pushed the door open and she and Henry leaped through it before getting back on their feet and sprinting down the corridor towards a door on the other end. The shots paused and Henry knew their opponents were following after them quickly on foot. Sure enough, "There they are!" Colm yelled and more shots were fired, "Aim for their legs! Don''t kill ''em! We need ''em alive!" Even as Colm yelled for caution, the Langlot boys could hardly be bothered to be precise. They were not skilled enough for that. That was fortunate because, had they had half as much skill as Henry did, they would have gunned them down already. Triss pulled open the door at the end of the corridor and dashed out of it to the very back of the Saloon. As Henry followed after her, he allowed himself a small nce behind them, pointed his revolver, and fired a shot. He didn''t watch to see his target fall and die but the System let him know of his sess. [Kill-Reward: 8 Exp] It was lesser than what he had gotten for the uniformed men on the Train. ''Well, of course, it''s smaller,'' Henry thought without much surprise. The Langlot boys were not as skilled as the men on the Train. It made sense. Triss led the way around the Saloon with their pursuers hot on their heels. They had to get to their horses and get out of New Freudein as soon as they could before things got worse. "Loosen the reins on the horses," Triss said as she pulled her gun from her Holster, "I''ll cover you." She sounded so grim and resolute and at first, Henry was going to insist that he cover her instead but then he decided not to. "I''ll be quick," he said. Compounding his agility with the Strength in his muscles Henry gained an incredible boost that got him to the horses in three seconds. Another second to pull the reins off the Hitching Post and the horses reared their heads and whined. Henry patted Nyx''s coat as he hoisted himself into the saddle on her back, "Come on, girl," he said as he motioned for her to move. Nyx immediately obeyed. Triss'' Chestnut brown horse galloped to her side right when she had fired a few shots that sent the enemies in front of her seeking quick cover, she mounted the horse and galloped to Henry''s side before going past him and leading the way out of town. But things were not so easy. Their path out of town was blocked by men with Rifles who were ready to fire at the moment''s notice. Henry raised his gun and fired before Triss could and the redhead watched, impressed, as the bullet pierced an enemy''s head and caused instant death. [Kill-Reward: 8 Exp] Nyx continued to gallop and she put herself between two men with Rifles. A man pointed his gun at Henry and he kicked the muzzle up to send the fired shot harmlessly into the sky. He then grabbed the gun and pulled it out of the man''s hand before blessing him with a bullet to his head. All within the space of four seconds. [Kill-Reward: 8 Exp] The man on the other side of Nyx tried to fire but the horse reacted, reared her hind legs, and stomped hard on his head with wicked-sounding *Thuds*. Killing him. [Nyx has made a Kill] [Nyx has received 10 Exp] Henry made sure he clicked the ''Loot'' button the system presented and was flooded with notifications of his gains. Most notable of the gains were Rifle Ammo boxes holding 20 bullets each. Triss handled the ones who had been blocking her way and she and Henry rode out of town. Seemingly toward safety. But then, in the distance, two figures with cloaks over their bodies were mounted on horses. [Your ability to perceive the elements of the world has been strengthened¡­] As a reminder of a message he had received days ago,appeared in Henry''s mind, his Perception went off like an rm and with such intensity, that his body shook. One of the figures raised a hand and it set aze in a fiery glow. "Magic!" Triss said, sounding shocked. Meanwhile, Henry received an alert from the System. The previously unclear Quest conditions were now made clear; [Grand Quest Updated! Main Quest: Aftermath. Quest Conditions; -Head into Town With Triss. -Return Alive to Hadron Mansion. Reward 1: {If Triss survives} 150 Exp Reward 2: {If Triss dies} 100 Exp. Good Luck.] Chapter 22: Skill Level-Up! ''If Triss survives, if Triss dies? Shit!'' Henry thought and he looked to the side at Triss. Her reddish-brown hair flowing behind her from under her hat and he knew that for the System to have been specific and for the Quest to have such high rewards, this would not be easy. He thought back to the Train and the situation with the Warlock for tips on how to fight a magic user but then stopped in realization that he had not had a part in that fight. He had been more focused on Mr. Grant and the Sub-quest at the time. ''But it should be fine. We can take a detour. Throw them off and then make our way back to¡­'' A bullet flying past his ear pulled Henry out of his thoughts. He nced behind him and just as they were getting closer to the apparent magic wielders ahead of them, the Langlot boys had mounted horses and were gaining on them by the second. Nyx could outrun those horses easily following the increase of her Stats from her level-up. But the same was not true for Triss'' horse and Henry did not want to leave her behind. "Calm down," Triss said gently about the two figures ahead of them, "They might just be passing through." People did pass through New Freudein quite a bit in their travels. It was why it was a good ce to stay as a Gang. There was always a considerable supply of targets to rob. However, Triss was just being optimistic and even she knew that. Sure enough, From behind them, Colm yelled, "HERE THEY ARE! THEY THE ONES YOU BEEN LOOKING FOR!" "Fuck!" Triss said, "Henry,e on!" The redhead turned her horse and left the path with Henry following after. The intent was to put as much distance between them and the Magic-wielding strangers as possible. She still remembered Colm saying; "They''re Strong. Numbers mean nothing to them." She did not want to have to confirm his report. Shots kept getting fired and Henry decided he had had enough. He arched his neck around to nce behind him and cocked the rifle in his hand before firing a shot. Even with Nyx''s gallop slightly impacting his aim, Henry fired two shots into his target''s chest and the Langlot gang member died and fell off his horse. [Kill-Reward: 8 Exp] As Henry picked his next target and fired, a shot sounded out and a bullet struck his shoulder with such force that it pierced out the other side. Colm had his rifle pointed with a focused re and one eye closed to better his aim. His face was still bleeding from where ss pieces had pierced his face. [You have lost 5 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 25/30] "Hngh," Henry groaned and the shot he fired went wide and missed. "Henry!" Triss called out in worry as she pointed her revolver behind her and fired every bullet left in her cylinder. Sessfully killing another Langlot Gang member. Now they only had five still after them including Colm at the lead. That was one advantage the Langlot Gang always seemed to have over the Dionisio Gang. Angus picked and allowed members into his fold with considerable care but Doran Langlot was more indiscriminate. He was happy to let any able-bodied man or woman join their ranks. It allowed their numbers to swell but also put them at risk of getting caught. Which was why they had multiple bases strewn all about the countryside. If the Langlot boys were all they had to worry about, Henry was sure they would be fine but they were not. Thanks to the past few days of meditative Daily Quests, Henry''s perception could spread away from him in a considerable radius and pick out elements of the world his actual sights could not reach. He sensed the approaching horses of the magic-wielding strangers and frowned because he and Triss were not yet gaining ground. Just then, Triss yelled with genuine hurt in her voice. "No. Anders!" Henry looked to the side at her. Her reddish-brown horse had multiple bullet holes in its backside and was bleeding. His speed plummeted and with a final stagger, it fell to the ground. Triss only managed to avoid getting crushed under its weight by leaping off the saddle at thest minute. Nyx suddenly bucked under Henry and let out a whine of pain. Henry looked and saw she had been shot as well. [Nyx has lost 5 Hit Points] [Nyx''s Hit Points: 30/35] *After leveling up, Nyx''s Hit Points (previously 20), increased by 15. ''Those bastards,'' Henry thought, seething, ''They''re targeting the horses.'' Henry pulled on Nyx''s reins and stretched his hand toward Triss, "Get on!" Triss grabbed the outstretched hand and got on Nyx''s back. Henry ced her in front of him. "I should be behind you," Triss said. "No," Henry said calmly, "Take Nyx''s reins." Triss took the reins and with a spike of it, Nyx''s jet-ck agile body burst into an explosive gallop. The seconds that had been spent stopping and getting Triss onto Nyx''s back had allowed the Langlot Gang to gain ground but now, without having to keep pace with Triss'' horse, Nyx could let loose the true extent of her speed. "Wow," Triss let out. She was sad about her injured horse but at that moment, she was amazed at the speed Nyx was capable of. At their current pace, they were going to leave the Langlot horses in the dust but Henry was not simply going to let the enemy dwindle into the distance. He pulled out one of the Rifle Ammo boxes he had looted back in New Freudein and reloaded the Rifle in his hand to maximum capacity. He raised the rifle¡­ [Activating Marksmanship Lv. 1 Active effect: +5% uracy] ¡­ and began to fire. Thanks to the Range of a rifle and his uracy bonus, every two fired shots killed a Langlot Gang member, causing their horses to run out of control. [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 8 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 8 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 8 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 8 Exp] [Skill Level-up!] [ is now Lv. 2] [You have unlocked a Marksmanship Active Sub-Skill: Quick-Thinking] [ For five seconds, you and everything in the world will be frozen but your brain will continue to operate. Allowing you enough time to make split-second decisions even in moments of great distress. Costs: 5 Mana Points.] Henry was forced to read the alert of the Skill level-up and brushed through the description of but brushed it all aside so he could fire his final shot to kill Colm O''Hearn. "Ahhhh!" Just then, Colm cried out and Henry watched as one of the out-of-control horses of his dead gang members, mmed into his own, causing it to topple over and trap his foot in a loud and deep *Thud*. With Nyx still riding at top speed, Henry didn''t get the chance to fire his shot. He hated that. He had a feeling Colm would give him more Exp than he had gotten from the other Langlot boys. Speaking of Exp, as they rode away to safety, Henry called out his Status screen; [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 3 (239/400 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Gangbanger] [Hit Points: 25/30] [Mana Points: 40/40] [Strength: 14] [Agility: 10] [Stamina: 6] [Perception: 7] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 2 } {Taming Lv. 1 }] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª After a Quick Look through his Status screen, Henry remembered Nyx had also made a kill so he called up her status as well; [Name: Nyx] [Creature: Horse] [Breed: Veren Racehorse] [Level 2 (35/50 Exp)]* [Hit Points: 30/35] [Strength: 30] [Speed: 60] [Stamina: 25] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª While Henry was looking the Status over, Triss looked back and when she saw there were no more horses after them, she let out a breath of relief, "We''re safe," she said. Henry opened his mouth to speak but an alert from the System arrived to stun him; [Two Vykers approach you with violent intentions.] [You have received a Sub-Quest; Defeat the Vykers or survive the Encounter. Kill Reward: 65 Exp (For Each) Sub-Quest Reward: 50 Exp. Good Luck.] "Shit!" Henry let out. "What?" Triss asked. "I think you just jinxed it," Henry said with furrowed brows. Behind them, two horses leaped onto their path with thunderous thuds. The ck-cloaked magic-wielding strangers were their riders. Chapter 23: Battling Vykers (1) With his sense of danger at an intense high, Henry knew he had to act fast so he raised his rifle and started firing shot after shot toward the two. "What the¡ª" With his mouth open in surprise, Henry watched as the two riders ¡ªVykers, as the System called them¡ª reacted with incredible reflexes to avoid all fired shots. They even went as far as to control their horses and skillfully move in a zig-zag pattern that made it difficult for them to be targeted. All the while still inching ever closer. Triss guided Nyx down a ridge with a purposeful focus that told Henry that she knew where she was going. Unlike Henry, she had left the Hadron Mansion many times to perform missions for the gang so she knew enough paths that could give them a chance at escape. The problem was, the longer they rode, the weaker Nyx became as her stamina was soon running out. On the other hand, the horses the Vykers were riding were ofrger builds thick with muscle that boasted stamina. While Nyx was very suited to a sprint, those horses were suited to Marathons which this ride was quickly turning into. Now that the Vykers were getting closer, Henry could better observe their faces. One was a man, the other was a woman. The man had anky build and an arrogant smile on his face as his horse galloped closer to their target. The woman''s face was more serious and as the cloak she had on billowed, her form was exposed to Henry''s sight. She was huge. Her arms were bulging with muscles and each of her thighs looked asrge as two of Henry''s put together. Her chest was expanded and looked more like manly pecs than they did breasts. Her face was butch¡­ Really, by visage, she looked like a man but she was a woman. Henry was sure. As Henry watched, the female Vyker reached to the side of her saddle and lifted a crossbow. It was made with wood, metal, and string and it was massive. The Vyker fitted a bolt on the Crossbow and raised it to aim. "Shit! Nyx, to the side!" Henry yelled. Because he wasn''t handling the reins, a yell was all he could manage. Nyx heard him and regardless of the direction Triss was directing her to move in, she obeyed and swerved to the side. s, it made hardly a difference. The female Vyker fired the bolt and with a sickening *Thwack* sound, it struck into Nyx''s side. A few inches from where Henry''s right leg was. [Nyx has lost 8 Hit Points] [Nyx''s Hit Points: 22/35] Nyx stopped in ce immediately and reared in pain so violently that Henry and Triss were tossed off her back and then she galloped away as though running would help lessen her pain. "Well¡ª Fuck¡ª" Henry said as he watched her go. Disappointed as he was to see his best chance at an escape gallop to safety, Henry was still pleased that she wouldn''t get attacked anymore. He didn''t want her to share the fate of Triss'' horse whose life or death was so far unknown. The two Vykers arrived just as Henry and Triss got back to their feet. "Heel," said the female Vyker in a voice softer than Henry would have expected considering her size and the look on her face. "Resist and you WILL die," the male Vyker warned. Henry and Triss shared a look but said nothing. Running was pointless when their pursuers were on horses so things were looking very bleak. The female Vyker nodded, satisfied. She took their silence and their decisions not to take action aspliance. "Now, tell us where it is." "Where what is?" Triss asked immediately. Her voice was far more stable than she thought it would be. Henry nodded in agreement to her question and added his own, "And who are you?" The female Vyker snorted as she and herrade alighted their horses with their sights locked on Henry and Triss with an almost prating re. "I''m Rena," she said and then pointed at her malerade, "And he''s Urn. We serve Maude Aleric. The Lord whose chest you so foolishly robbed." "We don''t¡­" Triss started to say. "Don''t bother denying it," Reyna said with a hand raised and her nose wrinkled, "I can smell it on you." "Smell what?" Triss asked and Henry thought he heard a bit of hurt in her voice at the insinuation that she smelled bad. Rena pointed at Triss, "You''ve been touched by Grant''s gun. Even now, its sting remains, does it not?" She asked. Triss frowned and Rena smirked, "That''s what I thought. I could smell the corroded flesh even as we chased after you." Rena pointed at Henry then, "You, though¡ª You''ve not been touched by Grant''s gun. You''ve touched it instead. Attempted to wield it too, I suspect." Urn, the male Vyker,ughed then. A harsh sound thick with arrogance, "He''d be foolish to try. How much magic can a boorish Gangbanger possibly have to activate that weapon? Even Grant needed a transfusion to fire it more than once." Rena nodded in agreement, "Well, it''s of no consequence. Just one more item to retrieve. Now, the Chest, Where is it?" Triss shrugged, "We don''t know." Urn frowned. "I don''t think you understand the extent of your error. There is no forgiveness. There is no pardon. You WILL speak and you WILL die. But if you cooperate, we can at least ensure your death will be quick and rtively painless. The alternative is enough torture to make you squeal and enough pain tost you into the afterlife. Now, will you tell us?" This time, it was Henry who answered with a confident and clear-sounding, "No." If it was death, either way, he might as well be defiant. He didn''t have to look to his side to know that Triss agreed. Rena shook her head like she was truly disappointed. She raised a hand ¡ªarge hand¡ª and Henry watched as it became covered with scales while her nails began to extend and curve into wicked ws. "Then, you''re fools. The materials to create a Vyker varies but for the best result, the parts of a magical creature are essential. In my case, it was a Wyvern¡­ With my ws, I will shred your skin off your bones, piece by piece and although you will be in excruciating pain, you''ll remain alive long enough to tell us what we want to know. So we ask again, and for thest time, where is the Chest?" Triss pursed her lips. The Langlot gang had had the advantage of not being the ones who robbed the train and that had allowed them to strike a deal with the Vykers. Unfortunately for her and Henry, they did not have that advantage. Maybe things could have turned out differently if other members of the Dionisio gang had gone to New Freudein instead¡­ Members who had not been struck by the Acidic goop on the Train. Maybe. But Maybes were pointless now. With a look to the side at Henry, the two acted together with impressive synergy considering they had never attempted such before. They leaped back at least three feet. Triss ran behind Henry for cover as she hurried to reload her empty revolver cylinder. Henry provided her the cover she wanted by raising his rifle and firing the six bullets he still had left in the gun. His aim was impable as always and he aimed for the heads of both Vykers only to be left stunned when both Rena and Urn reacted with insane reflexes to dodge all fired bullets. Urn''s feet zed with a fiery glow and he dashed forward in an explosive speed by all senses of the word. He went past Henry with hardly a bother and spun in ce to smack Triss with a backhanded fist of his hand that had also been set aze with a fiery glow. "Ahh!" Triss let out as she was sent flying over five feet away. Rena''s thigh muscles bulged and she bounded forward. She arrived in front of Henry before he could even think to blink, with a scaled fist flying toward his face for a bone-crunching impact. Chapter 24: Battling Vykers (2) As surprised ¡ªeven stunned¡ª as Henry was by Rena''s bounding speed, his Perception remained active and informed his body to spur his reflexes into action so he could raise his rifle at the veryst minute to intercept the iing blow. *BAM!* "Mmph!" Henry was sent flying while Rena eyed him with surprise that he had managed to react fast enough to avoid a direct hit. Henry, however, was faced with the sheer power that backed the Vyker''s blow and he felt so outmatched. His arms shook as he got back to his feet only to hear the faintest sound of wind rushing toward him. He moved his head to the side and a scaly fist punched through the area he had been just a second ago. Again, Rena eyed him with surprise but that did not stop her from swinging her fist and striking the side of his face in an impact that sent him a few feet away. [You have lost 7 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 18/30] As he rolled to a stop, Henry remained conscious. He pushed his rifle into his Inventory and pulled out his Revolver. The moment he came to a stop, he fired shots and watched as Rena raised her forearms in front of her face so that her scales deflected the worst of the damage. There were dents and about one visible crack but considering six bullets had been fired, all of which struck the target, it was a horrible sight. For Henry. Rena put her arms down, grinning widely. Her upper canines appeared longer than normal, "Guns? HAHAHA! Those boorish tools are useless against me. I am armed to my teeth with magic!" The ''Teeth''ment seemed very deliberate because she slicked her tongue across her canines like she was inching to sink them into Henry''s flesh. Rena''s adrenaline was on such a high that she failed to notice that Henry''s rifle was no longer in sight. She also failed to notice that he suddenly had a second revolver in his other hand. Henry pointed ''The Hydra''s Sting'' at the female Vyker. "Another try?" Rena asked with a confident cackle but it faltered when she got a closer look at the gun. Its ck color and the scaly design¡­ Also, the faintly glowing green, "Wait, that gun¡­" she said slowly in realization. Henry said nothing. He simply powered the gun with his magical energy so that its acidic glow brightened even more and then he pulled the Trigger. [You have activated ''Acidic Combustion''] *[''Hydra''s Tongue'' bullet has cut down Mana cost by 50%] [-20 Mana Points] The bullet left the gun''s barrel with a bright green glow and a speed that could not bepared to a normal revolver''s firing speed. It was the first time Henry had truly sessfully fired the gun and it was so satisfying. It got even better when Rena managed to react at thest second but could not dodge in time so she was left with her previous forearm defense. The bullet pierced Rena''s scales and green cracks spread all over her forearm before the scales shattered in abustive explosion that knocked her back a few steps in a cloud of green, choking mist. ¡ª Afternding a sessful hit on Triss, Urn, the male Vyker, calmly stalked toward her. He first set his sights on the burn on the side of her face where his ming fist had struck, then he bent down and grabbed the back of her vest to lift her. Judging by how he lifted her with one hand and with hardly a look of strain, hisnky stature was deceiving and he had far more strength than the average man. Triss appeared limp as though knocked out and after observing her for a minute or two, Urn let out a scoff of disappointment. "All that bravado to go down to a single blow," he said and then chuckled. Urn was just about to nce over at Rena to see how she was getting on in her battle with Henry when he noticed Triss still had her gun. As limp as she appeared to be, her grip on her gun seemed as tight as it could ever be. And then, suddenly, Triss'' eyes flew open and her re was one of intense hate. In barely a second, she pulled her hand up, pointed her gun at Urn''s chin, and clenched the trigger. In the second Triss took to raise her weapon and fire, Urn realized he had been yed and with his eyes widened in surprise that an average Gangbanger coulde up with such a ruse and y it so well, he knocked his neck back as fast as possible to avoid the shot. s, even though he avoided a fatal hit that would undoubtedly have killed him, the bullet still cut a wound on his chin as it continued up into the sky. As the stinging of the pain caused Urn to groan, he looked down to re at Triss to see her produce a dagger with her left hand. Triss raised the dagger with a skillful spin before aiming for the Vyker''s neck. Urn knocked the arm aside and it was only after a gunshot sounded and a bullet pierced the arm he had been using to hold Triss up by her vest that he realized he had fallen for another ruse. The dagger-strike attempt had only been to distract him so he would leave Triss'' gun hand unattended and allow her to fire that shot. "Argh!" With a cry of pain that seemed toe from deep within his chest, Urn let go of Triss'' vest and the moment her feet hit the ground, she hurried many steps away and fired three more shots. Urn cradled his injured arm but still had enough reflexes and sharpened instincts to avoid two out of three of Triss'' shots. The third struck his shoulder and he let out a groan of not just pain but annoyance. Defense had always been a problem for him. It was why he relied more on mobility to avoid getting hit. He had underestimated the redhead and she had made him pay for it. "You''ll regret that," Urn said in a seething tone. His feet zed with his characteristic fiery glow and again, he moved with the explosive speed he had used to get to her and deliver a blow earlier. Triss'' knew such a move was trouble so of course, she pointed her gun at Urn, trying to track his movement and deliver her shot. s, Urn moved too fast to be tracked and in the brief second his body remained stationary enough to be targeted, he delivered a fast blow to her face. "Ack!" Triss let out in pain as her head was knocked back. Not only was the blow heavy because Urn''s strength was greater than hers but it was also backed by a fiery heat that scalded her. Her nose broke and she bled but her blood was dried up before it even had the chance to run down her face. *Bam!* *Bam!* Urn delivered two quick-fire blows after. The first caused Triss to double over, her mouth open in a silent cry of pain. The second sent her sliding away. Or more urately, it would have sent her flying away had Urn not grabbed a piece of her shirt to keep her close just so he could overpower her and press her face into the ground. "Now just stay right there," Urn said and his voice sounded gentle. In a predatory sort of way. "Rena should be done with¡ª" *Bang!* The explosive sound interrupted Urn''s words and he looked toward the sound to find Rena standing ¡ªLegs shaking¡ª a few feet away from Henry who had his gun pointed. Urn''s eyes widened when he saw the skin on Rena''s arms waspletely shredded like her scales had been forcefully peeled. The arms bled and the blood was mixed with a sickly acidic stream that sizzled ever so slightly. "How¡ª" Urn started to say in shock and then he saw the gun in Henry''s hand, "Grant''s gun¡­ How are you wielding it?!" Henry ignored the question. He was far more interested in the fact that ''Acidic Combustion'' had not instantly killed Rena but there was no reason to let disappointment grip him too hard. He thought, ''If one shot didn''t end it, then the second surely will.'' Chapter 25: New Title Underestimation¡­ Rena seethed deep inside because she knew that was the only reason this boy in front of her had managed to catch her off guard with his shot. She had not expected that he would have enough Mana to activate the gun and the fact that he stood there, at ease, and ready to fire the gun again, made her know she had to take things a little more seriously if she wanted to survive. In the background, Rena heard Urn yell out his question but she didn''t pay attention to it as she stopped her shaking legs, gritted her teeth at the pain she was feeling, and called out the true limit of her Vyker mutation. She covered every part of her body with her scales and new ones reced the ones that had shattered off her forearms. They were thinnerpared to the ones that had been there before andpared to the ones that now covered the rest of her body but they promised her at least some level of protection. Her arms still bled and the sickly acidic green caused it to sting at least five times more than normal but Rena pushed through that pain as she got into a stance with her eyes in a focus re and a feral growl rising in her chest. With the scales all over her body and her expression, she looked more beast than human. Henry heard the growl so clearly like she was right next to his ear and his body shook with a primal fear. Like his existence was being questioned for even daring to look a superior being in the eye. Henry frowned as the name of the mental attack he was suffering was supplied to him by the System. Knowing the attack''s name wasn''t much help but he resisted the effect as hard as he could and maintained his aim as best he could before firing the shot. [You have activated ''Acidic Combustion''] *[''Hydra''s Tongue'' bullet has cut down Mana cost by 50%] [-20 Mana Points] The bullet left the gun just like thest time but as Henry''s Mana Points bottomed out, he watched Rena lean her body to the side so that the acidic-green bullet passed harmlessly by her side. Throughout that smooth maneuver, Rena did not take her eyes off Henry''s face. Her re continued to bore into him and that overbearing feeling still ignited fear within him. The Vyker stomped her feet against the ground and she vanished from Henry''s sight. She appeared barely a secondter with her wed hand stretched back and then mmed forward for an attack that mmed and tore into Henry''s blood with fivecerations for each of Rena''s five w-tipped fingers. "Ack!" Henry let out with his eyes widened in stunned pain as he was sent sliding away from his attacker. [You have lost 15 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 3/30] Another attack was sure to send that number down to zero, killing him. ''I need to heal!'' Henry thought but even though she didn''t know what he was thinking of doing, Rena didn''t give him any breathing room. She just bounded forward at that insane speed of hers with her hand drawn back for another attack. "Don''t worry," Rena cackled, "You won''t die. Yet!" ''Bullshit! Yes, I will!'' Henry roared in his head, and with every bit of quickness he was capable of, he dipped his hand into his Inventory and pulled out his Rifle to swing it like a club. Rena''s ws tore through the weapon''s material, rendering it useless but Henry had managed to avoid direct contact with her strike and hisst remaining Hit Points were safe. For now. Plus, he allowed himself to be sent away by the force of Rena''s blow, and even as his hands shook and went numb, Henry dropped the ruined rifle, retrieved three potion bottles from his Inventory and drank all three in a single go. [You have recovered 20 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 23/30] [You have recovered 20 Mana Points] [Mana Points: 20/40] [You have recovered 20 Mana Points] [Mana Points: 40/40] ''Good. Now I can fire more shots with ''The Hydra''s Sting''. And also endure a few more attacks.'' Henry had no doubts he was going to get struck again and sure enough, once the empty potion bottles fell from his hand, Rena was back with another blow. Henry became hyper-focused with his brows furrowed in a fervent expression as he let his Perception-guided reflexes move his body so he could lean slightly to the side and smack Rena''s forearm with his own to deflect her blow. *Bam!* Henry''s bones shook from the impact and Rena cackled as she drew back her arm and struck out again delivering three quick-fire blows one after the other. Henry managed to dodge one blow but the next two struck him squarely on the chest, the second heavier than thest and bothnded with enough force to crack his sternum. [You have lost 22 Hit Points] [Hit Points 1/30] As he slid away, with his ears ringing and some sort of reddish tint in his sights warning him of his impending death, Henry pulled out thest Health Potion he had gotten from Elminster and downed it. [You have recovered 20 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 21/30] The feeling of rejuvenation had barely settled in when Rena arrived with yet another wed fist strike. Henry dodged only to be left blindsided when she vanished and the attack came from the other side of his face instead. *BAM!* [You have lost 10 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 11/30] ''I can''t hit her and I can''t avoid her!'' Henry thought sullenly as the metallic taste of blood flooded his mouth. Rena''s speed, backed by her insane muscle strength was too fast for him to follow. He had very limited shots possible with ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and if he failed, he would have no way through the Vyker''s scales. s, his reflexes were barely keeping up. His brain was NOT keeping up. ''Wait a minute¡­ My brain!'' Henry stopped frantic thinking suddenly as the information he had skimmed through earlier appeared almost too clearly in his mind. [Activating Marksmanship Active Sub-skill; ] [-5 Mana Points] Everything froze. A five-second timer began to tick down. Frozen himself, Henry''s eyes could not move but since his brain continued to operate, his Perception was active as well. Thanks to his meditative exercises, he could spread his Perception from his body in a considerable radius and it allowed him to observe his surroundings almost as clearly as he would with his eyes. He ''saw'' Rena aiming an attack at his right side but noticed a shift in her stance. The way her knees angled¡­ ''That attack is a feint,'' Henry realized, "The real strike ising from the left!'' ended and Henry pointed ''The Hydra''s Sting'' to his left side and pulled the trigger. *Bang!* Rena''s speed became her downfall. She arrived just in time to have the acidic-green bullet strike into her midsection and spread its acidic cracks all over her scales before exploding in an even louder and more impactfulbustive explosion that sent the Vyker flying away. Because of her strong center of gravity andmendable resilience, Rena managed to remain standing. Barely. Her midsection dripped with blood and a concentration of acidic stream that bubbled and sizzled consistently. She remained in ce with her eyes widened and her body frozen as though in shock at what just happened. Henry took advantage of that shock as well as the opening ''The Hydra''s Sting'' had gotten him by drawing out his normal revolver from his Inventory and filling the Vyker with bullets, one banging shot at a time. As each bullet struck her, with no scales for defense, Rena staggered in ce, and with one final stare at Henry as though questioning the usibility that she met her end by his hands, she fell to her knees, keeled forward with a heavy *Thud* and died. [Kill-Reward: 65 Exp] [You have killed a Vyker for the first time!] [You have received 75 Exp] [You have received the Title ''Vyker-Killer''] Chapter 26: A Vital Lead [Title: Vyker-Killer Description: You have defeated the enhanced. It is only right that you be enhanced yourself. When you kill a Vyker, you will gain a permanent (+1) increase in one of your stats. *You will not be able to choose which stat will receive the (+1) increase. *Vykers will detect an aura from you that will make them wary or hostile to you depending on if they are weaker or stronger than you. *This Title is subject to an Upgrade. The more Vykers you kill, the better it has the chance to be. Happy Hunting.] Henry stood in ce for a second or two with his eyes on Rena''s body,pletely mesmerized by the messages he received from the System and the description of his new title when a scream cut through the air and reminded him there was still one more Vyker to defeat. "No!" Urn yelled and in his rage, his hand began to steam, scalding Triss'' face as he kept her pinned against the ground. "Ahhhh!" Triss cried out with her hand weakly pressed against the ground in a futile attempt to push the Vyker off her body. "You bastard!" Henry said, his face twisted in rage. With no defensive scales to worry about, Henry pointed his revolver at Urn and pulled the trigger only to hear the disappointing *chik* sound of an empty cylinder. He had used up the bullets in his revolver. In the second it took the realization to dawn on Henry, Urn grabbed Triss off the ground and tossed her at him while cackling, "Forget the information. You should both die!" Urn tossing Triss'' limp body was only to stop Henry from taking action for a valuable second and buy enough time for him to close the distance between them with his insane speed that surpassed that of even the muscle-bound, and now dead, Rena. "Hmph!" Henry let out as he cradled Triss against his chest and managed to only take one step back. He tried to raise ''The Hydra''s Sting'' but Urn was already one foot away with his fist burning with a heat that burned hot enough to incinerate the skin off Henry''s bones. But just then, in the second before Urn''s fist met its target ¡ªHenry''s face¡ª, a very wee, aggressive whining sound rang out as a ck blur galloped over and mmed its head into Urn''s body, sending him flying. "Nyx!" Henry called out with a grin on his face. Nyx shook her body with delight at her rider''s call. She shook her head and her ck mane fluttered with grace before she reared herself on her hind legs while letting out victorious whines. Urn kept on rolling for a few feet and once he finally stopped, and raised his head to re at the horse that interrupted his attack¡­ *Bang!* ¡­ A gunshot right to the forehead stopped anyints he might have had. Urn''s back arched and his eyes rolled up into the back of his head as his face twisted into a horrid visage of pain. A green mist began to rise out of his mouth and surrounded his body in a thick cloud and it was within that cloud that his body finally keeled over with a definite *Thud*. ''The Hydra''s Sting'' was the only loaded gun Henry had in hand and with his Mana Points at 15, ''Numbing gas was the only magical attack he could afford. [-10 Mana Points] [Kill-Reward: 65 Exp] [Title ''Vyker-Killer'' has taken effect] [+1 Agility] [Agility: 10 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 11] [Nyx has received 30 Exp for her Contribution to the kill.] ''Contribution reward¡­ That''s a thing? Who knew?'' Henry thought as more notifications arrived. [Nyx has Leveled Up!] [Nyx is now Level 3] [Nyx''s Hit Point Maximum increased to 50] [Strength: 30 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 35] [Speed: 60 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 70] [Stamina: 25 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 30] [Sub Quest Completed] [You have received 50 Exp] *[Nyx has received 25 Exp] [Level Up!] [You are now Level 4] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 40] [Hit Points: 21/40] [Mana Points Maximum increased to 50] [You have six unallocated Stat Points] Even as the notifications ran in a long line on the holographic screen in Henry''s sights, his eyes were on Triss and his lips were tight at the sight of her wounds and the burns on her face. "Ngh," she let out in a pained groan, her voice weak, "We''re still¡ª alive?" She managed to look around and saw Urn''s body with the dissipating numbing gas cloud around him and then her eyes went down to the gun in Henry''s hand. A gun she recognized. She opened her mouth as if to say something about it only to fall unconscious against Henry''s body. "It''s alright," Henry said gently, "You''ll be alright." Nyx trotted over and got down to afortable height for Henry to ce Triss on her back and once she stood back up, she nudged Henry with her head. There was a strange look in her eyes. As though she was ashamed. "Is this about you galloping away before?" Henry asked and Nyx nodded before nudging him again in repentance. Henry chuckled as he shook his head, "No. I''m d you got away," he told her while patting her coat. The fact that she returned more than made up for it. It also set her apart from any other horse Henry had ever had the pleasure of riding. Even therge horses the two Vykers hade with galloped away at the very first sound of a gunshot but Nyx returned gantly and helped him. For the final order of business, Henry looted his kills. [You have looted 50 Gold] [You have looted 1000 Vens] [You have looted 700 Quids] [You have looted 100 Gold] [You have looted 750 Vens] [You have looted 300 Quids] Where and how the two Vykers had kept all that money ¡ªespecially the coins without ringing out jingles whenever they so much as took a step¡ª, Henry had no idea but he was very happy to have it all to himself. He ced his feet in Nyx''s stirrup and got himself into the saddle behind Triss'' limp body. He pulled her back so that she leaned against his body for support and with one hand around her waist to secure her, Henry grabbed Nyx''s reins with his other hand and with a spike of it, they were galloping out of the ridge, back onto the path beyond and headed for the Hadron Mansion for immediate treatment. - - *** ¡ªMiles away from New Freudein Town¡ª In a region whose very air seemed thicker with a powerful aura that immediately set it apart from the crude region the Dionisio gang had decided to make their hideout, A Manor, hewn with ornate ck stone, stood grandly in a visage of wealth and prestige. On the roof of the Manor stood a man dressed in a ck robe to match the color of the Manor''s stones. The man looked to be in histe forties. Shoulder-length brown hair and a trimmed beard around his lips. Just looking at the man, it was clear that he was a product of generations of Wealth, prestige, and nobility. He was Maude Aleric. Lord of the ck Manor of the Crescent ins. Like most societies, the Valearen Nation maintained a social hierarchy built a lot on wealth, and power (usually Magical), and the Alerics had maintained their stay closer to the top. *Pitah* *Patah* With hurried steps, a man walked up the steps leading to the Manor roof and got on his knees the moment heid eyes on Maude''s slender back. "My Lord¡ª" he started. "Save your breath," Maude said sharply, "I know. Rena is dead. Urn as well. I felt it the moment they were relieved of their bonds to me." Maude ced his hands on the Manor''s battlements while setting his sights on the horizon. He could still feel thest region he had felt his connection with his Vykers as they drew their final breath. "It''s a real shame. But¡ª It''s not all bad. Now our search can be far more condensed. Call out to every Vyker sent out to retrieve my Treasure and let them know our targets are in the region of New Freudein." The kneeling man''s eyes narrowed in doubt, "New Freudein, My Lord?" He found the deaths of two Vykers strange but found the idea of focusing a search on such a back-water Town even stranger. Maude shook his head at his subordinate''s stunted reasoning, "Rena could not have been killed without Magic and, remember, our thieves made off with more than just my Treasure. They got Grant''s gun as well. The very weapon they used to kill him. It is very unlikely that, in a Town that hardly sees magic, Rena met the only one capable and it''s not our thieves. It IS interesting that they possess enough Magic to wield ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and are capable enough to kill both Vykers, but no matter. What''s important is we have a lead. A vital one." The Man nodded, his doubt relieved, "I''ll get the other Vykers on it right away." Maude nodded and waved him away while still looking over at the Horizon. ''Six days have passed since I should have had it in my hands. Those thieving fools can''t have possibly even unlocked the chest. I WILL have it back.'' On that day, all over the Duvan State, Vykers received their Lord''s call and rallied together to storm the Town of New Freudein and its environs in search of their Master''s Treasure. Chapter 27: I Dare You *** Henry hardly paid attention to the road. Their journey was handledpletely by Nyx who had better knowledge of the way back than he did. In the meantime, with Triss'' head still against his chest, Henry''s attention was mostly ced on the screens in front of his face. To while away the time, he took his time to read the messages the System had given him. Messages he had been too busy to look through. At the end of it all, he called out his and Nyx''s Status screens; [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 4 (94/600 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Gangbanger, Vyker-Killer] [Hit Points: 21/40] [Mana Points: 10/50] [Strength: 14] [Agility: 11] [Stamina: 6] [Perception: 7] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 2 } {Taming Lv. 1 }] [You have 6 Unallocated Stat Points] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Nyx] [Creature: Horse] [Breed: Veren Racehorse] [Level 3 (40/100 Exp)]* [Hit Points: 30/50] [Strength: 35] [Speed: 70] [Stamina: 30] *[With every Level Nyx gains, her intelligence will increase as she prepares to step onto her Evolutionary path.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry looked at the footnote at the bottom of Nyx''s Status screen with surprise. "Evolutionary path¡ª What''s that?" He asked out loud. Just then, Triss jolted against him, and her breathing caught and then mellowed into a slow, weak, and irregr rhythm that Henry recognized as aplication that could lead to her death if not treated soon. Fortunately, Nyx was even faster now than she had been when they were getting chased and soon, they crossed into the Hadron Mansion''s courtyard. [You have arrived at the Hadron Mansion] [You are alive but Triss'' condition is much too infrequent to be judged¡­] [There will be a dy in dispensing your rewards until the infrequency is sorted either by Triss'' survival or her death.] Henry was, by now, used to the System spamming him with notifications and waved it all off as he got off Nyx''s back and took Triss off while taking her into his arms in a bridal carry into the Mansion. He met Stefan on the way and saw the look of shock on the brother''s face as heid eyes on his sister''s burned face, "Triss¡ª Henry, what happened?" "We were ambushed," Henry said in a hurry, "I need to get her to Yelena quickly." Stefan followed closely and once they were at the door to the medical bay, he knocked on the door since Henry''s hands were too preupied to do it himself. A minuteter the door opened. Yelena''s eyes fell on Henry''s face first and then she looked down at Triss'' injured self, "Come in and ce her on the bed. Gently." Henryid Triss down and Yelena immediately began treatment. Green magical energy surrounded Triss'' body, healing her wounds. "She''ll be alright," Yelena said, "You got her here quickly enough." Henry''s lips remained pursed. It wasn''t that he didn''t trust Yelena''s assessment but he was still waiting for more confirmation. [Triss'' infrequent Status has been stabilized.] [She has been judged to have survived the encounter.] [You have received 150 Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] [Nyx has Leveled Up!] [Nyx is now Level 4] [Nyx''s Hit Point Maximum increased to 65] [Strength: 35 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 40] [Speed: 70 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 80] [Stamina: 30 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 35] [Nyx has gotten closer to the Evolutionary Path.] [Your bond with Nyx has been Strengthened.] Henry let out a sigh of relief at the System confirming Triss'' survival. Stefan got his relief from Yelena''s words instead and now that he could afford to worry less about his sister, he turned to Henry demanding answers, "Talk!" "We were ambushed in town by the Langlot gang back in New Freudein¡ª" Henry started. "The Langlot gang? They did this?" Stefan interrupted to ask. Henry shook his head, "Not exactly," he said. He was about to say more when someone knocked on the door of the medical bay. "You cane in," Yelena said without stopping Triss'' treatment. The door opened and Charles stuck his head into the room, "Henry, upstairs. Angus is asking for you." Henry wasn''t surprised to have been called. He and Triss had gone to New Freudein for a Task and to return injured meant they needed to give a briefing. After onest look at Triss whose breathing had settled into a much more normal rhythm, Henry walked out of the Medical bay. Stefan followed him and with Charles leading the way, they climbed the stairs and entered the meeting hall. Other members of the gang, specifically all those who had been part of the Train job were there. Henry hadn''t seen much of Devon and Dana these past few days and secretly rolled his eyes when they still glowered at him with dislike. "Henry, son," Angus said, "What happened?" Henry looked at Angus and then at the Chest not far away from the Gang leader. The same chest they had stolen on the Train. Still as sealed as it had been that day. "There were no wanted posters of us at New Freudien. The Sheriff''s station had no leads about what happened on the Train. But when Triss and I went into the saloon for some drinks, some Langlot boys came in¡­." Henry gave a quick summary of all that had happened; The Chase, and the eventual sh with the Vykers that led to Triss'' injuries. He, of course, left out all details that involved the System and the use of the items he had gotten from ''Elminster''s Stock''. Stefan spoke first through clenched teeth. The image of his injured sister still fresh in his mind. "Vykers!" Everyone in the meeting room frowned especially at that detail of Henry''s story. And then Devon snorted, "So, Triss was left that injured and you are standing here perfectly healthy... ''Interesting''." Henry frowned at the insinuation, "Do I look ''perfectly healthy'' to you?" Even with the two healing potions he had drank, not all of Henry''s wounds had been healed. There was a limit to what the ''Emergency action'' could do. Devon snorted again but he said nothing more. So Dana picked up right where he left off, "Who killed the Vykers?" She asked. "I did." Henry said. That part was one of the areas of his story he had glossed over. "Both of them?" "I had help but, yes." "I don''t believe that. How could YOU possibly do it?" Henry reached behind his back and pulled out ''The Hydra''s Sting'' to ce it on the table, "With this," he said. Devon hissed and took a step back from the table with a slight tremble in his extra-long canines. He still feared the gun. Everyone else looked at ''The Hydra''s Sting'' curiously, "That gun. It''s what that Mr. Grant on the train had on him, isn''t it?" Charles said. Henry nodded. "It is." "You snagged it off him?" "Yes." "That''s a magical weapon," Angus said with careful eyes, "And you can wield it?" Henry nodded, "Yes. And a good thing I can too because neither Triss nor I could have survived without it." Casually, Henry reached out to pick ''The Hydra''s Sting'' back up when Dana said, "Hold it. Loot is meant to be disclosed to everyone in the gang and shared equally. By right, you should not have been the one to wield this gun." Henry frowned. He had expected this the moment he decided to show ''The Hydra''s Sting'' as an exnation for how he was able to kill two Vykers but there was no reason to panic. He just let out a calm breath, "This isn''t loot. It''s a find that I deserve to keep as the one who killed its former wielder. If you want it, you''ll have to kill me first." Dana drew her gun and pointed it at Henry with the hammer pulled back in preparation to shoot. "Do you think I won''t?" She asked with a snicker. "Hey, Hey, what''s all this bullshit?!" Charles asked with a deep frown. He looked at Angus but the Gang Leader said nothing. ''Of course, he''s saying nothing,'' Henry thought, ''In a gang, there is still etiquette even if it is buried under a bunch of killing and unruliness.'' The Right to keep a find was truly a thing. If it wasn''t money, then Henry had every right to keep ''The Hydra''s Sting''. Of course, Henry was also hoarding money for himself but the Gang had no way of knowing that. Henry gripped the Hydra''s Sting and it glowed green in response to his touch, "Do it. I dare you. Pull that trigger and it''s your head that''ll pop like a balloon." The memory of what that gun had done to Kirk and its residual effect on everyone close to him shed in the heads of everyone in the meeting hall. No one knew for sure if Henry was capable enough to make good on his threat but Dana didn''t want to Gamble. She put down her gun and snorted before looking away. Henry calmly picked up ''The Hydra''s Sting'' as its threatening glow lessened. In a Gang, ''Strength'' supersedes ''Etiquette''; There truly was a Right to keep a find but there was also a need to possess the balls to defend that Right. Chapter 28: Kill Me Since he had all eyes on him, Henry couldn''t put ''The Hydra''s Sting'' into his Inventory, so he stuck it into his waistband behind his back. Everyone watched him with caution. Henry understood why; Although this manner of speaking and threatening was normal for him and he had done it many times in his previous life, no one in the gang had ever heard the Henry of this world do so much as raise his voice. But of course, whatever questions were forming in their heads were smoothed over by the effects of Henry''s ''Gangbanger'' Title. Charles broke the awkward silence in the hall by clearing his throat, "So about those Vykers¡­" "I say we run," Tony said, "We get as far away from here as possible. If two of those kinds already made it here, New Freudein and this whole countryside will be unbearable to hideout in." Devon nodded, "Running is certainly a choice, but we still have a few things to take care of before that. One of our own was injured. Those Langlots deserve to pay for taking the deal to work with our enemies." As Devon ended his short rant, all eyes went to Angus Dionisio. As a leader, he had to give the word. Angus looked between everyone who had spoken so far. His lips pursed and a contemtive look in his eyes and then, Henry raised a hand. "I have a question." Angus smiled, "What is it, son?" He asked. "What''s a Vyker?" Henry asked. "Are you¡ª Are you being serious right now?" Devon asked as though Henry had just asked the stupidest question anyone could ask. Henry didn''t allow himself to be intimidated and with a clear voice and a calm tone, he said, "Of course, I''m serious." Dana scoffed, "So you mean to say, you killed two Vykers and you don''t even know what they are." Henry furrowed his brows. He didn''t like how they were trying to make his question seem foolish when all they had to do was answer. "One of the Vykers I killed told me what they were. But I don''t know what a ''Vyker'' is. If you have the time to glower at me, then you have the time to give me a proper answer, don''t you think?" Dana clicked her tongue and looked away. Charles and Tony smiled at yet another put-down she had suffered that day but it was Angus who spoke and answered Henry''s question in a grave tone, "Henry, some people in this world are born special. They are born with the ability to manipte the elements of the world and make it bend to their Will¡­ ¡­ Vykers are not those people. We ¡ªThey are ''made'' special. It''s an ult mutation ritual that involves various ingredients and the vital involvement of a Witch or Wizard and is usually performed on ves to forever tie them to their creator." "Oh," Henry said, and then his brows furrowed, "For a moment there, I thought you said ''we''." Angus nodded, "Yes, I did. I am a Vyker. Or at least I used to be. My creator died over a decade ago, freeing me of my bonds and allowing me to roam the world and meet wonderful people. Majority of whom are currently in this room." Henry''s mind went to the two Vykers he and Triss had fought, "So, you''re very powerful then?" Angusughed. A sadugh deep with loss, "I used to be. Why, when my creator was alive, I could do so much, and advancement and Evolution stretched before me probably for years toe. Once she died¡­ *Sigh* The death of their Creator is traumatic and almost always fatal to a Vyker. I managed to survive but my powers became very diminished. My ability to ''Persuade'' is all I got to keep." "I''m sorry," Henry said. "Don''t be," Angus said, "I was happy to be free of my bonds but I do miss the ''glory days''. Now, on to business. Devon is right. We have to strike back against the Langlots but we must do so with caution while being ready to leave this ce at a moment''s notice. This Mansion has kept us safe and given us privacy because of the legend of a Curse but that was never going to hold forever against the Langlots and will certainly not help against invading Vykers." "And what about that Chest?" Stefan asked with a gesture at the treasure that set all this in motion. "Ah," Angus said with a nod, "It''s sealed with Magic but I will continue to work on it. I''m sure whatever it holds will prove vital to our survival." "I have a few leads on a Langlot base," Tony said in a serious tone, "I''ll follow up on it." "I''ll go with you," Charles said and with both giving each other nods of solidarity, they left the meeting hall. Devon and Dana walked out soon as well. Followed by Stefan. But when Henry turned around to leave, he heard Angus call out to him, "Wait." Henry turned around and saw Angus looking at him with an amused smile and a stare that threatened to bore a hole right through him, "Yes?" He said when the Gangleader just kept on staring without speaking. "Henry, you''re special." "I am?" Angus chuckled, "I have seen many things in my life but to think I would witness ate Awakening." "Ate what?" Henry asked, not following. "You''re now filled with confidence. You''re suddenly so good with the gun. And now I see you''re even capable of wielding a Magical weapon. If I didn''t know any better, I''d say you were magically mutated¡ª A Vyker, like me. But I know better and I can tell when a person''s gifts are as natural as yours are." Angus touched the Treasure Chest as he continued, "What is in this Chest will indeed be of great help to the Gang but it''s special people like you that can guarantee our survival. I will be looking forward to how much else you can aplish." [Angus Dionisio Approves of you] [Your Status within the Gang has improved] [You have received 50 Exp] [The ''Gangbanger'' Title has been updated; Members of the Dionisio Gang will address you either as Kin or with begrudging respect. Depending on their existing rtionship with you. The Gangbanger Title will remain for as long as you are a member of the Dionisio Gang] ??? Henry left the Meeting hall and went straight for the Medical bay. He had barely raised his hand to knock on the door that it swung open and Stefan carried his sister out. Her injuries were all healed but she was asleep. "I''ll take her to her room to rest," Stefan said. "That would be best," Yelena said with a nod. Stefan gave Henry an acknowledging nod before edging past him and down the Mansion''s hall. "So you came to get healed too?" Yelena asked. "Well¡­" Henry said as he looked down at his body. His wounds hardly hurt so it was easy for him to ignore. "Oh, there''s no need to act tough," Yelena said with a small smile as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the Medical bay. Henry chuckled, "''Act tough?'' I wouldn''t dream of it." Yelena directed Henry to a seat and began the Healing process. It took all of one minute. [You have recovered 19 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 40/40] "All done," Yelena said as she moved away. "Thank you," Henry told her. "So who did all that to you and Triss?" Yelena asked. "Vykers." Yelena looked confused, "What are those." Henryughed then. Remembering how the Gang had acted like it was strange for him not to know, ''See? It''s normal.'' That triumphant thought aside, he gave Yelena a quick exnation of what Vykers were and how they are made. "I see," Yelena said with a nod, "Must have been a tough fight." "It was," Henry admitted, "But I got something good out of it. And speaking of getting something good out of tough fights, I have something to ask you." "What is it?" Yelena asked, slightly wary because of the look on Henry''s face. "It''s simple really," Henry said with a smile, "Kill me." Chapter 29: (1) Yelena blinked, not sure she had heard right. "Did you just ask me to Kill you?" she asked carefully while slowly standing to her feet. Henry nodded, "Yes. And probably a few times too." ''He said yes!'' Yelena thought with wide eyes, ''And he wants it a few times too. He''s nuts!'' Straightening her back with her eyes filled with the haughty look of someone looking down at a moron, Yelena asked in a cold tone, "Would you like me to do you in right now? Put you out of your misery?" Henry furrowed his brows at her expression. It was the first time he had ever seen her make such an expression both since he had been in this world and even in the Old Henry''s memories. It was the first time Yelena didn''t look kind.She was still as beautiful as ever but her appearance right now was more like that of a scowling frosty beauty than that of an angel that she always used to have. Her emerald green eyes seemed to be shooting daggers. It was slightly off-putting but Henry pushed through. "Well, not right this second. I''ve had enough of people trying to kill me for one day, I think." He said and added a chuckle in an attempt to alleviate the tension that was settling into the room. Yelena''s right eye twitched like she was doing her best not to blow up and ask him point-nk if he was insane. Instead, she retained that cold look and asked, "What, you want to die but you don''t want to die right now? Why wait? If you''re that tired of life, why not end it quickly." "Wait," Henry said, "You''re saying it like I want it to be definite." That broke through Yelena''s cold expression. If only slightly. "Is that not what you want?" She asked. "What? No. I want to live." Henry said with his eyes wide at what she was insinuating. "But you just asked me to kill you!" Yelena said with her voice raised slightly in outrage. "Well, yes, but you''ll bring me back to life¡­ Immediately too, I''ll prefer." Henry said, standing to his feet. "You mean like thest time?" Yelena asked. "Yes." "But, I assumed that experience must have been painful," Yelena said. "A little," Henry admitted. "Even if it was a little, there was still pain. And you died! Why would you want to go through it again?" Yelena asked and then her perfect mouth formed into an ''O'' shape as understanding seemed to bloom in her eyes, "Is this a kink thing? You get off on pain, don''t you?" "What? No!" Henry let out but Yelena wasn''t listening. She turned away from him slightly while mumbling in contemtion. Henry heard every word. "It all makes sense now. It makes sense that you said you didn''t feel much pain from a gunshot wound¡­you must have caused yourself so many injuries to ''get off'' that you''ve grown a tolerance. My gods! That day¡ª that ''mistake'' must not have been a mistake at all. You shot yourself just to feel something! When I think about it, It''s a bit sad really¡­" Henry held the bridge of his nose as Yelena kept going and it soon got worse; "All that time you were getting ''bullied'' by Devon, you must have been secretly enjoying it. I wonder if he was in on it. But then, why did you stand up to him even though you liked it? Hmm, maybe he went too far¡­ I wonder." Henry reached out and grabbed Yelena''s shoulders to turn her around so she was facing him again and he pulled her closer to stare into her eyes while saying in a pleading tone, "Please. Please, stop." "Henry, you look hurt," Yelena let out in surprise. That was true. Henry looked anguished and why would he not? This was the second time someone would misunderstand him for a masochist. The first time was on the train with Tony who came up with an exnation for why Henry endured all that humiliation to only now stand up for himself. ''I just thought I''d get some Exp for dying anding back to life. Where is all this ''kink'' talking from?'' "I''m not a masochist." "Oh, you''re not?" Yelena asked. "I''m not." "But you still want me to kill you?" "Yes." "And bring you back to life?" "Yes." "More than once?" "Preferably, yes." "Okay, so you''re just insane then." Henry paused and then nodded while rubbing her shoulder slightly with a small smile, "Yes, let''s go with that," he said, " Will you do it? Will you help me?" Yelena searched his eyes and then shook her head, "Fine, I''ll¡ª *sigh* I''ll think about it." ??? Henry didn''t delight at the thought of death but if repeated resurrections were going to reward him with a massive amount of Exp which in turn would make him stronger, he saw no reason not to take advantage. Before he left the Medical ward though, Henry remembered Nyx had been shot and asked Yelena to help heal her. She agreed. Almost like she was d to have put the topic of killing him to bed. The eventful day eventually ended¡­ ¡­ And the next morning, Henry crossed his legs for what was likely the final day of his Meditative Exercises. He had gotten so used to the activity and enjoyed the effects it had on his Perception and he decided that once it was over, he''d make sure to find time to keep on doing it. To immerse himself in the serenity. [Quest Completed] [You have received 5 Exp] [You have sessfully Completed 7 Mental Perception Quests] [Perception +1] [Perception: 7 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 8] Henry smiled to himself. The stat he had probably ignored the most finally got an update but the System''s notifications were far from over. [Your patience in Meditation has been acknowledged and a new power grows within you¡­] "Ah," Henry let out not due to pain but rather due to magical energy within his body flowing toward his eyes and giving them a subtle glow as every nerve in his ocr socket received some supernatural boost to synchronize together and perform much more than simple eyesight. [You have unlocked the Perceptive Skill ] [ Description: With thebination of your Magical energy and your extendable Perception, you have gained the ability to observe the details of the Physical, Mental, and Magical abilities (stats) of the creatures around you. Costs: 1 Mana Point per 1 minute of continuous activation. *Note: This Skill levels up exclusively with your Perception Stat.] Henry remained cross-legged and read the description of his new skill over and over and as the subtle glow in his eyes began to dim, he stood to his feet, walked to his door, pulled it open, and walked out of his room, ready to test it out. Out in the Hadron Mansion''s courtyard, where the majority of the Gang spent their time performing various activities, the first person Henryid his eyes on was Good Ol'' Joe who was directing a few members of the gang through daily chores. The Dionisio Gang was notrge by any means, but they did have more members than the main force that went out for their most dangerous jobs. These members took care of duties higher rated members of the Gang could not be bothered with. They were called the ''Chore group''. By matter of Hierarchy, the old Henry should have been much higher up but hisck of any useful skills besides the asional pickpocketing relegated him to the chore group. With his eyes on Good ''ol Joe, Henry called magical energy to his eyes and they gained a subtle glow as he activated his newly acquired skill; [Activating ] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: ''Good ''ol'' Joe] [Race: Human] [Job: Taskmaster] [Health: 60] [Strength: 17] [Agility: 6] [Stamina: 7] *[Remarks: A Man so far past his physical peak and with so little care for his body that his physical stats, as well as Health, have deteriorated. A bullet will not be needed to kill him.] "¡­" Henry watched the screen, speechless. He had not expected the remarks and yet, as he read it, he felt as though they were his own words. He had certainly thought that about Joe in the days he worked his chores under the man''s supervision. "Moving on," Henry mumbled. With his eyes still glowing with , he roamed the courtyard until he had his sights on Devon just across the courtyard. What better target could there be to use on? Chapter 30: (2) ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Devon] [Race: Half-Orc] [ss: Berserker] [Job: Gang Enforcer] [Health: 110] [Mana: 70] [Strength: 26] [Agility: 15] [Stamina: 20] *[Remarks: A brute that relies heavily on physicality rather than his brain. Approach with caution. Distance and a good shot to the head should kill him but will you get the chance?] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Eyeing the Stat screen, Henry started clicking on tabs to open smaller windows of descriptions to better understand what he was looking at; [Race: Half-orc A product born of a union of a human and an Orc. Possesses the versatility and resilience of a human as well as the natural physicality of an Orc.] [ss: Berserker A ss that boasts of physicality above all else. This ss grants the Unique Skill: ] [: For two minutes, all physical stats are increased by 30% and also grants resistance to Physical damage. Requires Mana to activate.] [Job: Gang Enforcer The Prime muscle of the Dionisio Gang and frontlines of almost all attack strategies. Grants a boost in charisma and improves the ability to intimidate enemies of the gang as well as its members.] Reading through the description of ''Gang Enforcer'', Henry concluded that if he were to have it, it would have been a Title rather than a Job. He guessed this because not only did heck the Job tab entirely but the description of the ''Gangbanger'' Title had some simrities with that of ''Gang Enforcer''. ''But those stats¡­ Fuck!'' Henry thought with a self-mocking chuckle, ''He really must not have been taking things seriously when we fought two weeks ago.'' At that time Henry had just arrived at this world and he remembered very well that his stats were not up to even a third of what he was looking at on Devon''s Stat screen. The only reason he had managed to even kick Devon in the nuts was because the Half-orc was only still reeling from the fact that Henry even dared to fight back and also because, although he was strong, a strike to the throat still stung. ''Well, it''s good to know a crotch kick remains a reliable tactic regardless,'' Henry thought and with a shake of his head, he turned around and walked back into the mansion. As he strolled through the Mansion''s halls, Henry was still looking through Devon''s stat screen with Joe''s right by the side but it didn''t take long for him to decide there was no reason forparison. The stats were much too different. However, they did have one thing inmon; "The Perception stat," Henry mumbled, "They don''t have the Perception stat." When he had clicked on the description of ''Perception'' on his Stat screen, the System had told him it was a measure of his ability to perceive the elements of the world. This was also in line with how Meditation had helped improve it so did that mean no one else had Perception? "No, no," Henry said while shaking his head, "I can''t just conclude that with just these two. I need a third opinion¡ª of sorts. Which brings us to here¡­" Henry was standing at the door of the medical bay. He remembered the power Yelena had harnessed the day she asked him for a ''Power Test'' and he was curious about just what her Stat screen would look like. Plus, he wanted an answer to the ''ridiculous'' request he made yesterday. *Knock* *Knock* "Who is it?" "Henry." Henry could have sworn he heard a groan from behind the door but a few secondster, the door opened and Yelena stood there, as beautiful as ever, ring at him. "I''m still thinking about it." She said. "Alright," Henry said with a smile ying on his lips at the expression on her face, "Can Ie in?" "Why?" Henry blinked like he had been taken by surprise by the question but he recovered quickly and kept his smile, "You still owe me a question. You didn''t forget, did you?" He asked. Yelena paused but it was clear that she hadn''t forgotten. She stepped back and gestured for him toe in. Henry did and turned around right when she was closing the door and turning around to face him, [Activating ] [ has failed on the target.] ''What?'' Henry asked in his head with his eyes wide. Sure, he''d only just gotten this Skill and had not tested it out on many people yet but he had not expected to, so quickly, hit a wall. So he peered harder while making sure to pay attention to what Yelena was saying. "Ever since you made that outrageous request, I''vee to the conclusion that you are an asshole and you have some nerve to even ask me that," Yelena said with a deep frown while folding her arms beneath her breasts. "How so?" Henry asked. His eyes were still giving off the subtle glow of . "Life is sacred. What you''re proposing is to toy with it. To walk the line between living and non-living repeatedly. What could you possibly stand to gain from it." "Potentially, a lot," Henry said truthfully. Yelena scoffed, "Have you thought of what effect this would have on me?" "I¡ª I don''t follow," Henry said as he received a Notification from the System while he continued to use for the rest of the one minute of continuous Activation; [Your Target is shrouded in a Layer that makes her Stats details ambiguous at best. If you persist, you will only be able to view a censored version of her stat screen. Will you persist?] ''I will.'' Henry answered immediately. Meanwhile, Yelena was rolling her eyes, "Of course, you haven''t thought about it. You know why! It''s because you''re an Asshole. I cried thest time I almost killed you." "Oh, I didn''t know you felt that way about me," Henry blurted out and then cringed so hard, he almost kicked himself, ''Idiot.'' Yelena scoffed again, "Don''t tter yourself. I just didn''t want your death on my conscience but the more you insist, the easier I''m finding it to think about" Yelena''s hands crackled with the dark energy of the Arcane tendrils spell and there was a violent look in her eyes. "Please don''t," Henry said with a hand stretched out, "I admit, I didn''t think about how it would be for you. I''ve taken lives before, many, and I know it''s never quite easy so it was wrong of me to ask it of you like it was no big deal. I was only thinking of what I stood to gain and not how it''d affect you. I''m sorry. I won''t mention it again." A second passed and Yelena looked away from him, "Will you tell me what you''ll gain from this?" "Even if I did, I''m not sure you''d understand," Henry said gently. At that time, the censored version of Yelena''s Stat screen appeared but Henry was not yet looking at it. Just waiting for what Yelena looked like she was about to say. "Well, I guess since you won''t really be dying, I could do it." "Really?" Henry asked with a bright smile. Yelena rolled her eyes at him but she answered, "Really. But expect it to be very painful. You deserve it for even asking." Henry smiled wryly as he nodded, "Okay¡ª" "It will be torture even," Yelena added with a fierce re while mming her fist into her palm, "You''ll wish you really died." Henry shook his head and chuckled, ''From not wanting to do it, to wanting to do it in the most painful way possible. You confuse me.'' With that settled, Henry finally dropped his gaze and set his sights on Yelena''s Stat screen; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Yelena] [Race: Human (???????)] [ss: Witch] [Health: ??????????] [Mana: ??????????] [Strength: 15] [Agility: 20] [Stamina: 15] [Intelligence: 1500] *[Remarks: A history riddled with mystery. Beauty that ranges from Angelic to Frosty but is consistently outstanding. It''s doubtful if she CAN be killed but would you even want to?] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Chapter 31: Three Times Henry''s mouth was gaped looking over Yelena''s stats. From the very second tab, her information was already getting censored. Her health tab was censored, her Mana tab was the same and among the uncensored details, there was a stat that numbered over 1000. And the Stat was ''Intelligence''? He clicked on the censored tabs and opened smaller description windows. The censored tabs refused to open so the only worthwhile information Henry was able to gain was about her most interesting uncensored tab; [Intelligence; A stat that must be possessed by all Magic wielders and is required to understand Arcane Scripts and attain Arcane Knowledge. I.e Cast spells. The higher your Intelligence Stat, the more powerful spells you can learn and the more efficiently you can utilize the spells you do know.] Henry''s expression went from one of confusion to one of understanding. ''This must be the Stat I''m missing and the reason I couldn''t understand that spell scroll. Devon didn''t have it either and although I''d like to think it''s because he''s not intelligent at all, I think it''s safer to assume that it''s because the ''Berserker'' ss is also unsuited for Arcane Knowledge like my ''Gunslinger'' ss. But Yelena''s intelligence is at 1500¡­ If we''re going by what I''ve seen from other stats, then this is a very big deal. The System has not separated anyone by levels besides me but if my 6 Stat points per level up remain consistent, then I''ll need to reach over level 200 to have a stat that high. This is¡­ insane. Yelena, just who are you really?'' As Henry thought thatst question, he looked up from the Witch''s Stat screen and into her beautiful face as she cupped her hands and let loose a powerful wave of magical energy that spread all over the room. Henry was hardly paying attention to the spell casting. He just kept staring at the caster, as though the more he looked at her, the better he would understand her and gain insight into who¡ª what she was exactly. She still owed him a question and his mind was working slightly hard on how he could phrase the question and get himself answers. ''I promised her it would be a simple question but I hardly think I can keep it simple with my curiosity so high.'' "Are you ready?" Her voice, gentle with a touch of sadism reached Henry''s ears and pulled him out of his thoughts, "Hmm?" He let out in slight confusion. "What do you mean ''Hmm''?" Yelena asked as crackling dark energy began to form into tendrils that became curtains in front of her face, striking the ground at intervals and promising devastating attack power. It was just like thest time she had cast it but back then, Henry had looked at the disy and wondered how she was able to do it. Now, he looked at it, knowing exactly how; Her censored stats. Her Mana that he could not read was sure to be higher than even her Intelligence. The thought caused Henry to shiver. Just how high was it? In the second or two Henry spent thinking, Yelena congealed the Arcane tendrils together into a singr st. She hadid down the precautions to ensure he survived and had even made it stronger just to ensure nothing went wrong so why wait? If she allowed herself to think about it, she was sure it would dawn on her just how moronic this all was so better to get it done as quickly as possible. Right before she fired, Henry realized Yelena was not even giving him time to prepare himself and he stretched out a hand to cate her, "Wait¡ª" he started but Yelena had already fired. The tendrils struck Henry''s body and for an agonizing second, he remained frozen in ce. Yelena had not been kidding when she said she was going to make it as painful as possible. Henry felt every bit of the destruction of his organs. Henry felt his skin crack and break apart before he was sent flying back a few feet to m against the wall in an impact that would surely have ducked his Hit Points by half had he not already died by the time he made contact. [You have lost 40 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 0/40] [You have died.] Yelena watched as Henry''s limp body slumped to the ground and for a second, she just eyed him with her hand still stretched out as it had been to fire the attack. She shook her head with a soft expression, "You won''t actually die on me, will you? You won''t do that to me, right? You won''t make me a murderer, will you?" A minute passed as the energy of her flooded into Henry''s body and all his wounds healed but his eyes remained closed and his heart, which had burst in his chest from the sundering impact of the Arcane tendrils, was still not beating even though it had healed uppletely. "You won''t do that¡­ will you?" Yelena asked again in a whisper while biting her lower lip. And then, *Gasp* Henry''s eyes snapped open and he let out a long gasp. The time he spent in the darkness this time felt longer than thest and, for some reason, it had felt to him like he was drowning. Hence the aggressive intake of breath when he was finally living again. Although his injuries were healed, the memories of his wounds remained and he winced at it as he struggled to get back to his feet. Yelena let out a secret sigh of relief before cing her hands on her hips and scoffing at Henry, "So, how was it? Still want to die?" Henry wasn''t sure yet how to answer. He was waiting ¡ªhoping¡ª for something. [You have Cheated death¡­ Again.] [You have aplished an Incredible feat] [You have Received 150 Exp] The frown that was starting to form on Henry''s lips turned into a happy grin at the arrival of the Notifications he had been waiting for. "Yes," he said while nodding to answer Yelena''s question, "Again, please. If you don''t mind." Yelena eyed him and then with a sigh, she called out the Tendrils and fired the strike. ''Fuck!'' Henry let out in his head as he was struck. He had been very prepared but it had hurt him almost even more than thest time. It was like his brain had gotten used to this particr sensation of dying so his body didn''t go into shock and he was left to feel it all in its entirety. [You have lost 40 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 0/40] [You have died.] Henry returned to the darkness. He found that he was unable to breathe and he didn''t try too hard. He was currently dead and could not possibly ''die again'' so there was no reason to despair. Whatever difort he felt, he had decided to endure. [Yelena''s is in effect¡­] [All injuries have been healed and all Status Abnormalities including Death have been reversed.] [You have recovered 40 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 40/40] The pull finally arrived and Henry left the darkness and returned to his healed body. Yelena said nothing and just watched him. She saw the frown on his face and the look of anticipation like he was waiting for something and then that look of anticipation became one of satisfaction. ''So strange,'' Yelena thought, her green eyes glistening with curiosity. Even if Henry had denied it, she had still thought, on some level that the root of his desire to die was masochism but she was not so sure anymore. His look of pleasure wasn''t perverse ¡ªNot in a sexual way, at least¡ª, rather it was a look and an expression of aplishment. What he could possibly be aplishing, she had no idea and the fact that his eyes would search through something unseen and he''d asionally mumble to himself cemented her observation that he was insane. But was that really all there was to it? [You have Cheated death¡­ Again.] [You have cheated Death Three times.] ''Four, if you count my past life,'' Henry thought cheekily. He felt good about himself. This was already a feature of the System, he had just managed to take advantage of it for his own gain. [You have aplished a Legendary Feat] [You have received 350 Exp] [You will no longer receive an Exp bonus from any further resurrections utilizing this Method] Chapter 32: Death’s Bane [Level Up!] [You are now Level 5] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 50] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 60] [You have received 6 Stat Points to allocate] [You now have 12 unallocated Stat Points] ''Hold on,'' Henry thought, ''That''s it, you just cut me off?'' Leveling up was nice and all ¡ªespecially since that was what he wanted¡ª but what was that message about no longer receiving an Exp bonus from future resurrections? He looked from the screens in front of him to Yelena who was eyeing him and waiting patiently for his face to go through various emotions. "Again?" Yelena asked when she locked eyes with Henry and he nodded with his lips pursed solemnly. And so, once again, the Witch conjured Arcane Tendrils, congealed them all into a singr st, and fired. [You have lost 50 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 0/50] [You have died.] Henry sunk back into the darkness and with his brows furrowed and his breath held ¡ªsince breathing did not exist in the limbo he was stuck in¡ª, he waited for Yelena''s to take effect. It was then, while he waited, that Henry felt a set of eyes on him. He turned his immaterial body slowly and there, in front of him were thergest eyes he had ever seen. They were also the scariest, the most tragic, and strangely, the most beautiful eyes Henry had ever had the privilege of looking into. The eyes were deep and he wasn''t even sure what color they were. They seemed to be made up of many dark colors all merging in some strange convergence that spoke of richness that just surpassed all human reasoning. At first, Henry began to admire the eyes but then, all that left his mind as he was gripped by a powerful force he was powerless to resist against. He couldn''t even struggle. He just stared on and into thoserge pair of eyes. The eyes did nothing but stare. They didn''t even blink and from them, Henry felt a whiff of disdain and condescension. Like they were questioning his existence and were contemting just eliminating him. ''Wh-what is this?'' Henry asked himself. This had never happened the three times he had visited this darkness and if this were a physical body, he did not doubt that he would be sweating bullets right now. [Death is paying attention to you.] ''Huh?'' [The eyes of Death are on you¡­] ''Ho-Hold on! Those eyes belong to Death?'' The first clue to what those eyes were and it was a clue that could not even help him. ''Shit!'' [The effects of Yelena''s have been suspended¡­] [If the effects of remain suspended for Five more minutes, you WILL die.] [4:59] [4:58] [4:57] Arge timer appeared just close to Henry''s head with therge timer counting down. He tried to speak but he couldn''t. He stared at those horrible eyes and tried to ask what it wanted but his voice didn''t work. And yelling his question over and over in his head was not having any effect because the eyes were still just staring and doing nothing. And then, suddenly, an intense pain pierced through Henry''s immaterial body. He tried to squirm but, powerless against the force holding him, he was unable to do anything except silently endure his pain. Henry had been beaten, burned, branded, stabbed, shot, and most recently, shot repeatedly with Arcane tendrils crackling with dark magical energy and none of them couldpare to what he was currently experiencing. Instinctively, Henry knew that no physical pain he had ever experienced and would ever experience would beparable to this because this pain was not physical. It was beyond that. This pain felt like his soul was being broken apart piece by piece. The five times he had died so far, Henry knew the one thing that always remained intact was his soul and now, because of these horrible pair of eyes ¡ªThat apparently belonged to Death¡ª, his soul was in danger. Henry knew, that if his soul was ripped apart, he would be dead. Truly dead with no more chances of resurrection. [1:00] [0:59] [0:58] [0:57] It was the ticking timer that told Henry he had been suffering for less than five minutes because he could have sworn he had been enduring that pain for hours instead. Henry had called out over and over to the eyes torturing him and to the System in his head as well as to whatever and whoever had even put him in this world and set him on this path in the first ce and when none answered and his torturer did not relent, he just waited for the end. With a wry smile, Henry remembered Yelena saying life is sacred and should not be toyed with. ''Maybe she was right and I shouldn''t have experimented.'' [0:30] [0:29] When the final thirty seconds began to tick down, something finally changed in Henry''s torturous experience. He saw a ry of his life. But it happened in two different views¡­ Like on two different screens. One screen showed his life in his old world as the Feared Gunslinger Henry Morgan and the other showed his life in this world as the orphan Henry who was kicked out of the orphanage he grew up in and had to fend for himself with small acts of thievery before eventually meeting Angus and joining the Dionisio Gang. Henry understood why he was being shown both of his lives simultaneously; Death was telling him it knew who he was. Old and New. The two simultaneously ying screens suddenly cut to ck and again, Henry knew what it meant; Death was calling him a fool for not respecting life even though he had lived it twice already. Henry felt it as the pieces of his soul that had been broken away by what felt like hours of torture pulled together and congealed to make him whole again but the eyes of Death did not stop staring at him. Emotionless and horribly devastating as they were. [0:05] [0:04] [0:03] The eyes red once as though in a final warning and then they closed and vanished into the darkness. [Yelena''s is back in effect¡­] [All injuries have been healed and all Status Abnormalities including Death have been reversed.] [You have recovered 50 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 50/50] As he returned to his body and his eyes snapped open, Henry felt like his body was soaked with sweat but it wasn''t. He was as dry now as he had been when he ''died''. The memory of what he had experienced under the gaze of those horrible eyes remained burned into his mind. The mere thought of it caused him to shiver. It was as his body shook that Henry realized his head was not resting on the cold floor of the medical bay. His head was instead resting on something soft that seemed to cradle him so nicely and had him feeling warm and safe. His head was on Yelena''sp and he was looking up at the relieved look on her beautiful face. "Oh," he said mostly because he wasn''t sure what to say. Still with a look of relief, Yelena said, "You were ''dead'' for even longer this time." "Yes," Henry said as he took his head off herp while trying not to let his face get too red, "Something happened." Yelena searched his eyes for a minute or so and then said softly, "I won''t do it again. I can''t keep killing you." Henry smiled lightly, "And I won''t ask it of you again," he said earnestly, "Thank you." Henry was not in any hurry to experience what he just suffered again. He had a feeling that the next time he was in the presence of those eyes, he would not being back. [You have defied Death Four times. You did it willfully Thrice. Death has taken note of your existence. Death is now paying attention to you¡­] [You have acquired the Title ''Death''s Bane''] [You have received 500 Exp] [Title: Death''s Bane Description: A reward/curse for willfully defying Death. For as long as you have this title, you will be marked and the eyes of Death will always follow you. It is currently unclear how this attention will affect your journey. It is unknown how or if you can lose this Title.] Chapter 33: Yelena (1) The ''Death''s Bane'' Title only cemented what Henry had already decided which was that he did not want those eyes staring at him ever again. The idea that those eyes were watching him now caused him to shiver but he quickly thrust the thought aside by swiping away the description screen and calling up his Status screen instead. [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 4 (699/800 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Death''s Bane, Gangbanger, Vyker-Killer] [Hit Points: 50/50] [Mana Points: 60/60] [Strength: 14] [Agility: 11] [Stamina: 6] [Perception: 8] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 2 } {Taming Lv. 1 } {Insight Lv.1}] [You have 12 Unallocated Stat Points] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry was just about to consider how best to allocate his Stat points when Yelena spoke, "So you got what you wanted?" Henry nodded with a small smile, "Essentially, yes." "Good for you," Yelena said and she deactivated . She stood up and Henry stood with her. "You still owe me a question," he said. Yelena rolled her eyes, "You''ll still ask when I just did you the HUGE favor of killing you over and over again?" She asked as she looked away and walked over to one of the other many desks in the medical bay littered with all manner of notes. Henry let the idea of him asking a question simmer for a while. He wanted to make it seem more natural and less like an interrogation because that was likely the best way for him to get an answer. So he walked to one of the many desks in the medical bay and looked over the writings. To be honest, he had been there quite a few times this week already but he always had Yelena''s attention and could not wander about, or else she would think he was snooping. All the notes were in the same handwriting. There were some books opened. They were old, some of them breaking apart and all peppered with notes. All the same handwriting and quite a few looking like they had been written decades ago instead of months ago. Henry looked around the inside of the medical bay and saw a door towards the very end of the room. He nced over at Yelena but she had her back to him and wasn''t paying attention so he walked to the door, grabbed the doorknob, and pulled it open. The door wasn''t locked. As Henry took a step into the room on the other side of the door, he failed to notice Yelena turn around and look at him. Her lips pressed together and an unreadable look in her eyes but she said nothing. The room had many shelves all with books stacked on them. There were empty spaces and Henry assumed those spaces belonged to the books on the desks that Yelena had scribbled many notes on. Henry raised his hand, gently took one book off the shelf, and opened it. It was written in anguage he couldn''t understand but there were notes around the edges of every single page. He could understand those notes. Henry assumed that whoever had written those notes, was giving a short exnation of whatever was on the page. He assumed this because of the way the notes were written. It was like the writer was talking to someone. For example; "¡­ Now this page here talks about the little girl running from home after listening to the beautiful Snow White bunny. But the bunny turned out to be an Old Witch who ate the little girl¡­" Henry looked through other books and not all of them were story books. Some were about history, fighting, philosophy, and even about the world and the politics of the world but they all dated back so long ago. Centuries ago. "Find anything interesting?" Henry started as Yelena''s voice sounded behind him but he recovered quickly enough. "Yes, actually. You wrote these notes, didn''t you?" He asked. Yelena smiled, "Will that be your question?" "No," Henry told her with a smile as he put the book back on the shelf. He already knew the answer anyway. Even then, it was still wee when Yelena confirmed what he thought by saying, "I wrote it." "Beautiful handwriting," Henry said. And it truly was beautiful. Elegant, almost noble script that he could stare at for hours. "Thank you," Yelena said. Her eyes were on the back of Henry''s head as he walked deeper into the room. Henry was now standing in front of a wall with a small collection of paintings. His eyes were most especially on the painting at the center of the wall. He recognized Yelena in the painting. She looked exactly as she did now but was dressed much differently in the painting than she was dressed currently. Her gown looked expensive and extravagant. Like what a noble would wear. She had a bejeweled ne around her neck, heavy, gaudy earrings drooped from her ears, and her hair was done almost too perfectly. Others in the painting were; An older man who looked to be in histe fifties, a woman who looked like she was in her early forties, and a younger man who looked only slightly older than Yelena. "Recent painting?" Henry asked because Yelena in the painting looked so much like the one right behind him that the time of the painting should not have been more than a year ago. Maybe two. Yelena took a moment to answer and when she did answer, she spoke gently, "Not exactly. It was painted the day I turned twenty-five." "And when was that?" Henry pressed. "Three hundred and sixty-seven Years ago," Yelena answered in a whisper. Yelena''s answer just hung in the air for a minute or so and then Henry broke the silence, "I wouldn''t have been able to tell. You look good for someone about to turn Four hundred." The mood in the room had gone down multiple notches and Henry felt he had to keep things light. It worked. At least enough to cause Yelena to giggle a little as she stepped forward and reached out to the painting. "Remember I told you talking about my past was tooplicated? This was why. Unless I answer with a lie, Your question would have surely been to force me to reveal this. I know you''d have asked about my parents. How many siblings I had? Where I was born? How I learned Magic?" "I was going to ask what your favorite color was," Henry said with a brazen face. Yelena rolled her eyes, "Liar." She said with a small sad smile and then let out a sigh, "I was born cursed. Branded with a mark that said with certainty that I was going to die. So my parents (she touched the older man and woman in the painting) did whatever they could to change that. They searched high and low until they learned of a ritual that could borrow infernal powers beyond human understanding to bind my life to an inanimate object to extend my lifespan. The more stable and durable the object, the longer I''d get to live." Henry''s brows furrowed lightly. He said nothing but he was getting an idea of where this was going. He was getting an idea of what inanimate object Yelena''s Parents used. Yelena continued, "We moved out of the City where we used to live and settled here in New Freudein where they built this Mansion for the sole purpose of extending my life. They employed a sorcerer skilled and greedy enough to perform the ritual. Only a Money-loving daredevil would dare tamper with a curse like mine and only a very insane one would attempt to borrow infernal powers to do so." "Why would they have to be insane to try?" Henry asked. Yelena closed her eyes, "Because a Curse like mine doesn''t just go away. All he did was extend my life for as long as this Mansion stands while trapping me here to wait it out. The Sorcerer seeded in binding me to this gods-damned ce and went on his merry way with his pocket full of gold but me? I''ve been stuck here within the walls of this Mansion for Three centuries. With no end in sight. Death would have been wee." Chapter 34: Yelena (2) Henry let a few seconds of silence pass before he said, "So your name¡­" "¡­ IS Yelena. Yelena Hadron." Yelena''s eyes glistened with the moisture of iing tears and her hand shook slightly as she traced her fingers over the image of her Parents in the painting, "I can still remember how much I used to plead to be allowed to leave the Mansion. To just take a walk away from their grounds and see more than the samepound every single day. To visit the town¡­ talk to people I hadn''t already talked to hundreds of times. They always said no. And until the day I ran away from home, I didn''t understand why." Yelena''s voice trailed off then and Henry knew she needed a nudge to get the next words out, "What happened?" He asked, "When you left?" He assumed since she had been bound to the Mansion, it must have been an experience that nearly killed her. Yelena smiled. A sad smile. "Well, it''s more urate to say I ''tried'' to leave. I couldn''t actually make it past the grounds. There was some kind of tether on me that pulled me back. No matter how much I resisted, I couldn''t shake it. It kept me here. I went through a rebellious phase after that. Tried cutting myself but any wound I inflicted healed instantly. It seemed, within the Mansion, I was immortal. My parents exined things to me and I pleaded that they reverse it but they told me it wasn''t possible. The Ritual was one-way and even if they could have reversed it, they wouldn''t have. It didn''t matter how depressed I got, as long as I was alive ¡ªas long as their little girl was alive¡ª they were happy. Elias, my brother hardly ever left the mansion just so he could keep mepany. Whenever he did leave, he brought me stories of the outside world. He told it so well, it almost felt like I was outside with him. Almost. Because of him, things didn''t feel all too bad. I got better used to my situation. Even learned that I could ''share'' my immortality with others. I could heal wounds. Even designate a region within which all injuries are negated." Yelena paused here tough, "I used my healing on Elias the most. His constant clumsiness helped me hone my skills." "What happened to him?" Henry asked. There was a way Yelena''s voice caught when she spoke of her brother that told Henry it was the reason this story had been sounding like it was about to take a turn for the worst. "As I said before, a curse like mine doesn''t just go away. Elias suffered it instead of me. A week after my twenty-fifth birthday, a week after this painting wasmissioned, he died right out in the courtyard. No warning, no previous sign of sickness or injury. His heart just stopped. I was by his side when it happened. I held him and tried my best to heal him but I couldn''t reverse death and he was very much dead. He was gone. My parents died a month after that. It didn''t matter that their ''little girl'' was still alive. My brother was their heir, the child who could actually leave the Mansion and carry on the family name and he was gone. They refused to eat or drink until they inevitably passed. I didn''t eat or drink either but thanks to the Mansion and my Immortality, I didn''t have to eat to ''survive''. The workers left after my Parents'' deaths. I was not in any shape to retain them. I just stayed in my room, curled up into a ball, waiting, praying for something to strike down the mansion and finally let me rest. "I must have been curled up for decades. I lost track of time but I managed to count back when visitors began to visit the Mansion again. It was through those visitors that I learned the people in town believed the Mansion to be cursed and were staying far away. Only a few daredevils wereing in to try and find thest pieces of wealth they could scamper away with. They found nothing. The Mansion workers must have taken it all while I was curled up and battling my depression. Eventually, even daredevils didn''t visit the Mansion anymore. News that there was nothing of worth inside must have spread already. I thought that was a shame, I would have liked somepany." Yelena turned away from the painting and Henry saw her raise a hand to her eyes to dab away the tear moistures that had been surfacing. "So now you know why I epted you and the rest of the gang with open arms. The sounds of people in the mansion have been very wee after centuries of silence." "I''m sorry." Yelena let out a shortugh, "I didn''t tell you my story so you''d pity me." Henry looked down and then looked at the other paintings on the wall. Some were of Yelena but most were of her brother. There was one of the two of them with Yelena''s hand over a wound of his, healing it. "And your magic?" Henry asked. Yelena shrugged, "My parents said I always had a talent for it. I''m not all that sure because for as long as I could think for myself, I''ve been bound to the Mansion through that infernal ritual and I''ve been supplied with a constant supply of Mana. I''ve never run out but then again, I''ve never really pushed myself. Never had to." [You have gathered the necessary clues for Yelena''s Censored Stats] ''Oh?'' Henry thought with surprise. [Insight can now break through theyer that shrouds Target Yelena''s Stat screen] ''Alright then,'' Henry thought, ''Let''s see.'' [Activating ] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Yelena Hadron] [Race: Human (Infernal Spawn)] [ss: Witch] [Health: -Infinite- (Conditional)] [Mana: -Infinite- (Conditional)] [Strength: 15] [Agility: 20] [Stamina: 15] [Intelligence: 1500] *[Remarks: Cursed to an early death but her life was extended through Infernal Energy that has doomed her to a pitiful existence bound to end all the same. Beauty that ranges from Angelic to Frosty but is consistently outstanding. She CAN be killed but would you even want to?] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª "Infernal Spawn," Henry mumbled with his eyes on the Stat screen. "What?" Yelena asked. "Nothing," Henry said, shaking his head. He had not actually meant to say it out loud. Yelena gave him a look and walked out of the room. Henry followed with his eyes still on the Stat screen where he clicked on a tab for more information; [(Infernal Spawn) Description: One who has been touched by Infernal Energy. An Existence promised to Hell.] [Optional Quest: Yelena Quest Conditions: Discover the Witch, Yelena''s secret] [You have discovered that Yelena is an Infernal Spawn] [Quest Completed] [You have received 500 Exp] [Level Up!] [You are now Level 6] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 60] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 70] [You have received 6 Stat Points to allocate] [You now have 18 unallocated Stat Points] "So, was my past to your liking?" Yelena asked as they left the room and she turned around to look at him with a smile. But Henry saw through that smile. There was hurt in it. There was vulnerability like she wasn''t sure why she had revealed so much and did not know where it could lead. "Don''t do that," Henry said. "Don''t do what?" "Don''t say it like your past is some entertainment. Thank you for sharing it with me. I''m really sorry for all you have had to experience." He told her with his head bowed slightly. Yelena paused and blinked and then a smile ¡ªa genuine smile¡ª spread across her face as she said, "Thank you. Maybe now, you''ll be able to share with me why you wanted to die over and over again." Henry found he was actually open to the idea, "It''s not going to change your mind that I''m insane, but sure." As he returned Yelena''s smile and they held each other''s gaze, Henry received an Alert from the System. [You have received a follow-up Quest.] [Quest: Eliminate the Infernal Spawn Quest Condition: Kill Yelena Hadron. *This Quest is not optional and hence, cannot be rejected. Reward: 5000 Exp] Chapter 35: Retaliation (1) Yelena dly kept the conversation going after that. Although she had revealed her past to Henry, it was still a sore topic so they didn''t touch on it all that much but the conversation flowed better than ever. Henry didn''t need the System to tell him for him to know Yelena''s approval of him had improved even more but he was barely able to remain invested in the conversation like she was. All he could think about was the Quest he had just received to kill her. As Henry had promised, Yelena still thought he was insane for wanting to die over and over even after he told her he had wanted it done to get stronger. "How does it make you stronger though?" She asked. "How else?" Henry told her nkly, "Magic." "Hmm, yes, I suppose that makes sense. As much sense as Magic can make. Magic is such a marvelous and strange thing isn''t, it?" "I suppose it is," Henry agreed. The more he looked into her face, the more the Quest to kill her continued to surface in his mind. As for Yelena, there was no hint of disbelief on her face at Henry''s reveal that dying made him stronger. However, she did ask why he no longer wanted to do it. "I went too far and the next time I die, it will very likely be definite," Henry answered her honestly. "Even with my ?" Yelena asked, surprised. Henry nodded, "Yes," he said and he managed a smile, "You were right. Life is sacred. There¡ª are forces that won''t stand for me toying with it." Henry let a few seconds pass and then decided to ask the question most prevalent on his mind, "Yelena?" "Hm?" "Do you want to die?" Yes, it was a very forward question. It was a question that someone who joined the conversation out of context could find weird but neither Henry nor Yelena thought so because her story of her past had made mention of such a desire. Henry waited with bated breath for her answer. When he first read the description of the Quest to kill her, he immediately said ''Hell No!'' But as time passed, everything she had said to him while she told him of her past surfaced in his mind with a rity that made him wonder if the system gave him the Quest because that was what Yelena wanted herself. Yelena''s smile turned sad and she looked at her hands, "I want to be free, Henry," she said, "For the first time in my life, I want to see more than the same walls. The samepound. I want to read more than the same books and write on more than the same pages. I want to be free and I''ll take that freedom however I can." Towards the end, Yelena looked up from her hands and stared hard into Henry''s face so that their eyes were locked on each other''s. Eventually, Henry looked away, "I have to go," he said. Yelena looked surprised but then nodded with a small smile, "Oh, alright." "I''ll see you tomorrow," Henry said and half a minuteter, he was outside the medical bay. As he started to walk away, he raised his right hand and thought in his head, '''' The brand the craftsman had burned into his palm appeared and an oval portal shimmered into existence to wrap around his body and take him away from the Hadron Mansion and into Elminster''s workshop. *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* Elminster was hammering a te on top of an Anvil when Henry arrived and he slowly stopped and raised his head to look at him, "I don''t remember calling you here," he said in that grumpy voice of his. "You didn''t," Henry said, "I just used your brand." ''Technically, the System used your brand but you don''t need to know that,'' Henry thought. Elminster scoffed, "How resourceful of you. Have you recovered any more of my creations?" He asked. "Not yet," Henry said calmly. "So you''ve been cking off, then," Elminster said and banged the te a few more times. "If you call almost getting killed, cking off¡­" "I do," Elminster said without a care. "¡­ Then, yes. I was cking off." Henry finished his sentence as Elminster put aside the te he was banging out. "I hope you at least came with my gold," the Craftsman said. "I did. And I need more potions," Henry said as he ced the 150 gold he had on a b. Elminster''s eyes roamed the gold before he swiped them off the b, "150... Alright, Come on," he said. They walked through the doorway at the other end of the workshop and into the room of Prototypes. Elminster ced four potions in front of Henry after that. Two Healing potions and two Mana Potions. "Here. After settling your 60 gold debt and with four potions worth 20 gold each, you have 10 gold left so I''ll throw you another bottle at a discount. How about that, generous as ever, right?" Henry ignored the old man''s attempt at receiving praise and stroked his jaw to make the choice. ''Which would be better, an extra healing Potion or an extra Mana potion?'' "I''ll just take one of both," he eventually decided, "And I''ll owe you 20 gold." "You''ll owe me 30 gold," Elminster corrected as he ced the potions in front of Henry. "No, it''ll be 20. You gave me a discount, remember?" "You can''t get a discount when you''re about to owe me," Elminster said. "Why not?" Henry asked with an innocently confused expression. "You shameless¡ª It''s justmon sense," Elminster insisted. "You''re the shameless one here. You''re a Great Craftsman and you won''t even forgo 10 gold? How much richer can 10 gold make you?" Henry asked. "It will make me 10 gold richer, you cheapskate. 10 GOLD RICHER!" Elminster said stubbornly. Henry snatched the Potions and tossed them into his Inventory, "Be a respectable adult and help a fe out. I''ll owe you 10 gold," he said. "What? No, 20!" Elminster said. "Deal!" Henry answered immediately as the old man''s face turned red at falling for such a simple trick. "Boy, I don''t like you!" Elminster said with a bit of a growl. "You will," Henry said confidently, "Moving on, I wanted to ask you about ''The Hydra''s Sting''." "What about it?" "The wound caused by the acidic goop, Is it untreatable?" Henry asked. Elminster stroked his beard, "No, it''s not. Why do you ask?" "Someone I know got sshed by it. It hasn''t healed yet even with Healing Magic," Henry exined. "This Healing Magic you tried, was it regenerative Healing?" "I''m not sure," Henry said. "The wound caused by the acidic goop is what is called a ''Living wound''. It eats away at the victim''s body continuously. You can heal the spread with Healing Magic but you can''t heal the source. The only way to ''heal the source'' is to cut out the injured area which will take out a sizable chunk of the victim''s body and could end up failing if not done right. That''s why regenerative Healing is required to regrow the part that gets cut off." "I''m not sure we have that. Or would even try it, if we did," Henry said with a sigh, "Is there another way?" "There is." Elminster turned away and rummaged through the room of prototypes to pull out a small bottle the size of a thumb, "I made this to counteract the effects of the acidic goop. I figured whoever wielded ''The Hydra''s Sting'' was bound to be careless with it." "What''s it?" Henry asked. "A salve. You rub this on the surface of the wound and it gets rid of the ''source''." Henry smiled at that but paused as his eyes narrowed, "And how much is it?" "Hmm, I''ll willing to let go of it for 55 gold." ''Thief!'' Henry yelled in his head but he kept his expression normal. "40 gold," He said. "55," Elminster countered. "Fine, 50," Henry said like he was being kind, "And I''ll owe you an even 60 gold." Elminster sneered at him, "Your trick won''t work twice. It''s 55 gold and you''ll owe me 75 in total or you can get out of my Workshop right now!" Henry rolled his eyes, "Okay fine." He received the tub of salve and with a wave of Elminster''s hand, he was sent out of the workshop and back into the Hadron Mansion. Chapter 36: Retaliation (2) Henry walked the halls of the Hadron mansion until he was at the door to Triss'' room. He raised his hand and he knocked. The voice that came from behind the door had a bit of strain as it asked, "Who is it?" "Henry?" "Oh," the voice said brightly with a bit of breathlessness, "Come in." Henry turned the doorknob and pushed the door open inward before taking a few steps in. Triss'' room looked simr to his own which meant it looked just like almost every other room in the mansion. Rundown and with very little upkeep. The thought that the state of the Mansion had a direct rtion to Yelena''s life surfaced in Henry''s mind along with the Quest he had received but with a small shake of his head, he brushed that off and continued to explore the room with his eyes. Although Triss hadn''t done anything drastic, the room still had the look of being touched and made into her personal space. There was a pole to the side that she had many vests hanging on and there was an open chest with other pieces of clothing all neatly arranged. As for Triss herself, Henry found her soon enough in a downward dog pose to the very side of her room only a foot or two from her bed. She had her back arched with such grace and lethality that Henry just stared. Her ass was raised high and its shape seemed especially emphasized by the leggings she had on. Henry contemted looking away. To not be caught staring like some leech but he could hardly bear to turn his face away. ''She has to have heard mee in,'' Henry thought. After all, she had invited him in and he had not been all that gentle in closing her door. "Hey, Triss," he called gently, "Whatcha doing?" ''A dumb question,'' Henry thought while stopping himself from smacking his forehead, ''I know what she''s doing. It''s an exercise and I''m a pervert for staring.'' Triss chuckled as she straightened up but when Henry thought she was about to stop, she just put her hands on her hips and rocked them a bit before bending forward again to touch her fingertips to her toes. "I don''t really have a name for it. But it helps stretch my muscles. It''s also rxing and improves flexibility. You should try it." "Maybe¡ª maybe some other time," Henry said while still unable to look away from her backside. "So, Henry," Triss eventually said, "Why have youe to see me?" "I assumed you were feeling better and thought I''d check in," Henry answered. Only now did Triss rx from her poses and turn around to smile at him, "How thoughtful," she said. "Oh," Henry said like he had just remembered something, "And also, I wanted to ask about that wound. You know, the one caused by the Acid on the Train." Triss shrugged, "It still stings. Yelena has tried her best but it''s not healing just quite yet. But it''s bearable." "Would you like it healed?" He asked. ''Dumb question,'' Henry thought to himself, ''Of course, she wants it healed.'' "Of course, I want it healed,'' Triss said, "Why, can you help?" Henry paused but there was no reason to hesitate. He had asked Elminster for it on a whim and had acquired it to his deficit for this very purpose. "Actually, I think I can," Henry said while raising the tub of salve so she could see it. "What''s that?" Triss asked. "It can help," Henry said simply. "Where did you get it?" Triss asked. "Does it matter?" Henry retorted gently. Triss had every right to reject the use of it and for a second, Henry expected that but then she just smiled, "Well, I suppose it doesn''t. If you say it can help, I trust you." ''You do?'' Henry asked in his head. "Good," was what he actually said. Triss said nothing more and just walked over to her bed to sit at the edge with her back to him. She moved her hair out of the way so Henry had an unobstructed view of the injury. It looked like a circr scar with deep veins stretching away from it and digging into her skin. "You''ll apply it for me, won''t you?" Triss asked, "It''ll be a bother trying to reach back and do it myself, you see." "Sure," Henry said and he walked forward to sit on the bed right behind her. He pulled off the cork of the tub of salve and a sweet, almost minty scent wafted out of the container. Henry dabbed about half of the salve on his finger and applied it to the wound. "Tss!" Triss let out with her teeth gritted. "I''m sorry. Did it hurt?" Henry asked as he paused his rubbing motion. "Don''t worry about it," Triss said, "Please, continue." Henry continued and as he rubbed, it was hard for him not to notice that what Triss was wearing over the top half of her body, barely reached down to her midsection. Henry only needed half the tub of salve he had already applied and he watched as the veins that stretched from Triss'' wound began to retract into the wound. He watched as the slightly raised area of the wound lowered until it was level with the rest of Triss''s skin and finally, he watched as the scarred look corrected itself and became as normal as the rest of the skin around it as the salve vanished into her skin. Its job was done. ''Wow,'' Henry thought. He had not expected the salve to work so well. His finger continued to rotate around the spot the wound used to be at and then he began to wander. Triss'' skin wasn''t perfect by any means. It was marked with hardships she had gone through to reach where she was. None of the scars were recent because Yelena''s healing never left scars so Henry knew everything he could see on Triss'' body was from before she joined the gang. Almost absentmindedly, his finger trailed over some of them gently and then, Triss shivered and he came back to his senses and took his hand away. "I''m sorry," he said. "No, it''s fine," Triss said as she turned around to face him. Her cheeks were bright red, "Thanks for the salve." Henry gave her a bright smile, "You''re wee." Triss leaned in. It was so smooth, it was almost innocent. "So, will you tell me where you got the salve?" She asked with her lips only a few inches from Henry''s. "No," Henry said and with a small smile, he reced the cork onto the tub and pulled away until he was off the bed, "I''ll be leaving now. Let you get back to your exercises." Triss pouted and then chuckled, "Okay then. When you''re ready, tell me the price of the salve so I can pay you back." "There''s no need for that but if you insist, I''ll keep it in mind," Henry said and with a final wave, he walked out of her room and closed the door. *** The next morning, a new week had begun and Henry started another series of Daily Quest; [Daily Quest: (Category: Physical) Perform 200 pushups Reward: 10 Exp] ''The reward got better but it''s still very little in the grand scheme of things,'' Henry thought. His current Level-Up requirement was 1000 Exp. Hisint aside, Henry stillpleted the Daily Quests while also dedicating an hour every day to meditation. And then, Two dayster¡­ Everybative member of the gang was summoned into the meeting hall where Tony and Charles had news to deliver. They had found three bases scattered all about the countryside belonging to the Langlot Gang and with Angus'' agreement, they hoped to storm the bases and eliminate them all to the veryst member. [Grand Quest Updated! Main Quest: Retaliation (Hunting Quest) Quest Conditions: Storm the Langlot bases and Hunt down the Langlot Gang members. You will receive a bonus of 50 Exp for every Langlot Gang member you kill. Reward: Will Vary depending on how efficient you are at Hunting. *Nyx will receive 50% of every bonus you receive for every kill you make. Happy Hunting!] Chapter 37: Remarks Charles and Tony were still going on about the bases they had found out when the screen appeared in front of Henry''s face with the details of his new Main Quest. ''A 50 Exp bonus per kill? I could level up again,'' He thought as he did the calctions. At the start of the new week, Henry finally paid attention to the 18 Stat points he had umted through three Level-ups. He invested 6 points in Strength, 4 Points in Agility, 6 Points in Stamina, and finally, 2 points in Perception to make sure he no longer neglected the only stat that could level up his . [Strength: 14 ¡ª¡ª> 20] [Agility: 11 ¡ª¡ª> 15] [Stamina: 6 ¡ª¡ª> 12] [Perception: 8 ¡ª¡ª> 10] ''Status.'' [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 6 (219/1000 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Death''s Bane, Gangbanger, Vyker-Killer] [Hit Points: 60/60] [Mana Points: 70/70] [Strength: 20] [Agility: 15] [Stamina: 12] [Perception: 10] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 2 } {Taming Lv. 1 } {Insight Lv.1}] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª When he allocated his Stat Points, Henry had taken a second to bask in his stat increase. His body changed and although its physical change was more subtle, it was still very apparent to him. The way his muscles rippled underneath his skin to exert his strength, the way his body felt lighter, and the energy that surged in him. It was wonderful. He clenched and unclenched his fist as though remembering that moment when a voice called to him and reminded him he was in a meeting with the rest of the gang. "Henry, are you with us?" Charles asked. "Hmm?" Henry said as Triss nudged him with her elbow even though he was already paying attention. She didn''t know that. "Are you with us?" Charles asked again. "Yes. Yes, of course." He said. "Good," Charles said and he didn''t sound condescending. He really did think it was good that Henry was paying attention. The reason for this, Henry knew, was due to the update to the ''Gangbanger'' Title which made it so that the Gang ''treated him like Kin or with begrudging respect''. Henry''s rtionship with Charles was favorable enough so the man hoped to keep his attention as kin and an important part of the operation they were about to carry out. "You seemed out of it for a second there," Triss said with a smile right by Henry''s side as Charles went back to his briefing. Henry looked at her, "Just thinking," he answered. Triss rolled her eyes at him, "Pay attention." "Yes, ma''am," Henry told her in a whisper and with a small smile. Ever since the healing of her wound with the salve, Triss had been more ''open'' about wanting to remain close to Henry. He didn''t mind it and as he paid the barest bit of attention to what was being discussed in the meeting, Henry noted that he had not yet checked her Stat screen. [Activating ] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Triss] [Race: Human] [Job: Gang Member] [Health: 70] [Strength: 14] [Agility: 18] [Stamina: 15] *[Remarks: A beautifuldy with a Criminal past and present. Not yet at her physical peak and with plenty of room to improve. Her impressive agility and other Stats are worth noting but can be ovee and is, thus, Kible.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry frowned at the Remark that Triss was ''Kible''. He had taken note that the remarks he gleaned with always involved his chances in killing his target and wondered if that was just by default or somewhere in his head, he had indeed thought of killing them. But that made no sense. Apart from Devon, Henry doubted he had ever considered killing anyone else in the gang. ''Moving on.'' His minute of was still going so he looked all over the room, calling up Status screens he had not yet had the pleasure of looking into just yet. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Charles] [Race: Human] [Job: Gang Member] [Health: 90] [Strength: 21] [Agility: 12] [Stamina: 16] *[Remarks: At his physical peak with little room to improve. His Stats are impressive but is very much Kible.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Tony] [Race: Human] [Job: Gang Member] [Health: 80] [Strength: 22] [Agility: 11] [Stamina: 16] *[Remarks: At his physical peak with little room to improve. His Stats are impressive but is very much Kible.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Stefan] [Race: Human] [Job: Gang Member] [Health: 80] [Strength: 18] [Agility: 14] [Stamina: 15] *[Remarks: Like his Sister, he has yet to reach his Physical Peak. Impressive Stats but Kible.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Dana] [Race: Human] [Job: Gang Member] [Health: 80] [Strength: 13] [Agility: 19] [Stamina: 14] *[Remarks: A prettydy with a tendency to appear sexy but all that gets ignored due to her being an utter Bitch. Her Stats are ''alright'' but not nearly enough to warrant her arrogance. She is very, very, very Kible.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª As he read through Dana''s Stat screen, Henry blinked hard, not sure if he was supposed to smile or grimace. The remarks seemed to sometimes be at default due to theck of personal notes but with Dana, they were especially specific and spoke to his dislike of her personality and his begrudging note of her looks. ''And finally¡­'' ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Angus Dionisio] [Race: Human (Vyker)] [ss: Spellbinder (Weakened)] [Job: Gang Leader] [Health: 130 (300)] [Mana: 180 (400)] [Strength: 35 (80)] [Agility: 25 (60)] [Stamina: 30 (70)] *[Remarks: A Vyker who has lost his Creator, greatly diminishing his actual might and sealing his path to evolution. However, even with weakened Stats and a weakened ss, he remains a force to be reckoned with.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ''''Force to be reckoned with'' is putting it lightly,'' Henry thought with his eyes wide in surprise. Henry knew the Stats in brackets were what Angus would still have been capable of had he not lost his Creator and yet, the ''weakened'' Stats were better than even Devon''s! Devon, the Half-orc Berserker with the rippling muscles had a lower strength Stat than Angus, a human, who had a lean physique and a mustache that made him look more like a sleazy chatan than a brutal killer. ''Appearances can be deceiving,'' Henry decided. With the minute of activation up, Henry finally allowed himself to be invested in the conversations. "So what about the Vykers?" Dana asked with a nce, "We still have an attack from more of them to worry about." "We scoured around quite a bit to find these three Langlot bases and we''ve seen no signs of supernatural people nearby. We should be safe long enough to take our revenge." Tony exined. "We shouldn''t split up," Stefan said, "The Langlots are a bunch of morons but they do have the numbers." Charles nodded, "Yes. That''s precisely why Tony and I didn''t get too close. You''lle with us, won''t you, Angus?" He asked. Angus shook his head while stroking the chest he had never been away from since they got it over a week ago, "No, I don''t think I will." A minute passed and no one said a word. They all just watched Angus who noticed the tonal change in the hall and looked up, "What is it?" He asked. "This is big, Angus," Stefan said, "It will be good to have all hands on deck." Angus waved him off, "Bah, you don''t need me," he said. ''With Stats like yours, that''s a lie, Angus,'' Henry thought but didn''t say out loud. "I look around this room and all I see is talent and passion. You''ll do well without me. My time is better spent here. Unlocking this Chest." "And you''ve been at it for a week with no sess," Tony said with a frown, "Isn''t it about time we admit it''s a dud?" Angus chuckled, "You have that little faith in me? I''ve almost got it open. I''m this close." Angus held up his thumb and index fingers only an inch apart to emphasize his point but the Gang just fell silent, watching him again. Eventually, Devon let out a grunt, "We''re wasting time. If Angus wants to stay back, it''s fine. We''ll be fine." He left the hall first and everyone began to file out after him. They had only a few minutes to prepare before they were off for the hunt. Like thest time he was in the meeting hall, Henry was thest to leave and a view of Angus'' hands roaming over the locked chest with a greedy but mystified look was thest thing he saw before he walked out and closed the door behind himself. Chapter 38: Scoping And Sniping ??? A few minutester, Henry was by Nyx''s side, securing her saddle into ce before patting her neck. He chuckled when Nyx nuzzled her head against him with affection. "Henry!" A call from behind paused their frolicking but Henry continued to pat Nyx while he turned to face the person who had called him. It was Tony and he was holding two guns. The one in Tony''s left hand was a Repeater. Capable of firing rounds faster but with lower range than the rifle Henry had seized from the Langlot gang member back in New Freudein. The one that had gotten damaged by the Vyker Rena. The rifle in Tony''s right hand, however, had a brilliant wood finish and a long, thin, metal barrel with a scope on its head. A Sniper rifle. "Tony," Henry said before he gestured at the guns with his head, "Those?" "For you," Tony said with a smile, "A revolver won''t be enough for what we''re about to do. So which will it be?" "You want me to choose?" Henry asked. "Well, yes," Tony said and he pushed the Repeater in his left hand forward, "I''ll suggest this. I know you''re a good shot but not everyone can properly use a sniper rifle." "I can," Henry said confidently. "Okay then¡­" Tony said and pushed the sniper rifle forward instead. "I''d like to take both. If you don''t mind." Henry said. Tony blinked and then smiled, "Alright," he said and handed the two to Henry, "I hope you use them well." "Oh I will," Henry said with a smile. The two were perfect for the Hunting Quest. He looked at the Repeater with particr fondness. It had been a favorite in his past life. "Oh, and you''ll need this," Tony said and handed Henry a couple of Ammo boxes before turning and walking away. Henry stashed the ammo boxes into his Inventory when he was sure no one was watching but he slung the Repeater and Sniper rifle onto his back with their straps crisscrossing across his front. Henry looked all over the courtyard with everyone fastening their saddles onto their horses'' backs and found he was not the only one with a Repeater or a Rifle although he was the only one to have both. Devon was the only notable exception with a double-barreled Shotgun instead. As he mounted Nyx, Henry saw Triss fitting a saddle onto the back of the horse she had broken to rece her horse, Anders, whose fate she still didn''t know for sure but was almost certainly dead. Almost as though she had felt Henry''s eyes on her, Triss looked over at him and smiled as shepleted the fastening of the saddle and got onto her horse''s back. Henry directed Nyx to trot closer to the Mansion''s exit when he overheard a conversation between Charles, Tony, and Stefan. "So he''s just going to sit here cradling that chest like every other day this past week?" Stefan asked, his tone, seeping with anger. "Are you surprised?" Tony asked. "Well, yes. He''s never been like this¡ª This¡­ uncaring," Stefan said. "Ah, of course you''ll say that," Charles said with a small smile, "I always forget you and Triss have been with us the shortest. Angus does care but he does have times when he gets¡­ distracted. Or at least more focused on something else." "Do we even know what''s in that chest?" Stefan asked. "No, we don''t," Tony said, "But I assume Angus does. A chest sealed with magic that was guarded by a Warlock and a Gunman with a magical gun? There''s no way his source, whoever that was, didn''t mention that." Charles let out a sigh, "We all knew that job was going to be difficult. He warned us of that much. But he promised benefits and I guess we just have to wait to see what they are." As Charles was speaking, he seemed to realize that Henry was within earshot and he nced at him with a small smile, "Henry, you should remain close by. You''ll be firing first." "I will?" "Well, yes," Charles said, "The bases all have lookouts, and taking them out with a sniper rifle will make things easier on all of us." "Ah, I see. Well, you can count on me," Henry said. "If you''re done with the chitchat, we should get a move on now," Devon said in his deep grunting voice while hisrge horse trotted over with Dana''s horse riding by his side. "Right," Charles said and together he and Tony took their ces at the head of the formation and a collective ''Hya'' sounded out as multiple horse hooves struck the ground and they tore out of the Hadron mansionpound and began their journey. They rode in mostly silence with faces all steeled up with what they were about to do. Charles and Tony led the gang far away from the environs of the Hadron Mansion and the town of New Freudein until they were tearing through ridges bordered by hills. The ride took an hour and although speed was reduced at times to allow the horses to recover their stamina, the gang still rode fast and covered so much distance, that they almost seemed to be heading deeper into the Duvan State. Deeper into more civilized regions teeming withw enforcement the gang could not afford to offend. "We''re close now," Tony called out and five minutester, he signaled that the gang reduce their riding speed to a trot until they pulled to a stop. He took out binocrs from his satchel and looked through them, "The base is just through that thicket of trees. If we get any closer, we''ll be spotted by the lookout. Henry, you''re up." Henry directed Nyx to trot forward a few steps until she was about three feet ahead of Tony and Charles. He took the sniper rifle off his back and looked through the scope while taking a deep breath. ''Looking through a scope! Ah, I''ve missed this,'' he thought with a smile. Looking through the scope, Henry saw the camp Tony had pointed to. It was well hidden and so remote that they had more to fear from an attack of wild animals than from rival gangs or thew. ''The wild animals are likely not all that much of an issue for them though. Must even provide them sustenance,'' Henry thought, ''It''s a nice setup'' The Langlot base was a collection of shabbily built cabins and Henry could even see some Langlot Gang members seated in the middle of the base ying a game of cards. He could have killed them all right there and then but that''d only prematurely alert the rest of the base. It was best to take care of the lookouts stationed many feet away from the base. Those were the first line of defense, the primary set of reinforcements, and the ones with the best chances of making it out alive to call for other reinforcements or simply warn the other bases. "I count one, two¡­ Four lookouts," Henry said. "Take them out," Charles said. Henry activated his skill, not because he needed it but because he wanted the Skill Exp to take it to the next level. He then cocked the rifle and fired. The first bullet to leave the gun struck the lookout''s head and he fell in an instant death. Hisrade standing about two feet away reacted with shock and his eyes widened in realization but before he could make a move, Henry had re-cocked the rifle and fired a second shot that killed him. The four lookouts Henry spotted and counted were not all at the same spot so the deaths of the first two didn''t alert the second group so their deaths arrived before they even had a chance to notice something was amiss. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [The Hunting Quest has begun¡­] [You have received a bonus of 200 Exp] *[Nyx has received 100 Exp] The gang just watched in awe as Henry fired bullet after bullet with a steady hand and a keen eye looking through the rifle''s scope. "They''re down," Henry soon announced. "Good, provide us support from here," Charles said "Everyone else, Charge!" Chapter 39: This… Is Ours With the others charging in guns a-zing, Henry decided he had no reason to exercise caution anymore so he turned the muzzle of the sniper toward the center of the Langlot gang base and shot at one of the two card-ying gang members. The other one leaped up immediately but before he could make a sound, another fired shot killed him and he keeled over like his fallenrade. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 100 Exp] *[Nyx has received 50 Exp] [Nyx has leveled Up!] [Nyx is now Level 5] [Nyx''s Hit Point Maximum increased to 80] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Nyx] [Creature: Horse] [Breed: Veren Racehorse] [Level 5 (Must Evolve)]* [Hit Points: 80/80] [Strength: 40 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 45] [Speed: 80 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 90] [Stamina: 35 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 40] *[Nyx has reached the limit of advancement her unevolved species allows. To advance further and Level Up, she must step onto the Evolutionary Path.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry frowned at the message at the bottom of Nyx''s Stat screen that he had not even called up, ''''Evolutionary Path'' again? I don''t even know what it means,'' he thought. [You have received an Evolutionary Quest] [Evolutionary Quest: Nyx Quest Condition: Acquire an ingredient that can allow your tamed horse to break through the cage that is her limitations. The more magical and Evolution-friendly the ingredient, the better. Reward: Nyx gets to evolve.] Henry''s frown did not rx because the sudden Quest and its conditions were not all that clear. What ingredient did he even have to acquire? The System did not make clear. Oh well, even if the System had shut down further advancements until he acquired the mysterious required ingredient, Henry at least delighted in Nyx''s current stats. With Stats like hers, he was confident in a face-off against another Vyker duo like Rena and Urn. With one hand patting Nyx''s neck almost absentmindedly while she harrumphed with affection, Henry waved the holographic screen away from the front of his face and cast his eyes down at the battle down below. Down in the Langlot base, the death of two members in broad daylight roused every member of the gang to action and when they heard the sounds of rushing horse hoovesing at their base, they began to yell for cover and to strike down their attackers. Henry had to squint a bit but he was able to see Charles leading the charge with a lit dynamite in hand and he watched as he tossed the dynamite at a cabin resulting in an explosive *Bang* that sent Langlot gang members jumping to safety with some even sporting injuries on various body parts. They were ripe for the picking then as Triss and Stefan, on horseback, raised their repeaters and fired multiple rounds and put an end to their miseries. Devon charged into the base with hisrge horse and got very close to a Langlot gang member before pointing his shotgun at his head and firing a powerful shot that split the victim''s head open. As the blood and brain matter sttered and even sshed onto his gun, Devon just grinned with an almost sadistic delight before pointing his shotgun at another Gang member and firing another head-shattering shot. Dana was only a few feet away from him, still on horseback, with her repeater pointed to gun down any Langlot gang member that aimed a gun at their human-Half-orc duo. Tony had a rifle in hand and was the only one to get off the back of his horse to kick in the side door of a cabin and engage in an intense battle with three gang members taking cover to fire. One pointed a gun at him and Tony smacked the gun''s barrel aside so the fired shot hit another Langlot gang member instead. Two quick-fire shots after and two more Gang members fell. Thest one in the cabin got kicked in the jaw which sent him toppling out of the Cabin window where he received a sniper shot to the head that killed him instantly. "I had that, Henry," Tony said through gritted teeth even though Henry was not close enough to hear. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 50 Exp] Henry had a small smile on his face as he moved his scope from the gang member he killed and found himself another target among a group at the very end of the base, who had their guns pointed at Triss and Stefan. The brother-Sister duo shot a good few of them already but Henry managed to put a sniper shot into the head of one gang member. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 50 Exp] Finally, once he had reloaded the sniper rifle, Henry looked through the scope at the Langlot base boundaries and saw a duo of gang members that had quickly abandoned the fight and were escaping into the thicket of trees. The trees gave them cover from the gang who were busy at the time but it didn''t keep them from Henry''s sight enhanced by the sniper scope and with two shots, he ended their escape attempts. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 100 Exp] And just like that, the eradication of unsuspecting gang members ended as quickly as it had begun. Henry grabbed Nyx''s reins and directed her to ride into the Langlot base where the others were getting off their horses and charging into the cabins to find anything of value they could scavenge away. On his way, Henry made sure to tap the loot button once he was close enough to the lookouts he had sniped earlier. [You have looted 100 Vens] [You have looted 80 Quids] [You have looted 1 Repeater Ammo box (x20 bullets] [You have looted 1 Revolver Ammo box (x15 bullets] [You have looted 150 Vens] [You have looted 120 Quids] [You have looted one Rifle Ammo box (x20 bullets] Once Nyx crossed the boundary line into the base proper, Henry got out of the saddle and roamed about the grounds littered with the bodies of the dead, clicking the Loot button and calling all remedial wealth into his Inventory. [You have looted 200 Vens] [You have looted 800 Quids] [You have looted one Revolver Ammo box (x15 bullets] [You have looted 1 Repeater Ammo box (x20 bullets] [You have looted 300 Vens] [You have looted 500 Quids] [You have looted one Revolver Ammo box (x15 bullets] [You have looted one Rifle Ammo box (x20 bullets] [You have looted 150 Vens] [You have looted 600 Quids] [You have looted one Revolver Ammo box (x15 bullets] [You have looted 1 Repeater Ammo box (x20 bullets] [You have looted 250 Vens] [You have looted 700 Quids] [You have looted one Revolver Ammo box (x15 bullets] [You have looted one Rifle Ammo box (x20 bullets] ¡­ There were at least 20 bodies in the base and when all the money Henry had gotten from them all was piled together and added to what he already had in his Inventory, his current wealth was; ''9,700 Vens and 11,000 Quids. With 100 Quids to a Ven, this is not enough to pay off my debt to Elminster but it''s not a bad haul, overall.'' It was then that Charles and Stefan walked out of thergest cabin with a chest in between them, "We found what the scumbags had stashed away," Stefan announced with a grin on his handsome face. The gang gathered as Charles and Stefan put the chest down and pried it open with a knife to reveal valuables like rings and bracelets that could sell for a good bit of money and also, a substantial wad of Vens. "This¡­" Charles said as he held up the wad of cash and looked into everyone''s eyes one at a time, "¡­ is ours." They all knew what that meant. They were not giving to the Gang collective. Not out of this money at least. They were going to share it right here and now and that would be the end of it. Chapter 40: Hunter And Prey If Angus was going to neglect to join them in arms and strike against the Langlots, the Dionisio Gang members decided they were very well in the right to indulge in the spoils of their first raid. The wad of cash was over 40,000 Vens and was shared fairly equally among the seven Gang members present at the Langlot Gang base. Henry received 6000 Vens and promptly stashed it away in his Inventory. The rings and bracelets were divided as well but Henry tossed them into his Inventory with lesser scrutiny or care. Other items that were looted at the base were mostly alcohol and Ammo that the Dionisio gang made away with. They unsaddled the horses the enemy gang had hitched and loosened their reins so they could go free into the wild. There was a possibility the freed horses would get hunted by animals of the wild but they also looked strong and speedy so it was also possible they could manage to get away. Speaking of the wild animals in the woods; They had been scared away by the sounds of the gunfight but would surely soon be drawn over by the smell of blood and rotting flesh. The thought of the bodies being fed on by the wild animals was thest Henry had of the base as he gathered Nyx''s reins and followed the lead of Charles and Tony to ride off the base and head to the next target of their retaliation. The second base, ording to the direction Charles and Tony led the gang in, was a little a-ways from the first but instead of being surrounded by a thicket of trees, it was far more open and gave off the visage of a den of banditry far more than the previous base. There were no shabbily-made cabins. Just Tents pegged to the ground as well as hitching posts to hold the horses. The space was a rocky valley and farrger than the previous base with Langlot Gang members being more out and about. Henry got out of Nyx''s saddle andy on the ground on top of soft grasses with his eyes looking through his Sniper rifle''s scope. He fired and his bullet struck his target to an instant death. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 50 Exp] Just as he he had done at the previous base, Henry shot at the lookouts first but the entire camp was so in the open that the death of one of their own immediately alerted them. "Shit! We''re under attack!" A Langlot boy yelled out. The entire camp was immediately spurred into action as they raised their rifles, repeaters, and revolvers with their eyes scanning all over the high grounds to immediately spot a beautiful ck mare and a shooter lying on the grassy ground by her side. Muzzles were pointed toward Henry and as shots were fired, he winced slightly as the bullets struck surfaces close to him but remained focused enough to still fire five shots. Three of Henry''s shots either went astray or hit non-vital body parts but two managed to end two more Gang members just as the sounds of his chargingrades sounded and the Camp got truly raided. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 100 Exp] "Ah!" Henry yelled out suddenly. Driven entirely by instinct, he had managed to lean his head to the side but his shoulder still got clipped by a fired shot from enemies down below. [You have lost 2 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 58/60] More shots followed and another passed so close to his head, that Henry felt the bullet''s heat graze his cheek. Nyx reared on her hind legs at the shots being fired. No doubt, she had felt herself so close to getting shot. Henry got off the ground and mounted her saddle. He gripped her reins and galloped out of sight of the shooters as he switched his Sniper Rifle for his Repeater instead. Henry directed Nyx down the ridge and as she galloped, he raised the repeater, closed an eye, and fired shot after shot. Shooting shoulders, necks, and heads of his victims. His aim was not too true because of being jostled by Nyx''s gallop but the System''s notifications told Henry he had seeded in making one kill, at the very least. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 50 Exp] [Level Up!] [You are now Level 7] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 70] [Hit Points: 68/70] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 80] [You have 6 unallocated Stat Points] In a single fluid action, Henry leaped off Nyx''s saddle and the moment his feet hit the ground, he found himself a cover behind a rock to avoid making it easier for his target to gun him down. Nyx was certainly fast enough to blitz through the entire camp but her speed made it far too difficult for him to shoot because his senses could not keep up with her. And if he did not shoot and make his own kills, Henry was not sure he would get the bonus Exp the Hunting Quest promised. The rest of the gang had gotten off their horses as well and had all taken cover. Only getting up from behind the covers to fire shots at their enemies. Especially during times when said enemies had to pause to reload. "Dionisio!" A voice called out from the very end of the camp encirclement. Beyond the punctured tents and behind a boulder peppered with bullet holes that had failed to puncture further than an inch, "You made a terrible mistakeing here. Your timing is horrible!" "Oh, no, I don''t think we did, Terrence!" Charles said in a loud booming voice, "It''s about time we got rid of dreg like you." The two yelled out at each other sounds of gunfire with familiarity. Henry understood that it was the same as how Triss and Colm recognized each other back in New Freudein. This Terrence fellow was likely of simr standing as Colm within the gang and had been grantedmand over this base. Henry was mostly indifferent toward the Langlot gang but he had to respect the organization they had. Their leader, Doran had separated them into bases to operate separately but ultimately report to him and he retained a strong hold on the bases by heading them with those he trusted. There must have been one such person at the previous base. Either it was someone no one in the Dionisio gang recognized or they had just not been too bothered to engage in a banter of words like was happening now. Speaking of which, Terrenceughed, "You are mad to think you''ll make it out of here alive," He said, "Haven''t you noticed how thinned out we are? A bunch of us went out for a job. They''re likely on their way back now. Fortunate too and I think I should hurry them up." ''This is thinned out?'' Henry asked as he got up from behind his cover and made two more kills. The base already had so many Langlot gang members and there was more?! [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 100 Exp] Terrence''s face twisted in anger as two more fell no more than three feet from him but he recovered quickly as he raised a re gun towards the sky and fired. The Dionisio Gang watched as the fiery red-fired shot sailed up into the sky and shattered into a firework show that was undoubtedly to alert forces beyond. "Shit!" Charles cussed. A minute after the re gun was fired, the away members of this Langlot Gang base arrived on horseback with faces screwed up forbat and their guns pointed down into the rocky valley. Covers were useless against that height and angle and the second they fired, it was bound to be over for the Dionisio gang members. The Hunters had be the Prey. Chapter 41: Unlikely Comrades-In-Arms Both sides in the valley ceased firing as all eyes went up to the newly arrived Gang members who had their weapons trained on the enemy. Terrence cackled at the turn of events and stood to his feet confidently. His actions were followed by the rest of the gang down in the valley with him but they all had their weapons pointed at the rock covers the Dionisio gang were still hiding behind. "Damn it," Tony groaned, "We messed up." "So what are we doing?" Triss asked, her grip on her Repeater tightening. "Surrender seems¡­ smart," Dana said in a mellow tone. "They won''t spare us either way," Stefan said with his lips tight. "Ah, what nonsense!"Devon said and stood up with his Shotgun in hand and his stance was defiant in challenge. "Devon, are you mad?" Dana asked. "If we''re going to die anyway, why should we hide behind rocks that are not offering us any protection anyway?" "What''s the point of fighting to die? We only fight to live! At least, if we surrender, Death is not yet certain." Tony said with a deep frown. Triss noticed Henry hadn''t spoken yet and she nced over at him to see his hand cork the Repeater in his hand with his eyes locked on the Langlot gang members who had the higher ground. "Henry, what are you¡­?" Triss started to ask but Henry''s voice cutting loudly across the rocky valley interrupted whatever she had to say. "NYX, GET THEM!" It was as though Nyx had been waiting for that instruction. Until now, no one had paid enough heed to realize Nyx had not galloped away like the other horses at the sound of gunfire. She had remained a few feet away with her eyes ¡ªdeep with an understanding of the situation¡ª trained on the going-ons as though waiting to jump in. Like a ck bullet, Nyx fled the rocky valley and began to climb the path that led up to the higher ground where the newly arrived Langlot Gang members had stationed themselves. Danger instincts red up among a good few of the Langlot boys. They didn''t even really understand why but knew they did not want that horse close to them. "Shoot that horse!" One yelled inmand and guns were pointed but, although Nyx might not be faster than a bullet, she was faster than the shooters'' trigger fingers. Down in the valley, Henry raised the Repeater he had cocked and picked two targets mostly at random to put bullets in their heads. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 100 Exp] He would have fired more shots and killed even more but Nyx had made her arrival to the top by then. All shots that had been fired at the beautiful ck horse missed and with an aggressive headbutt, she mmed into one horse, not only knocking its rider off but also knocking the horse to the side so that it toppled into the horse beside it, which started a domino effect that sent almost all horses to the ground. As she whinnied gantly in the delight of her powerful collision, Nyx reared on her hind legs and when she brought down her front hooves, it was to stomp hard on the head of the Gang member closest to her, immediately ending his attempt to struggle back to his feet. [Nyx has made a Kill] [Nyx cannot umte Stat points until she has stepped onto the Evolutionary Path] [You have received a bonus of 50 Exp] Henry''s eyes widened at the realization that Nyx''s kill still allowed him to receive the bonus Exp for the Hunting Quest and with that in mind, he decided to give her full reign to stomp on every other Gang man ever in her path. With bullets flying in his direction and forcing him to once again duck behind his rocky cover, Henry was unable to yell at Nyx to keep going but somehow, she knew and ran amok. She dashed at full speed, mming her head into the poor Gang members who had been abandoned by their horses either killing them instantly due to the collision or sending them sailing down into the rocky valley where their heads struck the ground and they died all the same. [You have received a bonus of 50 Exp] [You have received a bonus of 50 Exp] [You have received a bonus of 50 Exp] Meanwhile, the other Dionisio Gang members had all stood out from behind the protection of their covers to hold up their weapons in surrender so when Henry kickstarted another shootout by yelling at Nyx and firing two shots at the Gang members looking down at them from a hill, the others didn''t have enough time to raise their weapons and join in. They barely managed to duck down behind the cover of rocks when shots were fired, sparing none of them. The wounds were not fatal by any means but the pain of bullets tearing through shoulders and missing heads by mere inches caused tempers to rise but it was Triss who spoke first. "Henry, a little warning first?!" She asked in a tone that seemed dangerously close to a shriek. Henry flinched at the sound, "Sorry," he said, "Stay back here. I''ll handle the rest." He didn''t wait for an answer or for them to unanimously give him a look that made it clear they wondered if he was mad, and just leaped over his rocky cover and ran towards the very end of the camp where their enemies were ducked at. "Like hell, you will!" Devon said in a deep rumbling voice that sounded very much like a growl. With a powerful heave and without the slightest show that his shoulder wound was hindering him, the Half-orc leaped over his cover as well and charged forward only a few steps behind Henry. Together, they charged thest of the enemies like unlikelyrades-in-arms. Shots were fired at Henry but with his Agility stat at a point their vast majority was unable to keep up with as well as the fact that he adopted a zig-zag running pattern, made it difficult for the enemy to hit him. Henry cocked the Repeater in his hand and fired two shots at his first victim. One to the shoulder and one to the head. "Ack!" The Gangbanger let out out as he fell back. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] Devon cocked his shotgun and intercepted an enemy''s shot by firing first and sttering the victim''s brain matter so aggressively, that it sshed into the eyes of another, blinding him and leaving him prone to get shot in the head by Henry. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] Henry arrived at the other end and leaped over the cover a pair of Gangbangers were hiding behind and with a swift and heavy kick backed by his high Strength Stat, he sent one mming into the other which forced his head to m into the rock behind. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] The one who actually suffered Henry''s kick groaned in pain at his cracked sternum but still tried to summon the will to raise his weapon. The attempt was feeble and it ended when Henry shoved the muzzle of his Repeater into his mouth and fired. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] Henry turned to other enemies and aimed to shoot again but the Repeater cocked with a sound that announced it was out of bullets. "Fool!" Terrence''s voice called out from behind the rock where he and thest two other members of the base were taking cover. Like someone ready to throw it all away for a chance to kill at least one enemy, Terrence stood up and aimed his gun. Henry was ready and his hand pulled out his revolver from his Inventory but before he could fire his shot, a st from a shotgun sounded out and half of Terrence''s head was sted off in a bloody disy that doused thest two remaining Langlot Gang members with his blood. Chapter 42: Henry nced over at Devon and saw the Half-orc with his shotgun pointed with its muzzle smoking from the recent shot. "You''re wee," Devon said in a voice that made it sound like Henry now owed him a favor. Henry just rolled his eyes and looked away until his eyes fell on thest two members of the Second Langlot base. They had no more fight in their eyes. There was also no escape open to them and so, with an impassive gaze, Henry raised his revolver and ended their lives with a bullet to each head. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 100 Exp] [Skill Level Up!] [Marksmanship is now Lv. 3] [You have acquired the sub-skill ] [Sub-Skill: Description: Say goodbye to the worries of manually filling your guns with bullets. With this Sub-Skill ¡ªThat works in tandem with your INVENTORY¡ª, your gun is almost instantly filled to its brim with bullets you hold. Leaving you more time to gun down your enemies. *Your Inventory must contain the bullets your gun requires for this Sub-skill to be activated. *This Sub-Skill does not require Mana to activate.] Henry read the description of before his eyes went to the empty Repeater in his hand. He turned it slightly as though to look at the part of the weapon where the spring load that fires the bullet could be seen through a small window that only ever opened when a bullet casing was dislodged from the weapon. Henry brought the name of the Sub-Skill to his mind and watched, in marvel, as a blue light glowed over the rifle and its cocked spring snapped back into ce ready to fire the bullet that had just entered the barrel. ''The reload took all of three seconds,'' Henry thought with a small smile ying at his lips, ''I''ve been able to reload a weapon that fast at times, But this is good and does free me to worry about other things.'' Of course, Henry was only trying to downy the Sub Skill. Sure, he was a fast weapon reloader, but different weapons cost different seconds to reload. To have a Skill that rendered all of that varying and sometimes substantial reload time to a mere three seconds was not only ''good'' but also incredible. Henry knew this too and that was why he thought of his {Marksmanship} skill with more fondness, "I wonder what more I can get if I keep leveling up the Skill." "Mumbling to yourself after showing off your magic? Typical," Devon said with a snort, calling Henry out of his thoughts. "What?" Henry said, "What do you mean?" "I mean you''re an insufferable show-off. You think you''re all that just because you can make your weapon glow for a few seconds?" "Oh," Henry said when he realized Devon was referring to the light of the Sub-skill. The Half-orc must have seen it. "You were the same way with that evil gun too. Pathetic." Devon added with a bit of spite. ''So the glow is visible to everyone then?'' He thought with a smile, ''I think I like it even more now.'' Devon wasn''t wrong. Henry was a show-off indeed. Showing off his skills was how he had made many enemies in his past life¡­ Of course, it had also made him ''friends''. Either out of respect or fear. Sometimes both. "What are you smiling about?" Devon asked with a frown. "Nothing really," Henry said and then, immediately burst into a heartyughter that carried to the other end of the Gang camp where the rest of the Dionisio gang were. "What in the devil, are they doing?" Charles asked as he looked out from behind the rock cover. It was starting to set in that there was no more shooting. The battle had been won. "They''reughing," Tony said with the corner of his lips twitching with the showing of a smile, "At least Henry is." "Lunatics, the both of them," Triss said with a small note of anger, "To charge like that. Stupid and reckless." "Devon can take care of himself," Dana said with a proud *hmph* before she nced at Henry, "It''s that idiot we should condemn for acting like a gant moron." Everyone voiced opinions and Henry''s ears caught some of them but he mostly didn''t care. Just went about looting the wealth of the Dead before calling up his Status to look at his progress thus far, ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 7 (887/1500 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Death''s Bane, Gangbanger, Vyker-Killer] [Hit Points: 68/70] [Mana Points: 80/80] [Strength: 20] [Agility: 15] [Stamina: 12] [Perception: 10] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 3 } {Taming Lv. 1 } {Insight Lv.1}] [You have 6 unallocated Stat Points] ''This hunting Quest is incredible. I''ve already leveled up once and I stand to level up again by the time we are done with the Third Base.'' ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry nced at his wound ¡ªa small wound that no longer bled and had only cost him 2 Hit point¡ª, and smiled wryly, ''I won''t allocate my Stat points. I don''t need them. Not for Langlot Gang members, at least.'' A whinnying sounded out as Nyx galloped down the hill and hurried to Henry''s side like she was eager to beplimented. She ducked her head in front of him and Henry hugged it. "You did good." He said. "She did more than good," Devon said with a snort and his eyes narrowed in curiosity. He wasn''t the only one. The others paused their scouring of the Second Langlot base to nce over at Henry and his horse. "The way she felled those horses with her collision. I''ve only seen Workhorses do the same and not one has ever looked as effortless or¡­ graceful as she did while doing it," Charles said. Tony nodded, "Yes, how is she that strong?" Henry looked from one of them to the next. His eyes looked like he was questioning their reasoning for looking at Nyx with so much scrutiny, "What are you all talking about? Does it matter how she can do it?" Everyone watched in silence for a few seconds before Charles let out augh as he walked to Henry''s side and sped his shoulder, "Haha, of course, it doesn''t matter how she can do it. What matters is that she CAN do it." The matter was brushed aside after that. The Dionisio Gang did not leave the Second Langlot base that day. They found the loot the Gang members had stashed away but it was smaller than what they had gotten from the first base so they decided they might as well keep it for the Gang collective. They decided unanimously to spend the rest of the day at the enemy base. It was as secure as anywhere else and they were going to need their strengths for the third base. Especially with almost all of them having gotten shot. It took a long time but they were able to clear the bodies of the dead Langlot Gang members far enough away from the base to not be bothered by the sight or even the smell. After that, they cleared an even smaller space in the base, free of blood, and brain matter cleaned enough Enemy tents to serve as cover for the night. They performed first aid on each other''s wounds (Henry didn''t need any and neither did Devon), and then brought out rations to eat while seated around a fire and sharing stories andughs before eventually going to sleep for the night. Chapter 43: Gone To Where? *** ¡ªThe Next Morning¡ª It was still quite early when every member of the Dionisio gang awoke to eat rations and prepare their horses to ride out. Those who had been injured the day before checked their wounds to ensure it would hold for thest nned assault and soon, they mounted their horses and followed the lead of Charles and Tony to turn the horses around and ride out of the Second base and toward the third. "So, Charles, Tony, what do we need to know about the third base?" Henry asked when they had already ridden for fifteen minutes. Tony grunted, "Not much is different, to be honest. It''s a den filled with low lives waiting to be gunned down." Charles shook his head, "Now, now, that''s not being very honest," He said with a smallugh, "We left this base forst on purpose. It used to be a Military Fort but was long abandoned with its structures worn down by the times. It''s worse off than the Hadron Mansion we have made into our base but doesn''t carry the stigma of a ''curse''." Tony sniggered then but he continued from where Charles stopped, "Although the structure has been damaged, it still used to be a Fort and hence, is very easy to defend and difficult to attack. The front ''gates'' have already fallen into disrepair and will be open for us to just charge in but the Fort has many nooks and crannies our enemies can hide in while picking us off while we are in the open. There are also battlements andst time we scouted, we saw a bunch of newbie Langlot Gang members stationed there waiting to shoot. They are easy enough to handle from a distance and on horseback but that will alert the rest of the base instantly and make things difficult but since things will get difficult either way, it must still be done." Charles stepped in then, "There are no high grounds around the Fort. If anything, the Langlots have a high-ground advantage thanks to the Battlements. If we want to take the Fort, we must strike fast and strike hard. I suspect this is where Doran Langlot has been holed up. And that idiot, Colm O''Hearn. We kill them and the rest of their cronies and we can confidently im we have annihted the Langlots making us the only Gang in the countryside." "Until another Gang takes the Langlot''s ce, of course," Stefan said with a smallugh. "True," Triss nodded with a smile, "It might even be the few survivors of the Langlot Gang that establish new ones to rece it." The concept was not strange to Henry. In the countryside such as this where the influence of thew was minimal, the Gangs are the powers. In a sense at least. Angus Dionisio hardly seemed like the kind to care about intimidating an opposition to not ''rob on his turf'' but Doran Langlot had been possessive like that. With the Langlot Gang in ce and as strong an establishment, as Doran had made them to be, they squashed anypeting Gang before it could excel. The Exception was the Dionisio Gang and that Exception was now gunning for his head. When Doran Langlot and his gang were inevitably disposed of, others would rise. Henry wondered if they would attempt to squash them but then shook his head when he remembered they were far more likely to get as far away from this Countryside as they could once thisst bit of business was handled. They needed to stay ahead of potential powerful enemies toe. The ride was long but soon, Henry and the others could see the rundown fort in front of them, still looking like an imposing structure. Charles pulled out a pair of binocrs and looked through them at the Battlements. Henry grabbed his sniper rifle and looked through the scope to pick out two lookouts standing in separate battlements. ''This seems¡­ little,'' he thought with a thoughtful frown. "Hmm, there was more thest time we were here," Charles grumbled while looking through the binocrs, "Anyway, Henry shoot the lookouts." Henry pulled the Rifle''s bolt to set into ce and with his eyes keen and his [Marksmanship] skill activated, he fired. He was almost sure he heard the ''Hmph'' sound his victim made as he fell but he turned his weapon to the second lookout and fired as he had done the first. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 100 Exp] Charles raised his Repaeater then and yelled, "CHARGE!" The hooves of their horses hit the ground with heavy thuds as they made their way toward the Fort''s damaged gates. Henry was eager to make his kills first so he didn''t make Nyx keep pace with the other slower horses and outstripped them all in barely a second. He crossed into the Fort''s grounds secondster and only then pulled back Nyx''s reins so that she reared on her hind legs while letting out gant whinnies. Henry had his Repeater in hand and pointed it around for a Langlot to kill but there were none. Or more urately, none left the covers of the Fort''s rooms to try and attack him. "What¡ª What''s this?" Henry asked with a suspicious frown. He got down from Nyx''s saddle just as the others crossed into the Fort and immediately noticed the eerie silence. "This is¡­ different," Triss said. Everyone had gotten down from their horses now. Devon''s heavy-footed boots sounded with a heavy thud and he let out a puff of air from his nostrils as his brown eyes looked all over the base. He sniffed a few times like he was trying to catch scents. It looked savage but proved effective, "I smell four¡­ maybe five." He said when he was done sniffing. "Not nearly enough to defend a base like this," Charles said with a frown, "This makes no sense." "Agreed," Tony said with a nod. Thest base they attacked also had its members out on a job and it was still better defended than this. Both Charles and Tony refused to believe the base they had saved forst could be so¡­ empty and unfulfilling. In his deep, loud voice, Tony called out, "We know you''re here. Come out and surrender before we drag you out." A minute of silence passed and then a very quick footstep sounded out followed by the cocking of a rifle. The barrel had just pointed toward the Gang through a suddenly open window when Henry raised his Repeater and fired two shots. One punctured the would-be attacker''s neck and the other punctured his head. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 50 Exp] Charles sniggered, "You would be fools to assume you were faster or better shooters than my fellows with me. Come out now. This is thest time we will ask." Slowly, the surviving four trudged out of the rooms with their rifles raised and their eyes ring at Henry and the others with hate. Charles and Tony directed them to drop their rifles to the ground and fall to their knees with their hands behind their heads. "You are the only ones here?" Charles asked for confirmation. The four paused and then nodded slowly. "And the others? Where are they?" Tony asked. The four just red without speaking. Devon stomped forward and struck his shotgun against the head of one of them like a club. *Bam!* The struck gang member fell to the side with an ugly gash on the side of his head. That single hit had robbed him of all his strength and as he ate dirt, he knew the next strike could split his skull. "They left!" One of the uninjured ones yelled out. His defiant look was a bit tempered now as he feared to suffer the fate of his fellow. "This morning. Maybe an hour ago," said another. "To where?" Devon asked with a re and his shotgun held tight to strike again. "You''re¡ª You''re the Dionisio Gang¡­ Aren''t you?" Said the Langlot Gang member. "Answering my question with a question?" Devon asked in a rumbling tone as he moved to swing his club again, "No, wait!" The Gang member said with his palms stretched out, "They went to your base!" "What?" "They spent the whole ofst night nning it. They said they finally knew where you lot were holed up so they set out this morning to attack your base. The boss said¡ª He said he was gonna burn it to the ground. And they didn''t go alone." "What does that mean?" "There were visitors, ya see? Don''t know where they came from but they''re strong. Boss is working with them. They set out together." Devon looked back at the others and they shared a look. "Visitors¡­" Triss let out a whisper and everyone had the same thought, ''Vykers!'' Chapter 44: Defense Or Death Everyone went silent. So silent that Henry was sure he could hear hearts beating in their chests as their faces were twisted into expressions of fear at what the idea of Vykers striking their base meant. There was also a bigger implication that, had theye earlier, they might have ridden into an ambush and had to face off against not just Langlots but Vykers who had strength that greatly surpassed theirs. "How many were they?" Devon asked in a controlled voice, "These visitors. How many were they?" "F¡ª Five, Sir." "And when did you say they left?" Devon asked. "Over an hour ago, sir." Stefan frowned, "I''m surprised we didn''t meet them on the way." "The paths that lead to New Freudein are not limited to the one we took," Charles said. "Plus, since they already had Vykers with them, they probably didn''t think it was necessary to rally up the rest of the bases. If they had considered that, our paths might have crossed." Tony added. *Wham!* The sound of impact called everyone''s attention back to Devon and they watched as he continued to m the butt of his Shotgun against the heads of the kneeling Langlot Gang members. He struck each one in the head repeatedly until massive gashes cutting into their skulls were clear to see and their eyes were rolled over in lifelessness. It was a gory sight but no one batted an eye at it. The n in essence had been to kill the Langlot gang members. The fact that there was no battle beforehand did not change anything or warrant mercy. Devon found a piece of cloth hanging around and began to clean his shotgun of blood while he looked at the others and asked, "Well, what are we standing around for?" "What do you mean?" Dana asked. Devon looked like he didn''t understand the question, "What do you mean ''what do I mean''?" He asked, "Let''s go." "Wait, you mean, back? Back to the Mansion?" "Of course," Devon said. "Why?" "What do you mean ''Why?''" Devon asked, his eyes boring into Dana''s, "Angus is there. Alone." "He has Good ''ol Joe," Stefan said and the others chuckled. Of course, it had been meant as a joke. Angus always said he had known Joe for a long time and the man had been a capable Gangbanger in his day but those days were gone now. Managing chores was the best use the Man had now. "He might as well have no one," Charles said while shaking his head, "But really, what help could any of us be there? There are five Vykers and probably twenty Langlots riding to the mansion right now. Do you really think we can fight them? That we can win?" "I don''t fear no Vyker!" Devon said. "Well, you should. Muscles are useless against power¡­ Real power. They''re even more useless against Magic which Vykers have," Dana said and she grabbed Devon''s arm to pull it close and against her body. Devon pulled his arm free, "I can''t believe what I''m hearing. Cowards, all of you!" "And you''re an idiot. What you''re suggesting is for us to all ride to our deaths," Stefan said and he took a step closer to the Half-orc. There was a few inches difference in their heights but Stefan looked up and red into Devon''s face all the same. Devon took a step closer to him with air blowing out of his nostrils, "Call me an idiot, one more time." The threat was clear but Stefan didn''t back down. When Devon started to clench his fists, Stefan clenched his too but because of the difference in his and Devon''s sizes, it looked almost pathetic inparison. "Alright, that''s enough," Tony said with one hand stretched out in cation and the other on the handle of his revolver in the holster held at his waist by his belt. A few seconds passed as the two remained locked in a staring contest and then Devon looked away, "Bah! Knocking you out is not even worth the effort. The rest of you can stay here, I''ll go." Devon edged past Stefan in a collision that almost sent the smaller man to the floor as he walked toward his horse. "Wait!" Dana called as she stretched a hand out to grab his arm and stop him, "You can''t go. Can''t you see? The Langlots and the Vykers are behind us. We can just ride away. Get away." Devon pulled his arm from her grip and this time did it so aggressively, that she reeled back a few steps, "Then go, if you want. I''m going back and I''m helping Angus. And I don''t need any of you toe with me." "I''lle with you," Henry said suddenly while standing beside Nyx and all eyes turned to him, "What?" He asked. Devon walked toward him and let out a long snort, "You will?" He asked. "Of course." "Why?" Henry sighed, "Does there have to be reason?" Devon snorted again, "Trying to be a Hero?" "Is that why YOU are going back?" Henry asked, "To be a ''Hero''?" Devon''s face twisted, "Angus met me when Icked purpose and he gave me one¡­" "I remember," Henry said quietly. It was in the memories he had inherited from the old Henry. Devon was the second person Angus recruited into his Gang. Henry was the first. "¡­ I''m not just going to let him die," Devon said. "Then we agree," Henry said and stretched a hand out for a shake, "We ride together?" Devon eyed the hand and then grabbed it with a small smile at the edge of his lips just past one of his extra-long canines, "Yes. We ride together." The two hands separated and Devon went to hisrge horse to climb into the saddle. Henry climbed into Nyx''s saddle as well. "You can''t be serious," Stefan said. "Henry, Devon, you should reconsider," Tony said in a grave tone. Henry just smiled, "There''s nothing to reconsider." Why was Henry so confident? Well, a minute or more ago when the others had descended into an argument and just after he had reaped the wealth of those Devon had clubbed to death with his shotgun, Henry received an alert from the System; [Main Quest: Retaliation (Hunting Quest) has been updated. The enemy has ridden to your base and your Quest has been slightly adjusted. Quest Condition: Hunt down the Gang members and Vykers who are heading to the Hadron Mansion. You will receive a bonus of 100 Exp for every Langlot Gang member you kill. You will receive a bonus of 250 Exp for every Vyker you kill. Good luck!] ''I''m stronger now than I was when Triss and I faced Rena and Urn. Devon also already volunteered to go and I''ve seen his Stats so I know he''s capable. I''ve restocked on Healing and Mana potions from . I have six ''Hydra Tongue'' bullets left in ''The Hydra''s Sting. And the Rewards are attractive enough for me to consider. I have to do it.'' Henry looked around at the others and saw Triss watching him while biting her lip. He smiled at her to let her know it was fine she wasn''ting. After all, thest time she faced a Vyker, she had gotten burned and nearly died so it was reasonable¡ª "I''ming too!" Triss said suddenly as she walked over to her horse and grabbed its reins. "Triss, what? Are you mad?" Stefan asked, "It''s dangerous." "Of course it is. So, you shoulde too," Triss said and she allowed herself a carefreeugh. She was now on her horse''s saddle and she nced at Henry with a wide smile before looking down at the others. "Damn it! Fine!" Stefan said and got onto his horse too. "This is Suicide, but¡­ *sigh* I''lle too, I guess," Dana said with one final re at Devon. Charles sighed, "Alright, I''lle too." Tony shook his head but he was smiling, "Me too. Would be a bad look to be the only one to chicken out. Let''s just check around for what we can scamper away with first." There wasn''t much they could get. There was money, about 50,000 Vens in stacked bills, but for the base where Doran himself had been hiding, it was too little. "The old goat must have a secret stashing spot far away from here. Smart," Charles admitted in a grudging tone. Tony turned his horse around and rode to the front of their riding group as he and Charles had done throughout these Base raids, "Langlot and the Vykers have over an hour on us but I know a path we can take that is rtively short. If we ride fast, we can catch up or at least close the distance. Come on!" "HYA!" Horse hooves struck the ground powerfully as the Dionisio gang rode hard and fast. It remained to be seen if they were ''simply'' riding to the defense of their base or if they were riding to their deaths. Chapter 45: A Magic Lock Is Like A Codex *** ¡ªOver One thousand Kilometers away from the Fort the members of the Dioniso gang had just ridden out of and hundreds of Kilometers from the Hadron Mansion¡ª Arge group of riders were riding at a consistent speed all armed rifles and repeaters and revolvers slung across their backs or stowed in holsters by their waists. Counting them all together, they numbered more than twenty-five and all rode with studious looks on their faces and a singr purpose. At the head of the riding group, nked by Colm O''Hearn, was a man with a greying beard that looked only slightly well-kept and inched ever closer to looking savage. He was a well-built man and when the cloak he had on happened to billow, one could get a glimpse at his muscles all hugged fairly tight by his shirt. The man''s eyes were a deep ck and his lips were pursed slightly in distress and pride. He was Doran Langlot. Leader of the Langlot Gang and the singr most feared man in the entire countryside. At the time Doran ''reigned'' at his height, the fact that his face and name were on wanted posters was not a source of fear but rather a matter of pride. In fact, he wanted to have it kept up and dared any Law enforcement agent to attempt to bring him to justice. Many had tried of course and even more had died in the attempt. Doran had a reputation for being cruel to the point where bounty hunters thought twice before epting the job for his head. No one had seeded yet and it was unlikely anyone would. Yes, Doran had enjoyed a powerful status for many years which meant a lot to him seeing as he came from nothing and worked himself to the bone to be where he now was. To hold the fearsome position of ruthless Gang leader he currently had. And yet, a ''small'' Gang became a thorn in his side. It wasn''t enough that they seemed to have especially selected the very best to join their ranks but, from their first meeting, Doran could tell Angus Dionisio was no ordinary man. Although Angus'' size was slightpared to his, Doran had still felt some sort of Aura that told him, that if he went only by looks, he was in for a shock. The Dionisio gang had killed more of them than they had ever managed to kill of them. They had always managed to get the best tips for the best jobs and get to the most expensive loot before them. The final straw was the Train job. Langlot received a tip of the valuable loot that he could get if he hijacked the Train but he didn''t want to act foolishly. Who would be mad enough to attempt to rob a Manor Lord? Especially when there was news that Magic was protecting the loot? Who would be that insane? Apparently, Angus WAS that insane? When the news of the sessful robbery reached his ears, Doran Langlot had blown hot. His body burned with jealousy and rage but all that was gone now. In the days that had passed since that job, he had be more and more assured that he was right to think twice about that job. ''Seven Vykers in total sent after the Loot already,'' Doran thought as his horse rode at the head of the riding party, and a smile spread across his face, ''What a pickle you have gotten yourself into, Angus Dionisio. But I thank you. You''ve made it easier to get rid of you.'' "Boss, at this rate, we''ll be at the Hadron Mansion in an hour," Colm said from beside Doran. Doran allowed himself to be pulled from his deep thoughts and he nodded with a serious tone and expression, "Good." "I still can''t believe they would stay in a Cursed Mansion," Colm said, "They really must be mad." Doran nodded, "I underestimated how foolish Angus was. Or maybe how smart," he said with thest four wordsing out in a mumble. Colm chuckled, "The curse of the Mansion must be true. To have amassed this much bad luck to have Powerful enemies like Vykers knocking on their door." Doran frowned then, "I don''t know why you''re sounding so calm," he said in a tone that held a hint of anger, "You had many men with you and yet only you survived. And there were only two of them!" Colm blinked and the corner of his lips twitched, "The bitch with the red hair, we expected and could have killed, I am sure. The boy was different though. It was like God himself was guiding his bullets to hit. Or maybe it was the Devil." "Whichever it was, it made them capable enough to kill two Vykers¡­ That''s concerning," Doran said with a nce behind him. "Do you doubt us?" A voice called from behind Doran and Colm. It was one of the Vykers. "Is that why you have brought this many wastes to ride with us?" Another Vyker asked. This one had raven ck hair and grey eyes. He had one hand on the reins of his horse and the other on the hilt of his sword. "I''m not doubtful," Doran said calmly, "I''m cautious. ording to Colm here, there were only two of the Dionisios and they managed to kill two of you. We''re heading to their base where their strangely powerful Leader is. It is wise to be cautious. I''ve brought this many as an insurance. The Dionisio Gang must end today." The Vyker with the sword snorted, "Rena and Urn are a disgrace to Lord Aleric. They were weak and fell to mere parlor tricks. That will not be the case with us." "One can only hope," Doran said, his expression uniform, "One can only hope." "You never told us what was inside this Chest they stole," Colm said with a greedy look in his eyes. "That is none of your concern. People like you can''t ever break the lock on it anyway. The contents of the Chest will remain safe until we can retrieve it for our Lord. He will have it back and the thieves will burn for their daring." "And we will be rewarded for the part we yed as agreed?" Colm asked. "Of course," the Vyker said, "Lord Aleric always pays his debts as those thieves are about to learn." ??? ¡ªThe Hadron Mansion¡ª A Magic lock is like a codex. It''s actually more ''scientific'' than one would think and having spent decades by the side of the Witch who created him, Angus Dionisio had gotten insight into Magic that surpassed his Station. It was why he was so confident he would be able to unlock the Chest. The information he received about the chest that led him to steal it in the first ce told him Maude Aleric wasn''t the one who locked the Chest. It was locked by the person who had it sent to him. This meant the Chest was not locked to a specific Magical signature and could either be opened with a precise ''key'' or through multiple trials and errors. Thanks to the knowledge he had gained from his creator, Angus knew enough to get started but he had failed over and over and over again. He had remained inside the meeting room, knowing for sure he could not possibly escape the reach of the Lord of the ck Manor and smiling at the irony that the only thing that could give him a chance was locked in the chest whose magical lock he was failing to crack. But he kept at it. For more than a week, he kept at it because, of course, how could a lock be what kept him from a goal he had chased for half a decade? *Click!* The sound of a sessful break caused Angus to pause and the look in his eyes was a mixture of tion and disbelief. The ck lines of frustration that had formed on his forehead smoothed out as the Chest''s lid propped open an inch. Angus grabbed the sides of the lid and raised it all the way open to look within. His smile of tion turned into a grin of ecstasy and an almost perversely fervent look in his eyes as he reached into the Chest to finally, im his prize. Chapter 46: Spellbinder (1) Sitting in the chest was a crest-like object gilded with silver edges that surrounded the centerpiece; A purple gem that glowed and pulsed with a strange energy. It pulsed in a uniform rhythm like a heartbeat. The moment his hand touched it, Angus felt energy driving through him and hitting hard at the very essence of his existence as though aiming to break him apart. It was rejecting him. Angus smiled at the energy repelling his touch but he had expected it and was prepared. As powerful as this Item was, it did not actually have sentience which meant, a simple ritual would suffice to quell its resistance. Angus put the item back into the Chest and produced a dagger to cut open his palm and drip his blood onto the pulsing gem. The bond of a Vyker to its creator is sacred and must be protected. Vykers defend their creator with their lives because should their creator die, their reason to live dies along with them. Worse yet is, for a Vyker with no living creator, they can still feel the full might of their abilities tucked away somewhere but unable to reach it. It''s like infinitely stretching their hands towards something they would never be able to touch again. To find a way to break his bond with his Creator and free himself to use the abilities she had granted him was all Angus had been striving for since her death. And he knew, to do that, tomission an item or any service that could allow him to break the bond would require money which he did not have. The annals of his Creator''s wealth were already stripped away in her final days. He also knew he couldn''t possibly do it alone which led to the eventual creation of the Dionisio Gang. It took half a decade to track down one such item that could help him achieve his goal and to learn that it had beenmissioned by the Lord of the ck Manor, Maude Aleric, did not deter him. And now, here it was; Vinculum¡ª The Bond Maker/Breaker. A powerful item that could not be acquired by wealth alone and would still require more wealth than Angus had ever had the privilege of seeing in all his life put together. ''Theft truly was the only way,'' Angus thought and chuckled to himself. Indeed, theft was the only way. Either he robbed the treasury of two Noble families or he intercepted a single Chest during transport. Thetter seemed far easier. The gem absorbed Angus'' blood and the pulsing grew even more intense as Angus, once again, reached into the Chest to pull out the Item before cing it against his chest. The item''s silver edges began to grow silver tentacles that spread across Angus'' chest, digging into his flesh. And with every pulse of the purple gem, a strange power pulsed through Angus as well. At first, it was painful and caused him to arch his back, spread his arms out, and look up at the ceiling while gritting his teeth but then it brought a feeling of relief. The restraint that had bound his potential was finally melting away bit by bit. Angus slowly fell backward and sat on a chair in the meeting room with his hands gripping the armrests. An hour or so passed as Vinculum assimted with his body and its tendrils spread its reaches deep inside his body and melded somewhat with his Nervous system. Truly binding them as one. When the process eventually ended, Angus opened his eyes and his pupils now glowed a faint violet as he let out a breath before it became augh that became a hearty cackle. He raised his hand and marveled at the return of the strength he had lost surging in him, renewed. His Mana reserves were back as they were before his Creator''s death and seemed even more buoyant. The purple gem pulsed along with his heartbeat like a sign of thepleted assimtion. "It''s done," Angus said with a delighted grin, and then his ears twitched and he angled his head in a way as though detecting something. At first, Angus wondered if it was the return of the others who had been gone for a day already but that thought left when he could feel an unmistakable animosity from theing mob. "Doran." Angus'' grin didn''t leave his face but it gained an edge as he stood to his feet, walked to the meeting room door, and pulled it open so he could descend the steps and walk out of the Mansion and face their ''visitors''. ??? Good ol'' Joe was outside directing Chores as he always did and was the first to look toward the sound of multiple horse hooves thudding toward the Hadron Mansion Compound. It took only a second for him to realize the numbers of this bunch surpassed that of those who had left the Gang on a job yesterday and he immediately started running back, stumbling a few times and crashing to the ground but even then, he continued to yell, "It''s an attack!!! Get your weapons!!!" The ''Chore group'' dropped whatever they were doing at once and ran to wherever they had stashed their weapons but even as they ran, horses leaped into the Hadron Mansion''spound and shots were immediately fired. "ACK!!!" The sounds were almost unanimous as bullets pierced through the bodies of multiple members of the ''Chore group'', causing their backs to arch or striking them with enough force to send their faces mming into structures, at best leading to fractures and at worsepleting what the bullet already started and killing them. "SPARE NONE OF THEM!!!" Doran Langlot yelled at the head of the riding group as his horse rode in circles like he was looking all over the mansion for someone. He pulled out his revolver. It was a bronze weapon that looked like it was gilded with gold but it was iron like the rest of the weapon. Just painted to give it a dignified look. It worked. The gun looked like the weapon of a Leader and with the cocking of the hammer and a precise aim, Doran fired and nted a bullet in the head of a Dionisio Gang member, killing him. "HAHAHAHAHA!!! You heard the boss!!! Spare no one!!!" Colm yelled as five Langlot Gang members got down from their horses and charged toward therge door that led into the Mansion proper. "Give them no chance to get away!!!" The Vykers were still on their Horses and were at the very back of the attacking Gang mob. They didn''t think this bunch was worth their time and if the rowdy Langlot bunch ughtered their way through the Mansion, they would have an easier time leaving no stone unturned to find the Chest. The five Langlot Gang members kicked open the Mansion''srge but decrepit door and stormed into the Mansion proper. However, they hadn''t gotten more than five steps in when they came upon Angus. The Dionisio Gang leader''s purple pupils glowed as he took easy steps toward them. His shirt was open enough to give a clear view of the purple gem pulsing against his chest with tendrils stretching out all around it. Angus had the Chest under his arm and met them with a smile, "Go back," he said gently. A wave of magical energy blew from him and it was like strings wrapped around the arms and legs of the Langlot Gang members as they began to walk backward out of the Mansion. One step at a time. "What¡ª what is this?" One asked as he and the others strained against the magical hold but with no sess. Angus said nothing and just followed them as they continued to take backward steps until they were past the door and back in the Hadron Mansionpound. "Stop. That''s good enough," Angus said and the five stopped walking but they continued to strain because the strings on them were not yet gone. "Good," Angus said with a nod and he nced over at Doran Langlot and Colm O''Hearn and then back to the five in his hold. "Now turn to your Leader and blow your brains out," he said. "Angus!" Doran yelled. Angus simply smiled as the five, eyes bugging in horror, raised their guns to their heads and squeezed the trigger. *Bang!* *THUD!* All five fell at once with gaping holes in their heads leaking brain matter. Their endspletely at their own hands, controlled by the words of a Spellbinder. Chapter 47: Spellbinder (2) "Angus, you bastard!" Doran said, and as he gritted his teeth, he pointed his gun at Angus with an aim so true, that a headshot was almost certain should he squeeze the trigger. Angus eyed the gun and then his eyes flicked back onto Doran''s face, "I could have easily told them to turn their guns to you but then, I would have missed that look on your face. Priceless." Angus looked all over the courtyard. He saw Good ol'' Joe hiding behind a wagon, watching things with his eyes widened in fear. He saw members of the Chore group that had not died holding their Rifles while facing members of the Langlot Gang who had paused because they were wondering and feared who would be the next to blow their brains out. The five Vykers still at the very back of the gang mob watched what had urred with furrowed brows before one of them said, "A Vyker." "A ''Spellbinding'' Vyker," rified another, "I heard they''re not the best physically but they make do with their words." "He has only controlled and killed five people with no lick of mana in their bodies. There is no need to be impressed," said the Vyker with ck hair and grey eyes. "You''re right, of course, Captain, but it''s interesting nheless," said one of the other four with a subtle bow to the grey-haired, grey-eyed Vyker he had called ''Captain''. "If there''s anything you should consider interesting, it''s that item on his chest. I can feel its magical energy from here," the Captain said with his grey eyes focused on Angus'' chest and then his eyes wandered to the closed chest under Angus'' arm. His eyes widened, "Wait, it can''t¡ª It can''t be!" "What is it?" "You idiots can''t tell already?!" The Captain yelled in a loud voice that carried, "That''s the Lord''s property that bastard has on his chest!!!" Angus raised his brow as the words reached his ears and he smiled, "Indeed," he said and tossed the Chest he had under his arm to the ground with a force that propped its lid open wide to reveal it was empty, "I''d have asked you to kindly thank your Lord for me because not many were ambitious enough to have something like thismissioned but I also don''t n to let any of you get away so it''s quite the conundrum." "Enough of this!" Doran yelled, "You can''t control all of us! Everyone shoot him!" Gently, Angus said, "Throw them off." The magical force of his words moved in a powerful wave that spread all over the courtyard but no human felt it strike them and force their limbs to act. One second was all it took for them all to wonder if Angus was out of tricks and another second was all it took for them to realize the order had not been for them. The ears of the horses all twitched and as their eyes bugged in horror, they let out angry breaths and immediately got distressed as they were forced to rear on their hind legs and throw all of their riders off. Angus was limited in how many humans he could control at once. But animals with less intelligence were easier to handle en masse. *THUD!!!* The sounds of bodies hitting the ground sounded all over the courtyard. Following that were the sounds of Horses galloping out of the Courtyard to get as far away from the demon who controlled them. The mass distressed galloping stomped on the heads of some Langlot gang members, smashing their heads against the dirt of the ground and killing them. Angus watched it all with a smile and as his eyes surveyed the courtyard, he grabbed his gun and pulled it out of its holster to point the barrel and begin to fire. The sound of gunshots spurred the fallen Gang members to their feet even faster but not before two fell to Angus'' fired shots. The ''Chore group'' also took Angus'' fired shot as a signal to take action as they turned their weapons at their enemies and began to fire but there was a reason they were the ''Chore group''; Although they were certainly enthusiastic and fired their guns with confidence, they were not all that good. Most of their fired shots went awry and only good luck and the sheer mass of enemies allowed a few of their shots to hit targets. That said, the sound of fired shots from the enemy sent the Langlot Gang into an uproar and caused them to run helter-skelter, seeking cover before trying to turn the tides. Doran and Colm scrambled to their feet, nked by a few Langlot Gang members and they all red at Angus with their guns pointed at him but there was a slight shake in the gun hand of the Gang members. The memory of what had happened to the fellows was still fresh in their minds. Angus noticed that shake and his violet eyes glinted with a sadistic pleasure. He didn''t fear their guns. Apart from the fact that he couldmand them toy their weapons on their ground, his reflexes were now back to the heightened state they used to be when he was a full-fledged Vyker. To his eyes and his senses, their trigger fingers were sluggishly slow. Angus opened his mouth to speak hismand and the Gang members as well as Colm and Doran scrambled to shoot when a ck figure suddenly appeared a foot from the Dionisio Gang leader. Angus'' eyes widened as a glint of steel cut across the air and swung close to cutting through him. Themand he was about to speak choked in the back of his throat as he leaped away to avoid getting cut. Angus had only just managed to avoid the first attack when he saw his attacker''s body be shrouded by shadow as his body moved so fast, that there was not even a path his body took; He was suddenly just making another cut. This time though, Angus was ready, "Stop!" He called out in a clear voice. Themand hit the Vyker''s body and Angus watched as his grey eyes twitched as he strained against the hold. He sessfully pulled himself free of themand but Angus had already taken advantage of that brief pause to fire his gun. *ng!* Angus'' eyes widened when a hand suddenly stretched in front of the grey-eyed Shadow Vyker. The hand was ck and scaly and the bullet Angus fired just pressed against it uselessly. Unable to break its defense. "Captain, are you alright?" The Vyker who owned the scaled hand asked. "Don''t ask!!! Get that thing off his Chest and Kill him!" "Of course," the scaled Vyker said, "Right away!" His second hand became scaled as well and he mmed his scaled fists together as his canines grew an inch and he let out a feral growl. Meanwhile, Angus had his senses keened. He had paid too much attention to Doran and the Langlots but now that he knew what to look for and was looking out for it, he sensed that these two were not the only Vykers he had to worry about. ''One¡­ Two¡­ Three¡­ Besides these two, there are three more.'' Angus sensed the threeing closer to him just as the scaled Vyker stomped closer so he took many leaps back and yelled, "Defend me!" The Three found their bodies seized by themand andunched themselves at the scaled Vyker before they even had the chance to attempt to resist the control. Driven by necessity, the scaled Vyker mmed a fist to knock one of them aside. He grabbed the other and simply pushed him aside. As for the third¡­ *Bang!* ¡­ A fired shot sounded and a bullet pierced his head from behind. With no defense in ce and his body barely back in his control, there was nothing the Vyker could do to avoid his fate. For a second, the remaining still-living Vykers paused as they watched theirrade slump to the floor, blood pooling around his head. Then they looked as one at the one responsible and saw Angus'' gun still pointed with the muzzle smoking from the heat of the recently fired shot. Chapter 48: Death By The Undying "Boss?" Colm said as he and Doran Langlot watched Angus kill a Vyker from the cover they had found to keep safe from all the ongoing gunfire. The sequence that ensued before the sound of Angus'' fired shot had been so fast that their eyes had been unable to keep up and to now see the result of it all was the death of one of the powerful allies they had hoped would ensure their win made their minds start working fast. Whatever doubts were starting to creep in, Doran shook them away with an aggressive shake of his head, "There''s no need to worry. The remaining four will take care of him. Let''s focus on what we can actually deal with," he said. "Boss, I been thinking of that," Colm said with a frown as his eyes went to the shootout happening between the Chore group and the Langley Gang members, "Haven''t seen any of the others we know. The redhead? Charles? The brute with those weird teeth? Or even the boy from the other day?" Of course, Doran had noticed as well. He had just not had the time to give it enough thought since Angus had so readily presented himself but now that Angus was locked in abat so fierce and magical that he knew it was best he stayed away from, he found himself searching for the others. "Inside the Mansion, maybe?" Colm asked. "They''ll leave their leader to fight and hide away?" Doran said with a grunt, "Doesn''t seem like them." "Well, maybe they aren''t here," Colm said with a shrug. "Would be for the best," Doran said, "When they return, Angus will be dead, the Mansion will be ours and we can simply wait to strike them down at our convenience." At the time, the Langlot Gang members who had been forced to seek cover because of the Chore group managed topletely turn the tides. They lost three members in total but sessfully gunned down every single lender of the Chore group. Their bodies were strewn all about the courtyard in a horrid and bloody sight. The only one who had survived the shootout was Good ol'' Joe who scrambled towards a door over to the side of the Mansion and dashed in for safety. s, some Gang members saw Joe''s portly body stumble a few times as he ran into the Mansion. They even shot at him but struck Wagons and the mansion''s walls instead of his body. "After him!" Three Gang members broke away from the shooting fold, feeling ted after a sessful ughter of the Chore group, and ran into the mansion after Good ol'' Joe. Reloading their Repeaters as they ran. Joe ran down the corridor and ducked his head while yelling as bullets were fired behind him. A few struck the wall but one cut into his shoulder with such force that it pierced out the other side. "Ah!" The Dionisio TaskMaster yelled as he raised a hand to his wound and his running speed slumped but he managed to turn a corner and make his way down the West wing. The choice was between running to the top floor of the mansion and risking getting gunned down as he tried to climb the steps or running on an even ne and going to the only person who could heal his injuries. And as though Fate was smiling at him, the door of the medical bay swung open with Yelena leaning against the door frame with a pained look on her face. Joe leaped through the open door and grabbed Yelena''s arm to pull her in with him, "Lock the door, Girl!" He yelled. Yelena''s eyes widened at his order and then her green eyes moved until they fell on the three charging over. She had of course heard the gunshots and for every bullet that struck the Mansion, she felt a pang of pain but even then she had resolved herself to remain indoors. But when the sounds of gunfire began to get closer and were striking walls within the West Wing ¡ªHer wing of the Mansion¡ª, she couldn''t help but pull her door open and look outside. The three Gang members paused their runs and smiles began to stretch across their faces, "Well, what do we have here?" One asked as he took a further step forward, "A beauty." Yelena grimaced. Whatever was happening outside, very few bullets were striking the wall now, and the pains she had been feeling lessened enough for her to straighten her back and look into the faces of the three. "She''s part of the enemy," said another but he didn''t sound like he was cautioning his fellow. If anything, he let his eyes roam Yelena''s form with scrutiny that was only surpassed by the third who said, "Nah, I don''t think so. She''s wearing a gown¡­ And I don''t see no gun. Must be some maiden the Dionisio bastards have trapped here." "Aye," said the first of the Three, "That must be it. Well then, how abouting with us? We''ll take good care of you, girl. You can trust us. Can''t she, boys?" "Of course," the remaining two said unanimously. "What are you doing?" Joe asked with one hand still on Yelena''s arm and his other hand over his wound, "Get in here and lock the door!" ''Like a fool, I didn''t grab a gun while I was running. Shit!'' He thought with regret. "Shut up, old man!" Said one of the three as he pointed his gun and shot at Joe''s arm. The only part of his body that was visible as he tried to pull Yelena into the room for safety. "Ahhhhhh!" Joe yelled as he released Yelena''s arm and fell back into the room while howling in pain. Yelena froze and looked to the side at Joe and then at the gun that had shot him. She clenched her fist but remained in ce with a fiery look in her eyes. "Alright," said the Langlot Gang member that had shot Joe, "Now that the old man has let go of your arm, I say again,e with us." "To where?" Yelena asked gently. The Gang members looked confused by the question, "Well¡ª" the one at the forefront started to stay but the rest of the sentence was lost as dark tendrils suddenly appeared around Yelena''s body in her fastest casting time record since she had begun practicing the spell. She congealed the Tendrils into a singr st as Henry had made her do many times when he asked her to kill him and fired. Her attack struck the Gang member in the middle of whatever degenerate suggestion he was about to make. The other two watched as the tendrils wracked through theirrade''s body, lifting him a few inches off the ground with his eyes rolled back and his skin breaking apart. Every drop of blood dried up before they could even begin to drip and it all ended with a final m against a wall on the other side. His life was already lost before the impact. "What in hell!" One of the remaining two yelled. The other pointed his gun and shot quickly at Yelena. He was so fueled by fear that he unloaded all of the bullets he still had in his Repeater. One of the bullets struck Yelena''s forehead and knocked her head back but she straightened her neck and with a steeled look, she fired another congealed tendril that snuffed the life of the shooter. The eyes of the only one still alive widened in horror and his hand shook as he watched the bullet that had punctured Yelena''s forehead slowly get pushed out as the wound healed. "What¡ª What in all hell are you?!" He asked in a choked voice. He never got his answer though as a third congealed Tendril shot struck him the very next second. As the lighting wracked through him and tore him apart from the inside without giving him the ability to scream, the Gang member decided death by shooting would have been preferable to death at the hands of this undying Witch. The horror he had felt at her healing wounds was bound to follow him into the afterlife. If there was one. Chapter 49: Unearned ‘Death Speech’ The first tendril strike caused Joe to pause his pained whimpering. He heard gunshots and saw Yelena''s forehead get punctured by a bullet only to watch as it healedpletely. He crawled past the doorway then, just in time to watch the Witch fire tendrils that killed the second and Third Langlot Gang members. The dark tendrils still crackled around her body and a feeling of fear caused every hair on Joe''s body to stand on end as goosebumps rose on his skin and he gulped a few times, unable to stop fear from creeping in. The tendrils eventually fizzled out and Yelena stiffly looked away from the three Gang members and down at the injured Joe. She knelt by his side and her hands shook slightly as she released a wave of green nourishing energy that healed his wounds. Yelena helped Joe to his feet once the wounds were all healed and helped him to the bed in the Medical bay, "You should rest," she said. Joe nodded andy down while staring at her with his eyes bugged and the memory of what he just witnessed fresh in his mind. ''If she went out right now, this could all be over,'' Joe thought but could not bring himself to actually say the words and make the suggestion. When Joe was on the bed, Yelena went over to a chair and sat in it. asionally she winced at the pain of bullets striking the Mansion but other times, the image in her head was of the three Gang members, smacked against the wall, their bodies limp. Their lives¡­ gone. All Yelena could think about was how, with Henry, he never stayed dead. He always came back so it was easy to not think about what she had done. To not think about the life she had taken. That was not the case this time. For the first time ever, she had killed someone and she hadn''t stopped at one. Joe was looking up at the ceiling wondering if Angus was okay outside when he heard sniffles and looked down to see Yelena''s hands over her face. He watched as tears dripped from her eyes and she couldn''t help but choke up about the lives she had taken and the finality of her attacks. ''I did that,'' Yelena thought over and over in her head, ''I killed them.'' ??? A minute or so after Good ol'' Joe ran into the Mansion, followed by the three Langlot Gang members, the others still in the courtyard stood to their feet, all glowing with feelings of aplishment. Feelings that were bound to be short-lived. "Now," Doran Langlot said, "We just wait for the Vykers to take care of Angus and we''ll take the Mansion and wait for the others¡­" A loud whinnying sound interrupted Doran as a ck horse charged into the Hadron Mansion courtyard. Its rider had a Repeater in one hand and a revolver in the other. Henry pointed the guns in his hands at the first Gang Members he sighted and fired precise shots that had no real chance of missing. [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [Kill-Reward: 7 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 200 Exp] Henry got down from Nyx and his peripheral vision just slightly acknowledged the image of her charging ahead to m her head into another Gang member and send him mming headfirst into the Mansion wall. The impact broke the Gang member''s neck and he slumped to the ground, dead. [You have received a bonus of 100 Exp] "They''re back!" Colm said, stating the obvious as the few Langlot Gang members still alive scrambled for covers. More horses rode into the Hadron Mansionpound and at the lead was Devon who was ring down at Henry, "You just HAD to go on ahead, didn''t you?" He said in an annoyed tone of voice as he pointed his shotgun and blew up a Langlot Gang member''s head. The others pointed their guns as well and within seconds, they gunned down every Langlot Gang member in the courtyard with Colm and Doran the only ones still breathing. Colm raised his rifle to shoot in a futile attempt at turning things around but a shot sounded and a bullet struck him in the forehead causing his gun hand to slump before he keeled over to the ground. Dead. Triss, her rifle still smoking, turned her gun to Doran next. So did the others. Doran eyed the gun muzzles pointed at him like an execution and let out a defiant cackle. "Well, shit," he said and let out an even louderugh as he spread his arms out and yelled, "Well, what are you waiting for? What, you want to savor it? Rub my¡ª" *Bang!* A shot to the side of his head interrupted whatever defiant speech Doran was about to get into and the Dionisio Gang looked from the limp body falling to the ground with a *Thud* to Henry who still had his revolver pointed. "What?" Henry asked when their eyes fell on him, "Did you want him to go on and on?" They said nothing but Henry knew from the looks on their faces that their answer was a unanimous ''Yes''. And to be honest, he understood it; Getting rid of the average Gang banger in a shootout is always nice enough but taking in the defeated look on the face of thest one, especially the Leader, before ending it all with a final shot was even better. Henry understood it. He just didn''t care for it. He didn''t think his encounter with Doran was long and developed enough to warrant a ''Death Speech''. *BANG!!!* The sound of an explosive blow pushed all potential discourse aside as all eyes went over to Angus and his battle against the Vykers. It had been a few minutes since Angus'' sessful kill of one of the five Vykers and the remaining four were making it their mission to ensure that that was simply a fluke that the Gang Leader could not possibly repeat. The scaled Vyker charged at Angus first and when themand to stop hit his ears and forced his muscles to lock in ce, someone suddenly leaped up from behind him and spun down with a kick that was powered up with a furiously burning me. Angus had to leap back and his eyes widened when the kick struck the ground with such force, it left a small crater behind. But of course, like the Spellbinder he was, Angus saw an opportunity. "Kick him!" Hemanded. The Vyker with the ming kick was forced to obey and turned his furiously burning leg to the scaled Vyker only to be forced to stop when he was smacked aside by a ming fist from hisrade. The fist thrust out even further to about an inch from Angus'' face before sting a column of fire into his face. Angus leaned to the side right then only to see a cloud of darkness appear in the spot he had leaned into. The shadow fizzled out and out came the Shadow Vyker with a sword slicing at Angus'' ribs. "Stop!" Angus called out. The Shadow Vyker froze but in that very second, the scaled Vyker was back with a fist stretched out to m into Angus'' chest. Angus raised his hand just in time to intercept the blow to his chest with his palm and as it forced him to slide back a few steps, he saw the two ming Vykers charging at him. "Attack each other," Angus said with a bit of breathlessness. He felt the force that allowed him to force his will on others flow out from him so he was puzzled when the two ming Vykers did not stop and did not turn their attacks on each other. Together, they punched at him with blows that struck him with a fiery, explosive force that sent him flying five feet away until he crashed into a wagon and broke it apart. It was that explosive forceful blow that called the attention of the others to him and the fight. Chapter 50: Burning Brand When his eyes fell on the Vykers and he watched as Angus sailed away and struck the wagon to be buried by its splintered wood, Henry was not all too surprised that he received a notification from the System. What did surprise him was the content of the Notification; [Evolutionary Quest: Nyx has been Updated! The System has detected Five Evolution-Friendly ingredients that can allow your tamed Horse to step onto the Evolutionary Path.] Blue lines began to radiate around the bodies of the four living Vykers and Angus. The lines moved like scanners before centering at the hearts of the targets and after another second of scanning, a screen appeared in front of Henry with five notifications listed as follows; [Fiery Heart] [Feral Heart] [Fiery Heart] [Shadow Heart] [Spellbinding Heart] ''Two Fiery Hearts,'' Henry thought, ''And I suppose the Spellbinding Heart is for Angus.'' Henry clicked on the first on the list and it opened up a description screen; [me Heart: While this Vyker''s abilities stretch all over his limbs and saturate his entire being, his heart is the core of his abilities. The center of all that makes him the Vyker he is. The Core is still open to further Evolution and while it is weak because of its dependence on its creator, it can still be used as an Ingredient for the Evolutionary path.] Henry clicked on the others one by one but the descriptions were essentially the same so when he eventually dropped his hand, he was frowning slightly, ''Their Hearts?'' He thought, ''I''m supposed to use their Hearts?'' [Vykers might be mutated but they are still magical creatures. Their very creations require magical ingredients usually harvested from Magical creatures whoe about their abilities more naturally.] [Note: As mutations that they are and because of their dependency on their bonds with their Creators, Vyker Hearts do not hold their power for long after the body''s death. I.e The Hearts will only remain viable for two minutes after the Vyker''s death.] "Henry." The sound of a voice calling his name from behind pulled Henry out of his thoughts. "This is no time to be out of it, boy," Tony said. "Of course," Henry said with a nod, and with a final nce at the notification screens, he finally returned his full attention to the Vykers. Speaking of which, the two me Vykers (The ones with Fiery Hearts) that had delivered the explosive blow that sent Angus into the wagon approached him with assured steps. The smiles on their faces were almost gloating at their sessful strike as well as their resistance to Angus'' Spellbinding. "Your power is strong and¡­ unpleasant. But it relies too much on hearing and taking advantage of a weak will. We''ll be much better at resisting it now." The two powered their fists with their mes again in preparation for another strike but then their instincts warned them of impending danger so they channeled their mes into defensive fields around their bodies. A shotgun st sounded barely a secondter and struck the me field around one of them. The force of the shot and the sheer unexpectedness forced the Vyker back a step. "Stupid Vyker Magic," Devon mumbled at the me field defending against the shot so he cocked his shotgun and fired another shot. Everyone else followed his lead as well. They all pointed their Repeaters and Rifles and fired at the Vykers who defended themselves in different ways. The second me Vyker deflected with his already cast me field. The Scaled Vyker simply raised his arms over his face so the shots could spark harmlessly off his scales. The Shadow Vyker dissolved into a dark mist so that shots went right through him and out the other side to strike the Mansion''s walls. Henry retrieved ''The Hydra''s Sting'' from his Inventory and looked from one of the Vykers to the other while calling magical energy up into his eyes, ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Unknown] [Race: Human (Vyker)] [ss: Fire Mage] [Health: 150] [Mana: 180] [Strength: 30] [Agility: 45] [Stamina: 30] *[Remarks: A Vyker fuelled by his desire to serve his Creator, and will stop at nothing to retrieve what was lost. Can be killed but you must be wary of his Stats that currently outss yours.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Unknown] [Race: Human (Vyker)] [ss: Fire Mage] [Health: 140] [Mana: 160] [Strength: 25] [Agility: 46] [Stamina: 32] *[Remarks: A Vyker fuelled by his desire to serve his Creator, and will stop at nothing to retrieve what was lost. Can be killed but you must be wary of his Stats that currently outss yours.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Unknown] [Race: Human (Vyker)] [ss: Feral Meister (Wyvern)] [Health: 150] [Mana: 180] [Strength: 50] [Agility: 30] [Stamina: 35] *[Remarks: A Vyker fuelled by his desire to serve his Creator, and will stop at nothing to retrieve what was lost. Can be killed but you must be wary of his Stats that currently outss yours.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Unknown] [Race: Human (Vyker)] [ss: Shadow Mage] [Health: 180] [Mana: 200] [Strength: 30] [Agility: 60] [Stamina: 35] *[Remarks: A Vyker fuelled by his desire to serve his Creator, and will stop at nothing to retrieve what was lost. Can be killed but you must be wary of his Stats that currently outss yours.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [ss: Fire Mage A ss that grants the ability to manipte the element of fire with Mana.] [ss: Feral Meister A ss that thrives on abandoning Human features and instincts for the feral ones of a specific Beast. In the case of this Vyker, it''s a Wyvern.] [ss: Shadow Mage A ss that grants the ability to manipte shadows with Mana.] Meanwhile, while Henry''s eyes roamed the Stat screens, his fellows were still firing every bullet their guns held at the enemy who avoided it all with their various defenses. Devon''s Shotgun cocked with the sound of ack of bullets and he let out an annoyed grunt, "Ah, fuck it!" He said and charged. He wasn''t all that fast but he covered the distance nicely until he was within range to leap and collide hisrge body against one of the me Vykers. By the look on the Vyker''s face, he could have moved out of the way and avoided the m but he wanted to meet it. He wanted to meet thisrge moron that saw fire and was stupid enough to charge at it. *BAM!* The impact let loose quite a sound. There was a field of fire around the Vyker''s body that stopped Devon from making direct contact with him but the Half-orc wasn''t dismayed. He locked in his knees, pushed against the ground, and struck his fingers against that field. The heat seared him and scorched his leathery fingertips ck but Devon persisted. The Vyker watched as Devon, aided by his thick skin and his almost feral physicality, created an opening in that field and thrust a blow through that opening to strike with a powerful punch. *Bam!* "Umph!" The Vyker let out as he went mming back and into the Mansion''s wall. At the time Devon and the Vyker were having their collision, the second Vyker with a Fiery field protecting him met the Dionisio Gang''s shots with confidence. He smiled, satisfied as their guns cocked with empty cylinders and barrels and his eyes taunted them toe at him as Devon had gone after hisrade, "You''ll find you won''t be so lucky to get a shot in." It was then that Henry took his chance and his shot. He pointed ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and fired the Acidic shot. [-20 Mana Points] For a second, the Vyker seemed confident enough to meet that shot like he had met the others but sharpened instincts warned him otherwise. It was like an rm went off in his head yelling; ''This bullet is not like the others!'' He moved. He aimed to move out of the way of the shotpletely. s, the bullet traveled fast and although he had reacted, he had still not reacted quickly enough. The sickly green bullet tore through the Fiery field and although the magic of the me burned away some of its acidic goodness, it still managed to strike the Vyker''s shoulder all the same. As horrid veins began to bulge all over the Vyker''s arm, a shadow suddenly dashed over, and out of it came the shing of a de as it sliced through multiple horses'' legs, crippling them and sending the Dionisio Gang members who were on horseback to the ground with hard *Thuds*. The Horses whinnied in pain as they lost blood and eventually went silent as they died. The Shadow solidified into the Shadow-mage Vyker who held his sword in a calm readiness to slice through the Dionisio Gang members. Two things happened at the same time; One. Nyx, the only horse in the courtyard to have escaped the crippling was back, rearing on her hind legs to stomp on the Vyker. Two. Henry''s eyes fell on the Shadow-Mage Vyker''s sword and Elminster''s brand in his right Palm began to burn. Chapter 51: Some Measure Of Payback With powerful stomps, Nyx struck the Shadow Vyker only for him to dissolve into dark mist to avoid all attacks. He solidified a secondter and swung his sword at Nyx''s head but, with speed that surpassed what the Vyker was capable of or expected, Nyx moved out of the way and struck his side with her head. *Bam!* The hit caught the Vyker before he had the chance to again dissolve into dark mist and had him sailing many feet away. By the time hended on his feet, Henry had his Repeater pointed and fired multiple shots. With an impressive presence of mind and a reaction guided by sharp reflexes, the Shadow Vyker leaned to the side and dodged most of the bullets striking toward him before swinging his sword at an incredible speed to deflect the rest. When the Vyker eventually stopped moving, Henry got a better look at the sword in his hand. The de looked like steel but there was a shine to it, a luminescent glow that gave it a special feel. There were symbols etched across the de and the hilt was made with dark iron wrought with silver studs. It was an impressive-looking weapon which, ording to the brand still shining in Henry''s palm, was one of Elminster''s ''lost'' products. Of course, Henry was well aware that there was no way he could get the sword out of the Vyker''s hand before first killing him so he put the matter of retrieving the sword for Elminster aside for now. "That gun," the Shadow Vyker said with a head gesture at ''The Hydra''s Sting'', "Let me guess, YOU killed Rena." Henry said nothing. A magical blue glow shone across his Repeater''s barrel, refilling it with bullets. Th Vyker took Henry''s silence for an answer and let out a dark chuckle before ncing at Nyx who was scratching the ground with one of her front hoofs while ring hard at him like she was preparing to charge again. "Two against one?" He asked and then cocked his head to the side as a dark mist began to rise all around his body, shrouding him until only his eyes were glowing with an almost Eldritch dark blue, "I''m fine with those odds." The Vyker held his sword hilt in front of his face with the de pointed at the ground and vanished. When he appeared two secondster, he had closed the distance between him and Henry. Henry wasn''t able to raise his gun and shoot on time. The Vyker''s agility was far higher than his own and that dark shroud around his body took it an extra step further. The sword was swinging in a horizontal arch toward Henry''s midsection when Nyx grabbed Henry''s shirt with her teeth and yanked him out of the way just in time. The Vyker let out a snort as his sword struck air at the spot Henry had been only a second ago so he twisted gracefully, turned his sword, and stabbed into Nyx''s neck instead. "No!" Henry cried out. He heard the sound of her pained whines before he received the alert from the system. [Nyx has lost 20 Hit Points] [Nyx''s Hit Points: 60/80] The Shadow Vyker grinned at his sessful strike. He pulled his sword out of Nyx''s neck, expecting blood to flow out uncontrobly until she bled to death. His grin froze and slipped slightly when he saw the wound, gapping in Nyx''s neck for sure, but it seemed to have clotted already. No massive blood loss. No signs of impending death. Just a hurt and very angry horse. With an aggressive swing of her neck, Nyx struck the Vyker and sent him striking into the wall that surrounded the Hadron Mansion with an impact that forced him to arch his back with his eyes bugging in pain. "What¡ª what are you?" He asked, confused, with his eyes ring at Nyx as he slid to the ground. Henry understood his confusion. Hit points were how the System calcted the damage Henry suffered so while this meant he could essentially be punched to death as long as his Hit points hit 0, it also meant, that things like blood loss were useless against him. At least, so far. Henry understood that this was why his wound was already clotted and ''healing'' by the time he got to Yelena after the Train job and every time since. The same was the case for Nyx because she was his tamed Horse and had gained ess to her very own Status screen. All that being said, Henry was not foolish enough to let himself be lost in his thoughts. The moment the Shadow Vyker was in ce, he pointed ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and fired. [-20 Mana Points] For a second, right before the bullet left his gun, Henry saw the Shadow Vyker smirk and then freeze. Confused, Henry watched the bullet strike his target only for the target to dissolve into a dark mist. A mirage. As the bullet he fired hit the wall around the mansion and sizzled as it melted the stones, Henry''s eyes widened as he realized what had happened. His instincts warned him of what wasing but it was already toote. The Shadow Vyker appeared behind him and before Henry could even think to react, a sword stabbed his back and stuck out of his chest. "Ack!" Henry let out as blood pooled in his mouth. ¡­ While Henry and Nyx fought against the Shadow Vyker, Triss stirred on the ground she had fallen on, hard. *Cough* *Cough* *Cough* She had managed to leap off her crippled horse quickly enough to avoid getting crushed under its weight. She assumed the others managed to do the same but her attention was not on them. She nced over at Henry and his battle just in time to watch Nyx m the Shadow Vyker and send him flying into the wall. She was awed by the Horse''s strength but kept her eyes roaming until they fell on the me Vyker a few feet away from her. The same me Vyker who had blocked all their bullets with a Field of fire around his body. The only bullet that had managed to get through that me field and sessfully hit the Vyker''s body had been Henry''s and was currently the source of the Vyker''s distress. "Nghhh!" The Vyker groaned as he raised his arm. Henry''s Acidic bullet, although slightly neutralized, had managed to hit his shoulder and its corrosiveness had spread all over his arm. Purple and sickly veins were now all over the affected arm and pulsing harder by the second. The Vyker focused its magical fire on the bullet wound. For one minute already, he had been burning it furiously to stop the spread of the acid. He seeded in slowing down the spread and he might have seeded in cauterizing the wound by essentially burning away a sizable portion of that body part but Triss had no intention of letting that happen. When she looked at the Vyker, she saw Urn. The Vyker who had struck her against the ground multiple times and burned her face. A Vyker she had not had the opportunity to kill by herself and payback for what he did to her. She raised her rifle and cocked it before closing one eye to look down the barrel. Henry''s shot had given her an opportunity. The Vyker was too busy to keep up his me field. Now was her chance. Maybe her only one. *Bang!* With a muzzle sh, the bullet left the gun. The Vyker''s impressive danger instincts were sharp enough to warn him of theing shot. In fact, he managed to look over at Triss after the shot was fired but all that did was center his head for the bullet to strike his forehead with precision. His arms dropped as his eyes went lifeless. His mes died and the acidic spread resumed in full force as he keeled over backward to fall to the ground with a deep and final *Thud*. Chapter 52: A Contest Of Strength? ??? Angus had his eyes rolled into the back of his head. The explosive strike that had sent him into the wagon and crumbled him under splinters of wood had indeed been powerful but was certainly not enough to keep the Dionisio Gang Leader down. s, the strike had hit the Vinculum on his chest causing the pulsing of the purple gem to race which in turn sped up his Heartbeat to an almost painful degree. His mind was pulled from his body and sunk into the item on his chest where he met a strange sense of self and the more he stayed in the presence of that ''sense of self'', the better his understanding of Vinculum became. Angus came to realize that simply breaking his bond with his dead creator was not all this Item was capable of. It had no sentience of its own and yet, it called to him¡­ And then, he felt a hand grab hold of the item and attempt to pull it off his chest. Angus'' eyes snapped open and he looked up into the face of the scaled Vyker, his mouth contorted in effort as he tried his best to pull his Master''s item off this thief''s chest. Slowly, the item lifted an inch off Angus'' chest but the silver tentacles that grew from the edges of the item continued to dig into Angus'' chest determined not to be separated from his body. "Nnghh!" Angus groaned. It felt like his flesh was being pulled clean off his body. "What? Does it hurt?" The scaled Vyker asked with a chuckle, "It''ll hurt even worse. I promise you." With scales growing in his ears, the Vyker had cut off almost all sound and ensured Angus'' spellbinding would not work on him and so, all he had to do now was rip his Master''s property off this bastard''s chest. An act he was sure he would be capable of achieving. As he howled in pain, Angus finally regained his bearing and grabbed the Vyker''s wrist, holding him in ce to stop him from pulling any further. The scaled Vyker raised a brow in surprise at the attempt and then chuckled, "You fight with words, old man. Don''t embarrass yourself in a contest of strength¡ª Huh?" As he tried to resist Angus'' hold and continue pulling at the item, the Vyker realized he wasn''t moving. "What nonsense is this?" He asked. Angus said nothing and just clenched his fist. "Ahh¡ª" the scaled Vyker let out in pain. His scales had improved his pain tolerance and yet, the pain he just felt from that fist clench, hurt more than any strike he had ever faced since he was able to manifest his Vyker abilities. "Ah¡ª" he let out again when Angus continued to clench and the pain began to be more consistent. So consistent that he was forced to let go of the Vinculum and allow it to snap back onto the Gang Leader''s chest. "What¡ª What the hell is this?" The Vyker asked with his face contorted with his struggle. Angus was standing upright now. His clenching had gotten so painful that the Vyker''s knees shook and his stance wobbled so much he was forced a few inches closer to the ground. "The item¡­ It''s making you stronger!" The Vyker used. "Maybe," Angus said calmly. He mouthed it slowly in case the Vyker couldn''t hear him through his clogged ears. Whether or not Vinculum made Angus stronger didn''t matter because; ording to Henry''s , Angus'' true strength Stat, which he now had ess to again thanks to Vinculum breaking his connection with his Creator, stood at an impressive 80 which was a massive difference to the scaled Vyker''s lesser 50 Strength Stat. The Vyker''s scales increased that ''50'' figure but apparently, seeing as how Angus was still perfectly capable of overpowering him, it was not quite enough. The Vyker raised his free hand and struck toward Angus but he smacked the fist aside and raised his leg to kick him in the stomach. Sending him sailing away to strike the ground with an *oomph* before rolling and crashing into a wooden structure. "Ack!" The Vyker groaned. mming into wood and breaking it with his body had not hurt but the blow to his stomach had shaken his insides. It had injured his organs and blood was now pooling in his mouth. But of course, he stood back up and he did so with pride. How could he, as one who had been infused with the blood of a powerful magical Beast ¡ªA Wyvern¡ª, lose in a contest of strength against a Spellbinder? "Not possible!" Gritting his teeth as his upper canines lengthened into fangs, scales grew all over the Vyker''s face, essentially covering the only other part of his body that had remained unprotected. Opening his mouth wide, the Vyker let out a roar that struck Angus with a primal fear. His hand twitched and shook as he raised it to the front of his face to observe it. The scaled Vyker grinned. was an ability he shared with many other Vykers created by Maude Aleric because there were only so many types of Vykers the Lord of the ck Manor liked to create and scaled Vykers boasting incredible strength was certainly a favorite. At a speed that stuck the ground with audible thuds, the scaled Vyker closed the distance between himself and Angus in seconds and struck at him with a hand tipped with wicked ws. Angus looked from his hand to the Vyker''s face and his purple eyes shed right before his previously twitching hand moved. The hand moved so fast and with such fluidity that the Vyker only realized what happened after he had been struck and sent mming into the Mansion wall. His eyes were bugged in surprise that inched closer to shock. ''He resisted Wyvern''s Pride?!'' The impact forced the Vyker to arch his back as he fell to his knees. Or more urately, he was falling to his knees when Angus grabbed him by the neck and lifted him so his back was pressed against the wall as he began to get punched in the face. *Bam!* "Ah!* *Bam!* "Urgh!* *Bam!* "Nghh!" When the scales on the Vyker''s face began to crack under the pressure of Angus'' powerful strikes, the Dionisio Gang Leader ended it all with a knee strike to the stomach that forced the Vyker''s head forward as he spat out blood. As blood dripped from cracks in the Vyker''s scales and down the corner of his mouth, Angus mmed his hands so hard against his ears that it broke the scales that had been filtering sounds. "Take off your scales," Angus said and the force of his Spellbinding flowed, unhindered, into the Vyker''s ears. Obeying themand, the Vyker''s scales sunk into his body as he looked up at the Gang Leader. Angus reached behind him and pulled out a gun he had tucked away, "It would have been a bother breaking through those damned scales," he said calmly as he pointed the gun at the Vyker''s head, "This saves us time." He fired the gun and the force of the bullet piercing his forehead knocked the Vyker neck backward and struck the back of his head hard against the wall before he finally slumped to the ground. This happened only seconds after Triss killed the me Vyker. One of them, at least. The second me Vyker was in a tussle with Devon. A tussle the Half-orc was losing. Chapter 53: You’re Next ??? After Sessfully creating an opening in the me Vyker''s protective field andnding a blow that sent him mming into the mansion''s wall, Devon clenched his fist and ignored the pain of the burn that had charred his fingertips to dash forward and punch at the Vyker''s face. The Vyker moved out of the way and Devon''s blow hit the mansion''s wall instead, cracking the bones of his knuckles. "Ngh!" Devon groaned in pain. The Vyker''s fist lit up with a fiery blow that he struck against the side of Devon''s face the very next second but as his head was smacked to the side and blood spilled from his mouth, Devon kept his fist clenched and threw a punch of his own. The Vyker didn''t bother moving and just remained in ce so Devon''s blow could strike the me field he had protecting his body. "Ahh!" Devon yelled but even as the mes licked at his flesh and burned him, he managed to resist as he locked in his knees and pushed as hard as he possibly could while punching his other fist against the me field repeatedly. *Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!* The Vyker smirked at Devon''s attempts. He eyed the Half-orc''s fists as they burned from his mes and eventually decided he might as well put an end to his opponent''s misery. He threw out his arm to strike Devon''s face with a backhanded blow that packed more force than he had used thus far. Devon took his fist off the me field and raised his arm just in time to catch the blow, wincing as his skin burned with the fire of the me field. He dug in his legs and managed to keep his stance as his eyes began to burn a bright red glow and his body let out a frenzied aura. "Hmm?" The Vyker said with his head cocked to the side. Devon let out a growl that seemed toe from very deep in his chest and kept rolling out like a beast coiled and ready to pounce. His muscles bulged and he appeared to get ever so slightly bigger while veins popped out all over his skin as his physical stats all received a 30% increase. An ability exclusive to Berserkers and sacrificed whatever little rationality Devon still had for a boost in all of his physical abilities. "Interesting," the Vyker said, "A Half-orc Berserker. Who would have thought?" Devon wasn''t in any capacity able to carry on a conversation ¡ªnot that he was interested in doing any of that in the first ce¡ª, so he drew back his fist and struck toward the Vyker''s midsection. Just like before, the fist met the me field but unlike before, a red aura red from that fist, giving off a faint whiff of blood as it spread all over the me field and corroded it. Creating an opening for Devon to sink his fist into the Vyker''s stomach. "Ack!" The Vyker let out as he doubled over mostly in surprise at how his defense had been broken through only to be struck in the jaw the next second by an uppercut. The blow, just like the one that had struck the Vyker''s midsection, also gave off the red aura and tore through the defense of the me field to ascertain it hit the target''s body in a blow that fractured his jaw with an audible crack as it sent him flying off to strike the ground with a powerful thud. The me Vyker''s strength stood at an impressive 30 and that had given him the upper hand over Devon''s lesser 26 but with Devon''s increasing all his physical stat by 30% and taking his strength from 26 to 34, the tables had turned. Of course, the two had no idea of this numerical factor to their contest of strength but even then, they could feel a shift in the tides. The Vyker rose off the ground. He could taste not only the metallic taste of blood in his mouth but also a stark distaste. The increased strength of his opponent was bad enough but the red aura that rendered his me field useless upon touch made it even worse. Meanwhile, Devon stomped over and delivered two quick-fire blows to the Vyker''s face. The first one hit and knocked the Vyker''s head back but he regained his bearings and dodged the second. ''Damn it, pull yourself together,'' the Vyker told himself mentally as he psyched himself up and took a fighting stance. He could no longer manhandle his opponent but he could certainly still meet it like the fight that it was. Devon threw out more punches and even mixed in kicks. The Vyker dodged them all while always retaliating with punches of his own into Devon''s side. Chipping away at him. Devon''s agility had been increased by 30% as well thanks to which took the normal 15 to 18 but that was nothingpared to the Vyker''s superior 45. Every attack Devon made was slow to the Vyker''s eyes and thus, avoidable. This went on for more than a minute, "Rarrrrr!!!" Devon yelled as his red eyes glowed brighter with malice. With every one of his blows hitting air and his opponent hitting his side with hit after hit, chipping away at him, his rage rose and his ferocity hiked up but it was all for naught. And soon, two minutes of activation was up. was done. Devon''s glowing red eyes returned to their normal brown and his swelled body returned to normal. He became weak like he had overexerted himself and all the hits the Vyker hadnded and he had been able to endure thanks to seemed to hit him all at once. Sapping what little stamina he had left. "It''s over, isn''t it?" The Vyker asked before grinning widely, "Of course, it is." A flurry of blows followed with Devon not even capable of raising his arms to defend himself. And even if he did manage to defend himself, the fire of the me field would burn his skin all the same and his bones would get fractured. The Vyker''s fiery fist was in the midst ofnding even more series of blows when two shots were fired. All striking the newly erected me field and melting away against the defense. The Vyker stopped punching Devon and kicked him aside. The Half-orc was not a threat to him anymore anyway. There was a reason they hade to this backward part of the world in the first ce and the me Vyker was willing to bet the thief with his Master''s item was the one who dared shoot at him. Sure enough, when the Vyker turned around, he found himself face to face with a smug Angus Dionisio who had his revolver pointed with the stolen item''s purple gem pulsing against his chest. "You¡ª" the Vyker started to say before looking from where Angus stood to find a body close to the Mansion''s wall. A body with a bullet in its forehead and a face the me Vyker recognized, "You killed him?" It was more a statement of shock than anger. "I did," Angus said as he walked forward, "And you''re next." The Vyker''s fists red with his mes as he dashed toward Angus to strike him. Angus didn''t fire his gun. It was pointless against the me field anyway. As for Spellbinding, he suspected the Vyker had taken measures to protect himself so it wasn''t needed. Angus let the me Vyker get close to him, dodged the punches he threw out easily, and smacked the side of his face. The smack hit the me field, however, it struck with such force that it sent a powerful sonic boom directly into the Vyker''s ear. "Argh!" The Vyker let out in pain. It felt like his eardrums hadpletely ruptured. Angus didn''t stop and struck again and again until blood began to drop from the Vyker''s ears. When his victim started falling backward, weak and defeated, Angus grabbed his shirt and pulled him close to shove his gun into his mouth. With the pain in his ears to worry about, the Vyker didn''t have the presence of mind to keep his me field up so when Angus clenched the trigger, the bullet tore right out of the back of his neck. Killing him. Angus released the shirt and let the body fall to the ground before cleaning the bloody barrel of his gun as he nced over at Devon, "Still alive?" He asked with a smile. "Yeah¡ª" Devon said, breathless, "And here I thought I wasing to save you. Very embarrassing to need saving instead." Angus chuckled, "You certainly helped." "Good to know," Devon said with a chuckle of his own as he held up a charred thumbs-up before his arm flopped to the ground. Chapter 54: I’ll Need You To Pivot ??? Triss was feeling ted at sessfully gunning down one of the Vykers, specifically one who had simr abilities to the one who she had been mostly helpless against thest time she had been unfortunate enough to get into a battle against a Vyker. She looked back at the others and saw them on their knees, nursing bruises sustained from their fall while casting their eyes all over the courtyard to look at fights still ongoing. Triss'' eyes found Henry first and she watched as the Shadow Vyker stabbed his sword through his back with Henry in ce with hardly enough time to react and move out of the way. *Gasp!* Triss covered her mouth with one of her hands as her eyes widened in horror, "Henry!" She yelled. Henry heard her yell but it sounded so faint and was so drowned out by the fact that his attention was almostpletely captured by the System''s alert; [You have lost 50 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 20/70] Henry looked down at the de sticking out of his chest as blood dripped out the two corners of his mouth. The System''s way of calcting damage was already in ce and his wounds, internal and external had stopped bleeding but not before filling his lungs with blood and momentarily making it difficult for him to breathe. When the Shadow Vyker pulled out his sword with a gloating smile, Henry''s back arched for a second before he fell forward but the Shadow Vyker swung his sword the next second and cut a long gash across his back. "Argh!" Henry yelled out in pain. [You have lost 18 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 2/70] Henry was sure that the second strike should have killed him. Had he not been sure to die the very next second, he might have sworn the System had preserved him with that measly 2 Hit points that would be gone if his head hit the ground too hard. Of course, Henry had no intention of meeting such a dreary fate. In the seconds it took before he hit the ground, he pulled out two Healing Potions from his Inventory and downed them both at the same time before his body hit the ground with a dull *thud*. [You have recovered 20 Hit Points] [You have recovered 20 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 42/70] The empty potion bottles hit the ground and shattered just as the Shadow Vyker stabbed his sword toward Henry''s back but, ever the gant steed, Nyx was there, whinnying with a furious aggression as she struck her hooves toward the bastard that dared try to stab her bond. The Vyker evaded Nyx''s stomps by coating himself with a shadow that increased his already impressive agility. The short exchange sessfully interrupted the stab that would likely have killed Henry right there and then. Henry got back to his feet and shot ''The Hydra''s Sting''. The Shadow Vyker dodged the bullet as he had managed to do once before and charged at Henry. Nyx moved to intercept but Henry knew she was likely not going to make it in time to save him so he called out the skill he thought he needed the most, [Activating ] Everything froze. Henry saw the trajectory of the Shadow Vyker''sing attack and he knew the Vyker wouldn''t fake it only to strike from another side because he was confident of overpowering him. Henry could tell what his opponent was likely thinking; ''What''s the point of being sneaky when none of my attacks ever miss?'' Turning his perception away from the Vyker, Henry ''saw'' Nyx galloping, and just as he had guessed, she wasn''t going to make it in time. He was going to get shed. The best he could hope for was to reduce the damage. Time resumed and like an stic band snapping band snapping back in ce after the tension pulling at it was released, Henry''s body obeyed themand his mind had been yelling at it for two seconds and managed to move an inch to the back. The Vyker made a vertical sh that cut through Henry''s skin and drew blood but it was not as deep as he would have wished. [You have lost 24 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 18/70] Henry gritted his teeth. ''To think an attack that''s not too deep costs that much Hit Points. The difference in strength hurts like a bitch!'' As loud as hemented in his head, Henry retained a presence of mind. His body continued to move back even after he was shed because themand his mind had delivered was still in ce and so, enduring the pain he was feeling, Henry yelled, "NYX!" Nyx immediately obeyed his call. She let out an angry whine but changed the direction of her gallop to dash toward Henry instead. The moment Nyx was within one foot of him, Henry grabbed her reins and, without her stopping or pausing her run, he pulled himself into her saddle and they galloped many feet away from the Shadow Vyker. "Thank you, girl," Henry said as he patted her neck. They had turned around now and were facing the Shadow Vyker with feet of distance between them. "Alright girl," Henry whispered to Nyx, and the way her ears perked told him she was listening, "We''re going to have to work together. When I give you the word, I''ll need you to pivot. Can you do that?" Nyx whined and harrumphed. Thanks to their bond, Henry knew she was confused so he exined further, "When I say ''Pivot'', I mean I''ll need you to turn suddenly on your front legs in any direction I tell you." Henry brought the image of what he meant to his mind and Nyx whinnied. This time the sound was confident and she raised her head while shaking her mane gantly. "Good," Henry told her with a smile, "Now, go!" Nyx leaped into a gallop, charging toward the Shadow Vyker. The Shadow Vyker stood in ce with a grin. The Dionisio gang watched with bated breath with no one thinking of interfering. Henry''s eyes were focused. He pulled out a Mana recovery potion from his Inventory and drank it. [You have recovered 20 Mana Points] [Mana Points: 35/80] Henry wanted to make sure when he shot the shadow Vyker, it would be the end of him and because he didn''t trust the attack to the job, he aimed to use . There was only a foot of distance left between Nyx and the Shadow Vyker. Henry saw the Shadow Vyker get coated with dark mist to make his dodge and instantly activated . The reason Nyx had missed most of her nned collision so far was because, as intelligent as she had be, her actions were still simple and easy to predict. She charged forward always and all the Shadow Vyker had to do was move out of the way. When time froze, the Shadow Vyker was in the midst of his motion and the blur that followed his motion betrayed the direction he was going to move in. Time resumed and the Shadow Vyker vanished from the spot he had been in as Henry yelled, "Nyx, to the left!" Immediately, Nyx stopped short and reared her hind legs before swinging and smacking her backside blindly in obedience to Henry''smand. *BAM!* She struck the Shadow Vyker in the very second he solidified and got ready to swing his sword. "Umph!" The Vyker let out as he was sent flying away. His eyes widened in shock but thanks to his presence of mind and his impressive agility, he recovered quickly enough to attempt to n a counter attack starting with a dodge from whatever attack wasing. A bullet to the neck quickly put all those thoughts to bed. Apart from knowing where to tell Nyx to pivot to, Henry had also used his Perception to posit a destination the Vyker wouldnd in after Nyx struck him. The calction wasn''t precise but it cut down aiming time. Thisbined with the second the Shadow Vyker spent shocked and the [Marksmanship] skill activated, how could Henry possibly miss? [You have activated Acidic Combustion] [-20 Mana Points] The Shadow Vyker''s eyes, which had returned to normal from its previously shocked state widened in horror as the bullet wound in his neck began to bubble. His eyes went to Henry as his mouth fell open and blood, tinged with acidic green, gushed out. The bubbling in the Vyker''s neck continued and spread to his head before finally, it reached a crescendo and exploded. The headless carcass remained ''seated'' for a second more before it keeled over backward and hit the ground with a *thud* in an almostedic fashion. Chapter 55: -What Do You Think?- [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have received a bonus of 250 Exp] [Level Up!] [You are now Level 8] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 80] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 90] [You have received 6 Stat Points] [You now have 12 unallocated Stat Points] [Vyker-Killer Bonus: +1 Strength] [Strength: 20 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 21] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 8 (332/1800 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Death''s Bane, Gangbanger, Vyker-Killer] [Hit Points: 20/80] [Mana Points: 25/90] [Strength: 21] [Agility: 15] [Stamina: 12] [Perception: 10] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 3 } {Taming Lv. 1 } {Insight Lv.1}] [You have 12 unallocated Stat Points] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry frowned. Thanks to the notifications ¡ªand his Status screen that had appeared without him calling for it¡ª, he was reminded he had had 6 Stat points he should have allocated before getting locked into a battle with a Vyker. He could have even allocated the stat points during the battle. The only thing that brought him sce and allowed him to not beat himself up too much at such an oversight was the fact that, no matter how he allocated the points, the Shadow would still have been better. He would still have fallen short and his victory would likely still have only been possible with Nyx''s help. ''I want¡ª No, I NEED to get stronger. I was too outssed today,'' Henry thought as he raised a hand and touched the wound on his chest. The healing potion had given him Hit points but his wounds were still open. With a gentle nudge at Nyx''s side, Henry galloped to the Shadow Vyker''s headless body and got down with his eyes finding the sword Elminster''s brand had burned for. [Evolutionary Quest: Nyx has been updated] [Ingredient for the Evolutionary Path has been detected¡­ It only has a minute of viability left. Will you use it?] [Yes // No] ''Why not?'' Henry thought and clicked the ''Yes'' tab. The thought of carving out the heart of his Victim, while not something he made a habit of doing, did not turn Henry squeamish. That said, he was d that it wasn''t needed. He wasn''t sure how the rest of the gang would take it. Even if he wanted to drag the Shadow Vyker''s body away to do it in secret, it would still have been weird. A dull light glowed in the Shadow Vyker''s chest and when it dimmed, Henry knew its heart was gone. [Shadow Heart has been acquired] [You may now choose¡­] ''Choose what?'' Henry asked, confused. He had expected the process to be straightforward. Two screens appeared in front of him with his choices; [Evolutionary Path 1 : -Your tamed Horse will receive the same mutation the Vyker possessed up until its death. It will not be bound with the Vyker''s creator and will not suffer a weakening of its mutated abilities. -It will not be synchronized with the System and thus, will not be subjected to massive Level-Up requirements. I.e The Exp requirements will more or less follow the previous Exp count progression when it was a simple horse. Note: There will be a limit to its development. It will not be able to advance further than the Shadow Vyker ever could.] [Evolutionary Path 2 : -The Tamed Beast is synchronized with the System and bes subjected to its ever-increasing Level-Up requirements. The required Exp could even end up rivaling that of its Master. -The acquired ingredient will merely be used as a temte to synthesize an Evolution Path that breaks the limit of the Vyker''s mutation. Thus, allowing the Tamed Beast to improve endlessly by the side of its Master.] Henry read the information on both screens and his eyes began to move between the two as though contemting his choice but really, was it even up for thought? One path promised ''quick'' results all leading to an eventual dead end while the other promised ''endless'' improvement so of course the choice was obvious. He clicked on the second screen. [Are you sure you wish to select Evolutionary Path 2 ?] ''I''m sure.'' [Commencing Evolution¡­] A spot behind Nyx''s elbow, ¡ªwhere her heart was¡ª glowed and shone brighter than the glow that had appeared at the Shadow Vyker''s chest when the body lost its heart. Nyx folded her legs andy down on the ground with her head low as breath blew out of her nose at a steady and calm rhythm. [Evolution in progress¡­] Henry rubbed her back and then her neck. Nyx let out a particrly jerky snort in reaction to Henry''s touch but she remained as she was, and let the change happening with her Heart to continue. "Henry?" Henry turned his head toward the voice that called his name and saw Triss walking closer to him, "Are you alright?" She asked and then bit her bottom lip while ncing at the sword wound on his chest. Henry followed her nce and managed a smile, "I''ve been better," he said. The wound was now just a dull ache but there was no need to let the others know that. "You killed him," Triss said in a matter-of-fact voice. "That makes three," Dana said from just a few feet away. "Really?" Henry asked with a raised brow, "I wasn''t counting." Dana let out a scoff, "Show off," she said but Henry was sure he saw admiration in her eyes before she gestured with her head at Triss, "She killed one too." "You did?" Henry asked. "Yes," Triss said with a nod. "The fiery bastard didn''t think to keep that fire thing up," Dana said,ughing, "Triss got him right in the head." "That sounds awesome," Henry said. The Vykers all had stats that made them a hassle to deal with. Henry had needed Nyx to take down one so it was certainly awesome that Triss had managed to kill one without that help. Triss blushed at thepliment and then shook her head, "I was only able to kill him because of you. He was too busy dealing with the acid from your shot to keep up his shield." "It''s still sounds awesome." Henry insisted. Again, Triss flushed but faster than before, her face recovered and she shed Henry a smile, "If you say so. But your battle was far more thrilling. You and Nyx looked brave charging at a Vyker like that," she said before her eyes fell on Nyx who was breathing gently, "Is she alright?" "She is," Henry assured. "Ohh, nice sword!" Dana said suddenly and she moved forward to reach toward the swordid beside the Shadow Vyker''s headless body. Henry moved faster than her and snatched it up before she could reach it. "Hey!" Dana said, indignant. "Sorry," Henry said but he didn''t sound sorry, "I''d like to have this." Dana eyed him for a while before looking away with a scoff, "You always want the good stuff. Fine. Can''t say you didn''t earn it." She walked away after that and Henry''s eyes found the others walking all about the courtyard. Observing the dead and looting what they could. He saw Angus helping Devon up. The sight of the Half-orc''s bloodied face and battered body delighted Henry more than he cared to admit. But the courtyard was quiet now. There were many bodies but the storm had passed. The battle was over. [Quest Completed!] [Calcting your reward based on the efficiency of your hunt¡­] [You have received 500 Exp] Henry looked at the notification with his brow raised in surprise. With how much Exp he had been getting blessed with throughout the Hunting Quest, he had not expected further rewards but it was certainly wee. [Evolution Complete!] Henry looked at Nyx and saw the glow in her heart was gone. She let out whines as she rose from the ground and scratched it with her hooves while shaking her mane elegantly. [Nyx''s Heart has been upgraded into a Magical one that will now serve as her core.] [Creature: Horse ¡ª¡ª¡ª> Shadow Mare] [Breed: Valearen Racehorse ¡ª¡ª¡ª> Valearen Night-Mare] [Due to her evolution, Nyx is now Level 1] [All Stats have been reset to the default of a Valearon Night-Mare] Henry stood to his feet while looking through the notifications when he heard a voice in his head, "-So, what do you think?-" Henry looked around with his eyes wide in shock, "Who said that?" He asked, ignoring Triss looking at him, confused. The voice spoke again, "-Where are you looking at?-" it asked, "-I''m right here.-" Henry froze and then slowly looked at the beautiful ck horse in front of him, "Nyx?" He asked. "-Yes?-" Nyx answered and Henry could have sworn he saw her smile which should have been impossible for a horse, "-You haven''t answered,-" Nyx said as she pranced while remaining at the same spot before gantly shaking her mane, "-What do you think?-" Chapter 56: Shadow Dash For a second, Henry just stared and said nothing and then he walked over to Nyx, looking at her with incredulous eyes. "You talked?" He asked in a whisper just to confirm what was so clear already. "-Well, of course,-" Nyx said and let out a whine that sounded like a chuckle, "-Do you have any other exnation for why you''re hearing a voice in your head?-" Henry shrugged, "I mean, I could be going mad." "-Could be,-" Nyx said, "-But you''re not.-" "So you''ve only just started to talk?" Henry said. Still in a whisper to keep it out of the ears of the others. Triss had walked away now and was searching for the dead with the rest of the gang. "-Only just.-" Nyx said. "And you''re so good at it already?" Henry asked. He would have assumed, logically, that a horse that could suddenly speak would find it difficult at first. Like a child, maybe. "-Well, I don''t know. Been hearing people talking around me since I was taken from the wild and if that doesn''t exin it, you can just assume I learned from you. Just now. It''s what I think, at least.-" "Hmm," Henry said. It did make sense. As much sense as the fact that he could see screens no one else could and increasing numbers on those screens made him stronger and faster and overall better. "-You still haven''t answered,-" Nyx said and this time, she sounded a bit frustrated while shaking her mane more aggressively, "-What. Do. You. Think?-" "Oh," Henry said and he got a good look at her. There was certainly a change even if it might be subtle to those who had never paid too much attention to her. Her ck coat was shinier and whenever she shook her mane and swished her tail, they didn''t flutter like horse hairs. Or more urately, they didn''t only flutter like Horse hairs but there was a trail that followed every movement. A shadowy mist. "You look great," Henry said toplete his assessment. "-Hmph!-" Nyx let out in satisfaction, "-Of course, I do. Is there any horse more glorious than I?-" ''''Than I?'''' Henry thought and secretly shook his head as he chuckled to himself, ''Nah, I don''t think you learned that from me.'' "None," was what he said to answer Nyx''s question. "-Of course, there isn''t.-" Nyx said and pranced around a bit. (Author''s Note: This (-) symbol in front and at the end of a statement is meant to denote it as telepathic. Not actually vocal.) Henry was smiling as he watched Nyx prance about when he received alerts from the system followed by a couple of notifications; [You sessfullypleted Nyx''s Evolution] [You have received 200 Exp] [You have sessfully Tamed a Magical Beast] [Skill Level Up] [Taming is now Lv.2] [Taming Lv.2: -You have a 40% chance of making a Non-Magical Beast bend to your will. The more understanding you have of the Beast, the better your chances of sess. -You have a 10% chance of making a Magical Beast bend to your will. The more understanding you have of the Beast, the better your chances of sess. Note: The Taming Skill will only level up the more creatures with increasingplexities (strength, intelligence, and Magic), you are able to make bend to your will.] Henry read the descriptions with furrowed brows. This was the first time he had ever seen a description of the Taming skill. This was partly because the first time he gained the skill, the System hadn''t automatically rolled out a description and he hadn''t bothered to check. Taming had just not been a skill he had cared enough to pay attention to. Had the system not registered Nyx''s evolution as a Taming aplishment, he was sure he would have just let the skill fade away. ''If the chances for Non-magical and Magical are 40% and 10% now that the skill has leveled up, then they must have been worse at Lv.1. I assume I was able to sessfully Tame Nyx because I understand horses well enough from my past life." "Gold!" The cry pulled Henry out of his thoughts and his eyes away from the description screen. He looked over in the direction of the sound and found Triss, on her knees beside the body of the Vyker whose head she had put a bullet in. Triss was holding a leather pouch and out of it, she took out 2 gold coins with more jingling inside the pouch. Henry was not the only one paying attention. Charles moved closer to Triss when the shine caught his eye. He gently took the pouch out of her hand and smiled widely when he grabbed and pulled out Gold coins. "Shit¡ª It IS Gold!" At that promation, Dana''s eyes found Henry now standing about six feet away from the headless Vyker. She hurried over and Henry looked away from her toward Nyx who had pranced close for him to pat her neck. Careful not to touch the acidic goop that had sshed on the Vyker''s body and was still sizzling out of his stump of a neck and all around where his head should have been, Dana searched for any loot she could find. She found none. "You took it, didn''t you?" She asked when she stood back to her feet. "No, I didn''t," Henry said calmly before he looked at her with an innocent look on his face, "You''re wee to search me if you want." Dana paused and Henry was sure she would just turn and walk away but she stepped toward him and started running her hands all over his body. Henry''s eyes widened in surprise and then he shook his head with a small smile. ''Well, I DID invite her to search. Didn''t think she actually would, though.'' Dana had a serious look on her face and her hands went into nooks and crannies she thought Henry could have hidden the looted gold. She was quite gentle (for her, at least) and only prodded his wounds about four times throughout. She got very close to Henry during her search, going as far as to press her body against his during a rigorous turning out of his back pant pockets. And then, when her jaw was on Henry''s shoulder, as though that helped search him better, Dana paused and Henry could have sworn he heard an intake of breath. Even if he had imagined the intake of breath, Henry was sure he hadn''t imagined her body trembling against him. Dana pulled her hands out of his pockets and leaped back two steps while ring at him but it wasn''t anger in her eyes. It was frustration and something else Henry was not quite sure¡­ Attraction? No, that couldn''t be it¡­ Right? "Ah, forget it," Dana eventually said and walked away. "Strange," Henry mumbled. "-I don''t like her.-" Nyx said as she nudged Henry with her head. "Understandable," Henry said with a chuckle. Of course, he had looted the Shadow Vyker and he had done it while Dana was searching the body. He got 150 Gold coins, 1000 Vens, and 50 Quids from his quick swipe. He would have looted the body earlier and looted every dead body in the courtyard already had he not been so focused on Nyx''s evolution and her subsequent ability to talk in his head. Speaking of Nyx, Henry called up her Status screen to observe its changes; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Nyx] [Creature: Shadow Mare] [Breed: Veren Night-Mare] [Level 1 (0/500 Exp)]* [Hit Points: 50/50] [Mana: 60] [Strength: 35] [Speed: 60] [Stamina: 30] [Skills: {Shadow Dash Lv.1}]* [Shadow Dash Lv.1: At the cost of Mana, Nyx can coat herself with shadows that lighten her gait and increase her running speed by 30%. This skill will level up the more it is used.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry understood the asterisk at the corner of the Exp count was meant to describe how Nyx would receive 50% of all Exp he gained from Main and Sub-Quests. The [Skill] tab, however, was new, and so also was its asterisk so he clicked on that and opened a description window; *[Synchronized with the System, Skills have been built into Nyx''s Evolution path and she will gain more as she Levels Up. Note: She might have a choice in her future Skill picks and she might not.] "-Hmm, interesting.-" Nyx said with her head pointed in the direction of the system screens. "You can see this?" Henry asked. Making sure to still keep his voice in a whisper. "-You mean the strange thing in front of you with all the markings?-" "The markings are words and numbers," Henry said. "-I know,-" Nyx said with a chuckle, "-I can see it. And I can read it.-" "Then, how about testing out the skill?" "-Alright.-" Nyx said. Henry was about to start wondering how he would go about activating the skill when he realized there was no need. Dark mist coated Nyx''s form and she leaped forward into a gallop to vanish from Henry''s side and pass the damaged gate before he could think to blink in surprise. Chapter 57: One Month Is All I Need Henry noted a couple of things in the five seconds he waited for Nyx to get back from however far she had run to; The first note was the fact that the activation of the skill waspletely without his input. Of course, the more Henry thought of this, the more it made sense. He had never told Nyx how to run. The most he had done was urge her to go faster or go slower depending on need so why should that change just because she had evolved into a Magical Beast? The second thing Henry noted, was that he had not received a notification from the system about how much Mana the skill had cost. Nyx returned and she was breathing slightly harder than normal. Her legs did not shake from fatigue and there was no other sign that she was tired physically, and yet her breathing wasbored. "How far did you run?" Henry asked as he patted her neck. "-Quite¡­ Quite far- Damn, I''m tired!-" Nyx said, "-It''s strange, I don''t feel weaker, not really, at least, and yet, I feel like something in me is tapped out¡­-" "That''s Mana," Henry said. "-I- I know. At least, I think I do¡­-" Nyx said as she finally caught her breath. "Rest," Henry told her gently. Nyx nodded, "-I think I went too far. Will mind my limits better now-" she said. "You should," Henry said with a nod and watched as she galloped away, probably to munch on some hay, and then he turned his eyes over to Angus as the Dionisio Gang Leader cast his eyes all over the courtyard with mncholy in his eyes. Angus was giving a speech or more urately, he was discussing with other members of the gang which was likely why they had hardly paid attention to Henry and his peculiar interaction with his horse. "¡­ So many dead. Simply awful." "Can''t see Joe anywhere," Tony observed. "He probably ran away already. The old coward he is," Charles said. "Devon, you should get healed," Dana said in concern. "In a minute," Devon said as he leaned against the Mansion wall before gesturing at Angus with his head, "So what''s the thing on your chest?" He asked. "It''s what was in the chest we stole, isn''t it?" Stefan said. He sounded like he was still bitter that Angus had preferred to stay behind cradling that Chest rather thane with them to strike at the Langlots who had a huge part to y in his sister getting injured. The others were invested too. The Chest was why the Vykers hade after them, after all. Henry was close to them now. His ears were trained on the conversations but he was all about looting corpses for any remedial wealth the rest of the Gang hadn''t gotten already. He arrived at the body of Doran Langlot, the dead Leader of the Langlot Gang, and eyed the man''s beautiful gun. Painted in bronze and gold. Besides ''The Hydra''s Sting'' (which can be said to have a magical advantage), the only gun that rivaled Doran''s gun was Angus'' with its beautiful white handle. ''Mine now,'' Henry thought as he picked it up. The fact that no one else had imed it surprised him but he paid it no mind. ''I''ll take this too,'' Henry thought and stripped Doran of his gun belt. It was about time he had one. It would keep the secrets of his Inventory better, at the very least. And also filled him with a bit of nostalgia for his past life. After buckling the belt around his waist, Henry looked over at Colm O''Hearn and took possession of the Langlot Gang member''s holster to serve as a second. He put Doran''s just-acquired gun in one Holster and put his normal revolver, a weapon that had served him well so far, in the other. "Angus, we were supposed to sell that!" Henry heard Charles say suddenly after Angus admitted that the item on his chest was indeed what they had stolen on the Train. "Why would you think that?" Angus asked with a raised brow, "I never said that." "Why else would we have stolen it?" Charles asked. "What do you mean, ''why else?'' I''m using it now, am I not?" Angus asked and his purple eyes red. "How¡­ ARE you using it anyway?" Triss asked slowly with her eyes on the tentacles digging into Angus'' chest, "What exactly is it?" "This¡­" Angus said grandly calling attention to the purple pulsing gem, "¡­ is our ticket to the riches we deserve. With this, no one will stand in our way." "Yes, no one except the rich and powerful asshole who has been sing Vykers on us," Charles said gruffly. "Let him send them. Let him send more. We will meet them, and just as we have done today, we will kill them." Angus said. Henry frowned slightly with his eyes peering at Angus as he activated ; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Angus Dionisio] [Race: Human (Vyker)] [ss: Spellbinder] [Job: Gang Leader, Bond-Breaker/Maker] [Health: 300] [Mana: 400] [Strength: 80] [Agility: 60] [Stamina: 70] *[Remarks: A Vyker who has lost his Creator but has gained new life thanks to a powerful Magical Item. He has stepped back onto the path of Evolution and has once again be a force to be reckoned with.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª The (Weakened) note that used to be in front of Angus'' Spellbinder ss was gone. A new job called Bond-Breaker/Maker had joined the previously singr job of Gang Leader. All weakened Stats were back to ''normal'' and surpassed that of the strongest of the Vykers whose dead bodies were now all over the courtyard. Angus'' promation might have been bold but he had the strength to back it up. That said, that was just Angus. Besides Henry and Devon, the rest of the Gang were normal people and were far too small in number for such grand ns. An issue others were quick to note and point out; "With just us?" Tony asked, "In case you didn''t notice, we werepletely out of our depths against those Vykers." "But we won," Angus said. "YOU won. Henry won. Triss managed and Devon was pummeled while the rest of us watched our bullets fail. Face it, we are not cut out for this!" Charles said and paused to take a deep breath before he continued, "What''s best for us is to get out while we can. These five can''t be all that was sent and now that we''ve gotten ourselves some breathing room, we need to get far away from here." "Ohe on," Angus said, "Where''s your courage?" "It died facing people who can wield fire!" Tony said with his voice slightly raised, "Angus look around!" For a minute, no one said a word, and then Angus opened his mouth and started slowly and somberly, "Listen, I won''t force you to remain here if you don''t want to. But, there is a reason you joined me. It''s because you trusted me. All of you. You trusted me to deliver you opportunities for riches that will sustain you anywhere in the country. We''re not even halfway toward our goal. We''ve never been close. Not as close as we now are. We finally have a chance to get it, to get it all, and I would be so disappointed if you gave up now. You''ve trusted me this long. Trust me for a bit longer. One Month is all I need. In one month, this issue with Vykers will be a thing of the past and you''ll all have enough gold to swim in. More than enough wealth tost you for generations. Will you trust me?" Throughout his speech, Angus did not use his persuasive abilities as a Spellbinder. He didn''t have to. His words, non-magical as they were, were enough. "Do you have a n?" Devon asked from his lean against the wall. A smile split Angus'' face and a peculiar glint appeared inhis purple eyes, "Well, of course. When have I never? Follow me, gentlemen anddies. We have much to discuss. First, Henry, and Devon, get yourself healed and check on Yelena. Some Langlot scum might have made it into the Mansion during the shootout ." "Right," Henry said but he wasn''t worried about Yelena. Not about her health at least. The beautiful witch was unkible, after all. Chapter 58: Someone Has To Devon groaned as he pushed himself to stop leaning against the Mansion wall and stand on his feet. He staggered almost immediately and had to ce a hand against the wall to prevent from falling. "Need some help?" Henry asked and offered a hand. Devon snorted, "Touch me and I''ll break your nose," he said with a grunt before leaving away from the wall again and this time, managing to remain upright with his own strength. "So aggressive," Henry said with a smile, "Suit yourself." Henry didn''t walk ahead of Devon and kept pace with the Half-orc''s slow steps. They walked a few steps in silence before Devon said, "You did good." "What?" Henry asked confused. "You volunteered toe with me first when the others either couldn''t decide or didn''t want to. You even took a sword to the chest judging by that wound," Devon said with a vague gesture at Henry''s sword cut. "Oh," Henry said in understanding. The Half-Orc wasplimenting him. Or trying to anyway. Devon grunted, "I don''t even know how you could have survived that. A stab in the chest should be fatal, especially for a scrawny human like you. Embarrassing that you seem to be fine while I''m here looking battered. It''s an insult really¡­ I can still remember how easy it was to smack you aside just a few weeks ago and it seems things are so quickly changing. I don''t like that." "Is aplimenting soon?" Devon pursed his lips, "I already gave it. I said ''You did good''." "You can still add ''Thanks'' to that," Henry said. "No." Henry rolled his eyes and said nothing more. They continued the walk in silence. When they turned a corner toward the West Wing, their eyes fell on the bodies of three Langlot Gang members against a wall they appeared to have been mmed into. "Curious way to die," Devon mumbled. There were no gunshot wounds on any of the three bodies. Their skin appeared to have been cracked open all over and the blood that dripped from their body had dried before it could even pool around them. Henry said nothing. He recognized the markings or at least he recognized what could have caused them but what reason was there to say it out loud? They soon arrived at the door to the medical bay and when Henry raised a hand to knock, the door pulled open and there was Good ol'' Joe, looking well-rested and sticking his head out. "Joe. Of, course!" Devon said with a sneer, "Of course, you were here, cowering in safety while everyone else was getting ughtered outside." Joe''s lips shook a bit but the look in his eyes was defiant, "What was I supposed to do? Stay there and get shot? I''m not a young man anymore! You don''t get to be se old as I am in this business by being stupid and acting brave in the face of so many guns!" With that as a final word, Joe pushed past Henry and Devon. They were so close to the door frame that he had to suck in his protruding gut quite a bit to get past before he scampered down the corridor, ran up the stairs, and vanished from sight. "That coward!" Devon said through gritted teeth. Henry thought that was unfair. He didn''t like Joe anymore than Devon did but he certainly didn''t think the man should have remained outside. It''s wise to be a coward sometimes. "Will you just stand there?" Yelena said from inside the medical bay, "Come in. You''re dripping blood." "Aye," Devon said and hoisted himself over the threshold to sit in a chair and allow her to work her healing magic over his wounds. The wounds all closed up and in less than a minute, all injuries Devon had sustained, internal or external, were healed and he was back in tip-top condition. "Ah, yes," Devon said as he reveled in his healing, "Thank you, Yelena." Yelena gave a simple acknowledging nod as Devon stood to his feet, gave Henry a head gesture that was probably the best he could do for goodbye, and walked out. "You should sit down now,"Yelena told Henry. Henry sat down but he was studying Yelena as he did. He noticed, ever since he and Devon had arrived at the door of the medical bay, that Yelena''s tonecked her usual character. It was monotonous. She didn''t have a smile on her beautiful face and her green eyes didn''t have their usual twinkle. "Yelena, are you alright?" Henry asked. "Of course I am," Yelena said, her tone stiff, "Why wouldn''t I be?" She raked her hand over the sword cut on Henry''s chest with a slight frown, "This was a dangerous attack. You should be d you survived it." "Oh, I am," Henry said and then frowned. That was a statement Yelena would have chuckled at if she was actually feeling alright as she imed. Yelena''s hands radiated her green nourishing energy and Henry''s wounds began to stitch together until they sealed uppletely without leaving a single scar behind. "All done," Yelena said in that deadpan tone of hers and made to leave but Henry grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her so she remained right where she was. "Wait. Tell me what''s wrong." "There''s nothing wrong," Yelena said in a low tone while averting her eyes. She pulled once at Henry''s grip on her wrist and he released it but she remained seated. Yelena bowed her head and said nothing for a minute. Neither did Henry. If she was still sitting in front of him, then she was clearly working herself up to sharing and he felt it would be stupid of him to interrupt her process. "I felt them, you know," Yelena eventually said. "Felt what?" "Every shot that hit the walls¡­ Every bullet, every m, and even an acidic sizzling that still burns. I felt it all. It was more pain than I''ve ever felt in my life all at once but what I did¡­ Henry, what I did¡­ It hurt even worse." "What did you do?" Henry asked. Yelena looked up now and tears were streaming down her eyes, "I killed them!" She said, her voice sounding like a gasp. Henry let out a breath as he leaned back. He had guessed that was it, "You mean those three Langlots, Devon and I walked past on our way here." Yelena sniffed, "Must be," she said. "And that''s making you upset?" Henry asked, confused, "Why?" "What do you mean ''why''? I killed three people. I took three lives¡­" Yelena said, her voice slightly bolder and louder. "And why did you do it?" Henry asked. Yelena paused and then slowly said, "They were chasing Joe. I walked out, they saw me, said some things so I- I killed one of them. Another panicked and shot me. I healed, a- and killed him and the third." "And you feel¡ª bad?" Henry asked. Yelena scoffed at him, "You wouldn''t understand¡­" she said. "Oh, but I do. You are feeling guilty because three scumbags came after your friend ¡ªI mean, Joe¡ª and you killed them before they could. You saved a life." "But I killed¡­" "It was necessary," Henry told her earnestly. "Maybe," Yelena said and gulped as she looked away, "Well, I never want to feel like that again." "You shouldn''t. Never feel guilty about taking the life of someone who wouldn''t think twice to take yours," Henry said. "I don''t want to be¡­" Yelena started and caught herself. "¡­ Like me?" Henrypleted her sentence with a smile. "¡­ A killer," Yelena corrected, "I don''t want to be a killer." "Ah," Henry said gently, "You shouldn''t have to be." "Did you feel guilty when you made your first kill?" Yelena asked gently. A bit of her usual character back in her tone. "No," Henry said calmly, "And I''ve never felt guilty once since. Them or me. Someone has to die and I''d rather it be them." ??? ¡ªThe Meeting Room within the Hadron Mansion¡ª Angus was seated in the chair at the head of the table, his eyes closed as he tried to delve into the item on his chest as he had been forced to do after taking the me Vykers'' attacks to the chest. No one was with him. The others were all cleaning up after the battle and the meeting they should have had was postponed till after that was over. *Knock* *Knock* "Come in," Angus called and the door creaked open as Good ol'' Joe walked in. "Ah, it''s you," Angus said with a smile, "d to see you survived the assault." "Well, you know me. I''m a survivor," Joe said proudly. Angusughed, "What do you want?" He asked. "I''ve got something to tell you. It''s about the Witch, Yelena," Joe said. "What about her?" Angus asked calmly. Joe chuckled and shook his head at Angus'' casualness for a topic as great as this. He stepped forward, his eyes glinting with delight and his chest puffed out with the pride of discovery, "You''re not gonna believe what I''ve found out about her." Chapter 59: I Can Truly See You *** ¡ªHadron Mansion West Wing Corridor¡ª "So¡­ Are you better now?" Henry asked at the Medical bay doorway. His deep ck eyes bore into Yelena''s green orbs. Yelena kept his stare and smiled, "I''m better," she said gently, "Thank you." Henry dipped his head for a bow as he said, "I''ll see youter." "Hurry back," Yelena said and yed it off with a chuckle like it was a joke but truly, she was hoping Henry woulde back again soon. She closed the door and Henry walked down the corridor. He got just past the bodies of the three dead Langlots, turned a corner, and grabbed the handle of the sword the Shadow Vyker had dropped (he had hung it off his gun belt by its wide hilt) and Elminster''s brand burned bright with an urgency. "Rx," Henry mumbled and walked into his room. Once his door was closed behind him, he activated the brand and was sucked into the familiar portal that took him into Elminster''s workshop. "Back again?" Elminster said immediately with his hand roaming an armor te he had been working on before Henry''s arrival, "I hope you have something for me this time." "I do," Henry said as he pulled the sword from his gun belt like he was unsheathing it. Elminster paused, slowly looked up, and then he smiled as he beckoned Henry closer with a finger. Henry stepped forward and held out the sword. Elminster reached out for the sword and took it from Henry''s hand. The moment the weapon was reunited with its creator''s touch, a brand glowed at its hilt. Henry could have sworn it hadn''t been there before. "Mmm, ''Hunter''s Fang''," Elminster said as he cradled the sword de and held it up as though to observe it in a better light, and then he frowned, "By the gods, what have those bastards done to you!" Elminster ced the sword on an anvil and produced a hammer from god-knows-where and started hammering away. *ng!* *ng!* *ng!* The first sound of metal hitting metal hit Henry''s ears hard but the subsequent sounds were quite easy to bear as he just watched a Master at work repairing a weapon that already looked perfect. Eventually, Elminster stopped his hammering and held the sword up again and the difference was impossible to miss; The sword''s de gave off a luminescent glow and its edge appeared at least five times sharper than it was before. An impressive weapon for a swordsman. Elminster looked at the repaired ''Hunter''s Fang'' with delight, "Those thieves were just having their ways with it. Disgusting! But you made good on our deal and got it back to me. I appreciate that but I hasten to point out that there are many more of them out there¡­" "¡­ And I will get them back for you whenever I find them," Henry said gracefully. Elminster let out a sharp breath, "Good." [Elminster''s approval of you has improved] [You have received 100 Exp] Henry smiled at that. More Exp was always wee. Even then though, he urged Elminster, "Would you be open to showing your appreciation with some ''Hydra''s Tongue bullets''?" Henry asked. After their most recent battle against Vykers, he was down to just three and was more than happy to secure more. Even better if he could get them for free. "You still owe me, boy," Elminster said with a sneer. "Here," Henry said and with a wave of his hand, he took out 75 gold coins from his inventory and dumped them directly on Elminster''s anvil. Elminster eyed the gold and it was clear he had done a quick and urate count because he swiped them away and said, "You were only acting ording to our contract. But, I suppose some thanks ARE in order. For incentive, at the very least," he said, "Come on." They went through the door and on the other side, Elminster ced an ammo box on a b. Henry opened it and there were the magical bullets that helped cut his Mana usage of ''The Hydra''s Sting'' by half; The ''Hydra''s Tongue'' bullets. "At a discount. Not for free," Elminster said, "At 15 gold apiece, those bullets cost 135 gold together but you can pay me 50." "30." "40," Elminster said with a tone of finality, "Because I''m in a good mood." "Fine," Henry said and paid the 40 gold. Elminster still felt generous and offered Henry a discount on Healing and Mana Potions which allowed Henry to put down the rest of his gold and almost all the Vens in his Inventory for six bottles to refill his low stock. Two Mana Potions but Four Healing Potions because they were the ones he consumed the most. ??? *Knock* *Knock* As she heard a rapt knock on the medical bay door, Yelena pulled it open with a smile, "Back so soon?" She asked and stopped short when she saw the one at the door was Angus and not Henry, "Oh. Hello, Angus." "Can Ie in?" Angus asked with a kind smile. "Of course," Yelena said and stood aside to let him in. Angus walked in while looking around. He was hardly ever here. Even on the rare chance the enemies on a job managed to strike him, he was always just fine enough to not seek treatment from Yelena which made his presence all the more¡­ Strange? Surreal? "You were not expecting me?" Angus asked. "Well-" Yelena started but Angus held up a hand. "That''s alright," he said, "I just needed to speak with you." "About what?" Yelena asked, innocently. Angus paused for a few seconds with his eyes on her forehead. The forehead Joe had imed she got shot at and survived. "Joe says you saved his life," Angus said, "I thank you." "You don''t have to." "Perhaps," Angus said gently, "But it would be rude of me to ask something of you without showing appreciation for what you''ve already done." "You- want something from me?" Yelena asked confused, "What?" Angus smiled, "Joe had quite a bit to say about how you saved him. His ims involve incredible feats that seem almost unbelievable¡­" "Then you shouldn''t believe it," Yelena interrupted to say. Angus chuckled, "Where I''m from¡­ The things I''ve seen, Miss Yelena, make it impossible for me to discount anything as impossible. But you don''t have to worry. I''m not here to interrogate you. I''m here to seek a partnership." Yelena said nothing and just stared. Angus stepped closer to her, "When we arrived here, you were already here. You''d made this your home and we never questioned it. When you offered to heal our wounds, we still never questioned it." "And you''re questioning it now?" Yelena asked with pursed lips. "Gods no!" Angus said quickly, "If you wanted us dead, we would be dead. But, Joe did have me looking at you more clearly than ever and now that I truly see you and what you can be, I believe my proposed partnership can work; When our enemiese, I''ll need you to do to them, exactly what you did to those three Langlot fools I passed on my way here." Yelena''s eyes went wide, "You want me to kill?" She asked with her voice hiked up a few octaves. Angus looked confused at her reaction, "You''ve done it three times already. That I know of, at least." "Those three were the first," Yelena said through gritted teeth, "I don''t make a habit of it." "Well, you should," Angus said, "And dare I say, you will." Yelena looked taken aback and then sheughed, "You''ll make me?" "Yes," Angus said and a hand went to his gun by his waist. His purple eyes shed while he kept an easy-going smile on his face. Yelenaughed again, "You''ve heard of what I can do but you''re threatening me?" Dark crackling tendrils of magical energy appeared around Yelena''s body simply waiting for the order to converge and strike their target. Angus faced it with his expression unshaken. Unchanged. "Yes, I know shooting you won''t kill you. But I do know a thing or two about bonds," Angus said and stepped even closer to Yelena. Only about two inches separated him from her tendrils, "You know what I see when I see you? I see the tether tying you to this Mansion." Yelena''s eyes widened in shock, "How¡ª?" "How do I know? The item on my Chest is Vinculum: The Bond Breaker. It broke my bond to my creator, freeing me to face evolution but it can do much more than that. With it empowering me (points to his purple eyes), I can truly see you. You''re a prisoner. Your power, your life, you owe it all to the strange bond that ties you to this Mansion. You know what that makes you? Vulnerable." While Yelena was frozen in ce, Angus pulled out his gun but he didn''t point it at Yelena but at one of the medical bay''s walls, "You are so ingrained with the mansion that you even share its senses. If I shoot the wall, you will feel it. If I tear down this Mansion brick by brick, I also tear you down. But rather than go through all that, I can simply cut your connection to the Mansion. Break the bond that keeps you alive. Keeps you strong. End it all here and now." Yelena''s shocked expression recovered and she frowned as the energy in her tendrils intensified. Angus put his gun back in its holster, "But it doesn''t have to be that way. I don''t want it to be that way. The enemying after this item will not stop and I expect they''ll be back. They''ll tear down this Mansion because they''ll think of it as no more than a hideout. Help us defend it. When theye, strike them down. That''s all I ask." Yelena remained in ce for a minute and then the energy in her tendrils fizzled out even though her re at Angus did not lessen. And yet, as much as she was starting to hate this purple-eyed bastard, she considered his proposal. She had to. Chapter 60: Vague plans For A Heist *** ¡ªOne Week Later¡ª ¡ªAt the top of a small hill overlooking a road leading through New Freudein''s environs¡ª "This is stupid," Tony said while leaning against a rock as he pulled the cork off his bottle of alcohol and took a sip. "I agree," Henry said. He was only a few feet away from Tony leaning against a rock of his own. Nyx was by his side silently grazing on the grasses. Tony grunted and cast his eyes down to the small cover of trees on the other side of the road where a group of men were hiding and waiting. "Babysitting is not how I nned to spend my day," Tony said and stretched out the bottle of Alcohol to Henry, "Want a sip?" Henry eyed the bottle and took it from him. He studied the hiding men for a second or two before downing a gulp. It burned but it was the good kind of burn. He returned the bottle to Tony who received it and grunted as he said in an annoyed tone, "Don''t know what he''s thinking. Letting them join us." The ''He'' Tony was referring to was Angus Dionisio, the Leader of the Dionisio Gang, and ''Them'' were the men hiding by the roadside. They were the newest members of the Dinionio Gang. A week had passed since the incident at the Hadron Mansion and when they finally had their meeting that evening, the first thing Angus put on the Agenda was a need to bolster their numbers, "We''ve lost so many today," Angus had said. "They were the chore group," Charles had answered, "Let''s not lie to ourselves, besides shoveling horse crap, they were not much help." "Shovelling crap IS serious work," Henry had said with a smile. "Point is, we''re not gonna miss ''em so why add more?" Charles had said. "Because we WILL miss them," Angus had answered, "For my n to work, we will need more men and women than those currently in this room." "And what IS your n?" Stefan had asked. Angus smiled, "We''re going to pull off arguably the greatest heist anyone has ever dreamed of devising in the countryside." Angus let his words trail off suggestively like he was inviting a guess. Minds started working furiously and then Triss went from the look on his face to the purple gem pulsing on his chest and it was like a lightbulb went off in her head, "You can''t be serious," she said with a slight gasp. "What is it?" Stefan asked since he still hadn''t gotten it. Henry followed Triss'' eyes but even he was lost. Angus cleared it all up quickly enough, "Oh, but I am. We''re going to rob the Lord of the ck Manor, Maude Aleric." "You''re insane!" Charles said. "You''re mad!" Tony agreed. "The same Lord that has been sending Vykers after us? Do you know how protected he must be? We''ve managed to kill, what, Seven Vykers? How do you think we''ll fare when we face hundreds?" Dana asked. Angus remained calm, "I think we''ll fare quite well actually. And no one has Hundreds of Vykers. That''s not something even a Lord like Maude can manage." "And you''re sure of this, how?" Dana asked. "Because I am," Angus had answered. "What exactly is your n?" Devon asked slowly. Angus raised his palms to cate them so he could get into the details of his n, "The ck Manor is just teeming with riches. More than enough for all of our grand goals and then some, but it WILL be protected which is why we must first draw out some of that protection. We have something Maude ric wants (points at the item on his chest) and he won''t stop until he gets it back. It''s THAT valuable." "If it''s that valuable," Charles had asked, "Why don''t we just sell it?" "We can''t sell it because I can''t take it off. I am bonded with it and it can only be taken off my chest after I die. Since I have no intentions of letting that happen anytime soon, we''ll source the wealth elsewhere, and where better to look than the one who has it to spare?" Angus said and everyone went silent. Tony broke the silence, "So how does increasing our numbers help with this n? A bunch of trash will die against hundreds of Vykers." Angus smiled lightly and shook his head, "Maude Aleric does not have hundreds of Vykers and who said those we''ll recruit will be helping out on this heist?" And on that vague note with hardly any concrete details of a n Angus was likely just making up on the spot, the Gang began mass recruitment. Henry was almost surprised by the sheer number of people who went on to join the Gang in the days since then. Just tens and tens of men and women who were happy to turn to a life of crime. The recruitment news traveling mostly by word of mouth was not restricted to the environs of New Freudein alone but the entire countryside. The result was an increase in Dionisio Gang''s numbers and a wide spread of their names. Henry was sure that if he was to return to the town of New Freudein, his face and that of the rest of the Gang would ster the walls of the Sheriff''s office instead of those of the dead Langlot Gang. The Gang approached Angus about this but he just smiled and said it was all part of his n. Anyway, the new members of the Gang asionally came forward with tips about jobs they thought would be lucrative for the Gang and since they were all still new, Angus appointed certain members of the Gang to always go with groups of new Members. To watch how they operate and offer assistance when needed. So far, everyone else had done it. Everyone except Henry and Tony which brings us to right now and why they were leaning against rocks, sipping alcohol, and watching the newbies waiting for a mark. "Do you think Angus has changed?" Tony asked suddenly after a few minutes of silence. He passed Henry the alcohol again and Henry searched his mind and the memories he had inherited so he could answer, "Yes." The Angus in his memories was much more cautious. In contrast to Doran Langlot''s loud Gangbaging all over the countryside, Angus operated and directed the Gang to remain rtively unknown.That had changed now. "Why do you think that is?" Tony asked as he took back the alcohol and took a sip. Henry shrugged, "Who knows?" "Bah, you know!" Tony used, "We all do. It''s that thing on his Chest. It''s not just his eyes it''s messed with. It''s messing with his head too." "Maybe," Henry said, "But he did kill two Vykers. Three actually if you count the one he killed before we arrived." Tony shook his head, "That''s just it. He killed three and now thinks he can take on a hundred. He says no one has a Hundred Vykers but how could he possibly know that?" "I don''t know," Henry said and looked up the road to see a carriage chugging closer to where the newbies were hiding. He pointed at it as he said, "But I believe that is why we''re here." "You might be right," Tony said as he looked at the Carriage too. It was certainly well made. Enough to qualify as a mark. "What''s the name of the one that came with the tip?" Henry asked. "Tom¡ª I think," Tony said, "Said it was a debt collector or tax collector¡­ Some kind of collector, anyway. What matters is, he said, there''s gonna be money. So let''s just get this over with." Henry just nodded. He agreed with Tony that this was a boring and almost demeaning job but he had something more to gain other than the satisfaction of seeing newbies seed while under his supervision; [Grand Quest Updated! Main Quest: Supervise the Newbies. Conditional Reward: For every Newbie that survives the job, you''ll receive a bonus of 100 Exp. Quest Reward: 200 Exp. *Nyx will receive 50% of bonus Exp as well as the Quest Reward.] ording to the Quest details, even if all the newbies died, Henry stood to still receive 200 Exp but with six newbies on the job and a chance to receive a total bonus of 600 Exp, he was quite invested in their survival. He watched as the carriage drew closer before one of them, (Henry assumed that was Tom. The one who owned the tip and was leading the job) stepped out of the cover of trees and pointed a rifle at the Carriage driver. Forcing him to a dead stop. Chapter 61: Bounty Hunters (1) "Woah, woah, whoa" the carriage driver called out urgently as he pulled hard on the reins of his horses so they pulled to a stop. "Good," Tom the Newbie said with a smile as his other fellows came out of the cover of the trees all with rifles held up and pointed. The Carriage driver dropped the reins and raised his arms with his eyes widened in fear. "Get them out," Tom the newbie ordered a Gang member close to him with a head gesture to direct him toward the Carriage. The Gang member he ordered looked like the youngest of the group. Looking like he was at most sixteen but ever eager to prove his worth. He hefted his rifle and walked around to the Carriage door which he pulled open with a smile on his face, "Alright, get out with your hands held¡ª" he started to say only for the rest of his sentence to be cut off by the loud *bang* of a gunshot. Tom''s eyes widened in shock at the sound as he and the others watched the eager Gang member keel backward and hit the ground with a thud and a gaping hole in his chest. The carriage had two doors; The one the eager Gang member pulled open and the one on the other side that was kicked open as four gunmen filed out one after the other to point their guns and shoot. "What in godsdamned hell is this?!" Tony asked in a deep voice as he and Henry watched the ensuing shootout. "It''s a trap," Henry said with a frown as he reached toward his side and grabbed a Rifle he hadid against a rock. Tony grabbed his rifle too. He agreed with Henry''s assessment. Wherever Tom the newbie had gotten his tip, it was clearly nted just for this. "Shit!" He said but Henry could tell he was excited. Lying in wait, watching others do the robbing was boring but stepping in to save their asses with well-timed shots was certainly entertaining. Meanwhile, down below, the Carriage driver, hands shaking in fear suddenly grabbed the reins he had dropped and spiked it to send the already scared horses racing away and taking him to safety. The gunmen who had filed out of the Carriage before it raced away were hardly bothered. The n was never to get away with the carriage anyway. It had done its part already. Tom the newbie, distracted by the death of the eager Gang member and the subsequent exit of Gunmen from a carriage that should have been carrying a mark for them to rob was unable to react in time to the Carriage driver and had to leap to the side to avoid getting mmed into by the horses. He hit the floor right when the Gunmen began to fire their guns, forcing the group of newbies to run for cover behind trees. One gunman walked toward Tom who wasid on the floor and pointed his rifle at his head with a delighted grin as he teased the clenching of the trigger. Tom tightened his hold on his rifle but he knew he wouldn''t be able to get it up in time to shoot before a bullet punctured his head. He shook with fear and readied himself to throw all possible caution to the wind when the gunman standing in front of him arched his back with his eyes wide. "Ack!" The gunman let out as a bullet pierced his back and he fell to the ground a foot away from Tom. "Oh right. They were there." Tom mumbled as he looked in the direction the shot hade from and caught a glimpse of Tony, eyes keen and rifle raised. The other gunmen hardly paid enough attention to realize one of their own had fallen. They were far more focused on those they were shooting but when Tom stood from the floor and mmed the butt of his rifle against the head of one, stunning him, before shooting him in the chest while he was on the ground, they were forced to notice. s, there was hardly anything they could do at that point. Henry cocked his rifle and, firing shot after shot, he shot down the four of them still living in a flow of kills that stunned all who saw it. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] With them all dead, Henry put down the rifle with a smile. Tony looked at him with admiration mostly buried by his discontent, "You could have left some for me," he said. "Next time," Henry told him with a smile and to make him feel better, he even managed to look ashamed. "Eh, let''s just get down," Tony said with a shrug. He stood up and went to get his horse he had hitched many feet away. Henry was already on Nyx''s back by the time Tony led his horse back and together, they rode down the hill to the newbies who were now falling out of their tree covers. They had hands over wounds they had sustained. ''Shoulder, Shoulder, Torso, Torso¡­ Nothing life-threatening. Yet.'' Henry thought as his eyes roamed the four of them and he nodded, satisfied. After all, they were all precious bonus Exp. "Thank you," Tom the newbie said when Henry and Tony got closer. "That tip, where did you get it?" Tony asked with a frown. Tom''s brows furrowed. He had worked it out on his own too and knew that tip had been a trap and with his eyes on the body of the eager Gang member, he was all the more ashamed but even then, he answered Tom''s question. "In town." "And you just ran with it?" Tony asked, his frown getting even deeper, "You can''t give details beyond ''in town'' but you thought it valid enough to rally a group for?" Tom''s lips shook. The eyes of the rest of the newbies were on him now but as his ears got red in his embarrassment, he clenched his fist and turned his hard gaze on Tony, "What was I supposed to do? A long investigation into my sources? The tip said the carriage wasing through today, right through this road, and transporting over 500,000 Vens¡­" "That should have tipped you off!" Tony interrupted to say loudly. "What should have?!" Tom asked just as loudly. "The fact that a carriage traveling through a town of pig and sheep farmers who are almost steeped in penury will have that much cash!" Tony said even louder. Henry chuckled but said, "To be fair, Tony, it CAN happen." "Bah!" Tony said but his eyes were still ring at Tom whose lips were tightened defiantly as he red right back. "Um, excuse me," said one of the newbies, "But we''re injured and really want to get away." "Ah, right," Henry said. He had gotten sucked into the exchange between Tony and Tom the newbie that he had forgotten, "Get to your horses. Yelena will patch you right up." Henry wasn''t sure about the smiles the newbies got as they shared looks of reverence about the mere mention of the Dionisio Gang''s resident healing Witch. "Alright," the newbies all said in almost perfect unison as they turned toward the trees to head toward the clearing where they had hitched their horses. And just then, Nyx''s ears twitched but even if Henry had not been paying attention, he would still have heard the thundering of multiple hooves toward their direction. "Do you hear that?" Tony asked with his head angled. He turned his horse in the direction of the sound and almost immediately, they saw a group riding over. Gunbelts, the barrels of rifles and repeaters poking above their shoulders, and an expression of focus mixed in with the delight for a chase¡­ "Bounty hunters!" Tony yelled out before Henry had the chance to, "Get¡ª Ahh!" Tony yelled out as a bullet struck him in the shoulder but he gritted his teeth and grabbed his revolver to fire a few shots as hepleted his yell, "Get to your horses. Now!" Chapter 62: Bounty Hunters (2) The newbies didn''t need the order yelled twice. One look at theing horde filled them with dread and they tore right through the cover of trees to get on their horses and gallop as far away as possible. Tony''s horse whinnied as it pranced about in ce for a while but remained steady and allowed its rider to face the oing attackers. All of Tony''s fired shots missed and as the Bounty hunters got closer, Henry, now turned as well did a quick count, "Twenty¡­ Twenty-Five," he said with gritted teeth. "They banded together," Tony said as he put his revolver in his holster. He had fired all its bullets and they had all missed so while enduring the pain in his shoulder, he raised his rifle to try for better aim. The Bounty Hunters broke into two groups. One group continued to charge forward while the other tore into the trees by the roadside with clear intentions to get the newbies who had only just gotten on their horse''s backs. Henry frowned. He wondered what had alerted this coalition of Bounty hunters to charge at them. From his experience with Bounty hunters in his past life, ¡ªarge part of which was him acting as one for the reward money¡ª Henry knew how they went to areas where news of their targets was most prevalent hoping to find them. That tactic worked more often than not, but, twenty-five or more bounty hunters charging as one, ¡ªIn unison¡ª went beyond random scouring of hotspots. ''The Carriage,'' he realized with only a few seconds of critical thought even as he raised his Rifle to wee theing attackers. Of course, the trap with the Carriage was not as simple as five gunmen secretly hiding to jump out at the right time and gun down the notorious Gangbangers. The very first gunshot that killed the eager Gangmember, loud as it was, must have been the signal. The subsequent gunshots furthered the call and now¡­ ''Ah, Shit¡­'' Henry thought with dismay and fired his rifle. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] He cocked the rifle and with a few seconds of critical aim, he fired two more times, killing two more. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] Three horses losing their riders caused amotion in the riding formation and caused the trajectory to stagger a bit and give Henry time to call out to Tony, "Come on!" Tony was about to fire his rifle as well but after Henry''s yell, he put that thought aside and gripped his horse''s reins to follow Henry''s lead. "Wait, where are you going?" Tony asked, surprised. "Where does it look like I''m going?" Henry asked as he directed Nyx to charge into the cover of trees by the roadside. They arrived at the clearing where the newbies had hitched their horses and then followed the tracks to gallop after them. "We need to get away, now," Tony yelled. "We will," Henry yelled back but he didn''t change the direction of his riding. ''I''m not losing 500 Exp because of a bunch of Bounty Hunters!'' He thought and with a gentle but urgent nudge at Nyx''s sides, he spurred her to run even faster. Tony''s horse struggled to catch up but the attempt at least kept him ahead of the Bounty hunters behind them who had now recovered from themotion and were again galloping with purpose. Half a minute of ridingter, Henry could see the ends of multiple horses hot on the heels of the newbies whose faces were twisted in the horror of impending doom. Henry raised his Rifle, horse reins dropped, and began picking them off one at a time. "Ack!" Yelled out the first. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] "Ahh!" Yelled the second as he fell to the side, against a third who finally realized something was wrong and nced back only to be greeted with a bullet in his forehead. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] "Behind us!" Yelled a fourth Bounty hunter calling the attention of his fellows. While four remained intent on the chase before them, three turned around, weapons raised, to deal with the pursuers. Tony fired two shots from his rifle, killing one of the three pointing their weapons at him and Henry. "Ngh!" Henry groaned as a bullet, one of the many fired by the enemy, struck him but he retaliated with shots that killed the remaining two who had turned away from the chase. [You lost 3 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 77/80] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] Henry''s next attempt at a shot was met with the annoying cocking sound of an empty barrel. The blue light glowed along the length of the weapon, refilling it with rifle bullets directly from Henry''s inventory but he didn''t fire. They were out of the cover of trees now and riding along a grassy in. Nyx had outstripped Tony and caught up with the Four bounty hunters intent on their hunt. Henry rode into a gap in their riding formation with a bounty hunter on each of his sides. "Huh?" Said a Bounty Hunter in surprise at the arrival of an enemy but before he could even think to turn his weapon and shoot, Henry swung his rifle to the full extent of his strength. *Bam!* He hit the Bounty Hunter''s neck¡­ *Crack!* ¡­ And fractured it in that single hit. The Bounty Hunter''s head wobbled almostically before he fell to the side, stunned, and hit the ground headfirst,pleting the already horrible fracture and ending his life. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] "You fucker!" Called the Bounty hunter on his side. His revolver pointed. Henry mmed the gun arm with his palm and the bounty hunter was shocked when his arm spun away so hard it fractured at two joints. ''What maniacal power is that?!'' He wondered as he groaned in pain. Henry''s frame was lean and didn''t appear capable of such physicality and yet, it managed it just fine. And why wouldn''t it? With Henry''s strength at 22 (he still hadn''t allocated his 12 Stat Points but had received a +1 to his Strength afterpleting seven Physical Daily Quests), he outstripped normal people. In all honesty, in a physical contest, none of the Bounty Hunters were a threat. Henry knew this even without using . However, their guns were an equalizer. Unfortunately for them though, Guns were far more dangerous in Henry''s hands than it could ever be in theirs, as evident by the many he had killed already. But we digress. With the Bounty Hunter''s arm spun away and fractured, Henry pressed the muzzle of his rifle against the side of his head and blew his brains out. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] *bang!* *bang!* *bang!* Three fired revolver shots from behind and one of the remaining two Bounty hunters focused on chasing the newbies fell off his horse, courtesy of Tony. "Good shot!" Henry called out. "I should be the one saying that," Tony grumbled with a smile. He wondered while shaking his head; When did the dynamic change so much that he seemed to be the less likely experienced onepared to this Neen year old? Nyx was running right by the side of the horse being ridden by thest Bounty Hunter hot on the tail of the newbies and as she galloped, she looked to the side at it and whined with casual delight. Henry heard what she was saying in his head; "-Hey there-" she said, "-I''m just gonna nudge you a bit.-" Henry wasn''t sure if the horse could hear what Nyx was saying. He would have guessed it couldn''t. Either way, the horse whined loudly with its eyes bugged out in fear. Nyx had lied. She didn''t nudge it ''a bit''. She nudged hard enough to send the horse careening at least five feet away and when it hit the ground, it fell on its rider, adding to the impact of the fall, it crushed him under its weight, killing him almost instantly. [Nyx has contributed to a Kill] [Nyx has received 5 Exp] Chapter 63: Bounty Hunters (3) "Well done," Henry said gently. Nyx said nothing and just whined smugly as she continued her gallop. And then shots were fired from behind as well as from the sides. With his eyes widened Tony looked around and saw the rest of the horde of Bounty hunters converging on them. A group came from behind while two other groups came at them from the sides, all with their rifles raised and pointed. "Ahh," a newbie yelled as bullets struck him, killing him and knocking off his horse. "Ack!" Cried out a second as he suffered the same fate. ''That''s 200 Exp gone!" Henry thought with a deep frown as he raised his rifle and began to fire. Killing two Bounty hunters before they were able to converge on the newbies. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] With eyes widened in his fear of death, Tom the newbie looked back at two more of his fellows falling out of formation and to their deaths. "Go!" Henry called out, snapping Tom out of whatever depressed thought he was having, "Split up! I''ll keep them away from you!" The newbies separated and went toward different paths which forced the Bounty hunters on their tail to separate as well but of course, Henry had his rifle at the ready to pick them off one by one. "Nyx, to the side!" He called out first. He wasn''t holding Nyx''s reins and could not direct her in the direction he wanted her to go but his order was well received and Nyx knew exactly what he meant. She deviated from the path she was traveling, causing many shots that were getting fired at Henry from behind to miss. She went a step further with her obedience to Henry''s order as dark mist began to rise from her body and her legs sped up and her speed increased. She seemed to blur from the sight of the Bounty hunters and their attempt to move their rifles and target him failed all the more. In the past week, Nyx had practiced with her skill and she knew better what her limits were now. She didn''t use the skill for a lengthy run and only used it to facilitate a perfect dodge. When she returned to her normal galloping pace, Henry was ready with his rifle. He already found it difficult to follow Nyx''s ''normal'' speed and it always impacted his shots. Although he had grown better ustomed to it, the skill took it all a step further and he had to wait for the dark mist to fizzle away from her body before he was again confident in his shots. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] With four more biting the dust, the three newbies were far more free to gallop to safety. A few more meters and they tore into woods to vanish from the road being traveled. Henry expected more of the bounty hunters chasing from behind to break off and chase after but none did. "Forget those!" said one Bounty Hunter in a deep authoritative tone, "Let''s focus on getting one of them!" The ''Them'' were obviously referring to Henry and Tony. "Right!" The others called out loudly before following up with charging cries as they fired their guns. "Try to keep one of them alive!" Yelled another Bounty Hunter different from the first. "Don''t you think we know that?!" Yelled a third. The others grumbled in agreement but really, even the most foolish among them knew how easy it was for a shot to go awry. They were in the midst of a high-speed chase shooting indiscriminately and were far more likely to kill the ones they were chasing than to convince them to stop. Henry noticed that there was no camaraderie in their tone. No feeling of togetherness and certainly no tone of anger or loss despite the many Henry had killed already. But of course that was expected. These were bounty hunters going after thergest gang in the countryside. A Gang that seemed to be growing by the day and had no issues making themselves known. A Gang so notorious, that the prize for their Leader''s head was a quarter of a Million Vens. Anyway, ''They''ll probably target the horses next,'' Henry thought, ''I won''t be surprised if they already had and Nyx''s dodge has just helped avoid it.'' "Ah¡ª Fuck!" The sudden cry of pain caused Henry to look back and he saw Tony had not been as lucky as him and had not managed to dodge the bullets he had. The man''s shoulders were bleeding. He had multiple bullet holes in his back and also had a bullet lodged into his side having broken past his ribs and punctured an organ. However, the many shots he had suffered were not why Tony cussed out loud but rather, it was a particrly impactful shot that struck him very close to his spine and caused him to arch before he slumped forward onto his horse. His breathing came out in weak wheezes but he sucked in a hard breath and managed to recover his bearings enough to raise his revolver and fire every bullet he still had in its cylinder. One of those shots hit a Bounty hunter''s forehead, knocking him off his horse, and with a smile at the sessful shot, Tony allowed himself a bloody smile as he managed to retake his horse''s reins and regain control of it. Henry frowned and raised his rifle to make a shot in retaliation but his aim was knocked off course when Nyx suddenly pulled to a stop and reared on her hind legs while letting out whines of distress. "-Cliff!-" she yelled in Henry''s head. Henry looked forward and realized they were indeed now at the edge of a cliff with a drop of at least 50 meters. Tony''s horse reacted to the cliff as well and with even more aggressive and horrified whines, it stopped in ce as well but fortunately, it didn''t rear on its hind legs. Henry doubted Tony would have been able to remain on its back if it had. Henry turned Nyx around to face theing Bounty Hunters who stopped their gallops feet away and slowly trotted closer to force a tight semi-circle, cutting off all routes of escape. They all raised their guns and the smiles on their faces had Henry suspecting they had herded them in this direction on purpose. Whether it had been on purpose or not, there was no way out but through so Henry pointed his rifle as well but the cocking of six guns trained on him caused him to reconsider. His Hit points were quite high and as long as it was not a headshot, Henry was confident in enduring a few shots but facing and enduring a firing squad of sorts¡ª Well, that was bound to round his Hit points down to 0 pretty quickly. With a cliff right behind and the Bounty hunters closing in, there was very little room to move and even if Nyx used , there was a limit to her Mana reserves. ''I suppose I could have Nyx charge forward,'' Henry thought, ''She can probably m one of them aside and clear a path to escape through. But then, what about Tony?'' Henry nced to the side and saw Tony watching him through heavy-lidded eyes, losing more blood by the second. Henry could tell, He was dying. "Hey!" One of the Bounty Hunters called out, "Don''t think about doing anything stupid. Drop that rifle!" Henry eyed him for a second and dropped the rifle to the ground. "Now get off your horse." Henry got out of Nyx''s saddle and took three short steps forward. "Take out your guns too," the Bounty Hunter ordered with gestures at the two revolvers Henry had in his gun belt. Henry took his hands to them and the Bounty Hunter red as he said with intensity, "Slowly!" Henry grabbed the handles of both revolvers with his thumb and index fingers to show he had no intentions of shooting. He dropped the guns to the ground too. The Bounty Hunter raised a brow at one of the revolvers, "Fine weapon," he said with a gesture at the gun painted bronze and gold that Henry had imed from the dead Doran Langlot, "You''re not Angus Dionisio, are you?" "I''m not," Henry said. "But to have that and shoot as well as you have, you must be pretty high up in the Dionisio gang. what''s your name, boy?" "Henry," Henry said in the first introduction of himself he had ever made since he arrived in this world, "Henry Morgan." Chapter 64: Bounty Hunters (4) The Bounty Hunters shared looks and then the one who had handled the conversations thus far said, "Never heard of you." "Of course, you haven''t," Henry said with a shrug. ''I haven''t been doing well ''making a name for myself'' but I can''t very well go yelling it all over the countryside, now can I? From experience, I know infamy spreads eventually so I''m not at all in a hurry. Right now, at least, I''m far more focused on how to get the fuck out of this!'' "Doesn''t matter who you are, I suppose. If you can lead us tell us to your hideout, that''s good enough," The Bounty Hunter said. "And you''ve killed so many of the dead weight that the reward money can go around better," Another said with a greedy look in his eyes, "A quarter of a million Vens shared in six ways is a lot of money." ''250,000 Vens is indeed a lot. To them, least. The item on Angus''s chest is worth more than Ten times that, I''d assume. But, how would they possibly know that?'' Henry thought and even allowed himself a shake of his head. "Hey stop that," the Bounty Hunter who had handled the conversations the most so far said with his gun pointed aggressively at Henry, "Now tell us where it is. The hideout. Or better still, lead us to it." Henry frowned and nced out the corner of his eyes at Tony barely holding on, ''I''m wasting time. I have to end this now,'' he thought decisively, ''But fuck, will it HURT!'' Henry slowly brought his hands down until his palms were by the sides of his face and then, in a quick move bolstered by his agility, he twisted his wrist, and ''The Hydra''s Sting'' appeared in his hand. "Oi!'' The Bounty Hunter yelled and made to clench the trigger of his gun but it was toote. Henry had pointed and fired an acidic green bullet that traveled faster than any bullet any of them had ever witnessed and struck the target''s chest. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] Green veins popped out all over the bounty Hunter''s torso and spread to his neck and next to his head as his eyes went bloodshot. He dropped his rifle to the ground and raised his head with his mouth open in a silent scream as a green mist began to flow out of it. His life gone, the Bounty Hunter fell to the side of his horse and because they were all tightly grouped, he mmed into someone by his side before he was smacked away so that he fell backward and hit the ground with a thud where he continued to leak the green mist. The remaining Bounty Hunters could hardly care about the mist or the death of another of their previouslyrge number. In the corners of their minds, they knew that was another man out of his share of the reward money and as they did quick calctions in their heads now that they only had to share the money in five ways, they fired their guns almost reflexively. "THIS BASTARD!!!" A couple of them yelled before the shots went off. Even as he fired his shot, Henry was already leaping away, having anticipated the reactions his act of rebellion would cause. Because of his preemptive act, most of the first rounds of fired shots missed with one hitting him in the thigh. [You have lost 4 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 73/80] Henry groaned but knew the job was not yet done. He had to give the the time to work and knew the shooters wouldn''t yet stop. He rolled away from the spot he had fallen to on the ground and while bullets hit the ground away from him, some still struck him. Two in the ribs¡­ [You have lost 5 Hit Points] [You have lost 5 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 63/80] Two more in the thighs¡­ [You have lost 4 Hit Points] [You have lost 4 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 55/80] One in the shoulder¡­ [You have lost 3 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 52/80] And Three in the back¡­ [You have lost 6 Hit Points] [You have lost 6 Hit Points] [You have lost 6 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 34/80] ''AH FUCK!'' Henry yelled in his head at the pain of the bullets striking his body even after he dodged at least a dozen already. He had expected the pain and had only hoped he would be fortunate and his head would be spared but the sheer number of shots the morons fired werepletely beyond his expectations. ''How they can possibly think they''re not shooting to kill is beyond me. These idiots!!!'' And then the shots stopped¡­ Henry let the pain of the bullets mellow into dull aches as they always did before he stood off the ground with a groan to look at the Bounty Hunters on horseback. Their eyes were all bugged out in horror as the green mist of the sessfully permeated into them through their breathing. They, as well as their horses, were locked in ce. Speaking of the horses, paralyzed as they were, they were unable to stably remain on their four legs, and with a slump, they went to the ground, shaking the Bounty hunters off their backs. As Henry approached them, he put ''The Hydra''s Sting'' back into his Inventory and picked his Revolvers off the ground. "What¡ª What did you do¡­?" One Bounty Hunter struggled to say. "What magic is this?" Questioned another. ¡­ An attack Henry had only ever used when he was down on Mana Points and facing an enemy he needed magic to kill. It was perfect for enemies in a group like this and he would have maybe considered using it earlier had they all not been riding at top speeds that would have left whoever he shot far behind before the Paralysis could really set in. Plus, he never really felt he needed Magic for this bunch. How wrong he was? Henry stared nkly at the questions. He had no time to carry on a conversation. He raised his bronze and gold painted gun and, five shotster, they were all dead. [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 10 Exp] He didn''t forget to loot the dead. "-You could have asked me to do something-" Nyx grumbled behind him. "It would have made things far moreplicated and lengthy," Henry told her quietly. "-And what you did wasn''tplicated?-" Nyx questioned, "-You are riddled with holes!-" "I''ll be fine," Henry said and looked over at Tony, "He''s the one in danger." Out of his Inventory, Henry pulled out a Healing Potion and walked quickly over to Tony to press it against his lips, "Here, drink this." Tony''s eyes flickered open weakly and he eyed the potion, "What''s that?" He asked. "It''ll help you," Henry said. "Mmm, well, there would be no point in poisoning a dying man, would there?" Tony asked and took the potion from Henry''s hands and drank it. As the liquid flowed down his throat, healing some of his wounds, Tony perked up a bit. Some color returned to his quickly sallowing skin and he was able to pull himself almostpletely upright on his horse. "Wow," he said, "Incredible stuff. Works like Magic. Where''d you get it?" "Around," Henry said with a smile. "Won''t you have needed it more, though?" Tony said with a gesture at Henry''s bullet holes. Henry shook his head, "Nah, I''ll be fine till we get back to the Mansion. And we SHOULD get going." Tony smiled weakly, "Lead the way." Chapter 65: It Was A Pleasure Knowing You… "Can you ride?" Henry asked Tony as he got on Nyx''s back. If Tony couldn''t, it might be best to bring him into Nyx''s saddle and ride together back to the Hadron Mansion where he could get actual treatment. Tony groaned and looked at him, "Of course," He said but his voice wheezed ever so slightly, "To prove it to you, we''ll go on ahead!" Tony nudged his horse hard with the spurs of his boots and they galloped, leaping over the down and prone horses that Henry had decided to spare and over the green mist that would have paralyzed them to get back on the road and find their way back to the Hadron Mansion. Despite the Healing Potion, Tony still looked like he was flitting in and out of consciousness, so his ability to ride was slightly surprising. He directed his horse properly on what path to take (which was easier to do now that they were not being chased) and stayed on horseback so well, that he was hardly swayed by the gallops. Henry and Nyx caught up quickly enough and they made their way back together. "Morgan, huh?" Tony said suddenly. "What?" Henry asked. "Back¡ª Back there, you introduced yourself to them as ''Henry Morgan''¡­ I''ve just *wheezes* I''ve just never heard you call yourself that name before." ''Of course you haven''t,'' Henry thought, ''The Henry of this world didn''t have it.'' "You should save your strength," Henry told him, "We''ll be at the mansion soon. Yelena will patch you up." "Ah, I doubt I''ll make it," Tony said. "You will," Henry said confidently. ''The Healing Potion should be enough for the ride,'' he added in his mind, and then something dawned on him; He had been thinking of Tony''s situation like he thought of his own. Healing Potions for Henry were emergency kits to keep his Hit Points up but that was not the same for everyone else. Everyone else bleeds out and remains in constant pain for as long as they have their injuries. "Tony, here!" Henry said suddenly and held out another Healing Potion. Tony eyed it, "What¡ª What for?" He asked. "To help you," Henry said. "You already gave me one," Tony said with a sad smile, "You should save the rest for yourself." "No," Henry insisted, "You need it." Tony just eyed the potion for a few seconds before he nodded and took it, "Thank you," he said and he drank it. Again, he seemed rejuvenated. His skin became more rosy but as Henry watched, it quickly became pale again. ''No,'' Henry realized. The Healing of the potion wasn''t keeping up with the Blood loss. Tony noticed the look on Henry''s face and smiled, "You can tell, can''t you?" He said slowly, "It''s not working all that well." "No, you just haven''t drunk enough," Henry said and held out a third Healing Potion. "Don''t waste that stuff," Tony said, shaking his head. "Drink it!" Henry insisted. Tony eyed him for a few seconds and then took the Potion and drank it. The effect was the same. A brief betterment of his symptoms before it got worse again. His shirt which was already red with his blood, got even redder as the bloodstain got wider. His wounds were still bleeding and the worst of them, Henry could gather, were internal. "See?" Tony said with a sad chuckle, "I told you not to waste it." "I have another," Henry said and pulled out a Fourth Health Potion. "There''s no use," Tony said. Henry kept the potion held out and only pulled it back when he realized Tony was truly not going to take it from him. To learn how ineffective Elminster''s Healing Potions actually were and to learn them now¡­ Henry wasn''t sure how to feel. "You''ll be fine," he said confidently, "The Potions will hold till we get back to the Mansion. To Yelena. Tonyughed, "Liar," he said with a kind smile, "You¡ª You know already." Henry said nothing. He did know. Tonyughed again and coughed blood onto the back of his horse''s neck. He wiped excess blood off the corner of his mouth as he said to Henry, "Well, if this is thest conversation we''re ever going to have¡­ I gotta ask, Morgan? Really? That was the best you could do for a made-upst name. You had the chance to pick something cooler there. In case they lived to tell the tale. Something cooler like¡ª like Shadowhawk or something." "I didn''t make it up," Henry said quietly, "It was my father''s name." "Oh," Tony said, "I didn''t know you had a Father." The history Tony and the rest of the Gang had learned about Henry was about how he was kicked out of an orphanage. Nothing in that story had ever hinted at him having parents. Not parents he had ever known, at least. "Yeah, I don''t talk about him much," Henry said but what he actually meant was, that the Henry of this world never talked about his parents because he never knew them. He, Henry Morgan, in his past life, had known his Parents and had lived with them years before the start of his life of crime. Tony managed to clear his throat which only brought more blood to his mouth, "Well, you can forgive a dying man for being insensitive, can''t you?" "Sure," Henry told him with a small smile, "But you''re not dying." "Bah! It''s not tasteful to give a dying man false hope," Tony let out and grinned a bloody grin. "Correction, It''s ALWAYS tasteful to give a dying man false hope," Henry said. "You admitted I was dying there," Tony said quietly. Henry bowed his head, "A slip of the tongue." "Ha," Tony let out and in augh, "It was a pleasure knowing you, Henry Morgan." Henry paused and said nothing for a minute and then nodded, "It was a pleasure knowing you too. Tony Shadowhawk." Tony chuckled in appreciation of the name and leaned against his horse as he whispered, "See how much cooler it sounds? Well, I''m¡ª I''m going to rest now¡­" They were closer to the Hadron Mansion now when Tony closed his eyes, slipped off into a slumber, and went silent. ??? ¡ªTen Minutes Later¡ª Henry directed Nyx to cross the threshold into the Hadron Mansion courtyard, and spent a few seconds stunned at the sheer number of tents pegged down all over until he remembered the Gang''s numbers had swelled in the past week. Angus hadn''t gone the Doran Langlot route by having them separate into different bases for convenience. He didn''t seem to think it was necessary. Despite the new faces all around, Henry was able to spot the actual members, at least the ones he had grown used to. Charles, Devon, and Dana had their arms folded as their eyes surveyed the cluttered courtyard while talking among themselves but whatever they were discussing took a sudden pause when they spotted Henry''s ck horse trot in. When Henry got down from Nyx''s back, they had already hurried over, "What happened?" Dana asked her eyes going from Henry''s bullet-holed body to Tony''s bleeding one. "We need to get him to Yelena," Charles said as he calmed Tony''s horse to stop moving and made to get Tony off its back. "It''s no use," Henry said quietly. He had had minutes to let the thought of it settle and marinate so he knew for sure and decided he might as well spare the others from fussing over a dead man they had no chance of bringing back to life, "He''s gone." Chapter 66: Final Words Despite Henry''s words taking away any chance that Tony was ying pretend, Charles still prodded at him, "Hey,e on, man," he said with a smile so forced, his face seemed twisted, "Get up." No one said anything. No one told Charles not to prod a dead man because they knew he was currently going through his process but Devon did turn to Henry with a piercing and aggressive stare, "What happened?" He asked. Henry found that he could hardly be bothered by the usation in that question. He just took a deep breath and got ready to recite what had happened when horses galloping in from behind, interrupted him. Taking a different route from the one Henry and Tony had and looking like they had gone through much hardship to avoid getting followed by enemies, three horses rode into the Hadron Mansionpound. Henry didn''t have to look back to know who it was because the notifications from the System took care of that; [Quest Completed] [You have received 200 Exp] *[Nyx has received 100 Exp] [Number of survivors: 3] [You have received a bonus of 300 Exp] *[Nyx has received 150 Exp] [Level Up!] [You are now Level 9] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 90] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 100] [You have received 6 Stat Points to Allocate] [You now have 18 unallocated Stat Points] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 9 (162/2100 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Death''s Bane, Gangbanger, Vyker-Killer] [Hit Points: 44/90] [Mana Points: 100/100] [Strength: 22] [Agility: 15] [Stamina: 12] [Perception: 10] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 3 } {Taming Lv. 2 } {Insight Lv.1}] [You have 18 unallocated Stat Points] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Brushing aside the notification and Status screens, Henry turned around to watch the arriving Newbies trot to a stop. All sporting the wounds they had sustained in the chase with Tom at the forefront looking downcast. Tom''s raised his head and found Henry''s eyes. He said nothing and just pursed his lips before he looked to the side at Tony still lying against his horse''s back. He paused as he noticed there was no rise and fall to signify breathing and his eyes widened as they went back to Henry who just quietly looked away and back to Devon. "We were attacked," Henry said, "The tip was a trap Bounty Huntersid just to grab someone that could lead them to the hideout. Twenty-five or more of them jumped us and herded us to a cliff. Tony died in the shootout." Devon spent a few seconds looking at Henry but had no reason to doubt his Testimony so he looked over at the newbies who were getting down from their horses, "That tip you got¡­" he started and took a step toward them. Henry stretched out a hand and ced it on his chest as he held him back, "Don''t," he said while shaking his head, "Don''t bother. It''s not really their fault anyway. How well do we ever verify tips before going on a job?" Henry used ''we'' but he had never gotten a tip and gone after it for the Dionisio Gang before. It was, however, something he had done many times in his past life. But the feeling of grief was too prevalent for anyone to catch his little slip. "Just let it go," he told Devon before taking his hand off his chest. ??? Ten minutester, Henry, Charles, Triss, Stefan, Devon, Dana, and Good ol'' Joe, stood a few feet away from the Mansion (outside of its wallspletely) next to a hole they had dug and lowered Tony into. "Where''s Angus?" Charles asked with his expression steeled and his eyes on his dead friend. "He went out," Joe said. "To where?" Charles asked. Joe shrugged, "I don''t know," he said, "Just said he had something to do. He''s been gone all day." That made Charles angrier and looking around, Henry saw the expression mirrored in the faces of the others. He understood why. In their minds, Angus caused this. He opened their doors to the new members who brought in their unverified tips. In their minds, things had never gotten as bad as getting chased by more than twenty Bounty Hunters at a time. Worse yet, Angus had still not been clear about the big ns he had and how exactly they were supposed to manage to rob the ck Manor when one of their own just died to enemies without a lick of magic in their bodies. Charles cleared his throat, "Of course, he''s out chasing dreams again," he said in a gruff voice, "And he''lle back with more promises, I bet. Promises! That was all Tony ever heard and now he''s dead without knowing exactly how those promises were ever getting fulfilled." No one said anything because they agreed. In this inner circle of theirs, Angus'' most loyal was likely Devon and even he questioned the choices that had been made. He had objected to the growing numbers himself even though he had done it while saying loudly "Only I am enough!" Everyone had their time to say their final words. A rite they had not been able to do for Kirk whose body they had left behind on the Train. When it was Henry''s turn, he simply said, "Goodbye." Unlike the others he had had his chance to say his final words to Tony before he died so didn''t think there was a need to make it lengthy. He had known these people for three weeks, ¡ªREALLY known them and not just through memories he had in his head and had no connection to¡ª and was there any more time needed for him to make up his mind and decide they were a group he could rely on to watch his back? So far, they had done nothing to make him suspicious and as bitchy and annoyingly stupid as some of them were (eyes on Dana and Devon), they seemed good-natured¡ª Well, as good-natured as a gang of criminals can be. Tony, though¡­ As He watched Tony''s face down in the hole dug for him, Henry thought back to the Train Job and how it had been the two of them running across the roof, fighting off uniformed gunmen. He remembered the conversation they had when it all ended and Tony used him of having a masochistic kink before following it up with an admission of respect. He remembered thest minutes they had before getting chased by Bounty Hunters and filled with bullet holes and how they had leisurely passed alcohol as they talked. ''Would he have survived if I had not insisted we go after the newbies and save them?'' Henry wondered. In a corner of his mind, he was aware that things were not ever so simple. Even if they left the newbies and just kept running, the Bounty Hunters had more than enough numbers to chase both groups. The newbies would have died or gotten captured and Tony would probably still have gotten shot all the same. Of course, even as his mind came up with this, Henry could not help the guilt gnawing away at him. They poured dirt over Tony''s body and marked his grave with a headstone Charles carved into with a dagger and then they all returned to the Hadron Mansion to wait and raiseints that had been brewing for days already about the path their leadership was leading them in. All new members were ordered to remain within the Mansion and with Devon enforcing that order with his shotgun in hand, they were all inclined to obey. Angus didn''t return that day. He returned the next day, just past noon. Dressed with a cloak draped around his form and a shirt properly buttoned to hide away the gem pulsing on his chest. He had a Hat on his head and when bent at the right angle, it covered up his purple eyes. On his face was a bright smile like someone bringing good tidings. The Gang was not so convinced. Chapter 67: The Immortal Witch Angus got down from his horse and one of the new members of the Gang who had been designated to chore future grabbed the reins to lead the horses away. With a smile still on his face, Angus turned toward the entrance into the Hadron Mansion where Henry, Charles, Triss, Stefan, Devon, and Dana stood with expressions of impatience and frowns that were not swayed by his joyousness. "Everyone," Angus greeted them before pausing as he eyed them one after the other, detecting the mood, "What''s it?" He asked before looking around to do a quick sweep of the courtyard and added, "Where''s Tony?" "Dead," Charles said in a deadpan tone. "Oh," Angus said as he took off his hat and brushed a hand through his hair. "That''s all you''re going to say?" Charles asked. "Of course, it''s a sad thing," Angus said. His smile was gone now and his head was slightly bowed, "How did he die?" "Bounty Hunters. We were ambushed." Henry said. Angus looked at him. He remembered Henry and Tony had indeed left the Mansion together for the supervision of a job the newbies were on. "I''m sorry to hear that¡­" Angus said and sounded like he might say more but Charles interrupted to say, "We had a funeral yesterday, you know. You were not present." Angus sighed as he walked forward, "Charles, I don''t much like your tone. What happened to Tony was a tragedy but it was also not nned. I was away before it happened so you can''t very well me me for my absence now, can you?" "It''s not your absence I me, it''s your secrecy. Keeping things to yourself and having the rest of us just follow you like sheep being led to ughter." "Hey, now," Angus said, "Everything I do, I do for the good of the Gang. To make all our dreamse true¡­" "Where exactly were you?" Charles asked, "Off spreading our names about again?" "Just mine, actually," Angus said as he got close to the others and they created a space for him to go through and enter deeper into the Mansion. The Gang followed him but mostly because they had not yet given him a piece of their mind. Not to their satisfaction, at least. As he walked, Angus was talking, and with every word, the smile that had slipped at the news of Tony''s death returned to his face; The reason Angus'' name was known and his face was all over wanted Posters was because he wanted it to be known. Ever since the incidentst week, the Gang Leader had started taking trips out of the Mansion spreading the word in case the activity of the many greenhorn Gang members carrying the Dionisio name was not enough. With his Spellbinding to arm him, Angus could, on his own, convince the simple people in this corner of the world that he was a genuine threat more than a thousand murders could. The first part of his n was publicity and it helped that the person he had offended was a powerful and wealthy Manor Lord like Maude Aleric who was happy to have put a name and face to his target while fanning the mes. To the point of even sending the reward money skyrocketing. Of course, for Maude Aleric, all that was simply by the way. He could not possibly trust a bunch of hooligans and no-good criminals like Bounty Hunters to retrieve his precious item so with a week to better understand the enemy and prepare, another force of Vykers was on their way. When he told the others about this when they were all in the meeting hall, they just stared at him nkly looking like they were no longer capable of forming sentences. And then Triss asked, "More of them areing?" "Yes," Angus answered with an enthusiastic nod. "Here?!" Triss asked as if the location was in doubt. Even then, Angus answered her graciously, "Yes, here." "How did they even know where toe?" Dana asked. "To be fair, the Hadron Mansion as a hideout is not all that hard to figure out," Stefan said, "They''ve had a week to think of it and if you think of it hard enough, and eliminate other possible hideouts, you''re left with this one. Anyone capable of critical thinking will eventually realize a ''Curse'' cannot be enough to keep a Gang out." "Who cares how they know?" Devon asked. "I agree," Angus said calmly but the Half-Orc was not yet done, "The question is why we are still here, waiting for them!" Devon said slowly. It probably said something about the situation that Devon was sounding cautious and suggesting running. At least that was what Henry thought as he silently listened to the conversations being had. "Of course, we''re still here," Angus said looking like he was enjoying a private joke none of the others were in on, "We have no reason to leave. Or be worried." Henry furrowed his brows at that statement but still said nothing. "Are you¡ª Are you mad?!" Triss asked with her palms hitting the table while she red at Angus who remained quite rxed. Angus looked from one of the swelling faces in front of him to the next and then said, "We have no reason to be worried because we have someone on our side that leaves the Vykers no chance." Henry suddenly felt eyes move over to him. He and Angus had killed the most Vykers so far. Three each. But, Henry knew Angus wasn''t talking about him. Nothing about his aplishments guaranteed or even hinted at a win against a Vyker force Angus was teasing to berger than thest and as he watched the look on Angus'' purple eyes, the confident smile on his face, it dawned on him. ''Yelena!'' He thought with his eyes wide. Angus chuckled, "Yes, yes, Henry is impressive," Angus said and shook his head, "But I wasn''t talking about him. We have someone even better¡­ We have the ''Immortal Witch''." A minute of silence passed only to be broken by Devon who asked with a dumb look on his face, "Who?" ??? Learning that Yelena, their resident Healer, could not be killed and was boasting of power so immense, she had nothing to fear from Tens and Tens of Vykers was so difficult to ept, it was almost ridiculous. "Let''s test it out," Devon said to her when everyone went into the Medical Bay to confirm what Angus had imed, "Hit me with all you''ve got!" "You''ll die," Henry told him with certainty. Devon snorted, "I can take it." "You can''t," Henry told him shaking his head. "Then half of it then," Devon said for apromise. Henry opened his mouth but Yelena answered faster than he could, "You''ll probably still die," she said gently. Probably was putting it kindly. He was definitely going to die. Yelena knew this for sure because she doubted she had ever pushed herself to the limit so all her killing strikes so far could have well have been half of what she was capable of. One-third even. Devon''s brows furrowed but he stopped insisting. Yelena looked over at Henry who held her gaze wondering when she made peace with her aversion to killing because there would be no avoiding it this time. Then Henry looked at Angus and wondered for how long this had been a n. Meanwhile, Angus was grinning, "So then, we will retreat into the Mansion and Yelena will fend off the enemies. I advise we don''t interfere and just let her handle it as she sees fit," Angus announced and gave Yelena a pointed look to which she frowned. "We should leave and give her time to prepare." Angus led the way out and the others followed. "Henry?" Triss called to him when he didn''t move. "You should go on ahead," Henry said gently. Triss paused and looked from Henry to Yelena and then with a nod and a slight frown, she left and closed the door behind her. "You''re wondering why I''m doing it?" Yelena asked him after a minute went by in silence. "There will be killing," Henry said. Yelena nodded, "I know," she said. "How did Angus convince you to do it?" Henry asked. Yelena looked away, "He just¡ª He made a convincing point. And if the Mansion gets torn down, I get torn down too. Besides, I can help so I should. Shouldn''t I?" Henry paused and then stepped closer to her. He grabbed her shoulders gently and turned her around so he was looking into her eyes, "Are you sure?" He asked. Yelena nodded, "I''m sure." "Then I''ll help," Henry said. Yelena looked at him, her green eyes wide and a surprised look on her beautiful face, "How?" She asked. "Just temper your magic as best as you can and try to knock them down rather than kill them. I''ll take the kill instead." "You don''t have to do that," Yelena said gently. Henry sighed, "Remember what I saidst time? You should never feel guilty for killing someone who won''t think twice about killing you. I still mean it but I saw how you were after killing three. It''s not going to get easier. Not yet at least. I can help, so I will." Yelena paused and then nodded, "Alright," she said with a smile, "Thank you." "Don''t mention it," Henry said with a small nod and as he released her shoulders, an alert sounded in his head; [You have triggered an Optional Quest] [Optional Quest: Infernal Partner. Help Yelena Hadron, the Infernal Spawn, alleviate some of her oing guilt. Reward: For every kill you steal from her, you will receive a bonus of 150 Exp.] [Will you ept the Optional Quest? Yes/No] ''Yes.'' [You have epted the Optional Quest: Infernal Partner] Chapter 68: The Witch And Her Partner (1) ??? Angus broke the news of the oing enemies to the newbies all camped out in the Hadron Mansion courtyard and called them all into the Mansion for their safety. And then, just over thirty minutester, the sounds of hooves sounded as horses trotted over and all stopped right outside the Hadron Mansion''s damaged gates. Angus and the rest of the gang (excluding all newbies) were at the top floor of the Mansion and looking out of the window of the topmost room at the Vykers all dressed in varying outfits that had only one thing inmon; They did not look like what the locals would wear. "Fifteen of them¡­" Charles said with a frown and a gruff tone, "Are you sure about this, Angus." "I''m sure," Angus said with his hands behind his back. To put so much faith in Yelena because of the words of Good ol'' Joe would have been idiotic but thanks to the Vinculum on his Chest, Angus knew better than anyone possibly could, the nature of Yelena''s bond to the Hadron Mansion. There was no reason to be worried. ¡­ A few feet from the Mansion''s Damaged gate¡­ A Squad of Fifteen Vykers who were eager and confident to seed where their fellows had failed. Seven Vykers all created by their Master, the Lord of the ck Manor, had lost their lives already in pursuit of the item that was stolen but their deaths had had not been totally without purpose. The deaths of the first two allowed their Master to narrow his search to the Town of New Freudein and its environs¡ªAs bizarre as that was¡ª, and the more recent deaths of five more had given a more precise target. Slowly, all fifteen of them directed their horses over the threshold and past the broken gates into the Hadron Mansion grounds proper where they arranged themselves into a formation of sorts without once taking their eyes off the Mansion. "They''re holed up in there," said the Vyker at the forefront with a frown. He sniffed for a few seconds and then added, "One crossed the gates not long ago and none have left since." He looked at the tents that were pitched with no one inside them and said, "They had enough time to hide within the Mansion but didn''t bother to attempt to run. Are they that confident in the Mansion protecting them?" He wondered with his brows furrowed. The sniffing Vyker was the Captain of this Squad and when he thought of what had happened to thest Captain to step foot in this Mansion (The Shadow Vyker who had lost his head the week before), the words of his Master ordering caution sounded in his head. But then he scoffed, ''Master, your words hurt me. Caution for a bunch of cowards who can''t even step out to face me?'' He thought with a smug smile, ''It''s not needed.'' "me Vykers!" he called out in a loud voice as he raised a hand inmand. From behind him, a few horses broke away from the formation and raised their hands to conjure fireballs zing hard just above their palms and fingertips. The me Vykers took a few seconds to hold the fireballs in ce as their Captain still had his hand raised and when he dropped his hand, they let it all loose against the Mansion''s walls. Within the Mansion, Angus watched as the me Vykers prepared their fireballs and then his eyes widened. ''They''re going to toss it here!'' He realized. "DUCK!" He yelled out. His purple eyes shed and themand of his words, driven by his Spellbinding gripped them all and forced them to obey just before fireballs struck the window, destroying it along with the walls around it. *BANG!* The entire room became clouded with dust and flickers of the fires from the fireballs smoldering curtains, wood panels, and even brick. Angus and Devon were the first to get out of rubble but Angus looked the most ''well'' of the two and he looked in the direction of the Vykers despite the dust clouding his sight. ''They knew where I was,'' he said to himself with certainty even if he didn''t understand how. The sniffing Vyker Captain smirked and raised his hand, "Ready!" He called and the me Vykers prepared their fireballs again and prepared tounch. The n was simple. If the enemy was not going toe out, they might as well bring the Mansion down on their heads and then pick through the rubble and rip their Master''s item off the thief''s cold, dead body. "Captain," A Vyker called out, "Someone''sing out." The me Vykers kept their fireballs above their palms ready tounch at a moment''s notice but they watched along with the others and their Captain as a beautifuldy stepped out of the Mansion with a hand over her shoulder as she winced with every step. The Captain frowned but he said nothing. Yelena was already on her way out when the fireballs hit the Mansion and blew away an entire section of the wall. The pain that struck her at the moment was like losing a body part and having the stump left behind constantly seared with mes. Even then, she had held in her pain and managed to walk forward and out of the Mansion only to wobble and almost fall to the ground but then, Henry was there. One arm securely around her waist to keep her upright. "Easy," he said in her ear gently. She looked to the side at him and managed a weak smile, "That''ll teach me not to drag my feet, right?" She said and let out a chuckle. With Henry as her support, she gained a better walking pace and they took four more steps together, facing the Vykers who were still on horseback. In the room whose wall had been crushed by the fireballs, the Gang rose from the rubble and joined Devon and Angus to look out of the gaping hole and down at the showdown about to begin. "Henry?" Angus mumbled in question, "Why is he there?" Everyone looked at Henry''s presence by Yelena''s side with surprise. Triss'' eyes were on his arm around her waist. "Better now?" Henry asked Yelena in a whisper. She nodded and stood on her feet far more stably so Henry could release her waist and take his hand to his gun belt. Before the arrival of the Vykers, Henry had reced the normal revolver that used to be in his second Holster with ''The Hydra''s Sting'' fully loaded with Hydra''s Tongue bullets so he pulled it out and cocked its hammer. Two things happened at the same time. One; The Vyker Captain, his eyes taking note of the magical green of ''The Hydra''s Sting'', called out for the me Vykers tounch their fireballs. Two; Dark tendrils crackled around Yelena''s body at a significantly lower setting of intensity than she had ever used and she went even further lowering its effect by neglecting to bring them together into a singr bolt. Rather she let the tendrils, multiple as they were, crackle individually andunched them all at the enemy. Yelena''s targets were the me Vykers grouped close together but with very little actual control of the tendrils after they left her, many others suffered it. "ARRGGHHHH!!!" *ANGUISHED NEIGHS!!!* Horses let out sounds of pain as they were not spared from the energy their riders suffered and the eyes of those riders bugged out as their mouths gaped open while the dark energy of the spell wracked through them. The fireballs exploded in midair when their caster''s mana ran rampant and the sound caused even more horses to let out angry whinnies and in all thatmotion, Henry took advantage. Chapter 69: The Witch And Her Partner (2) Henry raised ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and in a flow of shots, he shot three bullets into the skulls of three me Vykers while their eyes were bugged out in pain and right before the explosive force of their imploding fireballs knocked them too far back. [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Vyker-Killer Bonus: +1 Agility] [Agility: 15 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 16] [Vyker-Killer Bonus: +1 Stamina] [Stamina: 12 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 13] [Vyker-Killer Bonus: +1 Strength] [Strength: 22 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 23] [Kill Steal Count: 3] Every Kill was backed with the {Marksmanship} Skill and rewarded him with [Skill Exp] but those were the notifications that spammed Henry the most without actual concrete values so instinctively, he shut them out. He was going to be doing that for every kill he made from then on. As for the Notifications Henry did see, he still ignored them and just turned his eyes to other enemies. Themotion was perfect and there were at least five others who had been affected by Yelena''s tendrils. Speaking of which; Yelena had summoned more tendrils and readied herself to fire them when the Vyker Captain leaped off his troubled horse and called his fellows to arms. "Get a hold of yourselves!" He yelled at them when he noticed them twitching as they battled the tendrils in their bodies. Henry shot at him next and with a superhuman awareness, the Vyker Captain leaned away and then turned his eyes to Henry as he shed a wicked grin. His canines began to stretch until they looked more like Fangs. The tips of his ears grew longer and fur began to grow out of his body as his back became hunched. Despite the distance between them, Henry could feel an intense aura from the Vyker''s body. An aura that caused the hairs on his body to stand on end. A Feral Meister! Having used insight on thest Vyker he had seen who had disyed simr abilities, Henry knew what the Vyker Captain was and he could also tell the materials used in this mutation were not harvested from a Wyvern. The Vyker Captain, limbs looking ready to spring and pounce, let out a feral growl that sent the already distressed horses into a skitter but even as they tried to move, they found that they could not. A green gas had lifted from the bodies of the three me Vykers that had fallen to Henry''s shots and it had now permeated that entire region of the Hadron Mansionpound. Shaking off the fear the Vyker Captain''s growl had forced him to feel, Henry let a smile onto his face feeling quite proud of himself. The me Vykers had no defenses in ce. And thanks to Yelena, they could not erect any so a normal bullet shot from a normal gun would have worked just as well. But that would not have been smart. Secretly paralyzing them and taking away all chances of Yelena making an unintentional kill by stealing it all in one fell swoop was far better. But then, even as the gas saturated their surroundings, the Vykers moved. Their limbs twitched and they showed the slightest signs of struggle but they moved. "Pesky thing," the Vyker Captain said as he and the others stepped out of the cloud. "How?" Henry found himself asking. The Vyker''s captain''s long-tipped ears twitched as he caught Henry''s question and he regained his feral grin as he said, "Mana cirction, you moron!" They had all indeed breathed in the gas whether in small orrge quantities but there were ways to ovee something as pesky as paralysis. The stronger the Mana, the easier it was to get rid of the effects. "Don''t tell me those who came before fell to cheap tricks like this," The Captain said with a snigger. Henry''s mind worked fast. ''Actually,'' he thought, ''I''ve never used the on anyone who has Mana.'' The only person he had used it on was Urn the me Vyker and that had been a headshot so the bullet striking through his skull likely had more to do with his death than the paralysis of did. ''Okay then,'' Henry said with a nod to himself as he raised the gun again, ''New n!'' The Vykers moved then. Six of the twelve still alive charged. Of the six that stayed behind, Three showed themselves to be me Vykers who, like the three who had now lost their lives, charged up fireballs. Yelena shot out dark tendrils but scaled Vykers already charging leaped into the shots and took it instead. Allowing the me Vykers to sessfully charge their fireballs andunch them at the Mansion. *BOOM!!!* Yet another explosive impact and the destruction of another section of the Mansion. Within, Gang members standing too close to the destroyed wall wereunched away yelling and mming into structures. Yelena doubled over in pain and in that moment, a scaled Vyker approached her and hit her with a blow so powerful, that after-waves of the impactful sound could be heard. *BAM!!!* "No!" Henry yelled almost instinctively but a Vyker, scaled from head to toe, was already in front of him, and before he could even think to react, ws ripped through his skin drawing blood while striking him with enough force to m him away and into the wall. [You have lost 25 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 65/90] Before Henry hit the ground, the Vyker stretched out a leg and struck with a kick so powerful, that he heard his ribs crack and splinter into pieces. With an aggressive cough, he spat out blood. But the Vyker wasn''t done. He grabbed Henry''s head and mmed it against the wall a few times with *Bang* after *Bang* before letting him go so he could slide to the ground. His blood marked the wall in a gory trail as he did. Henry''s eyes stung. His head felt like it had been split open which was actually very likely indeed the case. His grip on ''The Hydra''s Sting'' loosened. Of course, thanks to the System, the intense pains of every strike he suffered, were temporary even if his eyesight still swam with lights and shapes that had no meaning. However, his ticking-down Hit Points were far more serious. [You have lost 20 Hit Points] [You have lost 10 Hit Points] [You have lost 10 Hit points] [You have lost 10 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 10/90] The scaled Vyker leaned closer to observe his handiwork and listen to Henry''s weak breathing. And then, Henry felt it. The wave of life-nourishing energy that eclipsed anything Elminster''s Healing Potions were capable of, flowed into him. Healing his wounds and recovering his Hit Points to their maximum in seconds. At that very moment, he tightened his grip on ''The Hydra''s Sting'', raised it, and fired an acidic shot into the Vyker''s chest. The bullet pierced the Vyker''s protective scales and cracks appeared and began to spread all over his chest before they exploded in a *Bang* thatunched the Vyker many feet away where, despite the pain wracking through him and his blood mixing with sizzling acidic horror, he remained on his feet. Henry knew from his experience with Rena the Scaled Vyker that a single shot was not enough to both break through the Vyker''s scales and kill him and with that information at the ready for his use, he was ready. With a quick draw, he pulled his bronze and Gold painted gun from his holster and fired a shot before the Vyker could recover and restore his damaged scales. "Ack!" The Vyker let out with wide eyes before he fell to his knees and keeled over, dead. [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Vyker-Killer Bonus: +1 Strength] [Strength: 23 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 24] [Kill Steal Count: 4] *KRAKA* *BANG!!!* The sound called Henry''s attention he saw Yelena on her knees with three bodies all charred and smokingid out in front of her. In a momentary outburst and retaliation from attacks she repeatedly suffered from Vykers, she had lost control of her tendrils and fired hard enough to kill three Vykers in a single move. Now she had her hands over her face, looking wide-eyed through the gaps in her syed fingers, in horror at her victims. Chapter 70: The Witch And Her Partner (3) "Yes!" "Woohoo!!!" "GET THEM!!!" The damage that had been done to the wall had opened the fight to the viewership of the newbies who had now risen from the rubble of bricks, grabbing hold of injured body parts while their lips were stretched into happy grins. Their attention was mostly on Yelena and watching her shrug off a powerful attack and retaliate with a killing strike that instantly killed three enemies who all could wield magic themselves was a sight to behold. To them all, this was a novelty. Magic was a luxury none of them had had the advantage of seeing up close or at all and to see it dished out over and over in an intense battle was definitely worth cheering for. Meanwhile, Dana, Devon, Triss, and Charles were looking down from the hole in their room wall and while they clenched their fists in excitement at the death of their enemies, they also wondered why Yelena was on her knees and looked so out of it. The Vyker Captain''s eyes were widened. It didn''t take a powerful analytical mind for him to see that against just two enemies, he had lost seven allies. "Change of ns!!!" He called out to the me Vykers charging more fireballs, "Kill them!" Henry hardly paid attention to what was behind said many meters away from him. He hurried over to Yelena and grabbed her shoulder, "Hey," he said. She looked up at him with her eyes still wide but when she spoke, her voice was quite mellow and its tone was normal. She sounded almost resigned, "I¡ª did it again," she said. Her wide eyes regained their normal sizes and she let out a sigh. Henry saw something die in those eyes and there was something about the way she was speaking now that caused his heart to ache more than screams ever could. ''Is this how it looks to resign yourself to killing?'' He wondered. Like he was being pulled through a pipeline of memories, Henry could soon see himself on the day of his first kill. A gory kill that had doused him with the blood of his victim. He could remember the warmth of the blood and how quickly he had pushed it aside and forged ahead. ''Was this how I looked that day?'' The rushing of mes toward him and Yelena pulled Henry out of his thoughts and he looked up to see the fire mere inches from his face. Traveling faster than he could react to. But then, Yelena was suddenly there. Her brown hair blocking his view as she stretched out her hand and in her fastest casting time yet, she charged dark tendrils and shot that at the fireball. *Kraka¡­!* *BOOOM!!!* Reacting violently against each other and trumped entirely by the sheer might Yelena put behind her magic, the fireball imploded just as it enveloped the Witch''s outstretched arm. When the smoke cleared, Yelena''s arm was shrunken. Like it had been dried of all fluids and the flesh had been so badly burned. If anyone cared to look hard enough, they would have seen her bones charred from the explosion and cracked by its force. But in that very second, the cracks mended. The flesh returned to its rightful fullness and there was no longer a sign of injury. With her hand still outstretched, Yelena called forth her tendrils and let them loose in the absolute might she was capable of, prepared to obliterate the enemies in an instant. And then, Henry''s hand returned to her shoulder. He said nothing. He had nothing to say. It was not his ce to tell Yelena whether or not she should let herself be seduced by the desire to kill. He was the worst person to tell her not to do it and he felt that if he did tell her not to do it, he would have been doing it selfishly. When he offered to help her and take the kills instead, he had meant to truly be helpful but the System presenting him with an Optional Quest with such wonderful incentives made him sure his decision to help was the right one. However, if Yelena no longer had any qualms about killing, what right did he have to change that? Yelena paused her focused attention on her spell and took a deep breath, "The me Bastards first," she said as the intensity of her tendrils began to lessen to a more manageable degree. Henry smiled, "The me Bastards first." He took his hand off her shoulder and took his guns out of their holsters. "Go," Yelena said and Henry left her side to charge forward. ''Allocate 6 Stat Points to Agility!'' [You now have 12 Stat Points left to allocate] [Agility: 16 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 22] Henry''s body felt lighter and his feet moved even quicker. As he ran, he shot two bullets from ''The Hydra''s Sting'' at the cost of 10 Mana points each to ''Test the waters''. Just as expected, having already seen what it could do, the Vykers didn''t rely on just the defense of their me magic to meet the bullets. And once the bullets sailed harmlessly past them, they retaliated with smaller fireballs. Their conjured fireballs were smaller now as they sacrificed spectacr explosive power for quicker casting times and easy dispensing of attacks. Henry was forced to dodge but as he did, he still charged forward and adopted a zig-zag running pattern that, added to his improved agility, allowed him to avoid most of their attacks. Most. "Ngh!" He groaned as two fireballs hit him in quick session and almost disrupted his running pace. Almost. [You have lost 10 Hit Points] ''That much?!'' He asked only to be bathed with a green nourishing light the very next second. [You have recovered 10 Hit Points] ''From that far away?'' He thought while allowing himself a nce at Yelena from out of the corner of his eyes, ''Incredible!'' He was almost at the me Vykers when three Feral Meister Vykers blocked his path charging at him with their speed boasted by their no doubt impressive strength stats. Henry knew he was not going to win a contest of strength against them and if he did manage to shoot one, the others would just clobber him before he could finish the job. But he also knew he didn''t have to do anything except dodge. He heard the crackle of Yelena''s tendrils right before he ducked and was not graced with the sight of the tendrils striking the Feral Meisters. "ARGH!" They yelled in unison and the various defenses they were afforded thanks to their mutations began to show signs of breaking apart even as they hurried to circte their mana to reduce the way the energy of the tendrils wracked through them. They were still quite alert and Henry was almost sure he would manage to shoot one of them down but that was not the n The me Bastards were first. Leaping to the side gracefully, Henry went into a slide and shot a bullet so close to his target, that there was no way it could possibly miss. Not with him at least. The Feral Meisters might have protected the me Vykers with their bodies but they had blocked their views as well and with everything happening in so quick session, they hardly had the time to react. This was especially the case for the unlucky one Henry shot. Costing thest 20 Mana Points Henry still had, the shot tore through the Vyker''s me field of protection and struck him with an impact that caused him to jerk back a step or two. The mes burned out some of the bullet''s effect, but it was still enough to cause rapid poisoning as the Vyker grabbed his heart with his mouth open as all life left him. Henry was still sliding and jammed his bronze and gold gun into his holster before pulling two Mana Potions from his Inventory and downing them in two gulps. [You have recovered 20 Mana Points] [You have recovered 20 Mana Points] [Mana Points: 40/100] [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Vyker-Killer Bonus: +1 Agility] [Agility: 22 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 23] [Kill Steal Count: 5] The moment Henry''s slide stopped, he pointed his gun to shoot thest bullet still in ''The Hydra''s Sting''s'' Cylinder and his eyes widened when he saw two columns of fire roaring over at him, unleashed by the two me Vykers who just watched theirrade get poisoned to death. Henry leaped to safety but a fist struck his head the very next second, causing his head to ring not just with the impact of the blow but the notification from the System. [You have lost 20 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 70/90] *Bam!* *Bam!* *Wham!* *Crack!* The one who was hitting Henry was one of the three Feral Meisters Yelena had struck with her tendrils and his two other fellows were charging over at the Witch, managing to dodge her tendril shots with their eyes glowering with rage. Yelena was not physically capable of avoiding their approach or the punches they came with and not once did she consider trying. Chapter 71: I’ll Take It From Here *Bam!* With a hit whose impact was reminiscent of one she had suffered once already, Yelena was again mmed into the Mansion wall and the two Vykers wasted no time following up with hit after hit. w strikes after w strikes and it didn''t take long for them to notice that whatever injury they inflicted healed almost instantly. The hits she suffered definitely hurt, butpared to what she suffered when the mansion was targeted and portions of it were destroyed, Yelena found the pain manageable. That said, she wasn''t delighting from getting struck over and over again but was unfortunately forced to endure because she was physically weaker and slower than her attackers and needed time to re-conjure her tendrils. Time she managed to get amidst all the blows. *Kraka!* The tendrils crackled into appearance and appeared like a curtain in front of Yelena. She was about to send them off as strikes against her enemy when the fists of said enemies struck the curtain and they froze in ce as the chaotic energy tore through them. "Arrghh!!!" They yelled and hurried to inste their insides somewhat from the aggressive energy tearing through them and taking advantage of their preupation, Yelena unleashed the tendrils in strikes powerful enough to send them toppling away, stunned, but manageable enough not to kill them. She looked at her tattered gown and then looked over at Henry where he was getting battered. She kept her eyes on him and with a look of the slightest bit of steeled focus, a green trail only visible to her, moved from her body and connected her to Henry, nourishing him with her immortality and healing all his sustained wounds in an instant. The Vyker pommeling Henry paused his repeated strikes when he saw Henry begin to heal. He hit the side of his face with a blow that cut the skin so deep, the underlying bone was almost visible but that sealed up at once without leaving a mark behind. "What is this?" He asked. Henry simply smiled, raised ''The Hydra''s Sting'', pressed its muzzle against the Vyker''s jaw, and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit hard and knocked the Vyker away. It broke apart the scales protecting the Vyker''s body but went enough further by forcing the cracked and shattered scales tocerate the susceptible skin of the Vyker''s throat. The resulting gash was quite wide and as it was quickly tinged with the acid of , the wound became infected and, in seconds, the Vyker was clutching at it as blood filled his mouth and dripped out tinged with acidic green before he eventually lost his life. [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Vyker-Killer Bonus: +1 Strength] [Strength: 24 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 25] [Kill Steal Count: 6] Feeling bolstered by the digit addition to his Strength andpounding his considerable Strength to his equally capable Agility, Henry left the body of the Scaled Vyker behind and went after the two me Vykers still living. They were still his targets. The Vyker Captain standing beside one Feral Meister with both of them puffing air out of their nostrils at the absolute disaster that had descended upon their force, was not his concern. Not yet at least. A blue light glowed across ''The Hydra''s Sting'' filling it with thest three ''Hydra''s Tongue'' bullets he still had in his Inventory. A me Column came charging at Henry and his danger instincts warned him to leap to the side and avoid it but then, he smiled. ''Why bother?'' He stopped running, put his guns in his Inventory, and crossed his arms in front of his face as he braced himself for the mes. They burned hot. His shirt was turned to ashes. His pants and gun belts would have suffered the same fate had it not been for the angle he had been in when the column hit as well as the fact that the attack targeted his upper-body area most of all. Henry''s skin was dried of all its fluid and his skin was charred in seconds, looking sunken and horrible. [You have lost ?? Hit Points] The System was unable to urately calcte just how many Hit Points Henry lost because it was far beyond what he had to spare. Plus, his connection to Yelena recovered all his lost Hit Points almost as soon as he was losing them, hence, the next notification; [You have Recovered all Lost Hit Points] His connection with Yelena and her bestowing her conditional immortality on him was why Henry even dared face the brunt of the attack and as everyone paying attention watched, his dried-up skin regained its normal hue. All damaged veins and muscles were mended and returned to being just as good as they were before the burn. He just no longer had a shirt. "What in all hell?" One of the me Vykers let out as he and his fellow stared wide-eyed at Henry. Completely thrown off by what they just witnessed. And then, it dawned on them. They had seen something simr just today when the implosion of their fireball destroyed the Witch''s arm. "The Witch¡ª!" They turned to Yelena but their moment of distraction had allowed Yelena''s tendril attack to arrive without them having the opportunity to avoid it. The tendrils hit the protective me Fields and the violent reaction that ensued destroyed the fields before the aftereffects of the tendrils hit the two me Vykers and froze them in ce for about two seconds as they fought hard to ensure the duration was not longer than that. Henry did not give them the chance toplete that battle. His bronze and gold painted Revolver appeared in his hand out of his Inventory and he fired two shots into their heads each. With no me Fields to protect them, there was no need for ''The Hydra''s Sting''. [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Vyker-Killer Bonus: +1 Stamina] [Stamina: 13 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 14] [Vyker-Killer Bonus: +1 Agility] [Agility: 23 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 24] [Kill-Steal Count: 8] Sticking his bronze and gold gun into one of his Holsters, Henry pulled a Mana Potion from his Inventory and drank it while retrieving and holding ''The Hydra''s Sting'' in his other hand. [You have recovered 20 Mana Points] [Mana Points: 60/90] Without thinking about the Vyker Captain and the Feral Meister by his side, Henry turned the barrel of ''The Hydra''s Sting'' toward the two Feral Meisters Yelena had stunned. The two were lying on the ground some feet away from her. The two were recovering from their stuns when shots of hit them and they were both sted away by the impact of their exploding scale cracks. Henry pulled out his bronze and gold painted gun and ended them with well-ced shots from that far away, looking away from their copsing bodies to finally pay attention to the Captain. [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Vyker-Killer Bonus: +1 Stamina] [Stamina: 14 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 15] [Vyker-Killer Bonus: +1 Stamina] [Stamina: 15 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 16] [Kill-Steal Count: 10] The Vyker Captain stared right back at Henry but despite the pose of bravado he adopted, it had sunk in just how screwed he was. He hade with 14 to make up a force of 15 (including him) and was left with only one to obey hismand¡ª Facing two enemies who apparently could not stay injured and hence did not look capable of dying. ''Blows. Kicks. w strikes. Horrific burns¡­ They''ve had it all tossed at them and they still stand! I have to consider Retreat¡­ Really? I''m about to fail as others before me have? Fuck!!'' Henry raised both his guns and pointed them at the Vyker Captain and the Vyker by his side. The looks in the eyes of the two became those of resignation and they coiled to spring in attack. Although Feral Meister by the Captain''s side was scaled just like the others that Henry had killed so far, the Captain''s mutation was of fur instead. Henry doubted the protection of the Captain''s fur would require more than one bullet, magical or not, to break through, and yet, he could not shake the feeling of fear he got. The Captain was stronger than him. That was clear enough just from aura. The way he was coiled also had Henry guessing he was faster as well but Henry wasn''t worried. His finger twitched on the trigger of ''The Hydra''s Sting'' with just enough Mana Points and just enough ''Hydra''s Tongue bullets (one) to facilitate onest shot. Plus, Yelena had his back. In a battle where he could not be killed, Stat differences were unimportant and the moment he could get in a shot, it would all be over. He had all the power here and was more than ready to exercise it to the limit. But just then, as Yelena conjured more of her tendrils ready to offer her assistance ¡ªThis was all something she was ''supposed'' to have done on her own anyway¡ª, Angus stepped out of the Hadron Mansion with a delighted grin on his face. "Alright, I think we can stop here," he said and themand of his words seized Henry and the Vykers, forcing them to stop all attacks. "Yes, Yes. This is quite far enough. Well done Yelena¡ª and Henry. But, I''ll take it from here." Chapter 72: Why Would I? The Vyker Captain looked over in the direction of the speaker of the words that had managed to stop him in ce and his eyes went wide when they fell on the purple pulsing gem on Angus'' chest. Almost like he wanted to taunt the Vykers still alive, Angus didn''t have his shirt as buttoned up as it had when he arrived to deliver the news of theing attack. He also pushed his chest out with his hands jammed in his pockets and a confident grin on his face as he walked closer. "You¡ª" The Vyker Captain said. "Yes," Angus said calmly, "Me." "Angus Dionisio," the Vyker Captain said. "The one and only," Angus said and he watched as the Vyker Captain took note of the fact that he had regained control of his body and coiled to spring. Angus was unbothered. Facing Fifteen Vykers with no one else but Gang members who generallycked any magic would have led to deaths and certain defeat. Having Yelena do it instead, was all gains and no losses. That said, against one Vyker¡ª okay, maybe two¡ª, Angus was confident of victory. Especially since the two hadn''t yet thought to seal themselves from the power of his Spellbinding. "Get rid of those garish mutations," he said. Themand gripped the two Vykers and their scales and fur sunk back into their bodies. Immediately the Vyker by the Captain''s side was no longer protected by scales, Angus raised his gun, took quick aim, and fired. The Vyker watched with wide eyes as the head of thest person he had tomand and possibly watch his back, jerked aggressively atop his neck before he fell and hit the ground with a *thud*. With blood and brain matter leaking out of bullet holes. "You¡ª!" The Captain started and ws began to extend from his fingertips. "Pipe down," Angus said, and whatever rant the Vyker was about to get into got stuck in the back of his throat. Angus'' eyes went to the ws and he frowned, "I don''t remember telling you it''s okay to bring them back¡ª" Angus was stopped mid-sentence as the Vyker was suddenly in front of him. The Vyker Captain stretched out a wed hand and grabbed hold of Angus'' mouth before pushing back by driving every bit of strength he had in his body into his arm. The Captain had an ted grin on his face. He was thest but he just might survive. He had acted quickly. All he had to do was rip the item off the thief''s chest and get the hell away before either the one wielding the Magic gun or the Witch could react. Even as he thought of it, he could just tell how unrealistic the idea was, and yet, tion at shutting Angus up had spiked his adrenaline and he shut off all ''reasonable'' thought to put his unwise n into effect. Henry made to shoot but Angus stretched out a hand to signal him to stop. The force of the Vyker Captain''s push caused Angus to go back a few steps but he locked in his knees soon enough and refused to let himself get pushed back further. The Captain drew back his arm and struck his wed fingertips toward Angus'' chest but the Gang leader grabbed the enemy''s wrist before the ws could make contact and spun the arm away. Angus pointed his gun at the Captain''s chest and fired two shots only for both bullets to tten against the furred chest. ''Of course,'' Angus thought with hardly any surprise. It might have looked like ''simple'' fur, but non-magical metal will always fail against magically-protected surfaces. "Give it to me!" The Captain yelled and punctuated his words with a growl rumbling in his chest as he tightened his grip around Angus'' mouth. Intent on cracking the thief''s skull with what he assumed was his superior strength. Angus chuckled. He still couldn''t talk but the way he angled his head passed his message across quite well; ''Why would I?'' Again, the Captain stretched a wed hand at the item on Angus'' chest and again Angus smacked it aside. However, unlike before, the Captain recovered quicker and returned to try again which sparked abat of hands as they both employed maneuvers to gain the upper hand. The exchange ended with Angus grabbing the Captain''s wrist and squeezing so hard he forced him to groan out in pain. "Nghh¡ª You bastard!" The Captain let out as he tried to pull his wrist out of Angus'' grip and found that he could not. Next, Angus jammed his gun back into his holster and struck a blow into the joint where the Vyker captain''s arm met his shoulder. "Argh¡ª" The Vyker yelled and released Angus'' mouth but Angus didn''t let him stagger back. Instead, he used the grip on the wrist he was already holding to pull the Vyker closer before leaping and sinking a knee into his jaw. The impact of the knee-strike knocked the Captain''s head back but again, Angus didn''t let him fall backward and with a hard jerk of the wrist he was holding, he pulled him closer, sidestepped, grabbed the back of his head and mmed his face into the ground so hard, the *Crack* of a broken nose could be heard by Gang members still inside the Hadron Mansion. Angus twisted the Vyker''s arm, cracking it and as his victim''s pained groans were muffled against the ground, Angus stomped hard on his head three times. *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* With each stomp, the already badly damaged face only got more damaged to the point where every act of rebellion the Vyker Captain was still nursing seemed to melt away. "Stay there," Angus said slowly as he turned the Captain over and looked down at his shattered, and blood-sttered furry face. The Vyker Captain''s eyes were rolled into the back of his head and his fingers twitched like he was nursing the idea of rising from the ground. Angus grabbed the other arm and put an end to such thoughts with a hard twist that broke it. The Vyker tried to yell but the sounds were muffled by Angus bringing down his foot on his face with such force, that it broke his teeth. Fangs and all. Through gritted teeth and his purple eyes shing with malice, Angus said, "Turn. Off. That. Dammed. Mutation!" Forced to obey themand of Angus'' Spellbinding, the Vyker Captain pulled his fur back into his body and with the protection against bullets that it had granted him now gone, he was at the mercy of Angus who drew his gun from his Holster and shot both his knees. Angus didn''t fire just once. He emptied the rest of his cylinder to the point where the enemy''s kneecaps werepletely decimated and looked like they could never again hold up his weight. "AH¡ª" the Captain began to yell. "Shut It!" Angus ordered and the Captain''s mouth sealed shut with his eyes bugged as he yelled out his pain in his head. It seemed Angus was still not satisfied because he stomped the Vyker''s head into the ground again and watched with an almost sadistic grin when his victim''s eyes were still bugged and he struggled against themand still forcing him to keep his mouth shut. Henry watched it all curiously. Brutality to an enemy was not new to him. In fact, on a normal day, he would have respected Angus for not pulling his punches just because the enemy was already down. It was just, for some reason, Henry could not bring himself to think favorably of Angus at the moment. Devon, Charles, Dana, Stefan, and Triss were at the entrance of the Hadron Mansion now. The others stayed there and watched but Devon continued walking like he had been summoned. He nced at Henry as he got closer. The look in his eyes was both admiration, as well as a challenge at what he supposed, was Henry''s stupidity, "Why were you even out here?" He asked, "She didn''t need you." Henry said nothing. Indeed, to everyone who had watched, he wasn''t needed. How Yelena had killed three Vykers showed she was more than enough on her own but a more keen-eyed individual would also have noticed how she had looked after she killed. They would have noticed that henceforth, she avoided making any more kills. Henry nced over at where Yelena had been standing and saw she was no longer there. He saw her edge past Triss and Dana and head into the Mansion. "Devon," Angus called with an impassive wave of his hand at the prone and very injured Vyker on the ground, "Get him inside." "You''re not going to kill him?" Devon asked. Henry seconded that question. "Why would I do that?" Angus asked with a small smile as he ced a hand on the Vyker Captain''s chest and passed a strange purple energy into his body, "Killing him would be a waste. We have quite a bit to ask him." Chapter 73: I Don’t Know How… But I Will Whatever the purple energy Angus had used on the Vyker Captain was, it made him docile and just left him staring off into space as Devon gathered him off the ground and carried him ahead into the Mansion. "So Henry," Angus said as he turned his purple eyes on Henry''s face, "How long have you known?" "How long have I known what?" Henry asked. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Dana and Charles walking up the bodies of the dead Vykers all over the courtyard, searching them for gold just as they had found thest time. Of course, with a simple click of a button on a screen that only he could see, Henry had taken it all for himself. 1,350 Gold from 14 dead Vykers. Not a bad haul. "How long have you known of our resident Witch''s secret?" Angus asked. He might not have deemed it necessary enough to mention before now but Angus had noticed Henry was the only one not surprised by his reveal of Yelena''s supposed immortality. In fact, he readily offered insights. Angus'' purple eyes bore into Henry''s ck ones but Henry met the stare without a change in his expression as he answered truthfully, "A while." "And you didn''t think to share this piece of information?" Angus asked. "I didn''t think it was important," Henry said with a shrug, and on an impulse, he added, "Besides, I had no idea you''d consider using her as a guard dog." Angus frowned and his eyes shed but then he let out a sigh, "Fair enough. But what would you have preferred? That she did nothing and let more of us die?" Henry said nothing. He wasn''t sure what he would have preferred. He was very much aware that he was simply going through the motions with hardly any actual motivations to be part of the Dionisio Gang besides the memories he had inherited. Memories he had no real attachments to. He stayed with the Gang because when he first arrived in this world, it made sense to stay. Plus, he could not deny that he liked not having to make ns. Not having toe up with heists and money-making schemes. Angus took care of that just as he always did before ''Henry Morgan'' came into this world and Henry was okay going with the flow. But, now he was starting to think it would be best if he took more agency. It was time he took a more active part in the way things were going in his life. ''I could get on Nyx and ride away right now,'' Henry thought and then he looked over at the members of the Gang, he looked at the Mansion and thought of Yelena who still wished for freedom and was reminded he had a standing quest to kill her and let out a sigh, ''Who am I kidding? I can''t leave. I''m in too deep. I have to see this through.'' Angus took Henry''s moment of silence as his answer and grabbed his shoulder, "Decisions had to be made. Besides, you saw what the Vykers did to the Mansion. She would have had to step in any way." Henry''s brows furrowed at that. ''Would she?'' He wondered. Yelena had lived for over three centuries and had stated herself that she wanted to be free of the Mansion and yet, she had stepped out to defend the Mansion from getting torn down even though that would have given her the freedom she wanted. A morbid freedom but freedom nheless. ''She doesn''t want to die,'' Henry thought with certainty, ''She wants to be Free!'' Henry looked at the Mansion, at the walls that had been destroyed by the Vykers and his grip on his gun tightened as his lips pressed hard together, ''I will free you,'' he decided, ''Screw the System''s non-optional Quest to kill you. I will Free you. I don''t know how just yet, but I will.'' "Come on," Angus said. He looked like he hadn''t noticed Henry''s gun clench or tightened lips and just led the way into the Hadron Mansion. Henry followed him after putting his guns into his holsters. The moment he stepped into the Mansion, he received an alert from the System; [''Optional Quest: Infernal Partner'' Completed] [Number of Kill-Steals: 10] [You have received a total bonus of 1500 Exp] [You have leveled Up] [You are now Level 10] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 100] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 110] [You have received 6 Stat Points to Allocate] [You now have 18 Unallocated Stat Points] [Now that you are at Level 10 and are properly attuned to your *New* body, you will no longer receive or be required toplete Daily Quests. Note: This is subject to change should your body undergo a drastic change that requires you to re-familiarize yourself with it. Good luck!] Henry focused his attention the most on thest notification but he found he was not all that bothered. His Exp requirements were so high now that he doubted the 10 Exp the Daily Quests gave him uponpletion mattered all that much. Of course, he had adopted some routine practices ¡ªnamely Meditation¡ª, that he was going to continue on his own even with no incentive but all in all; ''I don''t think I''ll miss it.'' ??? ¡ªMinutes Later¡ª The core members of the Dionisio Gang were in the meeting hall while the entire Mansionpound behind their closed door was loud with cheers and conversations as the newbies discussed what they had just witnessed. The ones who had been injured by the crumbling bricks didn''t even bother tending to their wounds. They brought out Alcohol and drank while creating legends to better make sense of all the magic they had seen today. Henry heard his name pop up more than a few times. "So loud," Dana said with a frown. "You don''t like cheers?" Stefan asked with a small smile. Dana clicked her tongue, "Who gives a fuck about cheers? There was no Gold! Not one gold on any of them!" She said as she revealed what actually had her feeling annoyed. Her short hair bobbed with every movement she made. Devon secured the Vyker Captain into a chair with thick ropes and then searched the insides of his clothes, eventually pulling out two handfuls of gold that he poured onto the table, "This guy had some," He said. Dana scoffed. She was still disappointed and for some reason, her eyes went over to Henry. "What?" Henry asked with his brows raised, "You can''t possibly suspect me again." Dana did suspect him. She just couldn''t bring herself to say it especially since her suspicion made no sense so instead, she let her eyes roam from his face to his chest still bare, and then her eyes went lower as her stare grew long. Henry cocked his head to the side, "Find something you like?" He asked. Dana''s eyes slowly moved up until they were back on his face, "Put on a shirt," she said. "No," Henry answered simply and definitively. Triss smiled at his response and allowed herself a look at his bare torso before following the rest of the Gang to look at Angus who approached the slumped and tied-up body of the Vyker Captain. "What did you do to him, anyway?" Devon asked referring to the purple energy Angus had injected into the Vyker earlier. "I bonded him to me. Subjugating his mind to my will," Angus said. "You can do that?" Devon asked with his brow raised. "Apparently," Angus said. It was one of the things he was learning were possible with the Vinculum. He had a feeling it had something to do with why Maude Aleric, Lord of the ck Manor, even wanted it at all. Angus snapped his fingers and the slumping body of the Vyker Captain snapped up and he straightened up in the chair without attempting to free himself. His eyes were lifeless with a dull purple hue. "How determined is your Lord to get his item back?" Angus asked as he began his interrogation. "Very," the Vyker answered in a dull tone. "How many Vykers is he prepared to send after it?" Angus asked. "As many as is required." "I need a number," Angus pressed. "Five." "That little?" Angus asked. The Vyker took a second to answer and then said, "The others are not avable. Last I heard, They were all still battling away inside the Dungeons." Chapter 74: Talks Of The Manor Job "Dungeons?" Devon asked and he and the others shared looks of confusion, "What''s that?" "Are those like jails found in the basements ofrge castles?" Triss asked. "I think those are brigs," Stefan said. "Brigs are on ships not under Castles," Dana said, "Dungeons ARE jails." "So what? The Vykers that should be serving Maude Aleric are fighting each other in basement prisons?" Henry asked and cracked a smile at how ludicrous that sounded. No one had actual answers so all eyes went to Angus. The only one who didn''t look confused. He felt the eyes on him and exined, "Dungeons are many things. Battlegrounds, Hunting grounds, treasure troves, fields of explorations¡ª But they are almost always teeming with all sorts of danger. The atmosphere within Dungeons is different from our own. It''s aggressive and embracing all at once and it is believed and long-tested that surviving the ordeals within Dungeons makes special people ¡ªBorn or made¡ª stronger." "Ah," Devon said with a hand on his jaw. It was the first he had ever heard of this and the same was the case for the others. "You''ve been inside one before?" Charles asked with a pointed stare at Angus who nodded, "Once or twice." With that matter settled, all scrutinizing attention returned to the Vyker Captain who still had the lifeless look in his dull purple eyes. "Just how many are battling away in Dungeons?" "Thirty¡­ Maybe Forty." "But not a hundred?" Angus asked pointedly. "No," the Vyker Captain said, "Not a hundred." "See?" Angus said as he nced at the others, "I told you." Charles frowned at that but said nothing. Angus straightened with a hand stroking his jaw, "With a week to prepare and having heard my name, as well as the name of the Gang, spread in notoriety, Maude Aleric sent as many Vykers as he could afford to send while still keeping a small number with himself. The terrain within Dungeons can be very mysterious so he probably has no idea when his Vykers would be back. The question now is should we wait and let my ¡ªour¡ª good name continue to do its work and call more enemies here for Yelena to take care of for us or should we take the chance to strike?" Henry raised his head to look at Angus at the mention of Yelena but he said nothing and let the Gang leader''s mental gears continue to grind. "We should wait," Devon said and when eyes went to him, he cleared his throat and continued, "Forty¡ª Fifty¡ª Seventy¡­ It doesn''t matter how many Maude Aleric sends. We''ve all seen what Yelena is capable of. She can end them all." "Agreed," Dana said, "We continue what we''re doing and let the enemye to us." ''Of course, you''d want to take the easy way,'' Henry thought with a mental scoff. In all honesty, he didn''t me Devon or Dana. If he didn''t know what he knew about Yelena, he might have suggested the same but today was an example of what could happen when arge group of enemies arrive and strike the Mansion from a distance. The Gang might survive the wrecking of the Mansion, but Yelena won''t. He looked at Angus and saw Angus was looking at him too. He could tell by the look in the Gang Leader''s purple eyes that Angus was having a simr thought. Angus knew of Yelena''s bond to the Mansion and he knew what would happen if twenty or thirty Vykers were intent on seeing it destroyed. She might not even get the chance to fight back against all of them before it all came crashing down. Without Yelena, Angus knew he''d have to face that horde, and the thought didn''t give him warm and fuzzy thoughts. "I don''t think we should wait," Henry said suddenly and pulled attention to himself. "Why not?" Triss asked. She had not given an input but she was in silent agreement with Devon and Dana. "Because we have no idea if any more will be sent after us," Henry said with a shrug, "We''ve killed more than twenty Vykers already. We no longer have the element of surprise. I don''t think Maude Aleric underestimates us anymore. How long do you think it''d take before he realizes it would be best to keep his men closer rather than spread them far and wide?" Henry looked at Angus as he said it and he saw the Gang Leader tilt his head toward him in agreement. It was what he would have said to turn the minds of the others away from the idea of staying. "I agree with Henry," Stefan said with a nod, "If a Lord like Maude were at all smart, he''d already have taken notes." "He lost more than twenty Vykers!" Triss pointed out, "I think he''d at least want revenge and keep sending until he gets it." Angus let out augh and despite the smile on his face, the look in his eyes was sad, "Triss, you assume Vykers are anything more than tools for their creators. They''re not. They''re ves only existing to do their Master''s bidding with hardly any thought of personal self-preservation. No. If Maude sends any more Vykers, it won''t be because of a bunch of ''wastes'' that couldn''t do what he asked for. They were lost to him the moment they lost their lives and failed their tasks." "You talk like you know him," Dana said. "I know his type," Angus said with a sigh, "If Maude will send more Vykers, it will be for the same reason he has sent others; It will be for the Vinculum on my chest. However, I fear Henry might be right and he''s bound to be more cautious now. If his full force of Vykers returns from the Dungeons and he decides to keep them close, our crucial advantage will be gone. Any element of surprise will be lost or useless. I promised you wealth and only from that Manor can we get it." "So you suggest we attack?" Charles said and his tone made it clear he thought the idea was suicide. Angus nodded and gestured at the Vyker Captain still tied up in the chair, "ording to him, we only have five Vykers to worry about. If we are smart and avoid crossing paths with Maude Aleric himself, I think we can pull it off." A moment of silence passed only to be eventually broken by Charles who had his hands pressed against the tabletop with his lips pressed together in distress as he asked, "When will we be doing this?" Angus stroked his bearded jaw again before he said, "In two¡ª Maybe three days." The Gang let out sounds of protest. "That soon?" Triss asked. Angus nodded, "That soon," he said, "The longer we wait the more likely the Vykers in the Dungeons will return. We need to rob the Manor when they still only have Five to defend it. We also have to factor in the journey to the ck Manor itself. We need to get going soon if we want to stand any chances of sess." The Gang looked unsure but slowly, they nodded in agreement. "Henry?" Angus called out when he noticed Henry hadn''t nodded or said a word in agreement. "What?" Henry asked, confused to be called out. "Are you with us?" Angus asked. The eyes of the Gang went to him and they bore through him. Henry looked into those eyes and he saw questions. Questions like; Of course, Henry was with them. Why wouldn''t he be? Henry cleared his throat and nodded, "Sure," he said, "Of course, I am." Angus grinned, "Excellent," he said, his voice jubnt before he added, "We''ll need a lot of supplies." "We''ll get them," Charles said, "Tony¡ª" All eyes clouded over as the Gang watched Charles pause after he said the name of his dead friend. Gathering supplies was the kind of job they would have gone for together. "I''lle with you," Triss said and after Charles looked at her with gratitude, she nced at Henry, "You''lle too." It wasn''t a question and Henry didn''t think to object. "Of course," he said. "Good," Angus said, acting like he hadn''t heard the name drop. He turned his attention back to the Vyker Captain and eyed him curiously as he mumbled, "Hmm, you don''t have long. Fortunately, ten minutes is all you need to tell us all you know about the ck Manor. So start talking." Chapter 75: Inebriated Conversations Angus asked a peel of questions after that and they were all about the ck Manor. Its size, the entrances, the areas where security could be expected to be most dense¡­ Every question Angus asked, the Vyker Captain answered with the same lifeless tone and offered as much detail as he was privy to. He also mentioned that, although Vykers were certainly the most capable security at the ck Manor, they were not the only ones. All in all, by the time the Vyker Captain''s voice started to be droll as his life began to drain, Angus was nodding with a satisfied smile. He felt like he had learned quite as much as he needed to know. Once the Vyker Captain was useless to him but was still holding on to life as best he could, Angus grabbed his head and with a twist, he broke his neck and let the Vyker''s head hang off the back of the chair. His breathing finally ended. "We''ll be very busy," Angus said in an urgent tone of voice. He spread a nk roll of paper onto the table and pulled out writing utensils to begin drawing out a floor n based on what he now knew. After tossing out the Vyker''s body, the rest of the day was spent with the Gang all inside that room, discussing ns to rob the ck Manor, and only when the moon was high in the sky outside, did Angus enthusiastically say, "Yes. This can work. I think we''ve got it." "Finally!" Stefan let out with a tired sigh. "Charles, Triss, and Henry will get us the supplies we need tomorrow and then we''ll set off for Saint ret." Saint ret was a City considerably far away from the town of New Freudein and also the closest the locals here could ever hope to get to the more developed part of the country. It was also where the ck Manor was located. The Henry of this world had never been there and neither had the others in the Gang but Angus spoke of it with a knowledgeable authority that put them all at ease even if they were still nursing thoughts about hating his guts. As for the supplies, Henry had caught on the word ''explosives'' most of all. The gist of the n for the Manor Job was speed and distraction and for thetter, they decided a loud bang was required. Hopefully destroying parts of the Manor if they could. The Manor security might be scanty but only a few in the Gang could actually handle Vykers in a fight so those few would have to buy time and space for the weaker ones to enter and explore the Mansion. ording to the now-dead Vyker Captain, once they were able to get into the innermost parts of the Manor, they would very easily find valuables worth a good bit of gold and if they could make their way even deeper, they could find the Vault where even more of the Manor''s precious goods were kept. Since he was more of a member of the Manor''s Militant and hardly a housekeeper, what the Vyker Captain knew about the Vault was limited but he spoke more certainly about little caches all over the Mansion where the Manor Lord kept his more dispensable wealth. The gold in these caches was negligible for Maude Alericpared to the Vast wealth his family had always been privy to but was more than substantial for the dreams Angus had promised the Gang. Henry paid as much attention as he could but he had his own matters to think about. His mind worked toe up with some way to break Yelena''s bond with the Mansion. The thing was, he already had a way; The Vinculum on Angus'' Chest. On Angus'' Stat screen, besides his Job as Gang Leader was a Job as a Bond Breaker/Maker. If Henry was to take that at face value, then Angus could free Yelena from the Mansion but what happens then? She was cursed to die and had cheated that fate for over three centuries. Who knew if she could survive the Bond break? If Angus did break her bond with the Mansion, they''d very likely have to bond her with something else and without any understanding of the ritual that had been used to tie her to the Mansion, how sure was he that a recement could work? When the meeting came to an end, Angus ordered them all to get some sleep before waving them all out of the room. Henry hung back for a few minutes and considered going to Angus about Yelena but eventually decided not to. He didn''t trust Angus. Even less now than he ever did if he ever did trust him at all. He doubted the person who used Yelena to guard the Mansion from attackers would have her best interest at heart. Besides, Henry guessed that, should he seed at separating Yelena from the Mansion, she''d lose her conditional immortality which was why Angus thought of her as useful at all. No, it was best he kept his ns to himself. If only for now. Henry walked down the stairs and the lower he got, the better he could hear the newbies still celebrating. Soon he could see them chugging alcohol and cackling, "To the Dionisio Gang! With them, we''re set!" One said with a drunken slur and a sway as he struggled to stay on his feet. "Hear hear!" Many cheered with him. "Do you *hic* Do you think I can learn how to do what that boy did?" Another asked someone Henry couldn''t see clearly. Henry knew the ''boy'' being talked about was him. From the voice, he could tell the person who spoke was likely in their early twenties. He found it funny that someone that young would call him ''boy''. ''It should be the other way around,'' Henry thought with a chuckling reminiscence at the fact that he had actually lived for four decades and if you add in the memories of his life in this world that he had inherited, then it would rightly be bumped up to five¡ª even six decades! ''Kids. the whole lot of them,'' he thought to himself and shook his head but as he started to walk away he heard a voice that caused him to pause, "Ah, who knows?" Good ol'' Joe said in a slurred voice. Henry looked around a corner and saw the Gang''s Taskmaster lying back in a chair with a bottle in hand and many empty ones littered around him. ''To think he was here while the rest of us were getting our ass bored out from under us upstairs,'' Henry thought with a smile and then shook his head, ''To be fair, what good would he have been anyway?'' Meanwhile, Good ol'' Joe patted his stomach and belched before he said, "I''ll say this though if anyone can teach you, it''s¡ª It''s *Hic!* It''s probably him." "Why?" A newbie asked as he chugged thest drops in his bottle, put it aside, and picked up another with his eyelids drooping. "Well, it was just¡ª what? Two weeks?¡ª Three weeks?¡ª He was nothing! Nothing, I tell ya!" Joe said. "What I saw today wasn''t nothing though," a newbie said. His attention was piqued. "That''s- That''s what I''m saying! I don''t know how he did it. He went from *hic* He went from being nothing to something¡ª *Burp* Overnight!" "No way!" The newbie said in a tone of disbelief that seemed heightened by his inebriated state. "Way!" Joe said and looked like he gained a brief moment of rity but then his eyes clouded over and his words slurred again, "But you know, everyone in the Dionisio Gang is¡ª *hic* is great. Why, when I was Henry''s age, I was just as great!" Henry couldn''t helpughing at that. No one noticed though. "Really? Then¡ª Then, can you teach us maybe?" A newbie asked. "Bah, those days are behind me. Go find Henry (gulps down the rest of the alcohol in his bottle). He''ll teach ya. Just tell him¡ª *Hic* Tell him I sent ya." Shaking his head, Henryughed to himself and walked away. Leaving Joe to keep boasting to people who didn''t know better. Chapter 76: Spiffy *** ¡ªThe Next Morning¡ª Henry very easily slipped into an exercise routine despite the absence of a Daily Quest from the System. He did pushups, situps, and even stretches before topping it up with as many hours of meditation as he could manage. He waspletely lost in his serenity and feeling ted as his Perception spread from his body when he heard knocks at his door that pulled him out of it. He walked to the door and pulled it open to reveal Charles and Triss waiting patiently for him. "Come on," Triss said with her usual smile, "Let''s go." "You didn''t forget, did you?" Charles said with a more neutral expression. "Huh?" Henry let out and blinked as the memory of what he agreed to yesterday came rushing back to mind, "No, no, I didn''t forget. Give me a chance to get dressed." As he spoke, Henry made an almost negligible gesture at his chest still bare from the day before. Triss caught the gesture and she was far more inclined to stare. She might have stared longer had Henry not withdrawn into his room and closed the door gently. Henry got himself cleaned up and looked through his trunk of clothes before pausing as he raised a brow. "Awkward," he mumbled. Besides the one that had been burned to ashes yesterday, every other shirt or Jacket Henry had had bullet holes in them from the gunfights, w strikes, gun stabs, and other attacks he had suffered. Only now did it dawn on him just how fast he had gone through the already limited supply of clothes he had so he pulled open his door and poked out his head at Triss and Charles who were there, still waiting. "Um, Charles?" Henry called. "What is it?" "Could I get a shirt from you? All of mine appear to have been damaged," Henry said. Trissughed, "You ran out of clothes?" She asked, sounding like she found it hrious. "I never really had that many, actually," Henry said honestly. Charles was smiling but he nodded, "Yes, I think can help you out." Charles left and five minutester, he returned dragging a trunk with him that heid at Henry''s doorstep, "Here. This should be enough." Henry stepped out of his room and pulled open the trunk. Jackets, shirts, suspenders, pants, a few hats, a couple of gun belts, and some coats. They looked to be of better quality than any he had worn already in this world and as good as any he had ever worn in his past life. But he could have sworn he recognized some of them as well. He had seen them on someone in the Gang even if they were now cleaned and neatly arranged in the trunk. Henry looked up at Charles, "These are Tony''s," he said. "They WERE Tony''s," Charles said, "Now they''re yours. Much better use than wasting away in his room." "But¡ª You were closer to him," Henry said, "If anyone should keep them, it should be you." Charles chuckled as he shook his head, "Nah, I have more than enough. You should have them." "Thank you," Henry said with heartfelt gratitude. Charles looked embarrassed by the genuineness in Henry''s tone for a second and then cleared his throat, "Oh stop that. We don''t even know if they''ll fit. You''ve grown a lot this past few weeks, after all." With no one currently paying her any heed, Triss nodded as Charles mentioned Henry''s growth; He had gone from his scrawny but no doubt-cute form to a more manly, lean physique topped with abs that seemed especially indented against his skin. "They''ll fit," Henry said with certainty before adding with as much genuineness as before, "Thank you." He dragged the trunk into his room and closed the door to afford himself some privacy. The big pro was that Tony had a sense of style fitting for a Gunslinger that the old Henry hadcked. Picking out a set of pants, a shirt, and a fairly thin coat (that reached just a few inches past his knees) to wear over it all, Henry was all dressed in a few minutes. He topped it all off with a ck hat with a steel buckle, put his guns in his holsters, and walked out of his room. "Spiffy," Triss said with an appreciative nod and a smile as she folded her arms beneath her breasts. "Please," Henry said in objection with a slight roll of his eyes but he didn''t really mind. Charles led the way out of the Mansion and to the horses. As they walked, they all saw the newbies either walking around holding their heads, squinting at the sunlight shining above, or just wincing at every sound that happened to hit their ears wrong. "Idiots," Charles called them. He didn''t think the events of yesterday were anything to celebrate. Triss agreed with him. Henry, on the other hand, understood the newbies had no idea what yesterday was all about. They had no idea it was all a prelude to a much more dangerous operation just as they had no idea Angus only recruited them to use them. Casting his eyes across the courtyard, Henry raised a brow in surprise when he saw Good ol'' Joe looking and acting quite chirper. "Lightweights!" Joe said while roaring inughter as he patted one of the newbies on the back. Despite their hungover states, he insisted on directing them to various tasks. One of which was getting rid of the liquor bottles fromst night''s celebrations. The newbies looked at Joe with expressions of distaste mixed with admiration. Henry didn''t doubt they''d soon be asking him for tips for getting rid of a Hangover and he didn''t doubt Joe would reply with "Years and Years of experience" which was likely urate. "So, where are we going?" Henry asked as he walked over to Nyx and gave her neck a few affectionate pats, "Somewhere in town?" Triss shook her head as she secured her saddle on the back of the third horse she had had to tame in the past few weeks due to a couple of unfortunate idents, "I don''t think so," she said, "New Freudein is a little town so there are very few ces around with high-powered explosives whether for sale or for steal." Charles nodded as he led his horse out of the Hadron Mansion Stables and got into the saddle, "Triss is right. There''s a Mine not too far from here. The owner has explosives transported there on a regr for the miners to use. We''ll head over and ''persuade'' them to hand some of them over. Shouldn''t be too difficult." "Shouldn''t be," Triss said and then her lips morphed into a sad smile, "But with our luck, who knows?" "True," Charles said with a chuckle, "We have had shitty luck so far." Henry opened his mouth to give his input ¡ªMostly on the fact that their negativity could be jinxing their chances at having things go smoothly for the first time in a long time¡ª when he received alerts from the System; [Grand Quest Updated!] [You have received a Main Quest] [You have received a Sub Quest] Without his prompting, both notifications unfolded into descriptions; [Sub Quest: Preparations. Quest Condition: Join Charles and Triss to acquire the materials needed for the Manor Job. Reward: 300 Exp] [Main Quest: The Manor Job. Angus Dionisio has nursed his most ambitious robbery attempt yet. A strike directly into the abode of Maude Aleric, Lord of the ck Manor, and as a Member of the Dionisio Gang, you are ''Honor bound'' to be involved. Quest Condition: Survive Angus Dionisio''s audacious and daring robbery attempt at the ck Manor. Reward: 1500 Exp] [Good luck!] Chapter 77: She’s Not Like Us As Henry read the description of the Main Quest, his eyes especially fell on the phrase ''Honor Bound'' and found a smile ying at the corner of his lips. ''Am I truly honor bound to follow along with Angus'' ns?'' He wondered and then looked over at Triss and Charlesughing together as they got on their horses. ''It''s not like I was nning not to do it but what happens to them if I walk away?'' He asked himself as he got onto Nyx''s back. As Charles led the way out of the Hadron Mansion and set off into a Trott before speeding up into a gallop, Henry found himself looking to the side at Triss. Her cheeks were rosy in the slight morning chill and her red hair flowed behind her. Triss nced over at him like she had sensed him watching ¡ªOr she had just wanted to watch him too¡ª and she smiled, "What?" She asked gently. "What happens to you?" Henry asked. "What do you mean?" Triss asked, confused. "After all this, what happens to you?" Henry rified. Triss still looked confused, "I don''t get it. You mean after we get the explosives?" She asked. Henry shook his head, "No, after we rob the ck Manor. What will you do with your share?" Triss'' eyes went wide and her mouth went into an ''O'' shape of understanding, "Oh," she said and then shrugged, "I don''t know. Stefan and I will leave New Freudein town, I suppose. I think everyone will. Won''t you?" "I will," Henry said readily. Triss nodded, "Stefan and I are wanted all over the Dugan State. They won''t extend the search to rurals like this but if we try going too far, we could get gunned down." She added a littleugh to the end of that morbid sentence. "But you said you''d leave," Henry said. "Of course," Triss told him like she was surprised he had not understood what she was getting at. When he still looked like he hadn''t gotten the gist, she added with a smile and a roll of her eyes, "We''ll have money, Henry." "Oh." Henry said leaning back a bit in Nyx''s saddle, "I see." Triss nodded, "The State might be after us but if we grease the palms of a few checkpointwmen, and add on some threats with our guns, we should be able to make it out. Once we''re out of the Duvan State, we can find a Port and sail away from Valearenpletely. There''s a great big world out there where no one knows who we are. Gold probably still works well there though." "You have it all so well thought out," Henry said with an acknowledging smile. "Well, we''ve been thinking of it for a while," Triss said and then looked Henry over, "What are your ns?" "I already said. I''ll leave," Henry said. Triss rolled her eyes at him, "I meant actual ns. Where will you go? What will you do?" "I''m¡­ Not sure yet," Henry admitted. In the memories he had inherited, he knew quite a bit of the world beyond New Freudein but it was such a small bit that he wasn''t exactly sure where to go. But he expected to find his way somehow. "Hmm," Triss said, "Well, I think you''ll make it either way. You''re special. The world is a bit easier for special people." Henry knew that by ''Special'', Triss was talking about Magic which he could not deny he had even if he tried to. He could wield a Magic gun which was something none of them could say they could do besides Devon and Angus. Plus, Triss had noticed the changes he had gone through recently and the feats he had aplished¡­ There was no way a normal person could do it. "But¡­ You coulde with Stefan and Me," Triss said and when she realized how that might have sounded, she hastily added, "I mean the Duvan State, beyond ces like New Freudein, is crawling with special people. Having one close to me ¡ªus!¡ª will make it safer to travel." As thest word left her lips, Triss realized she might have overcorrected and now sounded like she wanted him close to brave all the danger like a glorified bodyguard. She made to hastily rephrase but Henry was already responding, "I don''t think that''s a bad idea. I''ll certainly consider it." He said. "You will?" Triss asked with wide eyes and a slightly high-pitched tone. She recovered quickly enough, cleared her throat and repeated in a much more controlled tone, "You will?" "Yes, I will," Henry said and he meant it enough. He had no real ties to any part of this new world and his deal with Elminster was technically indefinite so he could push it as far as needed. Besides, who was to say some of the grumpy craftsman''s products hadn''t made it across the sea? As for his Grand Quest to make a name for himself, Henry expected that to follow him wherever he went so he didn''t think the decision to leave would impact his journey all that hard. All in all, he saw no reason to dismiss Triss'' invitation. "Alright," Triss said with her expression as controlled as she could keep it. Then she looked ahead at Charles, "What about you, Charles?" She asked. Charles had been following the conversation between the two while he continued to navigate their way out of the environs of New Freudein and since he had also put some thought into it, he had his answer ready, "I''ll leave too. But not for adventure. I''d like to find a nice town away from here¡­ Better than here. Find a nice woman, settle down." "Really?" Triss asked surprised, "I thought you''d want to Gang bang till the end." Charlesughed, "Why would you think that?" He asked, "You want me to just hang around, grow fat and useless, and get drunk while acting like I''m passing down treasured knowledge to the next generation?" "I think you just described Good ol'' Joe," Henry said with a smile. "Exactly!" Charles said, "I sure as hell don''t want that. No, No. Retirement is the way. Tony wanted it too and look what happened to him because he dragged his feet about it. If I survive the ck Manor, I''m taking my share and saying goodbye to this life. Leave it to you youngins to carry on the trade." "If you were paying attention, you''d have heard we''re leaving too," Triss said. "Yeah, I heard. Traveling across the sea to where no one knows ya. And what would you do there?" "Would we have to do anything?" Triss asked, "We''d have money. We can live quietly." "Bah! You''re young. The young are restless. There''s no way you''ll do nothing for the rest of your lives." "True," Henry said and when Triss looked to the side at him, he shrugged. He had tasted the feeling of getting stronger and did not n to just let that drive go. He was going to continue whether in this country or across the sea. Triss looked away and said nothing. She had suspected Henry epting her invitation toe along was him doing her a courtesy but she now realized that even if he was serious about it, their paths were bound to diverge eventually. The trio rode in silence for a while and then Triss was slightly more chirper and she remembered a topic that had been gnawing at her for a while so she turned to Henry, "I wanted to ask you something." Henry looked to the side at her pretty face and raised his brow slightly but answered in a gentle tone, "Shoot." "It''s about yesterday." "What about it?" "Well, you were very cool going about and sting your guns but why did you do it? We all watched. We saw how strong Yelena''s magic was. We saw how she couldn''t be killed so why were you there?" Triss asked. "Oh," Henry let out. Triss pressed, "Devon said you just wanted to show off but I didn''t think he was right so I thought I''d ask. Why''d you do it?" Henry let a few seconds pass with his brows furrowed before he answered, "I did it because Yelena is not like us." Chapter 78: Triss’ First Kill The moment the words left his lips, Henry knew he had lost any chance of shutting down the topic, and soon, Triss would ask a question that would ''force'' him to go into detail. Sure enough, "What does that mean?" Triss asked, sounding genuinely curious despite the slight tone of outrage Henry failed to detect. Henry took a few seconds to pick his words carefully. He didn''t think Yelena''s past was his to discuss so when he spoke, he kept her confidence as well as he could. "She''s not a killer," Henry said. "A killer?," Triss let out and she wrinkled her nose, "Like us, you mean? You think we''re killers?" Her tone made it seem Henry''s words had hit her ears wrong but seeing as he couldn''t tell how anything he had said could be offensive, Henry continued, "Well, yes," he said, "We''ve taken lives¡­ But she''s different. She''s¡ª been through a lot." "And you think I haven''t? You think Stefan hasn''t? You think Charles hasn''t?" Henry looked taken aback by the near spite in her voice and he pulled back in Nyx''s saddle with his brow raised, "That''s not what I mean¡ª" he started to say but Triss interrupted, "I think it''s very stupid of you to call us Killers. I don''t know about you but no one I know kills because they want to. We kill because we have to!" "I know¡ª" Henry said looking stunned at how quickly the conversation seemed to be getting away from him. It seemed strange to him that all that anger could be because of a few lines he had just said. And then Triss tore into a rant, "I don''t think you do. I saw her yesterday, you know. We all did. She killed three people. From what we heard, she killed three more before that. She''s as much of a ''killer'' as the rest of us. I don''t see how she''s different." Silence followed with only the clopping of horse hooves to break the monotonous air. Henry thought to break the silence but Triss'' lips were pressed so tightly together and the atmosphere was slightly awkward that he wasn''t sure how to start. And then, he heard Nyx''s voice in his head. "-Henry, I don''t think this is justabout what you said-" Henry''s eyes widened and he looked at the back of Nyx''s head. The horse gave no indication that she was having a mental conversation. She just remained intent on following Charles'' lead as she continued, "-I think you hit a sore spot.-" "-Did I?-" Henry wondered. He didn''t notice that there was a different tone to the thought of those two words until Nyx answered, "-Yes, you did-" Henry''s eyes widened, "-You can hear my thoughts?-" "-Not all of them. But I heard you just now and before.-" Nyx answered. She seemed as surprised about it as he was. ''I see,'' Henry thought, ''Can you hear me now?'' Nyx said nothing. Her head angled ever so slightly like she was listening for something but she didn''t respond. "-How about now?-" Henry asked and this time he noticed the tone shift. "-Yep-" Nyx answered gently. ''I think I get it now. She''s not hearing my thoughts, I can just talk to her in my head,'' Henry surmised. If he were to describe it, Henry would have said his entire mind was like a room that he could roam in freely without any interference or anyone peeking from outside but after his bond with Nyx, a demarcated space was created. The demarcated space was small and he could enter it at Will and talk to his horse with his mind while preserving the privacy of his thoughts. If he were to guess, Henry would say Nyx''s mind was the same. She had just been able to ess her demarcated space long before he could. This guess made even more sense since Henry had never once heard Nyx''s thoughts besides whenever she wanted to ''talk'' to him. The discovery that he didn''t have to reduce his voice to a whisper when having a conversation with Nyx for want of people thinking he was going mad to be discussing with a horse, excited Henry. He wondered what the range was. "-You can talk to her now-" Nyx said suddenly, "-I think she''s calmer.-" "-Oh. Right-" Henry said and then added with a smile, "-You seem to have a lot of insights into human behavior.-" Nyx chortled, "-Animals are naturally insightful and observant. We just either don''t have enough intelligence to process what we ''observe'' or we can''t talk and engage about what we ''observe''. Now get to it.-" Henry pulled himself out of his conversation with Nyx and opened his mouth but Triss beat him to it with her head bowed slightly. Her tone was unmistakably the start of an apology, "Listen, Henry¡ª" "What was your first kill?" Henry asked. Triss looked to the side at him with her eyes wide, "Why do you ask?" Henry shrugged but the look on his face could not be any more serious, "I''m curious." Triss pursed and looked away. They rode in silence for a few minutes before her mouth loosened to answer, "15 years ago," she said. Henry''s brows furrowed. He had hardly ever paid attention to it but he did now and determined Triss was in her early twenties at the most. A kill Fifteen years ago, she must have been very young which made it likely, that the person she killed was very close to her. Or had been close to her. "Who was it?" Henry asked in a low voice that Triss had no trouble hearing. "My Father," Triss said. "I''m sorry," Henry said, his tone somber. Ahead, Charles dipped his head but otherwise remained silent. "Don''t be," Triss said and let out aughcking any mirth, "He was a horrible man. A terrible drunk." Another period of silence before Triss let out a long sigh as she started, "He was never all that good. He never lost an opportunity to beat us. Stefan suffered the most because he always tried to protect me. Proud Older brother that he is. After Mother got sick, Father got worse. When she died, life became hell. Mother used to absolve some of Father''s frustrations even when she was sick and once she was gone, there was no one to stand and take some of the pain away. You saw the scars on my back?" Henry nodded slowly. "He gave me most of them," Triss said with a sad smile, "It went on for a month after Mom died and then, one day ¡ªI was seven, Stefan was Ten¡ª, he came home drunk as usual and started to beat on Stefan. He was going to start with me but Stefan stood between us and took the pain instead. I don''t know what I was thinking. I don''t know I WAS thinking. I grabbed the kitchen knife, lunged at him, and plunged it into his back. He yelled and called me all sorts of names. He tried to throw me off. He was stronger. Strong as any drunk ever is. mmed me against the wall before lumbering all about but I held on. I wrapped an arm around his neck, pulled the knife out, and stabbed him again somewhere else. Over and over and over. Always changing where I stabbed and causing as much damage as I possibly could. His blood spewed all over me. It blinded me, it entered my mouth. But I didn''t care. Not in that moment, at least. I didn''t have to see him. I didn''t even mind the taste of his blood. I just wanted him dead. Eventually, he fell to his knees and then to the ground but I didn''t stop. I kept on stabbing him and crying until Stefan recovered from being stunned and pulled me away." Chapter 79: At The Mine (1) Triss let out a long sigh and let thest word she said hang in the air for a while before she continued, "Stefan consoled me as best as he could. I eventually stopped crying and cleaned myself of the bastard''s blood. We took anything we could from the house that was worth anything and set out. There was nothing left for us there. Sometimes when I think about it, it seems so surreal. Sometimes I can still feel his life draining¡ª His pulse slowing down against the arm I had around his neck." Triss held up her hand and clenched and unclenched her right hand for a while before looking to the side at Henry who was looking at her with an empathetic look in his eyes. "Oh don''t give me that look," she said while rolling her eyes. "Sorry," Henry said but the look in his eyes did not change. "Well," Triss said, "I think what I especially hate about it all, and has stuck with me the most over the years, is how¡ª sad I felt. I mean, I cried for Heaven''s sake." Triasughed at the end of the sentence like she was ying it off. Henry heard the pain underneath her words and could not indulge in the levity with her. He just ducked his head as he said quietly, "Of course, you were sad. Scumbag that he was, he WAS your father." Triss snorted, "Hardly," she said and then she sighed, "But I suppose you''re right. I can never forget that day. It''s some horrible part of me. It has been clearer in my head than every moment since." She looked at her hands for a while longer like she could still see the kitchen knife in her palm and then she shook her head and grabbed her horse''s reins before she nced at Henry, "So there you have it. My first kill in all its unmorous detail." "You did what you had to do," Henry said gently with an understanding look in his eyes. "Hell yeah, I did," Triss said in a low voice and a bit of a grunt before shing him a small smile. Henry returned the smile before he asked kindly, "Do you ever feel guilty?" Triss let out a breath, "I''d like to say ''No'' but the truth is Yes, sometimes I do. I don''t know how to put it¡ª I believe so strongly that he deserved what he got and yet I still feel like I shouldn''t have been the one to deliver it. But if you ask if I''d do it again? Fuck yes, I will! And I''ll probably bawl my eyes out again." The clip-clops of horse hooves were the only sounds for a few meters before Henry said almost out of the blue, "You''re right." "Hmm?" Triss asked, confused. Her recanting of her traumatic patricide had caused her to forget what the topic of discussion had been in the first ce. "About Yelena," Henry rified, "She''s as much of a killer as any of us in her actions but I think, in her mind, she''s not quite there yet. That''s what I was trying to say. When I said she''s not like us, I didn''t mean it as an insult to you or me and what we''ve had to do to survive. I meant it as someone who can understand that not everyone can survive what we went through. Not everyone can give themselves into killing and retain enough self-control to tell friends from foes. I saw something in her eyes and heard something in her voice when she told me about her first three kills. I saw something on the verge of breaking and I couldn''t bring myself to watch it break. There''s an innocence there that I think should be protected. That''s why I went out with her yesterday. I''ve resigned myself to taking lives. So I offered to do it instead of her. I believed she needed my help and she epted it." "I¡ª I think I understand," Triss said and her cheeks gained a twinge of red, "I''m sorry I went off at you for a bit there." Henry shook his head as he waved her off, "No need to apologize." He said graciously and Triss'' cheeks burned even redder as she looked away. Henry might be waving it off as a matter of little consequence but Triss couldn''t shake the knowledge that she had not gone into her short rant just because of a dispute on the word ''Killer''. If it was just because of that word, the image of Henry''s arm around Yelena''s waist would not be shing over and over in her mind. Henry didn''t take note of this. He was preupied with the fact that there was more to his Yelena assistance than he could share. ''Yelena has lived the most of three centuries in istion. Her mind seems held together well by her immortality but I think that''s bullshit. The mind is different from the body and I dare say anyone can snap. Especially an Immortal Witch who has been ''promised to Hell''. An Immortal Witch who''s also an ''Infernal Spawn''." There was something ominous about that phrase and added to the System''s Quest to kill Yelena, Henry didn''t think letting her mind crack because of the guilt of killing would help things. He didn''t want to be forced to kill her. Not after he had already decided to defy the System and free her. "There," Charles called out suddenly from ahead in a mellow tone of voice as he pulled his horse to a stop. Triss and Henry pulled their horses to a stop alongside him. Where the three had stopped was on a slightly higher elevation and gave a clear sight of the Mine up ahead. There was a Mine railway leading out of the Mine opening that was held up by wooden braces. Across the railway were minecarts filled with mostly rocks and some pieces of the ore being mined. A few meters away from the mine opening was a wooden Wagonden with boxes all marked with writings and symbols that were slightly hard to decipher from the distance but Henry was certain were warning signs to urge caution for handling them because of the Explosives they contained. Guarding the Wagon were guards hired by the Miningpany in charge of the Mine. Some strolled about on patrol while a few others sat around a wooden table ying card games with bottles close at hand. "So how are we doing this?" Henry asked Charles. "Why don''t you decide?" Charles told him with a smile. "It''s your operation," Henry said. "It''s all of ours," Charles retorted, "Decide." Henry acted like he was giving it some thought, and then shrugged as he said, "I can consider paralyzing them but I''ll need to get closer for that. A revolver''s range is only so good, after all." Triss nodded as her pretty brows furrowed, "If we pick them apart with a rifle or repeater, the moment the first dies, the rest will react and in the chaos, a misfire will hit the Wagon. I''m willing to bet they''re not all that smart." Henry pursed his lips, "I''ll approach them then. Or at least get closer." "We''ll support you from here and ride in when we have to," Charles said. Henry nodded and nudged Nyx''s side but as his horse began to trot, Charles called to him, "Hold on. Approach them on the proper path. If you go at them from here, they could spot Triss and Me. Diverge their attention." Triss nodded in agreement, "Smart," she said, "Be the distraction." With a sharp nod, Henry agreed and got Nyx trotting again. As advised, he took the main path to the Mine. As they watched him gallop closer to the target, Triss asked, "He''ll be alright, won''t he?" Charles chuckled and leaned forward in his saddle, "He''ll do far better than you and I would, that''s for sure." Chapter 80: At the Mine (2) ¡­ Two Guards on patrol saw Henry first. They paused their walk and looked at him as his horse trotted over. His face was slightly covered by the shadow cast by the brim of his ck hat. A soft wind blew his coat apart just enough for them to catch glimpses of his guns. "Halt!" One of the two Guards he met first, called out with a hand stretched forward, "This area is off limits." Henry said nothing. While riding closer, his eyes darted around to pick out all the Guards he had to worry about. There were about Fifteen of them including the ones ying card games. Even when he was normal, these numbers were hardly a cause for concern. However, there was a reason he hade close and it was to try and preserve the explosives. "-Nyx, you can get to it, can''t you?-" he asked. Nyx let out a snort like she was almost insulted he even had to ask, "-Before they can blink-" she said. "-Good.-" Henry told her before getting down from her saddle to take a few steps toward the Guard in front of him. "Hey, hey, hey," the Guard said and positioned his rifle with the readiness to fire on a moment''s notice, "I told you, you can''te in here." "I need something from here," Henry said calmly before ncing over at the Wagon a few meters behind the Guard. Close to where the leisured guards were still busy with their card games. The guard followed Henry''s nce while his partner took charge of ring at Henry and positioning his rifle in a threatening fashion. "The Wagon?" The Guard that looked away said as he looked back at Henry, "You want to take the Wagon?" "Yes," Henry said with a nod. "Is this a joke?" The Guard asked and he went from smiling to frowning as he cocked his rifle. "No," Henry answered and in a sh of movement and a quick draw that blurred his hand in the view of the two patrol guards, he pulled ''The Hydra''s Sting'' from his holster and fired a shot into the Guard''s chest. "Ack!" The Guard said with wide eyes. He ced a hand over his wound and dropped his rifle to the ground with a tter before following it with a thud. [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] The second guard made to point his gun but Henry grabbed it out of his hand with ease before smacking his face with the barrel, sending him to the ground. The first Guard Henry shot had veins popping out of his body now and was leaking a green gas. As the second Guard breathed it in, he felt his muscles seize with sudden paralysis that, try as he might, he was unable to resist. "Stay there," Henry told him before pointing ''The Hydra''s Sting'' toward the Leisure guards who had been ying their card games. The sound of a gunshot already alerted them but by the time they stood to their feet ¡ªSo fast that they knocked their chairs down¡ª, Henry already shot a bullet into one of them. [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] Henry raised his brow at the notification about the ''Skill Exp''. He had gotten so used to tuning it out that he hadn''t seen it for a good while even though he had made sure to fire every one of his shots with his {Marksmanship} Skill activated. The two sub-skills he had gained(Quick Thinking and Reload) after leveling up the {Marksmanship} made it so that, whether he needed the added 5% uracy or not (And he usually didn''t), he''d keep it activated all the same. "-Nyx-" Henry called out just before he fired his shot. "-On it-" Nyx answered and galloped away from his side, in a nearly direct path, to smack the wagon and send it rolling back and away from the line of fire. The other leisure guards watched one of their own die and before they could even react, a ck horse dashed over in their general direction, moving faster than their eyes could follow. When they realized Nyx''s target was the Wagon and not them, they turned their attention back to Henry. s, that second or so, spent on observation, allowed the green cloud of to spread. They breathe it in, their muscles locked in ce and they slumped to the ground. Their eyes widened in horror at their inability to react. - Meanwhile, Triss and Charles furrowed their brows as they watched Henry walk up to a guard and when he fired his gun, Charles leaned back in his saddle, "Welp, he got started," Charles said. "Do we step in?" Triss asked. "Hold on," Charles said. They watched as Henry killed one of the leisure guards but their attention shifted quickly to his horse galloping and smacking into the wagon. "What''s it doing?" Charles asked, confused. "Getting it out of the line of fire," Triss said with a smile, "Smart horse." Triss'' smile slipped from her face as she watched the rest of the Guards begin to close in and point their guns at Henry. "Now?" Triss asked but she had already nudged her horse hard, causing it to rear on its hind legs before it dashed forward. "Yes," Charles answered as he nudged his horse as well and peeled forward after Triss. Henry saw the guards gather as they ran toward him. He watched them raise their guns and aim which allowed him to properly, and quite calmly, decide where to leap to. With his agility stat at the level it currently was, he could react faster than the enemy could pull their triggers and was gone from their sights before the bullets left the guns. Gritting their teeth in annoyance, the guards turned the barrel of their guns at him but an unlucky two already had their foreheads pierced by bullets from Henry''s bronze and gold painted gun. [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] The others continued to shoot only for two of them to arch their backs and yell out in pain before they fell forward, dead. Among the few still alive, some turned around to see who was shooting at them from behind. The moment they sighted Charles and Triss galloping over, they turned their attention to them and fired. The horses, skittish from the gunshots directed at them, whinnied loudly as they deviated from the path they were galloping in, throwing off Triss and Charles'' aims. And then, suddenly, Nyx was there. If any of the Guards had been paying attention to her, they still would not have seen her. With shadow exuding from her body in a mysterious mist, she looked like she had materialized out of nothing. Whinnying with aggression, Nyx reared on her hind legs before bringing down her front hooves in powerful strikes that broke bones and killed her victim. [Nyx has made a kill] [Nyx has received 10 Exp] "-Yeah, Take that!-" Nyx said with a bit of a yell and in a flow of movement, she brought her front hooves down, turned around, and kicked hard at a second guard with her hind legs. The hit dented the Guard''s head and sent him sailing and hitting a rock not too far away. He hit the rock hard but there was no doubt he was already dead before he made contact. [Nyx has made a kill] [Nyx has received 10 Exp] Of the three Guards left, Henry killed one. [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] Triss calmed her horse, took proper aim, and killed the second. And Nyx yelling, "-Die!-" galloped over and stomped on the third over and over until the light was gone from his eyes. [Nyx has made a kill] [Nyx has received 10 Exp] As he received the notification, Henry saw Nyx trot away from her broken victim while tossing her mane about with grace like a Showhorse. Like she hadn''t just made a brutalizing kill. Chapter 81: No Idea What’s About To Hit Them While Nyx was whinnying with elegance, Henry nced over at the Mine''s entrance and saw the miners start to poke their heads out now that the sounds of gunshots had stopped. Charles followed his gaze and saw them too so he pulled out his revolver, pointed it with the click sound of the hammer being cocked as he said in a loud voice, "Get back in there!" Henry saw the hands of the miners tighten around their mining equipment like they were getting themselves ready to defend themselves. He pursed his lips at the very unlikely chance they could survive if he, Triss, and Charles decided to gun them down. "Don''t even think about it," he told the Miner at the forefront in a dead serious voice and glowering eyes, "Get back in there if you don''t want to get hurt. We''re not here for you." The Miners stared at him with a deep frown and a look of fear in their eyes but slowly they slinked back into the mine. "Hey, you!" One of the paralyzed guards called out to them before they were out of sight, "Help us- Hmph!" Henry shut down the Guard''s cry for help with a stomp to the head and red at the miners again for good effect, speeding up their backing-up speed. They were deep in the Mine in seconds. "I wonder if they have explosives in there," Charles said and his horse trotted closer as he put his revolver back into his holster. "It''s possible," Henry said slowly, "We should get away before they think toe back out here." A short distance away from the mine, away from the blood-sttered ground littered with dead Guards, were the horses hitched away. Among the hitched horses were tworge workhorses missing saddles but equipped with harnesses meant to secure them to the wagon. Charles handled leading the Workhorses over and attached them to the wagon of explosives that Nyx had mmed away to safety before. "I''ll drive the Wagon," Charles announced as he sat himself down in front of it with the reins in hand ready to spike it. "I''ll lead your horse," Triss told him and then gestured at the paralyzed Guards, "What do we do about them?" "What else can we do?" Henry said with a shrug with ''The Hydra''s sting still in hand. "Please!" One of the guards called out, "Please don''t kill us¡ª Don''t kill me!" Henry said nothing and just eyed him. "We won''t follow you," the Guard continued to plead, "We won''t tell anyone about this." Henry shrugged, "Who cares if you do?" He said, "You don''t even know my name. The worst you could do is describe my face." The Guard managed a smile, "Exactly," he said, "So please, don''t kill us." For a second, Henry said nothing and then he raised his leg and swung a kick at the Guard''s head, knocking him out. Next, he moved over to another paralyzed guard and mmed the butt of ''The Hydra''s Sting'' against his head, knocking him out too. And so, with Triss and Charles watching, Henry went to everyone who had been paralyzed by the and knocked them all out. "Not going to kill ''em?" Charles asked after Henry was done. He felt that if anyone should want the paralyzed Guards dead, it was Henry. All those who had gotten a good look at Charles and Triss'' faces were dead and besides the fact that the paralysis limited the Guards'' field of view, their attention was also especially on Henry. "I''m not," Henry answered. He found no joy in it. No sense of aplishment. It would have just been killing for killing sake and, at least in this case, that didn''t sit well with him. Besides, what was the worst that could happen? If they described his face and got it stered all over the countryside then he would be well on his way to the notoriety of his past life which seemed to be what the System''s Grand Quest wanted from him anyway. Henry gathered up the guns of the dead and the knocked-out Guards and threw them all on the wagon with the boxes and crates of explosives. "Come on," Charles said, "Let''s go." "One second," Henry said. There were a few things he thought needed to be done before they left. First, he looted the dead Guards but was slightly disappointed at the slim pickings they had on them, and then he went to where the horses had been hitched to loosen them and send them riding far away. This was especially easy to achieve by firing a shot into the air and sending them all into a panic. Henry doubted the Miners would try to follow them but if they did, this would at least slow them down. With all that settled, Charles spiked the reins of the workhorses so that they drew out of the front of the Mine and got on the road. Triss nudged her horse and got it to ride beside the wagon while Charles'' horse obediently matched her horse''s trott. Henry followed behind them on Nyx in case they were chased. Charles did not look all that worried. "I know a way," he said and was soon guiding them off the conventional path and riding through the cover of trees to throw off any chase. ??? Thanks to Charles'' unconventional path, the journey back to the Hadron Mansion took far longer than it had taken to reach the Mine. This was also factoring the fact that there was only so fast they could ride with a wagonden with explosives. That said, the journey back was also the most peaceful Henry could remember in the weeks he had been in this world. He appreciated that. The ride was spent sometimes in silence and sometimes in discussion as the three even allowed themselves moments of levity to crack jokes. Soon, they pulled their horses over the threshold of the Hadron Mansion''s damaged gate and Charles was pulling on the reins of the workhorses to get them to stop moving. "We''re back," he announced the obvious in a not-so-enthusiastic tone. Devon, Dana, and Stefan were walking out of the Mansion in less than a minute. Angus was right behind them with a grin on his face. He walked to the Wagon and raised a brow at the guns thrown right by the side of the boxes before opening one of the said boxes to reveal bundles of dynamite and TNT. "This is good," Angus said with a delighted nod, "Yes, Yes. We are ready." With the Explosives delivered, Henry knew an alert wasing. And sure enough; [Questpleted] [You have received 300 Exp] *[Nyx has received 150 Exp] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 10 (896/2500 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Death''s Bane, Gangbanger, Vyker-Killer] [Hit Points: 100/100] [Mana Points: 90/110] [Strength: 25] [Agility: 24] [Stamina: 16] [Perception: 10] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 3 } {Taming Lv. 2 } {Insight Lv.1}] [You have 18 unallocated Stat Points] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry''s eyes fell on the unallocated Stat Points most of all like they were calling to him and using him of neglect. ''Well, as good a time as any,'' he thought, ''I''ll put 5 in strength and 6 into Agility since both are my most used Stats. The remaining 7 Points; 2 into Stamina. And 5 into Perception, my most neglected Stat.'' Clicking the virtual button to confirm his allocation, Henry watched as numbers increased and in turn, boosted various properties of his body. [Strength: 25 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 30] [Agility: 24 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 30] [Stamina: 16 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 18] [Perception: 10 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 15] He was just allowing himself to indulge in the feeling of his boosted physical and Mental abilities when Angus said in a voice that carried and was packed with all the grandiose of a capable public speaker even though his words were only meant for the select few main members of the Gang; "Ladies and Gentlemen. Rest up. Prepare. Because tomorrow, we ride for Saint ret. Maude Aleric and his ck Manor have no idea what''s about to hit them!" Chapter 82: Good luck, Henry The wagon was wheeled away to the side as Angus called the main members of the gang to him with his grin ever-wide and led them into the Mansion to fine-tune details of what they had to do tomorrow. Henry pulled away from the group quickly enough and found his way down the West Wing until he was gently knocking on the door of the medical bay. Yelena pulled the door open a few secondster. She didn''t ask who it was and when she saw Henry, she didn''t look surprised to see him. "Took you long enough," she said with a smile. "Hmm?" Henry said with a raised brow as he edged past her into the room and then smiled when he realized what she meant, "Ah, because I haven''t been here since Yesterday." Yelena closed the door while nodding her head, "Bingo." "Angus'' meeting ran long. Lots to n," Henry told her as he found his way to her desk and fiddled through the books littered on it. He picked one up and read through it. He was hardly paying attention to it though and just wanted something to keep his hand busy. Yelena noticed. "And now?" She asked him with a small smile ying on her lips. Henry looked up at her and let out a sigh, "We leave tomorrow," he said, "At dawn. It''s a long ride, you see." "I see," Yelena said with a few nods, "Is that why you''re here? To say goodbye before you have to leave?" "I suppose, yes," Henry said. Yelena nodded and walked over, getting closer. "How dangerous is it going to be?" "Quite," Henry told her honestly. "More dangerous than anything you''ve done so far?" Yelena asked as she took a few more steps closer. Henry nodded slowly, "Probably so much more," he said. "Have you considered not going?" Yelena asked. There was only about a foot of distance between her and Henry now. Henry smiled, "I have," he said, "But, I must." "Why?" Yelena asked with her eyes searching his own. For a minute, Henry said nothing and then he searched Yelena''s eyes, "The one item I think can help me free you from here is on Angus'' Chest," he told her. The smile on Yelena''s face dropped, "What?" She asked. Her voice caught in the back of her throat as she took a step back. Henry''s brows furrowed at that reaction and the look of fear in her eyes and was confused but continued, "The Vinculum thing on his chest. It can break and Make bonds. I think it can break your bond to the Mansion and finally let you leave this ce¡ª" "Please don''t!" Yelena interrupted him to say before taking a solid step back while shaking her head. "Don''t worry, I''m going to make sure it''s safe," Henry told her and stepped toward her to hold up his palms in cation, "I haven''t told him yet precisely because I want to make sure the separation doesn''t kill you." Yelena said nothing but her eyes were wide and she still shook her head. Henry stepped even closer to her and ced his hands on her shoulder, "Yelena," he called to her in an earnest voice, "I promise I''m not going to let anything bad happen to you." Yelena stopped shaking her head and her eyes were staring into his own but they were still wide with a hint of fear. Her fear wasn''t directed at Henry. Just that the very mention of the ''purple thing'' on Angus'' chest reminded her of his threat. Henry''s grip on her shoulders grew firmer but not tight enough to hurt her. Only firm enough to assuage any feeling of fear she still had. "Trust me." He told her. Yelena swallowed. She wondered what Henry would think if she told him about Angus'' threat. ''What if he trusts Angus more than me? What if he sees the threat as no more than a needed incentive? What if he gets angry, attacks Angus, and gets overpowered? What if before I can help, Angus cuts my connection to the Mansion? What if¡ª?'' "Yelena?" Henry called out, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Hmm?" She said, suddenly unsure where they had left off in their ongoing conversation. "Do you trust me?" Henry asked her. Yelena searched his eyes and nodded, "Yes," she said, "I trust you." She shook all the what-ifs from her head. ''There''s still time.'' she thought firmly. "But promise me that before you ask for Angus'' help, you''ll talk to me first," Yelena said. It seemed like a peculiar request to Henry but he had no issues agreeing to it, "Alright." "Good," Yelena told him with a nod and a smile. She had decided to take the time between now and whenever Henry decided to ask Angus, to think on the matter carefully. If by then she felt it was right to reveal Angus'' threat, she would. "Alright then," Henry said with a nod. He took his hands off her shoulders and stood there almost awkwardly. ''Hmm, I can''t help but feel like something should be happening,'' he thought and then noticed Yelena was looking down and shifting from foot to foot. "So¡­ You said you were going off somewhere dangerous," she said as she looked up. "I am," Henry admitted and it was starting to dawn on him ''what should be happening''. "Then I suppose I should give you a Good luck kiss," Yelena said and she stepped closer. Reducing the space between them to less than a foot. "A good luck kiss?" Henry repeated with a raised brow. Yelena blushed hard, "I learned it''s customary," she said and pointed at one of the books on her desk. Henry remembered ncing at it when he fiddled through the cluttered contents. It was a novel about medieval knights and acts of chivalry. When Henry''s face returned from ncing at the book she pointed at, he realized Yelena was already in front of his own. Henry had grown quite a bit in the past few weeks but there was only a few inches difference in their heights. Even then, Yelena raised a hand to the back of his head and pulled him close until their lips met. The kiss was gentle. Yelena''s lips trembled against Henry''s and she mostly just left it there, touching. At first, Henry waited for something more to happen and then it dawned on him, that this was as far as she knew to go. ''Those books she read must not have been very detailed,'' he thought with a smile. Yelena pulled away. Her hand was still at the back of Henry''s head and her face was redder but now that she had done it, she seemed even bolder. "You know, I think good luck kisses are on the cheek," Henry said with a smile. "Oh¡ª Are they?" Yelena said with a falsely innocent brow-raise, "Let me try again, then." She moved in a second time but her trajectory did not change. Her lips fell on Henry''s lips again and her arm tightened around his neck with her hand gripping his hair. Yelena pressed her body against Henry''s. As he lifted his arms and wrapped them around her waist, Henry could not ¡ªand did not bother trying to¡ª ignore her mounds pressing against his chest. The hardness of her nipple poked well through her gown''s fabric and grazed him despite the shirt he had on. The kiss became so charged that by the time they separated minutester, they were both breathless. "I- I missed your cheek again," Yelena said as she struggled to catch a breath she didn''t even quite need, "Sorry." Henry shook his head, "I''m notining," he said. "You should," Yelena said jokingly. "I could never," Henry said with a smile. For a minute, they just stared into each other''s eyes and then Yelena cleared her throat. Her face was still flushed red as she brushed at her gown as though to smooth out wrinkles, "Well, then. Good luck, Henry," she said in an earnest voice with just the right amount of longing, "Come back alive¡­ Please." Chapter 83: Petty Old Bastard ??? When he left the medical bay after the goodbye, Henry walked the corridor of the West Wing with the kiss on his mind. He had certainly liked it but wondered if this counted as having taken advantage of her. Or did it count the other way around? ''She has lived for Three centuries but with how little experience she has of actually living, does it even count? She might as well be a twenty-five-year-old who just kissed a 50-year-old. On the other hand, this body of mine is still neen, well into Adulthood, sure, but just locked lips with ady who has been alive for over three hundred years!'' Henry walked into his room, closed his door, and looked up at the ceiling with a smile on his face, ''But it WAS a good kiss though. How long has it been since I shared it with someone?'' The life of a Gunslinger was not ideal for raising a Family. Not in the way Henry had done it at least. He had had lovers and those he cared deeply about but had been pulled away from there because of the life he led. As such, it had been years ¡ªmaybe even a decade¡ª before his death, that he had been with a woman. The thought filled Henry with mncholy but then he managed to smile again, ''There I go letting less than happy memories rob me of an incredible moment. I kissed a Witch. I wield magic ¡ªin a sense. My life has taken quite an interesting turn but it''s not over yet. There is still so much more I can do. So much more to experience.'' Henry raised his right palm and with a thought, he activated Elminster''s brand and was sucked into the oval portal that took him into the craftsman''s workshop. "Wee back," Elminster said with ack of enthusiasm. "Hi," Henry said. "Potions?" Elminster asked knowingly. "Potions," Henry answered as he stepped forward. Elminster let out a sigh and led the way through the opening on the other end and into the room where his works were better disyed, "You do realize I''m not a Potioneer, right?" Elminster said, "You might do better to find actual potion makers and sellers to bother and save your visits for when you have one of my weapons to deliver." "Ohe off it," Henry said waving him off with a smile, "I know you''re happy to sell to me." "I''m really not," Elminster said. Henry raised a brow, "You collect my money just fine, don''t you?" He asked. Elminster grunted, "As is fair. What does taking payment have to do with not being a portion-maker." "My God, you were happy to brag about your talents just weeks ago! Why even make them if not to sell?" Henry asked. "I made them to prove to myself that I can make anything I want! BE anything I want. And I can. But I''d much rather spend my time hammering and tinkering and your constant need for potions is digging into that time. Find somewhere to buy potions. Who knows, soon, I might not be able to keep up with your demands." "Can you at least keep up for now?" Henry asked. Elminster eyed him for a minute or two and then shrugged, "I might have some." Elminster made to turn away and retrieve some of the bottles on his shelf when Henry called out, "Do you have potions stronger than the ones from before?" He asked. Elminster paused and turned around to stare him in the face, "Comints about my product?" Henry leaned away not in fear but in surprise at the old man''s tone. Elminster let out a breath so powerful, it rustled the hairs of his thick beard, "Boy, I might not be passionate about Potion Making but Elminster Eltugard does not make substandard Anything!" Looking into Elminster''s aged face as the words settled heavily in the air, Henry frowned because it brought to mind the memory of Tony lying against his horse''s neck, bleeding out with the Potions ineffective against his wounds. Handing out Healing potion after Healing potion in hopes of helping was why Henry had run low now on his stock and to see Elminster im his product wasn''t substandard¡ª *Sigh* "I didn''t say it was," Henry said after he let out a sigh, "I''ll just like something stronger is all." Elminster''s eyes raked all over Henry before his face eventually settled into their normal level of grumpy as he turned toward the shelves again. Henry knew the matter was resolved and let out a small breath of relief. He needed those potions so it would not bode well for him to antagonize the bad-tempered Craftsman. Beyond that though, Henry also had to ept that Tony''s death was not Elminster''s fault. The old had never been promised strong healing to mend therge number of wounds Tony had sustained. If anything, it was he (Henry) who had forgotten to take note that Tony, like everyone else in the world, was not like him. Elminster returned with two bottles. Henry assumed one bottle contained a Healing Potion while the other held a Mana Potion. "These are probably the most potent potions I''ve ever brewed," he said with a grunt, "I wanted to see just how much better I could get it. Tricky to make. Might have been easier if I actually followed a recipe instead of winging it. But that''s what makes this so good. It''s an Elminster Original. Sort of. Should serve you well enough." Henry picked up one of the bottles and the System provided a description screen; [An Improved Healing Potion brewed by Elminster The Great. A testament that his talents have no mortal limits. -Will Recover up to 60 Hit Points.] ''Sixty?'' Henry thought with eyes wide in surprise. He picked up the second bottle and a second description screen appeared; [An Improved Mana Recovery Potion brewed by Elminster The Great. A testament that his talents have no mortal limits. -Will Recover up to 60 Mana Points.] ''Incredible,'' Henry thought and then it dawned on him what showing excitement could cost him, ''Get it together, Henry.'' "How much?" "100 Gold," Elminster said like he had been waiting to deliver. Henry''s eyes went wide in outrage, "How so?" He asked. "That''s how much they''re worth," Elminster said calmly. "The other ones were 20 gold each," Henry pointed out. "So?" Elminster asked him with a shrug. "Might as well just give me the other ones," Henry said, "I''ll get four of them cheaper for a better effect!" Of course, while this was true for Henry whose health was measured in numbers, for anyone else, four of the previous Healing potions would not pack enough of a healing punch as one of the Improved ones. Even then, Elminster didn''t question Henry''s logic. He just said, "I no longer have them." "What?" "You heard me," Elminster said, "You said they''re not good enough so they''re no longer avable." ''What a petty old bastard!'' Henry thought with a deep frown. "Are you buying or not?" Elminster asked in an impatient tone. "70 gold," Henry said. Elminster chucked while shaking his head, "Of course, you''ll haggle," he said, "90." "80," Henry said through gritted teeth. Elminster stared hard at him and said firmly, "90." "Fine," Henry said with a sigh, "Six bottles of each. And three boxes of ''Hydra''s tongue'' bullets." Elminster returned with the purchases. Henry put down 1080 gold for the potions and sent them into his inventory but there were still the prices for the bullets to decide. "Each box contains 9 bullets which makes a total of 27. At 15 gold apiece, that''ll be 405 gold." Henry ced a hand over his mouth with a finger tapping his lips as his eyes went from the box to Elminster. The Old Man''s head was angled as well and the look in his eyes showed he was waiting for something. "200 gold," Henry said. Elminster shook his head, "You can''t help yourself, can you?" He asked. "200 and I''ll sh you a big smile," Henry said with the deepest of frowns. "300 and you can keep your smile to yourself," Elminster said unbothered. "Split the difference. 250," Henry said and held Elminster''s stare for a good while until the old man looked away with a long sigh, "Fine, take it." "With a sharp nod, Henry paid the Gold and sent the Ammo boxes into his Inventory. With all that, he dared say he was ready for the ck Manor. He reactivated Elminster''s brand and was sucked into the oval portal that returned him to his room in the Hadron Mansion. He had Prepared. Now, it was time to Rest up. Chapter 84: You Have My Blessings *** ¡ªThe Next Morning¡ª Angus was up at dawn and walking through tie corridors calling out in a loud booming voice, "Get up,dies and Gentlemen. It''s time to go!!!" "Angus, stop yelling," Charles said with a deep frown as he walked out of his room, all dressed. "Agreed," Stefan said. He was dressed as well but was still rubbing thest vestiges of sleep from his eyes. "Come on," Angus said and led them while still calling out for the others to wake up. Triss stepped out. Henry did as well a few minutester. He had swapped out the coat he wore yesterday for a jacket instead. He kept the rest of his clothes the same though. Including the ck Hat with the steel buckle. "Morning," Triss told him with a smile. Henry returned her smile, "Good morning," he said. They joined the others and followed Angus'' lead as he called out for thest two. The door to a room creaked open soon enough and out of it walked Devon, dressed in a shirt and jacket that both had their sleeves ripped off to grant a full view of his muscles. Barely a minuteter, Dana walked out of the room as well. "Oh," Charles said looking only mildly surprised that Devon and Dana appeared to have spent the night together. Dana would have liked to not indicate that she had noticed the looks everyone was giving her but she couldn''t help but nce over at Henry whose eyes were only slightly wide. And then his eyes returned to their normal sizes as he managed a smile with his lips twitching, ''You know what, knowing them both, I think they make a good match. A couple that bullies together sticks together.'' Henry thought. "Good for you," Was what he actually said. Devon was pushing out his chest with a sense of pride. There was a smile on his face but when he heard Henry''s words, the smile became a frown and he let out a grunt. Henry heard the grunt and knew it was meant for him so his smile got even wider. Teasingly wide. "You both have my blessings," he said. "Who would want it?" Devon asked as he red at him with his extra-long canines trembling with his annoyance, "Who even asked for it?" "Well, you have it now," Henry said with a shrug, "You''re wee." "Don''t want it," Devon said, "Take it back." "Can''t. Won''t," Henry said and gestured at Dana with his head, "Besides, Dana seems to want it. She''s all giddy-looking." All eyes went to Dana and her cheeks which were already rosy got even redder but even then, she didn''t ¡ªcouldn''t¡ª look away from Henry. "Wait," Triss said holding out a palm, "How¡ª Why did this even happen?" Dana made to open her mouth but Stefan beat her to it, "Is it not obvious? These two horndogs have been wanting a piece of each other for ages¡­" "They have?" Triss asked, surprised. Stefan nodded, "They have. I''d assume they think anything can happen while we rob the ck Manor. Probably figured they might not get another chance so might as well just take what could be theirst night to ''Bang it out''." Stefan said thosest three with a suggestive wiggling of his brows and a smirk on his handsome face. "People do that kind of stuff together in case they die?" Triss asked like the concept was so alien to her. Stefan nodded, "They do." "Oh," Triss said suddenly feeling like she might have missed an opportunity. Her eyes darted to Henry who was still smiling at Dana''s flushed face but she looked away quickly lest anyone caught on. Especially, Henry. The thing was, with his Perception at 15, Henry caught the look. Fleeting as it was. "Alright, that''s enough of that," Angus said while waving his hand about, "And no more talks of death. We''ll all be fine. Trust me." Angus led the way to the courtyard and then to the wagon of explosives which he pressed his hand against as he addressed the six Dionisio Gang members in front of him, "Taking it all will only slow us down. And for a distraction, we certainly won''t need it all. Fill up your saddlebags and let''s get going." Devon took more of the explosives than anyone else due to his horse beingrge and soon they were all lined in a formation and riding out of the Hadron Mansion''s grounds. Henry allowed himself one look behind him at the Mansion''s walls and he caught a glimpse of Yelena at the entrance with her hand raised in goodbye. He replied with a head nod that he knew she saw before he returned his sight forward and focused on the task at hand. - ??? Angus had the Gang riding as fast as they possibly could. The only pauses they took were to allow the horses to recover their Staminas before getting right back on the path. While Saint ret was the closest the town of New Freudein and its environs could ever hope to get to a City with high standing in the Valearen country, it was also very much removed from the Countryside. Angus led the Gang without much worry or care for towns like New Freudein and their Lawmen. He believed that, if they met up with any such blockades, they''d break through it easily. The thing was, there was a nervous energy gripping the Dionisio Gang members and it made them almost wish for confrontation. Just people they could deal with and shake off some of the ufortable thoughts that were creeping up on them. s, it was like trouble had decided to take a day off. The most exciting thing to happen was the sighting of a group riding across an intersecting path. Despite the distance between the Dionisio Gang members and the group of riders, Henry and the others could all see just how heavily armed the group was. With nothing official about the riders'' dressings and an air of malice and notoriety that surrounded them, there was no doubt what they were. "Bounty Hunters," Charles said with a frown. The others agreed and Henry had wondered what the riding group would think if they looked over; Would they guess they were Bounty Hunters as Charles had done to them or would they suspect they were the Dionisio Gang wanted all over the countryside? ''Either way, if they look over here, they''ll want to investigate,'' Henry thought with a hand going to one of his guns. The others were not paying attention to him but, in synch, they did the same. They even sported smiles at the opportunity presented to stretch out nervous muscles. "Hold on," Angus said with a hand held up in caution but even then he didn''t direct them to slow down. By the time the Dionisio Gang was at the intersection where they had spotted the riding group, the group had already ridden past and were riding so fast, that they were quickly dwindling in the distance. "No point looking for trouble if our paths don''t cross," Angus said and with many disappointed sighs, guns returned to holsters. "You know they were probably looking for us, right?" Charles said. "Not probably," Devon said in a deep voice, "Definitely." "Doesn''t matter," Angus said while shaking his head, "Save all that excitement for Saint ret." And that was that. The rest of the ride passed in silence and the asional arching of necks to spot any passerby Bounty Hunter they could let loose on. That behavior, however, stopped when they neared Saint ret''s environs because ording to Angus, the City was teeming with Special people. They rode carefully now. Trying not to draw too much attention to themselves and finally, when the Sun began to set, they arrived at the ''famed'' City. Chapter 85: Saint Claret "Whoa," Charles said first with his eyes wide and his mouth gaped open. Henry and the others agreed. The closer they got to Saint ret, the more awed they were by the sheer size. This was despite the fact that their minds had been ''prepared'' for what was toe after traveling a cobbled road for hundreds of kilometers already. The cobbled road led directly into the City like a special carpetid out for royalty. Saint ret had four such roads all leading into four ''entrances'' into the City; North, South, East, and West. The Gang was traveling through the Western path and it was wide enough for their six horses to ride side by side with room to spare. Their awed expression remained after they stepped into the City proper. However huge they already thought the City was, it seemed evenrger now that they were in it proper. The sun had set and nighttime wasing soon and still, the streets were busy. People were either on horseback just like Henry and the others or were being ferried about in Carriages. As they rode deeper into the City, the Gang caught sight of multipleplexes and business streets with stores and stalls with some even sporting banners to advertise magical products, and people ¡ªpeculiarly dressed people¡ª, approached those ''magical'' stalls with serious expressions on their faces. Henry could have sworn he saw one of these peculiarly dressed people with a broadsword slung across his back but he disappeared into a store too quickly for him to get a good look. "This is¡­" Triss started. "Incredible?" Stefan supplied. "¡­ much," Triss said toplete her sentence. Henry knew what she meant. There was something about being here, traveling Saint ret''s Streets that made them feel out of ce. Now, of course, there were people in the City dressed simrly to how they were dressed. People with a preference for guns rather than medieval weapons but even they seemed out of ce. Take, for example, the Uniformed men who patrolled the streets. They had guns by their sides, walked about in strict formations with uniformed marches, and were even looked at by denizens of the City with some level of respect and yet, did not seem to truly fit into the City''s Aesthetic. Like it was magical and they were¡ª not. "Hey, those men," Triss said by Henry''s side with a head gesture at the Uniformed men, "Don''t their uniforms look familiar?" Henry gave it some thought. So did the others as they had heard Triss'' words and almost at the same time, realization dawned in all of their eyes. "The Train," Henry said. The men patrolling the streets had on the same uniforms as the Uniformed men the Gang had fought and killed during the Train Job. "So Maude Aleric had the City Guards protect his property in transit instead of his Vykers?" Stefan said, "He must feel very stupid about it now." "To be fair, I doubt he expected it to get robbed," Angus said. Stefan let out a scoff, "It''s a valuable item. A magical item. There was always a chance someone was going to try to steal it. Seems like a massive oversight on his part. Not that I''mining. I don''t think Kirk would have been the only one to die if a few Vykers had been mixed into the security." "I think we''d have managed," Angus said with a smile. That was a lie. At the time of the Train Job, Angus'' Spellbinding had not gotten the boost in strength it now had. It was still weakened so Henry did not think they''d have survived the encounter if they had met Vykers. Henry looked into Angus''s face as it dawned on him how quickly things could have gone wrong that day. He wondered if Angus had known there wouldn''t be Vykers on the Train when he rallied the Gang for the job or did he arrogantly think they''d manage either way? That thought brought Henry''s mind to the task at hand. Angus was as confident now as he was back then but they had been lucky. What if they weren''t lucky a second time? The deeper they got into the City of Saint ret, therger the houses seemed to be until they were riding past entire districts of Mansions withpounds to match or even surpass that of the Hadron Mansion. It was clear that they were now in the upper-ss area of the City. The number of the uniformed City Guards had increased now and their patrol seemed even more intense while creating checkpoints to ensure not just anyone got into the Mansion Districts. Angus didn''t lead them into the Mansion district but rather around it toward an area that looked so segregated that it was clear, it was held at a higher standingpared to any of the Mansions they had passed so far. There was a squad of City Guards with a tight checkpoint to stop their progress but Angus''s eyes simply shed as he said in a clear, confident tone, "Let us through." The Guards, all six of them froze in ce and their eyes glowed purple for a few seconds like their entire psyche had been gripped by Angus'' Spellbinding. Killing them was certainly an option but to create amotion right now before they were at their target seemed unnecessary and even foolish. The Guards stepped aside and let the Gang through and as they rode in and got closer to it, their eyes were all directed forward at that massive segregated area of the highest standing within the City of Saint ret. There was only one ''building'' here and it had a size proportionate to at least three Hadron Mansions put together with a massivepound space to match. The building looked like an amalgamation of thousands of ck stones. Each stone seemed specially selected, hewn, and slotted into ce with a particr sense of care. The ck Manor. It stood powerfully and with a sense of regality that put any building Henry had ever seen, in his past life and now, to shame. Angus pulled out a sheet of paper where he had drawn ayout of the ck Manor ording to the information he had gotten Vyker Captain and he handed it to Charles. "Remember the n?" he asked Charles. Charles nodded as he took the poorly-drawn map, "Of course," he said. Angus nodded with a satisfied smile, "Good luck." Charles nodded, "You too," he said and stretched out a hand which Angus took and shook firmly. When their hands separated, Angus nudged his horse at the sides and started to trot away even closer to the ck Manor. "Henry," Triss called out and when Henry looked over at her, she bit her lower lip before she eventually managed to say, "Be careful." Henry gave her a wide smile, "I will," he told her and then added earnestly, "Stay safe." Triss answered with a nod right before Henry directed Nyx to follow Angus and leave the others behind. - - - ??? ¡ªThe ck Manor¡ª The sun was gone from the horizon now and the moon was starting to take its ce in the sky. It was nighttime and the Saint ret City Guards ¡ªa division of them responsible for the security of the ck Manor¡ª, were ready to spend the night in silence asionally interspersed with leisure conversations. But then, out of the blue¡­. *BANG!!!* ¡­. Came the sound of a massive explosion along a section of the wall not far from the Gate leading into the Manorpound. "What the hell was that?" Asked a Guard manning the Gates. The next second, a bundle of dynamite dropped right between him and hisrades. The fuse was already lit and it blew up in an explosive *BOOOMM!!!*. Leaping through the resulting mes, dust and blown-up bodies of the explosion were two horses being ridden by two Men. One much older than the other. A Guard who had only been tossed away by the force of the explosion rose off the ground. His expression went from surprise to fear and he opened his mouth to sound an rm. A muzzle sh red and a bullet stopped that thought in ce. "That would have been such a pointless rm. Who can your voice call over that the explosion hasn''t called already?" Angus asked like he was expecting the person he killed to answer. Speaking of which, Henry was focused on those the explosion had called over, "Here theye," he said. "Are you ready?" Angus asked. Henry''s hands went to his gunbelt and he pulled out his guns before cocking their hammers as he let out a sigh, "As ready as I''ll ever be." Chapter 86: Warlocks (1) With their guns in hand, Angus and Henry spiked the reins of their horses and galloped forward toward the group ofCity Guards that had trooped out of multiple corners of the ck Manor Compound with their guns in hand. "Who dares¡ª?" The one at the forefront started to say but was interrupted by a yell from Angus. "DROP YOIR GUNS!!!" Angus'' eyes shed a powerful shade of purple as his voice rolled out in probably the loudest volume Henry had ever heard it at. The Vinculum on his chest glowed hard through his shirt and pulsed with even more intense beats and for the first time ever, Angus Spellbinding wasn''t followed by an unseen force. The ripples of purple energy were visible. Henry saw as they avoided him and traveled toward the approaching men in arches that smacked them with an almost physical impact that froze them in ce. *tter* *tter* *tter* If he were to make a quick count, the City Guards who made their way over were at least twenty in number and all at once, dropped their weapons to the ground with the clear ringing sounds of multiple tters. Henry took immediate advantage of the enemy losing their weapons by pointing his two normal revolvers and firing his shots. One bullet- one kill. [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] ¡­ Angus joined in the killing and with the multiple bullets hitting theirrades without a weapon to defend themselves with, the City Guards turned tail and ran only to be chased after by the horses that hit and trampled them while the riders continued to pick them off one by one. This wasn''t a challenge. Not even when they had nned this job, had Angus deemed it important to wonder what to do if they met the average gun-wielding man. It hadn''te up because it had not been a bother. The bother, however, were the Vykers within the Mansion. ording to the Vyker Captain Angus had questioned, there were not many of them avable but even just five was cause for concern. But then, as Henry and Angus were gunning down thest of the City guards, therge doors of the Manor pushed open outward, and out of them stepped three men wearing robes and walking out with confident steps. "The absolute audacity," One of them said. "To dare storm the ck Manor," said the second. "And with just two of you too," said the third while shaking his head, "Pathetic." Angus paused and then the corner of his lips twitched as he said, "Warlocks." The moment he heard the word, Henry''s mind went to the Train Job and he remembered a magic wielder he had left the rest of the Gang to fight while he went after Mr. Grant for thepletion of his very first Sub-Quest. Henry called Magical energy to his eyes immediately and they glowed a faint blue as he scrutinised the three; [Activating ] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: ???] [Race: Human] [ss: Warlock] [Health: 200] [Mana: 260] [Strength: 15] [Agility: 20] [Stamina: 16] [Intelligence: 90] *[Remarks: Used to be part of a Quad but now only a member of a Trio. Rtively advanced in magical knowledge butcking in physical abilities. Kible but caution is advised.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: ???] [Race: Human] [ss: Warlock] [Health: 190] [Mana: 250] [Strength: 15] [Agility: 20] [Stamina: 16] [Intelligence: 80] *[Remarks: Used to be part of a Quad but now only a member of a Trio. Rtively advanced in magical knowledge butcking in physical abilities. Kible but caution is advised.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: ???] [Race: Human] [ss: Warlock] [Health: 180] [Mana: 240] [Strength: 15] [Agility: 20] [Stamina: 16] [Intelligence: 70] *[Remarks: Used to be part of a Quad but now only a member of a Trio. Rtively advanced in magical knowledge butcking in physical abilities. Kible but caution is advised.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [ss: Warlock A Magical ss that relies on the acquisition and understanding of Magical knowledge forbat and very little else. Lacks the versatility of a Wizard/Witch but not as restricted to Elemental magic like Mages.] As usual, because Henry didn''t know the names of the three Warlocks, his skill hadn''t supplied it. A part of his mind wondered if this was a weakness of the Skill that he mightter ovee. For him to know if that was the case, Henry knew he''d have to pay more attention to his Perception Stat which the skill scaled off of. All in all, Henry''s attention was mostly on the Warlocks'' Intelligence Stats which were their most increased stat and clearly the most important to them. Yet again, his mind went on a tangent about how insanelycking they werepared to Yelena but he brought his mind back to focus quickly enough. Meanwhile, while Henry was investigating the enemy with , Angus was pursing his lips at this development and then he tossed all worries to the wind. If anything, he was quickly determined to get rid of this bunch before the expected arrival of Vykers. "I fought one of you, you know," Angus said calmly as he raised his gun, "Killed him too." Angus fired but his bullet struck a shield conjured up by his target who, like the other two, was frowning deeply at Angus'' revtion. "Master''s item," the Warlock said from behind his conjured shield, "You stole it. You have it." The Vinculum''s glow had lessened now that Angus wasn''t making use of it to amplify his Spellbinding so it wasn''t all that visible behind Angus'' shirt but with his revtion, they realized Angus and Henry were not just average fools who dared try to storm the ck Manor. They were something even more distasteful: They were the elusive thieves their Master had lost multiple Vykers to. The three Warlocks paid particr attention to the magical energy Angus was giving off. They detected the mutated aura of a Vyker but realized it wasn''t as simple as just that. There was a different aura that seemed to supersede the Vyker aura. Angus smiled, "Put down your shield." The eyes of the shielded Warlock widened as Angus''mand gripped him and he brought down his shield. Angus cocked his revolver in that very second and fired at the Warlock only for his bullet to be blocked by a shield conjured by the second Warlock. At the same time, Henry twisted his wrist and exchanged his gold and bronze painted revolver for ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and fired an shot at the third Warlock. With incredible reaction speed, the Warlock erected a shield to defend against Henry''s shot only for his eyes to widen in shock as the bullet broke through his shield and struck him in the shoulder. Henry smiled at his ''sessful'' shot, expecting the Warlock to start sporting signs of poisoning as had been the case when his shot pierced through any me Vyker''s me field before now. That didn''t happen. The Warlock bled and his face was wrinkled in pain but it seemed, all thebustive acidic goodness/evilness the ''The Hydra''s Sting''s'' shot was capable of was gone the moment it made contact with that shield. Chapter 87: Warlocks (2) Henry''s surprisested two seconds at most and he pointed his gun to take advantage of the destroyed shield andnd a shot to kill his target. s, before he could, the second Warlock who had shielded his fellow from Angus formed a fewplex seals and released a turbulent flow of Mana that seemed to pull all air around closer before discharging it in a forceful curtain that tossed Henry, Angus, and their horses many feet away. "Hmph!"Henry let out as he was tossed off Nyx''s back and hit the ground with a thud while Nyx struck the side of her head against the ground even further away and let out a pained *neigh* along with a groan that only Henry heard through their telepathy. As he rose off the ground, the hairs on Henry''s body rose and he knew to roll away from where he was which he managed to do just before a powerful tendril attack hit that spot with such force, that it cracked the cobbled stoned ground. More crackling tendrils were tossed at Henry and he continued to roll to dodge them all before eventually getting up to his feet to make a much more powerful leap to put even more space between the spot his attacker was targeting and himself. While Henry was in the air and before he hit the ground again, he pointed ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and fired an shot. It was like the Warlock he was targeting had expected his attack as a shield was not only conjured but also tossed at the bullet. The bullet broke through the shield but the Warlock had a second one conjured. With the bullet''s magic already greatly diminished orpletely eradicated, it was no more than another bullet. Or so the Warlock thought. The bullet broke through the second shield with its travelling speed greatly diminished. The Warlock might have even been able to dodge it, slow as it now was, but he had underestimated the bullet''s prating power so it struck him in the side. "Ngh!" The Warlock let out a groan with his eyes widened, "How¡ª?" He recognized that gun. It had belonged to a Captain of the City Guard who was very close to his Master, Maude Aleric, because he possessed Mana which was a requirement to even wield the gun. The Warlock had had that gun tested against his shields and he knew, even at full power, its acidic properties could be eradicated by presenting it with a shield to pierce through. ''I was caught by surprise by the first shot. I didn''t expect him to have that gun. But the second time¡ª I had two shields up! How the hell were they not enough?!'' The Warlock asked with his eyes on Henry and his head cocked to the side with curiosity. Of course, what the Warlock did not know was that, ever since Henry took ''The Hydra''s Sting'' from its previous wielder, Mr. Grant, the gun had been touched by its creator who then provided Henry with a so-far steady supply of bullets specifically meant to be loaded into the Weapon. The ''Hydra''s Tongue'' bullets are imbued with Mana themselves which puts them very well above ''normal bullets''. Hell, if ''The Hydra''s Sting'' didn''t require Mana for every single shot, Henry was sure just shooting the gun as-is would do damage to those shielded with Magic like the Feral Meister Vykers and might even still destroy the Warlock''s shield or at the very least crack it. But we digress. The Warlock spent less than five seconds contemting his shock but that was more than enough time for Henry to aim and fire a third shot with ''The Hydra''s Tongue''. Right before the bullet hit, a Magical circle ¡ªwith Arcane symbols etched within its two rings¡ª, appeared beneath the Warlock''s feet and moved him out of the way just in time to avoid the shot by a few inches at best after which he retaliated with another barrage of Tendrils. This time, the Warlock sent the barrage upward in an expert technique that smashed them all together before raining down in a curtain that seemed to trap Henry in the middle with no way out. It seemed like no matter how or where he moved, he was going to get hit. [Activating ] At the cost of five Mana Points, time stopped around Henry and he let his Perception spread. Catching a ''glimpse'' of Angus facing off against two Warlocks but more importantly, taking note of where the tendrils were going to strike. In that tight-knit of raining down tendrils of dark crackling energy, Henry found a few spots he could move his body into and avoid the worst of it. So he picked one of those spots and dedicated thest few seconds he had with to order his body to move there. As it usually was, when time resumed, Henry''s body reacted to his order like an stic band snapping back into ce and he leaped into a very small spot that a crackling tendril was not raining directly at. *KRAKA- BANG!!!* The tendrils struck the ground as one in an intense explosive bang that sent ripples of their crackling energy all over. A good bit of the wayward energy struck Henry and sent him flying many feet away with a pained groan. [You have lost 10 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 90/100] Even as his body asionally spasmed as the energy wracked through him, Henry was grateful. ''Would have been much worse if I didn''t find that space to leap into,'' he thought with a frown as he got back to his feet, ''Thank you .'' Henry looked up. There was a lot more distance between him and the Warlock now and he could tell that was exactly how the Warlock liked it. ''Well, we can''t let you have what you want, now can we?'' With his guns still held tight in his hands, Henry took a running stance and watched the Warlock conjure up more tendrils. It was like someone was counting down except they only counted once before yelling ''Go'' and Henry started running as the Warlock started tossing tendril after tendril. Henry kept his eyes and his active Perception on the Warlock and his motions. He didn''t work onplex calctions in his head but he could guess from the other times the tendrils had been tossed at him just how long it took for them to travel and strike. Reacting to the Warlock''s motions, he could perform a rough count and dodge ordingly. There was a chance he made an error and leaped into the line of fire but with multiple angles for the attacks to strike and with them beingunched one at a time, that chance was so low that Henry decided it was worth the risk. It beat standing far away and getting pushed farther and farther back until his aim with ''The Hydra''s Sting'' was renderedpletely useless. *Kraka- Bang!* *Kraka- Bang!* *Kraka- Bang!* After dodging three tendril shots, Henry was within a good range, and fired two shots of normal bullets to ''test the waters''. Not willing to risk it, the Warlock''s magic circle appeared at his feet and moved him out of the way¡ª Just as Henry had expected. With his face screwed up in intense focus, Henry activated , and when time stopped, he took note of where the Warlock was moving toward and directed his body to shoot there once time resumed. The Warlock, delighted to have avoided the enemy''s attack, still had his hands raised to keep sending tendrils, when he saw a green bullet striking his hurriedly conjured shield and breaking through it before striking the second shield he had put in ce ''just in case'' and shattering it as well. This time though, the Warlock was able to dodge the slowed-down bullet and avoid a third bullet hitting his body. With his brows furrowed in annoyance and curiosity at how Henry had managed to shoot at him, the Warlockpleted his already-started tendril conjuring and prepared tounch it. At the same time, Henry also pointed his gold and bronze painted gun, and prepared to take advantage of his opponent''s nowck of defense. *Kraka¡ª!* *¡ª Bang!* Aunched Tendril. A fired bullet. Both hit their targets. Chapter 88: The Bond-Maker ??? Angus hit the ground and the very next second, a magic circle appeared above him, and out of it descended a powerful force of forceful wind aiming to m and crush him into the ground. He rolled out of the way so fast, he seemed to blur. Next came what looked like dark spears condescended with Mana and crackled ever so slightly with energy simr to the Arcane tendrils but not quite the same. Believing himself to be faster on his feetpared to down on the ground, Angus got to his feet and began to perform a kind of dance that saw the spears sail right past him to the astonishment of the Warlocks attacking him. "That''s about enough of that, don''t you think?" Angus asked with a confident smile. It seemed like an innocent attempt at a conversation and yet, his Spellbinding flowed from him in a visible arch that hit the Warlocks and locked them in ce as their faces twisted in frustration and annoyance. "That magic," one of the two Warlocks ¡ªThe one who had now suffered Angus'' Spellbinding twice¡ª, managed to say as he and hisrade rapidly circted the Mana in their bodies to get rid of the enemy''s hold on them. "And put down those shields too," Angus added and to the two Warlocks, it seemed like he had renewed his Spellbinding hold on them because, even though they were already regaining control of their bodies, they lost control again. The shields went down and Angus pointed his gun and fired. At the very same time, one of the Warlocks decided to let go of the idea of using Mana to force his body to obey and instead discharged it in a forceful output that pushed his body to the side to m into hisrade and knock them both out of the way of Angus'' shots. It wasn''t a perfect dodge attempt and a bullet still struck one of them in the shoulder but they had managed to avoid the worst of it. Plus, the contact between their bodies seemed to knock off the enemy''s hold on them. Angus didn''t watch with disappointment. He didn''t think this was a bad oue. He could have used his Spellbinding to have the two attack each other striking each other at least once before they regained their senses. But that could kill them and Angus didn''t want that. He came here prepared to fight Vykers and the Warlocks had proven a change in expectations but Angus believed he could still work with this. No, he KNEW he could still work with this. He had a n. The Warlocks stood back up, re-conjured their shields, and started to prepare their attack spells while taking precautions to ensure all words that hit their ears from that moment on would be filtered for the Spellbinding Magic they had fallen victim to multiple times already. But Angus didn''t use his Spellbinding against them. He just started running at them with a confident smile on his face. The eyes of the two Warlocks widened when Angus'' running speed looked too fast for their eyes to follow. Among their Master''s Vykers, there were very few capable of such speed and so with the slightest bit of panic and an inability to properly aim at an enemy whose speed their eyes could barely capture, the Warlockspleted their attack spells andunched them. One sent his spears in all manner of angles while the other created a wide barrier of forceful wind and released it with one of his most powerful disys of Mana discharges ever. The goal was to leave very little room for Angus to survive. s, their disappointment started when there were no sounds of any of the crackling spears hitting a human body as they sailed away and mmed into the ground far behind with loud *Bang!* sounds. The forceful barrier of wind backed by mana discharge, however, definitely hit something. Unfortunately for them, what it hit refused to be pushed back. With eyes screwed in focus, Angus pushed hard against the forceful field. The winds that made up the field moved violently andshed at his clothes, ripping them in certain areas and cutting his skin enough to draw blood but they were mere scratches so he easily endured. The Warlock watched Angus struggle against his forceful wind barrier and his lips twitched in the sheer absurdity of Angus'' attempted physicality. "To try resisting my barrier¡­ What a Monster!" the Warlock mumbled and then smiled as he added in a gloating tone, "But not very smart." However, the very next second, that smile froze on his face when Angus finally broke through. "How¡ª?" The Warlock asked in shock. This level of physical strength was rare even among his Master''s Feral Meisters even after they had shifted into their Beastly forms. To think a Vyker whose special ability was just Spellbinding was this physically capable was mind-boggling. ''Could Master''s item be empowering him somehow?'' The moment he made it past the forceful wind barrier, Angus regained his running speed that had been slowed and in seconds, he arrived in front of the Warlock responsible for that spell and struck out a powerful punch. *BAM!* The punch hit the Warlock''s shield but its shockwave traveled past the shield and blew the Warlock''s hair back. But even as his eyes widened in shock and a cold sweat dripped down the side of his face in admiration of Angus'' strength, the Warlock smiled. All that physicality was useless against his shield. The second Warlock had his hands already forming more seals to conjure up his crackling Spears and strike at Angus now that he was close and might find it difficult to dodge. Angus looked through the semi-transparent shield into the face of the Warlock and smirked before he opened his mouth and let out a yell, "AHH!!!" Angus'' purple eyes shed and the Vinculum on his chest pulsed with a powerful intensity as his voice traveled in visible arches of sound waves that made their way through the Warlock''s shield and struck his ears over and over in an ever-powerful constant stream of Spellbinding force. The arches broke past the Mana filter in the Warlock''s ears but they carried nomand. They were just the product of a yell that debilitated the Warlock''s entire psyche and broke through every mental defense in ce against Angus'' Spellbinding. The yell didn''t spare the second Warlock either. It interrupted his casting attempt and the crackling Spears that were starting to take form fizzled into Mana that blew away in the air while the Warlock raised his hands and pressed them against his ears as a loud ringing yed over and over in his head. With the Warlock he had punched at now incapable of keeping his shield up, it melted away but Angus didn''t attempt another punch. He just spoke a simplemand, "Kneel." *Thud!* *Thud!* When Angus spoke, hismand hit two sets of ears simultaneously and two sets of kneels hit the Manor Compound''s cobbled stone floor. Hands pressed against ears were useless in keeping him out and the loud ringing didn''t drown out his voice either. Angus ced his hands on the heads of the two Warlocks and the Vinculum glowed even brighter against his chest as ripples of purple energy flowed through his hands into their heads and through their whole being. He had done something simr once before to the Vyker Captain but because of an already existing life-long bond in ce between that Vyker and his creator, the best Angus could manage to produce was a powerless imbecile who could answer his questions. The Warlocks were free of thatplication. Angus took control of their minds and bodies and subjugated them to his will through the Vinculum. Creating a bond to rival the one between a Creator and their Vykers. Chapter 89: Something’s Off ??? The violent energy of the Warlock''s Arcane tendrils struck Henry and he was frozen in pace with his back arched and his face turned up toward the night sky. His mouth was opened in a scream that was drowned out by the sounds of the crackling violent energy still visible around him and wracking through him. "Argh!" The thing was, even as Henry endured the pain and let out his yell, he breathed a mental sigh of relief that he could survive this. Forced to his knees, Henry bowed his head as the energy finally started to fizzle out of him. Leaving behind only the asional spasm due to residual dark energy like the aftereffects of an electrocution. [You have lost 80 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 10/100] "So powerful," Henry mumbled knowing he had only his increased Hit Points to thank for surviving the attack. A Warlock''s spell primarily scales on Intelligence and with a 70 in Intelligence, an 80 damage was likely all the Warlock could manage with a single tendril attack. In a sense, he had truly given it his all. Henry had done the same. When he fired, he made sure it was a shot his target would not survive and now that he had finally managed to stop the energy causing him to spasm, he looked up and saw the Warlock with a hand over his heart. "You¡ª" the Warlock said but that single word caused the blood that had pooled inside his body to spew out in a massive gush but even then, the look in his eyes wasn''t just of pain. It was anger too. He had so many questions and all of them were about how Henry could have survived his attack after getting so clearly hit by it. And How Henry could look like he was now barely suffering the spell''s aftereffects? ''How? How? How?'' The Warlock kept asking over and over in his head because he couldn''t even properlypose his questions in his head. *Thud* His knees hit the ground soon enough and with a final hateful look at his killer, he fell forward, face first and his blood pooled around him in a massive irregr red circle. [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] [You have defeated a Warlock for the first time] [You have received a Bonus of 200 Exp] As Henry swiped the notifications aside, he pulled a Healing potion from his Inventory and raised it to his lips only to pause when he heard the clopping of hooves from behind. He already knew who it was but he arched his neck around to look at Nyx who was trotting over with her head low. "Hey," he called to her with a smile. Nyx let out a snort and scratched the ground with one of her hooves, "-I- I hit the ground wrong.-" she said and looked sheepish that her head had hit the ground so hard that she had gotten stunned and was essentially out of the fight and unable to provide him with any aid. "It''s fine," Henry said with his eyes on a tab that was now floating above the horse''s head; [Hit Points: 40/50] The Wind barrier that had sent Nyx and Angus''s horse flying many meters away along with the head m against the ground had cost Nyx 10 Hit Points but it was a level of damage she could still shrug off. It was then, looking at the tab above her head, that Henry realized he had never once given Nyx a Healing Potion to drink and had no idea how it would affect her. ''I suppose it can''t kill her,'' he thought with a shrug before pulling out one of thest few bottles of the 20 Hit Points recovering Healing Potions he still had and he held it out to Nyx. "Here," he said. Nyx sniffed the cork curiously before grabbing it between her teeth to pull it off to sniff the contents of the bottle. "-This is that thing you drink, isn''t it?-" She asked. "It is," Henry said. Nyx let out a breath before grabbing the bottle between her teeth. She raised her head so the bottle turned upside down and the potion flowed down her throat and gave her a feeling of immediate rejuvenation. [Nyx has recovered 10 Hit Points] [Nyx''s Hit Points: 50/50] "-That''s good-" Nyx said with delight, "-I like it!-" "I''m just d it didn''t kill you," Henry said and watched as Nyx''s eyes widened, "-It could have killed me?-" she asked. "A joke," Henry said with a chuckle, "Rx." He raised the improved Healing Potion he had bought from Elminster to his lips and finally drank it. [You have recovered 60 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 70/100] As the feeling of healing rejuvenation spread through him, Henry finally nced over to see what Angus was up to. His brows furrowed in confusion when he saw Angus'' hands on the heads of the two Warlocks as he passed a strange purple energy into their bodies and they just submissively took it. Henry stepped closer and called out, "Angus?" Angus looked to the side at Henry, his purple eyes glowing more brightly than Henry had ever seen them glow, "Hey, Henry," he said and looked over at the body of the third Warlock surrounded by a pool of blood, "I knew you could defeat him. I wish you didn''t leave him so dead, though." "I didn''t really have a choice," Henry said. "There''s always a choice, Henry," Angus said gently, "But I don''t fault you. You had no way of knowing what I was nning. Hell, even I didn''t know until a few minutes ago." "Angus, what are you doing?" Henry asked with his attention barely on Angus'' words and more on the kneeling Warlocks. Angus simply smiled and continued his Subjugating process with Henry as a spectator. When Angus went after the Vinculum, he had done it to be free of his bond to his creator but as he allowed himself to delve into the item''s ''sense of self'' he understood that it was capable of even more than that. The eyes of the two Warlocks became a dull purple as Angus finally took his hands off their heads and took a step back to observe his handiwork. Almost at the exact same time, a loud voice came from within the Manor, "Oi! How useless can you fuckers be?" Henry raised his head and looked through the open doors the Warlocks had walked out of just minutes before. Behind those doors was a massive Hall that diverged into many different paths and corridors that led deeper into Manor but the bulk of those paths were all blocked by the angles of the door and multiple different walls. Anyway, within that hall now stood a man who had his hands in his pockets as he shook his head at the two Kneeling Warlocks. He saw them as weakened and subdued by the enemy and simply found that shameful. The man chuckled, "After today, if you dare im to hold more importance to my Lord, I swear by the gods, I will smite you." ''A Vyker,'' Henry thought. He didn''t even need to know. He could just tell. Others had arrived now but Henry''s attention was on the first and he watched as the man took a hand out of his pocket and held it out in front of him before conjuring a fireball above his palm. A secondter, as the energy within the fireball red and burned even hotter, the Vyker took a pitching stance, leaned way back, and then tossed the fireball at an incredibly blurring speed. The target was Angus and since he just stood in ce without any attempt to defend himself, the fireball would have surely hit. But then, a shield, illuminated by a strange purple energy, shimmered into appearance and absorbed the fireball attack with no more than a ripple across its surface. The kneeling Warlocks stood slowly to their feet and turned around to face the one who had tossed a fireball at their Master. The Vyker took a step back and his smile drooped off his face as he realized something was off and as his mind worked to figure out what it was¡­ ¡­ The subjugated Warlocks attacked. Chapter 90: ~Hive Mind~ "You''re controlling them?" Henry asked Angus as the two Warlocks began casting spells tinged with the same purple energy inside the Vinculum. "Yes, Henry," Angus said, "Yes, I am. And it feels incredible." Angus closed his eyes and spread his arms while he directed his face toward the night sky as the Vinculum on his chest glowed a brighter shade of purple and let out a ravenous aura. It delighted in the taste of two minds subjugated to its will and it craved for more. At that moment, Angus could feel himself bing a part of something more. He went from being a person harnessing the abilities of a magical Item to bing its host and quickly edging closer to bing a vessel for the item to do with as it pleased. Angus wondered if there was going to be a line drawn somewhere or if he was just going to be helplessly assimted into the Item until hepletely lost himself. But then, he felt the tentacles of the item dig even deeper into his body and grip harder against his insides as their bond solidified and all that thought was gone. He just reveled in the power that swelled within him and flowed intensely through him. His mind swelled and he found himself feeling capable of much more than he had ever been able to do. A Vyker managed to break past the two Warlocks then. "Don''t get why those two are acting weird but I''m willing to bet it has to do with you!" The Vyker yelled with his arm growingrger and scaled in a level of Feral Meister Mutation Henry had never seen until now. Henry pulled out his gun but he knew he was going to be toote. The attack was going to hit. The thing was, Henry had seen Angus in action. He had seen his Stats and knew the Gang Leader was very capable and might have dodged theing attack if he had not been standing still with his arms spread and an almost goofy smile on his face. Henry made to call out but the attack was already inches away from Angus'' stagnant body. And then¡­ *Bam!* The blow hit a shield. Henry blinked and looked over at the two Warlocks. They were fending off four Vykers at the moment and did not look capable of multitasking. ''It''s not them,'' Henry realized and his eyes returned to Angus whose eyes were still closed. The scaled Vyker looked stunned but recovered quickly and drew back his fist before his body moved so fast that he blurred as he twisted away and struck at a kick to Angus'' side only to be stopped again by the shield that rippled at the impact. "I''ve faced shields before," The Vyker said confidently, "I''ll break it." The Vyker struck out a flurry of blows after that. Each was packed with so much force that theirbined impact was a powerful wind that blew against Henry who was watching the development with wide eyes. And then¡­ *Crack!* ¡­ The Shield splintered and then shattered like ss. Delighted to have seeded, the Vyker made to punch at Angus but a wind barrier suddenly appeared and mmed him away. *Bam!* "Hmph!" The Vyker said as he went flying and hit the ground and started to roll for a few feet. Angus finally opened his purple eyes and with an impassive expression, he conjured a spear cracking with dark energy and tossed it. The Vyker had just managed to stop his roll and get to his feet when the spear came charging at him. Unable to dodge it, the Spear tip struck him, broke through his protective scales, and tore into his ribs as it released powerful crackling energy that forced him to his knees. "Arrgghh!" The Vyker yelled in pain. Angus conjured a second spear and held it tight in his hand as he walked toward the downed Vyker. ''What the hell is this?'' Henry asked in his head, ''Since when could he wield Magic like that?'' Henry was just about to call magical energy to his eyes and activate to investigate this anomaly when his ever-spread Perception warned him of an iing attack. Yet another Vyker had broken past the Warlocks. The Vyker''s special ability was fire but unlike many of the others he shared this ability with among Maude Aleric''s Vykers, he used his mes in closebat battles. Simr to the Vyker named Urn who Henry had killed many weeks ago. Anyway, a ming kick came striking at Henry who couldn''t react fast enough to raise his gun and fire an intercepting shot. But just then, right before the kick made contact, a loud whinnying sounded out as Nyx leaped forward and mmed her head against the Vyker''s leg, sending him spiraling many feet away where he mmed into the Manor''s ck-stoned wall. "-I''ve got this!-" Nyx told Henry and galloped toward the prone Vyker aiming to finish the job. Henry watched the Vyker get back to his feet and take on a fighting stance. He held out a palm with a fist drawn back. Both ming with fire conjured with magic. When Nyx arrived, barreling fast and looking like shecked any real control, the Vyker waited and at thest second, his feet red with fire, boosting his speed and allowing him to leap to the side. He believed Nyx would careen and m her head against the wall and prepared to deliver two quick ming strikes against her side. Unfortunately for him, Nyx could tell what he intended. After all, it wasn''t the first time an enemy tried to use her speed to take advantage. Thest time it happened, Henry had told her to pivot and Nyx remembered those instructions. She stopped short with her front hooves and with them for bnce, she swung her entire backside until it mmed into the Vyker and sent him sliding away. Feet still burning with his magical fire, the Vyker managed to remain standing, leaving two long scorch marks on the ground but when he raised his head toward Nyx, all he saw was a dark shadow barreling toward him. It traveled too fast for him to react and by the time the shadow became clearer to see, two hooves were striking at the Vyker''s chest and hit with two consecutive hits¡­ *Bam!* *Bam!* *Crack!* ¡­ That not only sent the Vyker flying for the second time in this altercation but also fractured his sternum so violently that he spat out blood. Eyes stinging, a frail of blood running down the corners of his lips, the Vyker hurried to recover but Nyx wasn''t letting up and was back on him with more hoof strikes he struggled to react to thanks to her skill . Meanwhile, Henry turned his attention back to Angus; [Activating ] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Angus Dionisio] [Race: ~Hybrid~ (Vyker)] [ss: ~Hive King~, Spellbinder] [Job: Gang Leader, Bond-Breaker/Maker] [Health: (300) ~400~] [Mana: (400) ~500~] [Strength: (80) ~90~] [Agility: (60) ~70~] [Stamina: (80) ~90~] *[Remarks: A Vyker who has lost his Creator but has gained new life thanks to a powerful Magical Item called ''The Vinculum''. He has stepped back onto the path of Evolution and has embraced further assimtion with the item, granting him increased physical and magical might as well as newfound abilities.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry had many questions after looking through that Stat screen so he started tapping on tabs to open up descriptive windows; [Race: ~Hybrid~ One who has be one with the magical item ''Vinculum''. No longer quite Man or Item but a part of a collective. A part of something more.] [ss: ~Hive King~ The Nexus of a growing hive. Grants the Unique Skill ''~Hive-Mind~''] [Unique Skill: ~Hive Mind~ A skill that Connects all members of the Hive, bolstering their abilities while in turn granting the ~Hive King~ all the abilities and knowledge they possess to wield and use as he sees fit.] Henry looked from the descriptive windows to Angus who was now in front of the injured Vyker holding a crackling dark spear he had conjured with magic he only had ess to through the ~Hive Mind~. The Vyker made to move but Angus raised his free hand and a wind barrier formed and mmed the Vyker t against the ground. Leaving him prone to be stabbed through the heart with the Dark crackling spear. Chapter 91: Lord Of The Black Manor (1) ??? ¡ªWithin The ck Manor¡ª The assault by the unknown men had been going on for quite a while already. After the City Guards outside the Manor stormed the enemy and lost their lives, the Warlocks in their wisdom cautioned the ones within to remain inside while they went outside to deal with the fools that dared strike their Master''s home. They did not look to be seeding. "I have to let him know," A Man said in a hurried voice as he ran down a spiraling staircase that led down into a deep recess of the ck Manor. The room was soundproofed to allow its inhabitants the utmost privacy but the sound of a rapt knock against the door could still make it through. The man waited a few seconds after knocking. He knew he would not be able to hear even if the one inside called to let him in or ordered him to stay outside but there was one surefire way of knowing he had been granted entry. *Click* The sound was crisp in the silence of the Manor''s recess and soon after, the door swung inward. Behind the door was arge room and in the center was arge Magic circle drawn with materials that shimmered and gave off the faint scent of magic. Within the circle sat a man cross-legged with a scroll open in hisp. The man who knocked and sought entry hurried into the room as respectfully as he could and gave a low bow, "My Lord¡ª" he started to say. "I know," Maude said with a sigh. "One of my Vykers has fallen." "Um, my Lord," the Man said and shifted from foot to foot, "I regret to say but one of your Warlocks fell too." Maude paused, "How many are the enemies?" He eventually asked. "Two, My Lord." "And what about the rest of my¡ª Prot¨¦g¨¦es?" Maude asked and struggled to say the word ''Prot¨¦g¨¦e'' like he didn''t think the weakling who died deserved that title. "It''s¡ª It''s a strange thing my Lord. From what I observed before hurrying here, they seem to have allied with the enemy," the Man said. "That''s impossible," Maude said, shaking his head, "I picked them myself. Nurtured their talents. They can''t have¡ª" And then his eyes widened slightly in realization and he was suddenly on his feet. "What did you notice about the enemy?" Maude asked. "One of them has Mr. Grant''s gun, I think. The other one, older looking man, has strange purple eyes and his chest seems to glow¡ª" "It''s him!" Maude interrupted as he turned around and with a swish of his robe, he was walking past the man, heading up the spiraling stairs and out of the Manor''s recess. ??? ¡ªOutside the ck Manor¡ª Henry looked away from Angus who drove his Spear through a Vyker''s heart, killing him, and looked instead at Nyx. She had her Vyker opponent''s back on the ground as she began to trample him over and over, cracking multiple of his ribs, causing them to splinter and stab into his organs, filling his insides with blood, and even then, she did not relent. The Vyker let out a st of me that achieved two things; It red powerfully at Nyx and caused her to skitter and back away and also pushed him out of the range of her tramples. s, that was such ast-ditch attempt at survival that it sapped whatever bit of Mana the Vyker still had. Plus, while his mes licked at Nyx''s body, she moved fast enough to avoid the worst of it which meant she was very much still healthy and all the more pissed. Her next hoof strike was at the Vyker''s head. Weak from all the stomps he had suffered already andcking the energy to attempt a dodge or even raise any body part on defense, Nyx''s hooves make contact with a hard *Konk* sound. The Vyker''s skull was not only dented but was knocked back so hard that it snapped his neck with a sickening *Crack* sound. With his head lolling from side to side on a neck that could no longer hold it up, the Vyker hit the ground with a thud as his breathing finally stopped. Nyx raised herself on her hind legs and kicked out her front limbs as she let out a peal of gant whinnies while Henry received notifications that he had a strong feeling the horse could hear too. [Nyx has made a Kill] [Nyx has received 150 Exp] [Nyx has Leveled Up] [Nyx is now Level 2] [Nyx''s Hit Point Maximum increased to 65] [Nyx''s Mana is now 75] [Strength: 35 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 40] [Speed: 60 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 70] [Stamina: 30 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 35] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Nyx] [Creature: Shadow Mare] [Breed: Veren Night-Mare] [Level 2 (85/750 Exp)]* [Hit Points: 65/65] [Mana: 75] [Strength: 40] [Speed: 70] [Stamina: 35] [Skills: {Shadow Dash Lv.1}]* ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry''s lips twitched. All his level-ups so far and she remained ahead despite leveling up once. ''Seems like an unfair advantage thing going on there,'' he thought with a smile while Nyx rejoiced in her increased physical Stats and the increased Mana reserves within her Shadow heart. Henry was allowing himself a brief moment of levity when he heard a cry of pain that caused him to look up just in time to watch a Vyker fall due to abined effort of the two Warlocks while the remaining two Vykers looked like they had seen far better days. Things only got worse for the Vykers when Angus joined and started fighting in tandem with the two Warlocks he had subjugated with a uniformity that seemed very unnatural especially since they had known each other a few hours at best. And then¡­ *BOOOMMM!!!* Many meters away from where they were, a massive explosion sounded and sted an entire section of the ck Manor apart. Henry''s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden explosion and then he smiled. He knew what it meant. It was both a signal as well as the first part of the getaway n that the entire gang had agreed to. He and Angus had done it. They had pulled attention to themselves long enough for the others to sneak into the Manor and scour around for loot they could get away with. The mouths of the two Vykers still alive were open in shock at the Explosion. The Warlocks didn''t care and just continued to fight. Angus, however, understood just as Henry did and a smile yed at the corner of his lips. A look of satisfaction broke through the impassive visage he had maintained so far. "Angus," Henry called to him, "They did it. WE did it." Angus looked at him and nodded, "Yes, we did," he said with an almost nk look in his eyes. "Well, what are you still standing around for, let''s go!" Henry said as he grabbed Nyx''s reins like he was ready to get into her saddle and gallop away. The Manor job was done. If he got away now, he''d get his 1500 Exp Quest Completion reward. Plus, a share of the loot awaited him and would prove vital for the journey toe. [You have received a Sub Quest] [Survive the Wrath of the Lord of the ck Manor. Reward: 500 Exp] Henry knew, that for that notification to have arrived, the subject of the Sub Quest was on its way. "Angus!" He called in a loud voice, "We need to leave. Now!" Angus remained in ce with a smile on his face, "He''sing," he said in a low voice, and then in a louder, booming voice, he called out, "How hard have you tried to get it back? Come and take it if you can!" A powerful force of Mana blew out of the Manor''s open doors. It blew so violently that the doors shook on their hinges. A figure stepped out, coated thickly in an aura that stung Henry''s skin like needles stabbing him and leaving him in a constant state of difort, "The galls to call out to me," Maude Aleric, Lord of the ck Manor, said slowly, "Angus Dionisio, was it? You will not be leaving here alive, I assure you!" Chapter 92: Lord Of The Black Manor (2) The words were not meant for Henry but they hit his ears and sent chills all over his body. Henry knew this man was on an entirely different level to the Vykers and Warlocks he had ever faced before and, he found himself taking a few cautious steps back as his grip on his gun tightened. s, it appeared his action caught the eyes of Maude Aleric who looked at him and then nced at ''The Hydra''s Sting'' before looking away and back to Angus. ''Shit, this is bad!'' Henry thought with his teeth clenched. The fact that Maude Aleric had shown up was not why Henry was worried. Angus had mentioned that this was a possibility when they all nned this job. They would have been foolish to not think, at some point, they''d so much get on the nerves of the Master of the house that he''d show up. The thing was, they had a n for that. Well, a contingency that can barely count as a n but gives them a window of escape; The Explosives. Henry released Nyx''s reins and took another step back to ce his hand against her saddle bags and felt a couple of dynamites he still had stashed within. ''Angus should have more,'' Henry thought and looked around searching for Angus'' horse. He saw the poor thing very close to the entrance of the Manor. It had hit the ground as hard as Nyx and, not being a magical beast and boasting her level of stamina, the fall had impacted it more. When it shook off the pain, it just stayed away from the fight. A smart decision. What Angus should have done right then was call the horse over, grab his explosives, light them up, and start tossing them like crazy to give them at least a small window of escape. s, Angus made no such moves. He just kept Maude Aleric''s stare with a smile, "Kill me?" He asked and then let out a cackle as his Mana poured out of him in a purple haze, "I''d like to see you try." The subjugated Warlocks moved away from the Vykers they were beating down and stood in front of Angus with their hands stretched as a shield, illuminated by the Vinculum''s purple energy, shimmered into appearance in defense of their ~Hive King~. Maude nced at the Warlocks. His eyes went from their dull purple eyes to the Vinculum on Angus'' chest and his pursed lips tightened before he eventually said, "I underestimated you. I was sure you wouldn''t be able to get into my Locked chest¡ª" "Because of a simple Magic lock?" Angus asked and threw back his head to let out a peal ofughter, "Please! The codex was easy to crack." Maude Aleric''s grey eyes red at Angus'' interruption but he continued, "I was wrong. I thought you wouldn''t be able to im the item and make use of its powers but here you are assimted with it enough to be creating Minions. I''m almost impressed. You know, I had you investigated. After losing seven Vykers, I just had to know who was backing you. How could you have so many resources to prove to be such a thorn in my side? So far, I''ve learned of no backing but I have learned about your Creator¡­" Angus'' smile slipped a bit now and the gloating look in his eyes mellowed slightly but he said nothing. Maude caught his reaction and nodded with his expression unchanged, "Yes, yes. I know about her. The Witch Meryna. ''Died under strange circumstances'' is what is said about her death. But you and I both know it was more than that. We both know who killed her, don''t we?" Again, Angus said nothing. Maude continued with his voice lowered, "The sheer agony you must have gone through to even manage to go through with it. The fact that you knew it could have killed you and went through with it all the same?" Angus'' lips twitched and he managed a smile, "Is there a point to all this?" He asked. "Do you never feel guilty?" Maude asked. "Guilty?" Angus asked andughed, "Guilty for wanting to be free?" "She gave you life. That''s what we do," Maude said and his voice rose a bit, "We take useless, worthless pieces of untalented trash and make you something more. We bring you into the fold and grant you the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with your betters and you, ungrateful piece of shit that you are¡­" "Oh spare me!" Angus said raising his voice as well, "It has never been a favor. You don''t create Vykers because you want to be generous. You do it to get ves! To get minions that will die for your cause and you still never treat us like you treat the Naturally Awakened. Hell, you are standing mere feet away from the bodies of one of your dead Vykers and you''ve not nced at them once." "Of course, I haven''t," Maude said in a cold voice, "They''re dead. What is dead no longer has any use." "Ohe off it!" Angus said and pointed at the two Warlocks guiding him with their shields, "You look at these two and I see care in your eyes. You can tell they are lost to you. As good as dead and yet you care. You came out here not because of your Vykers, dead or alive, but because of these two. Because you care. Because they are Naturally Awakened. They''re not the ves you created to be tossed aside after use. They are precious ''Prot¨¦g¨¦es''." Maude''s eyes shed at that word. Angus noticed and grinned, "Yes, I know what they are to you. The ~Hive Mind~ shares all, Lord Aleric. It shares memories and intents. It''s how I know what you''re nning." Maude''s eyes widened and he mmed his palms together to activate a spell he had been preparing while he engaged Angus in a conversation. A single move to put an end to the thief and avoid dragging out this encounter. He believed a drawn-out battle against Angus was beneath him. Magical red at the feet of Angus and the two Subjugated Warlocks and formed into a magical circle whose magical energy built quickly to a crescendo, ready to explode. A detonating spell circle requires ample preparation but is capable of bypassing magical defenses such as shields and is assured to cause damage if allowed to build. If allowed. The two Warlocks mmed their palms together and an identical circle, with the same Arcane symbols, just reversed, appeared around them and mmed down onto the circle cast by their previous Master. The detonating spell circle was a powerful spell with a drawback of preparation time and very little room for maneuverability but can be countered with the very same spell if the target acts quickly enough. The energy within the two circles reacted violently against each other and with a powerful *thrum* sound, they mellowed out and faded away. "They know you quite well," Angus said as one of the two Warlocks summoned crackling Dark spears and started tossing them at Maude who revolved on a spot, releasing a powerful force of Magical energy that mmed the Spears away. The moment Maude was stationary again, a barrier of wind came mming down at him. "Insulting," he said, "I taught you all you know!" He raised his hand and conjured a wind barrier of his own to m the Warlock''s attack away. While he did that, he waved his other hand in a smooth motion and formed aplicated-looking seal before conjuring three rays, sizzling with fire that he fired at Angus and the Warlocks. The Warlocks blocked the rays with their shields. A single contact was all the rays needed to shatter the shields but the Warlocks managed to fend all three off. Maude smiled and waved his hand to conjure more rays when his body twitched as he sensed something amiss. "Wait," He said and looked over at Angus who was bent low with his palms pressed t against the ground, "You¡ª" Maude started to say as he realized what was happening. "Toote!" Angus told him with a smile. A detonating spell circle appeared at Maude''s feet and sted a powerful explosion that rose into column at least 5 Meters tall. *BOOOOOMMMMM!!!* Chapter 93: Epiphany . . . Henry watched Angus and Maude have a near-civil conversation and even caught certain parts of it that piqued his interest but he was much more interested in getting the hell away from here. He turned his eyes toward Angus'' horse and whistled for it toe over but the horse ignored him. Its ears were either only perked for Angus'' call or it just didn''t want to respond. "Stupid horse!" Henry let out, frustrated that his whistles were ignored, and started making his way there. He needed those explosives and had to get the horse ready for his and Angus'' getaway. "Ugh. Where do you think you''re going?" A voice called to Henry from behind. He turned around slowly and was facing the two Vykers that were still alive. Henry recognized one of them to be the fireball-conjuring Vyker who first showed up after Angus had subjugated the Warlocks. The other one was a Feral-Meister Vyker whose mutation was spikes sticking out of his forearms. Henry assumed they were all over the Vyker''s body as well just shorter andid t against his skin like hair to provide him protection. "Just look at you two," Henry said with a small shake of his head, "Beat down so hard and still trying to put up an act." "It''s not an act," the me Vyker said through gritted teeth while looking like the effort to speak hurt him all over. "You and your partner don''t get toe and go from my Lord''s home on a whim. Stand down!" said Feral Meister and he watched as Henry pulled a bottle seemingly from out of nowhere. With his Mana Points running low at the moment, Henry took the chance he got to down an improved Mana potion. [You have recovered 60 Mana Points] Feeling buoyed by the suppliance of Mana into his body, Henry tossed the now-empty bottle aside and pulled out his gold and bronze painted gun to hold in hand while his grip on ''The Hydra''s Sting'' tightened. The two Vykers almost looked disappointed that he was looking to put up a fight. They took on fighting stances. The me Vyker conjured fire above his palms while the spiky Vyker held up his fists. And then they moved as one. The first to arrive was the Spiked Vyker who dashed over with his speed boosted by an explosive bound courtesy of his incredible strength. The me Vyker was only a foot behind him. Henry timed his shot. His enemy was injured but still fast. They were also still stronger than he was but they were charging at him with a careless abandon born of a majorck of desire to fight. Henry had his gun raised before the Spiked Vyker started to move and he was clenching the trigger the moment the enemy took their first step. He was confident he had been preemptive enough and by his calctions, his enemy would be dashing right into his fired bullet. *Bam!* Henry''s eyes widened in shock. He had gotten hit. The force of the blow was already so powerful that it had his head knocked aggressively to the side but the spikes at the back of that fist tore into his skin and ripped it, leaving deep gashes that bled horribly. And yet, Henry didn''t feel the pain. At least not yet. ''I miscalcted?'' He asked himself. [You have lost 50 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 20/100] Henry didn''t see the notification. His eyes just remained widened and stared nkly as he went on to m into a structure in the ck Manor''spound. "-Henry!-" Nyx called out to him. The sound that came from her mouth though were whinnies as she rose on her hind legs and struck out her hooves at the Spiked Vyker but he took her kicks quite well and slid back a few steps. He looked tired but otherwise fine. Nyx let out more whinnies and would have charged at him again had it not been for a powerful fireball that came charging at her the very next second. It got so close and was so wide that she had to use to boost her speed and get to the side to avoid the worst of it. The spiked Vyker, his eyes dull, walked toward Henry who had his head bowed. ''I was too slow.'' It wasn''t a question, it was a statement of fact. Raising his gun and firing a shot before his enemy started to run/the very moment they took their first step did not guarantee him a sessful shot. He should know that. After all, he was Gunslinger. How many times in his past life and this new one had he ''dodged bullets'' by studying the shooter rather than the gun? Countless times. It was how he had survived many standoffs. It was how he had won so many gun duels. Henry looked up at the spiked Vyker approaching him. He didn''t activate insight and he didn''t need it to know all of the Vyker''s Stats were better than his own. With increased agility, the enemy must have seen him raise his gun, surmised what he was nning to do, and just dodged before the bullet left the gun. Henry had no way of knowing this and was caught off-guard by the punch because he was so slow his eyes couldn''t follow. His perception had picked up theing blow but he was warned far toote. A screen appeared in front of Henry then and it listed out his Stats; [Strength: 30] [Agility: 30] [Stamina: 18] [Perception: 15] ''Perception and Agility,'' Henry thought as he looked the screen over, ''Of course! How could I have been so foolish? I can count on one hand how many times I''ve had to overpower an opponent since I''ve been in this world. It happened once during the Train Job in my fight against Mr. Grant and I just ran with it from there. If I''m being truly honest with myself, it''s my least used Stat. How the hell did I fool myself into thinking Strength and Agility are my most used stats? I got stabbed by the Shadow Vyker because I was slow. I got hit many times because I was too slow. High Perception to warn me of danger and stretch out my ''sight'' and High Agility to avoid hits and gun my enemies down before they can react¡­ ¡­ That''s what I need!'' Henry was pulled out of his thoughts then when the Spiked Vyker''s form loomed over him with a leg raised to he brought down to squash him. Even as the foot came down at him, Henry smiled, ''Strange time for an epiphany but I''m d it came. Unfortunately, I can''t reallocate my stats so I''ll just have to be wiser from now on." Henry raised ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and fired a shot. With his eyes widened, the Vyker leaned away but with his foot still raised, he looked very easy to put off bnce. Henry thought to take advantage but the Vyker just hopped to the side on one foot and brought down his raised leg to swing a kick at him. Henry pulled out a rifle from his Inventory and held it out to intercept the iing kick. *Bam!* The kick was so powerful that it dented the weapon and the force of it sent Henry sliding across the ground so abrasively that his jacket ripped all over. Henry''s arm shook at the force of the kick and his entire body seemed to share the impact but the hand holding ''The Hydra''s Sting'' was fine enough. Henry was about one meter away from the Spiked Vyker when he activated . When time froze, he took note of the Vyker''s position and the moment time resumed, he took advantage of the force that sent him sliding and started to roll instead. His roll allowed him to turn his back on the Spiked Vyker, hiding his gun hand from the enemy''s sight. Henry kept what he had observed with his Perception, during the time-stopped state, in mind. He remembered very clearly the position the Vyker was at so the next time he rolled and was faced toward the Spiked Vyker, he was already clenching the trigger. "Ack!" The Vyker let out with his eyes wide as the acidic green bullet struck his spike-protected chest. Cracks spread across the spikes until they shattered leaving his bare skin bleeding while tinged with the acidic residue that always followed a sessful shot. Henry stopped his roll then, got on his feet, pointed the gold and bronze painted gun, and fired every bullet left in the cylinder into the Vyker''s unprotected chest. Every shot hit and the Vyker ceased breathing. Chapter 94: You Can’t Win [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Vyker-Killer bonus: +1 Stamina] [Stamina: 18 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 19] [Nyx has made a kill] [Nyx has received 150 Exp] Henry looked from the body of his victim to where Nyx was trampling on the me Vyker over and over even after he had flopped and was clearly no longer breathing. She seemed especially upset that the enemy had scorched a part of her mane which was quite likely her favorite feature about herself. "Nyx!" called out to her and she trotted by his side as he continued on his way to Angus'' horse. The moment he got near and reached out to it, the horse skittered and let out a proud neigh as it began to prance in the same spot while shaking his head and refusing to let Henry touch and pat it. "Oh,e here, you idiot," Henry let out in annoyance as he continued to reach out but the horse skittered back a step and rose on hind legs looking ready to kick them out his front hooves. And then Nyx let out a snort; A sharp sound that hit the horse''s ears and it immediately became docile. Dropping its hooves back to the ground and scratching at it while lowering its head. "There," Henry said as he now grabbed the horse''s reins and patted its neck reassuringly. Then he looked at Nyx and gave her a nod, "Thank you." "-It''s nothing. He was just scared is all,-" Nyx told him when though she seemed to brighten up at his gratitude. Henry took off the Angus'' saddlebags filled with explosives and fastened them onto Nyx who was more than strong enough to carry it along with the load she already had. He got into her saddle and with his hand still holding onto the reins of Angus'' horse, he turned around and finally directed his eyes to the magical battle happening up ahead. ??? The column of fire blew hard and hot with a powerful explosive impact that Angus watched with a smile on his face. "The ~Hive Mind~ shares all," He said, "Every teaching you ever gave them is mine to wield. To use your strategy against you¡­ Haha, it''s almost poetic." And then a chuckle sounded out of the column of fire. It wiped the smile of Angus'' face so fast because it boomed over the sound of the roaring me and hit him with a re of Aura that seemed to grip and hold him in ce. Following theugh, came Maude Aleric''s voice, powerful and pompous, "You''re not very smart, are you?" Maude asked as the column finally began to fizzle out, "The Vinculum allows you to assimte the properties of everyone you manage to bring into your ~Hive~ thus creating apound of abilities. I should know¡ª After all, it''s why I wanted it. Right now you possess thebined intelligence of two Warlocks which more than makes up for the fact that you naturallyck it. Unfortunately for you, however, my Intelligence is far greater than theirsbined. And I would truly be a disgrace to my craft to have an attack prepared with weaker intelligence kill me." The column of fire was gone now and in its ce stood Maude Aleric with a spell circle in each hand and sheer magical aura around his body like a semi-transparent cocoon that kept the mes away from him. "STAND DOWN!!!" Angus yelled with his purple eyes shing as arches of Spellbinding force backed by the Vinculum flowed from him. The Arches went past Maude''s cocoon and certainly hit his ears but his Mana reserves, high Intelligence, and just overall magical experience made him impervious. Maude acknowledged the arches with a smile, "Spellbinding? Please. That pitiful magical skill made you the weakest of Meryna''s Vykers and you think I''ll sumb to it?" He said and let out augh before adding, "Let me show you true magic." Maude pointed the spell circle in his right hand toward Angus and the Warlocks. A red bulb of energy fired out of the spell circle and with his eyes widened and every aspect of his physical abilities called to arms, Angus leaped to the side out of the attack''s path. *Bang!* Tue bulb hit the spot Angus was at barely a second ago but rather than simply leave a massive crack behind, it detonated with an explosive range Angus had no chance of outrunning. "AH!" Angus yelled as he went sailing away. Maude Aleric raised his left hand and the Spell circle above it shed with blue energy right before arger replica of it appeared above Angus'' body. Out of therge replica came a conjured hammer whose entire form was made up of Arcane symbols and it struck down toward Angus who had only just stopped his roll. The Subjugated Warlocks were ready andbined their magic to create a shield ¡ªstrengthened with the purple illumination they received from the Vinculum¡ª, to block the hammer. Maude rolled his eyes as his mind went on a tangent, ''Two dead¡­ Two turned into mindless minions¡­ I haven''t been picking them well, it seems. There''s only so much I can do if you allck the innate potential to go far. But that''ll be a matter forter. Once the thief is dead and the Vinculum no longer has a host, you''ll both be free.'' Maude spared very little time on his tangent of thoughts. In reality, almost as soon as the Subjugated Warlocks cast theirbined shield to defend their ~Hive King~, he just swung his left hand down, infusing more Mana into the attack until it shattered the shield and mmed into the ground¡­ *BAM!* ¡­ causing an eruption of dust. Maude frowned. ''That attack didn''t kill him,'' he thought with certainty because the very next second, the subjugated Warlocks were casting their attack spells and sending them out. Maude let out his Mana like a protective barrier and with flicks of his wrists, he smacked aside dark spears and broke apart forceful wind barriers before retaliating with bulbs of red energy that struck the two with concussive force and sent them flying away. "Hmph!" The two let out in unison but they were back up immediately after, casting their spells again and attacking with a ~Hive Mind~ directive that shut down their ability or desires to preserve their own lives. It was very simr to the rtionship between a Vyker and their Creator actually. One exists to serve the cause of the other with no regard for personal goals. Meanwhile, as Maude had guessed, Angus hadn''t died from the hammer strike. When he stood off the ground, half of his body was badly bruised and would have been worse if he hadn''t cast the shield spell however many times he could at the veryst second. *Cough* *Cough* The dust that erupted from the hammer-spell strike entered deep into his lungs and made it difficult for him to breathe. Squinting, Angus took steps out of the dust cloud and then heard the clip-clopping of horse hooves. "Angus, what the hell are you doing?" Henry asked. "*Cough* What does it look like I''m doing? I''m going to get that bastard!" He took another step forward and then heard Henry''s yell, "You can''t win!" Angus paused but said nothing. Henry pressed, "You realize that, don''t you? You can''t win. His magic is greater than yours. There''s nothing you can do. Angus, we didn''te here for this. The others already got away. Let''s leave." Henry held out Angus'' horse''s reins. Angus eyed the reins and then his eyes went over to Maude Aleric and back to the reins as he clenched his fist and the Vinculum pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeats until finally, he let out a defeated sigh and reached out to take the reins from Henry''s hand. Chapter 95: Is This How You Beg For Mercy? *Whum!* *Boom!* Still desiring to keep the Subjugated Warlocks alive, Maude Aleric cast a non-lethal concussive force spell that flowed with the thrumming of a sonic boom and pushed them away from him as he kept his eyes on Angus who was now gripping the reins of a horse. "You think I''ll just let you leave?!" Maude asked in a loud voice and with a blur of hand movement, he created seals and cast a spell circle that shot out a chain of interlocking Arcane symbols. The chain gripped Angus'' wrist and with a tugging motion, it pulled at him with enough force to wrench his arm out of its socket. "Ah!" Angus let out in pain and conjured a crackling spear to strike the chain with, shattering the link. But even as the bulk of the chain fizzled out into harmless magical mist, the part that had wrapped around Angus'' wrist melted and imprinted against his skin. He probably would have paid more attention to it if Maude Aleric hadn''t raised a hand to cast a spell circle that started shooting out conjured des. To avoid his horse getting stabbed by the des, Angus leaped away from it while conjuring shields all of which were getting shattered by the des and forced him to create more. *Skich!* Unable to keep up, two des pierced Angus''s body and he spat out blood while his body looked to be getting weaker with every exertion. "Shit!" Henry said and he grabbed Angus'' saddlebag filled with explosives but it was as though his exmation had called Maude''s attention to him because the Lord of the ck Manor decided to turn some of his de spells on him. Luckily, Nyx was at the ready with . With her Speed now at 70, a thirty percent increase made her very capable of leaping about and keeping Henry from getting stabbed. Maude furrowed his brow at the dark mist Nyx was exuding as she avoided his attacks and he cracked a smile despite himself, "A magical beast," he said and let out a cackle, "You lot never cease to amaze me." When the danger of the magical des had passed somewhat, Henry focused on lighting the fuse of at least one bundle of dynamites. It took a few flicks of his lighter but he got it lit. "Nyx, we''re going to do a ride-by!" "-What''s a Ride-by!-" Nyx asked and it dawned on Henry that he had no idea how that word came to mind. It just fit what he had in mind. "Now!" He yelled out and spiked Nyx''s reins once. The horse reared on her hind legs and galloped toward Maude Aleric who raised a brow at the approach and then smirked, "Fool," he said. He raised his hand but Henry was already firing a shot of . The shot seemed to have interrupted whatever attacking spell Maude Aleric was casting but a shield shimmered into appearance all the same and the bullet hit it losing all of its magic and all of its kic energy in one go. The shield seemed to have absorbed everything harmful about the bullet and it just fell to the ground, ordinary and useless. Henry blinked. This was the most effective use of a shield against that he had ever seen. No pration, no cracks. Nothing. Maude didn''t even flinch and as his shield melted away, Henry saw him continue casting whatever attacking spell had been interrupted. Gripping the leather strap of Angus'' saddle bags as tight as he could, Henry made sure he was very close to Maude and then he tossed with every bit of strength he had in his body. The moment the strap left his hand, Henry yelled out, "Run!" Nyx was still confused about what he meant by Ride-by but ''Run'' was a simplemand she understood easily and immediately. She even used to push her speed even further and not a moment too soon because the other explosives detonated the very next second. *BANGGGG!!!* The explosives'' sound was powerful and its impact was even more so because Henry felt it m his back with a *whoosh* even though Nyx had already put some distance between them and the explosion itself. "Angus, let''s go," Henry said as he pulled on Nyx''s reins when they arrived next to an injured Angus. Angus shook his head, "Not yet." Henry''s eyes widened at his stubbornness, "What? Why not?" "Because an explosion like that won''t keep him down. Take a look, it didn''t even move him an inch." Henry looked and indeed, Maude was floating out of the cloud the exploding dynamites had caused with a spell circle at his feet. His cocoon of Mana had shielded him from the worst of the st and now he had spell circles revolving around his body just priming for activation. The look in his grey eyes was deep with rage and it was clear, that his next attack was going to kill. There would be no dodging. There would be no blocking it. A magic circle appeared at Nyx''s feet and out of it shot out tendrils that wrapped around her and held her down. "What the¡ª" Henry started to say while his eyes bugged in horror of being trapped. Angus sighed, "Yeah, he''s never letting us go." "Should have left when we had the chance," Henry said through gritted teeth as Nyx tried to pull free of the tendrils holding her down. Angus shook his head, "Not the time to y the me game, Henry." "Oh, I beg to differ," Henry said with a frown, "What are we going to do now?" "Rx and give me time," Angus said as he closed his eyes and the glow of the Vinculum became mild and subdued. In contrast, the magic within Maude Aleric''s spell circles continued to rise in their aggressive glows, ready to fire his killing strikes. And then, suddenly, the Subjugated Warlocks were walking toward him, "Master?" One of them said as the purple glow in his eyes dimmed and they returned to their normal unimpressive hue. "Lord¡­ Aleric?" Said the other, staggering closer. Maude''s brows furrowed and he made to keep his eyes on Angus but his attention slipped. His prot¨¦g¨¦es looked freed. Was this surrender? That brief moment he spent wondering allowed the Warlocks to get close enough to touch some part of his body with the agitated hands of two people who had barely made it out of an ordeal and did not want to return. ''Is this how you beg for mercy, Angus Dionisio?'' Maude asked in his head, ''By releasing them from your control, you mean to curry favor? Oh, but it hardly matters. I want my item and you need to die for me to get it back.'' Maude Aleric looked up and saw Angus''s eyes slowly open with a mournful expression and he could have sworn he saw him mouth the word ''Goodbye''. And then, the glow of Vinculum that had dimmed brightened up again and along with it returned the purple color in the Subjugated Warlocks'' eyes but no longer were they dull. Now they glowed so bright they were blinding¡­ They glowed in unison with the Vinculum on Angus'' chest. The glow continued to rise and in a second, the bodies of the two Warlocks were glowing as well. Maude''s eyes widened in realization of the trickery. But as he made to move and pull out of the Warlocks'' grips, he found he could not. There was an uncanny bond that kept him linked to the two. The purple energy of the Vinculum flowed through the two into him and even though his Mana battled it and tried to stave it off, the energy fought almost as hard to stay inside his body. The skins of the Subjugated Warlocks began to crack all over and every crack just showed that they were filled with the Magical Item''s glow from the inside out. Illuminating them unnaturally. "This¡ª" Maude said as his danger instincts told him what wasing and he stopped fighting against the energy holding him down to amass his Mana and create his protective cocoon even as he yelled, "ANGUS DIONISIO, I WILL KILL¡ª" The rest of those words were lost in a brilliant explosion that rocked the ck Manor''spound and created a massive purple mushroom cloud that many could see hundreds of kilometers away. *BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!* Chapter 96: Those Who Got Away And Those Who Didnt The shockwave from the explosion struck Henry hard and almost knocked him out of Nyx''s saddle. It even rocked Nyx despite the tendrils holding her down. Henry squinted as the wind from the mushroom cloud hit his eyes but he managed to catch sight of a figure shooting out of the explosion to m into the ck Manor with such force, that an entire section of the Manor copsed and buried him under the building''s ck stones. Henry guessed the figure that shot out was Maude Aleric himself and his mouth gapped as he moved his eyes slowly to Angus, "You- You killed him." Angus'' legs wobbled as he went on his knees coughing hard and spouting mouthfuls of blood onto the Manorpound''s stone-cobbled ground. "Maybe," Angus said as he wiped blood off the corner of his mouth and managed a weak whistle that called his horse over. "Are you alright?" Henry asked, taking note of the tendrils that had held Nyx down starting to melt away. "I''m fine," Angus said with a few pained wheezes. He grabbed his horse''s reins and with considerable effort, he heaved himself onto the saddle. Angus''s shirt fluttered and fell open so wide that Henry caught a glimpse of the Vinculum. Its glow was dull and the Magical energy it gave off was at an all-time low. There was also a long diagonal crack across it that spoke of extensive damage. "We should get away. I either killed him or I pissed him off. Either way, the longer we remain here, the more likely we die. I''ll hate for that to happen after¡ª after what I''ve just sacrificed." Angus'' mustache trembled atop his lip and his tone turned mournful as he uttered thest words. He was now a ~Hive King~ without a Hive. He could feel the magical knowledge and prowess he had for barely an hour, start to melt away with the self-destruction of the two Warlocks. ''Maybe I should have kept one of them alive,'' he wondered and then let out a sigh, ''No, I had to make sure¡­'' Angus nced over and the purple mushroom cloud was dissipating now, giving a slightly obscured view of the copsed part of the ck Manor where Maude Aleric''s probably burnt body was buried. Probably burnt. ''¡­ Fuck! I hate that I''m still not sure.'' "Hyah!" Henry and Angus called out in unison as their horses kicked hard off the ground and galloped toward the gate they had blown up earlier that night. They charged through it and a few meters away were Squads of City Guards who caught sight and decided to give chase. "Head North," Angus said in a low voice, "The Northern City Entrance." Henry understood why Angus had suggested that path. It was the closest to the ck Manor and their quickest route to getting out of the City grounds. Shots were fired from behind and Henry pulled out his Repeater and shot five of the Guards off their horses. [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] Angus gripped his gun as bullets flew past his ear and over his shoulder missing him by mere inches because he managed to duck in time. His hand shook as he made to pull the gun from his holster and quickly gave up. Instead, he arched his neck around and called in the loudest tone he could manage, "Go wild!" His Spellbinding flowed from him and the Vinculum thrummed a dull purple and backed the magic as best as it could. It was enough to affect two horses whose eyes bugged with a visage of madness and they galloped about, knocking into others and creating amotion that knocked most of the crashing guards down. For the ones that managed to remain on their horses, Henry picked them off with his Repeater. [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 6 Exp] "A blockade," Angus said in a wheezing tone and Henry looked away from his most recent kills and saw the City Guards waiting to greet them with bullets up ahead. He grabbed ''The Hydra''s Sting'' just as he heard Angus say, "Don''t worry, I''ll clear it." To the City Guard blockade, he said, "Move aside!" Again, Spellbinding proved reliable despite the empowerment of the Vinculum appearing weakened. Confused about why they were obeying orders from the enemy they wanted to gun down or capture, the City Guards pulled their horses aside and made way. Henry took advantage of that confusion andnded shots in the heads of two of them. By the time he and Angus got past the blockade, the green cloud had spread and muscles locked in ce slowing down any chase that sought toe after them as they rode to safety. - - ??? ¡ªAt the ck Manor¡ª Minutes after the disastrous explosion that rocked the Manor and created a massive spectacle, a scratched hand bleeding out of little cuts all over, thrust out of the rubble of ck stones, shaking ever so slightly. With a heave of effort, Maude Aleric pulled himself out of the rubble. His body was bruised. His ck robe was shredded all over and showed off a lean bodycking any muscles. The affront to his dignity aside, Maude looked well. Much better than someone who just faced the full might of such a powerful explosion should have looked. "Angus," Maude said through gritted teeth, and his fist clenched in boiling rage. His eyes were focused on therge scorch mark in the ck Manor''spound. All that was left of his Prot¨¦g¨¦es. The possibility of freeing them and lecturing them on theirck of talent all gone. "Ugh," a voice groaned and Maude looked to the side to see his butler walking over while grabbing the side of his head in pain. The Butler was the one who had gone into the recess to tell Maude of the attacks and out of a sense of duty, despitecking enough magical acumen to be useful inbat, he decided to stick close. A mistake that rewarded him with a head trauma. "My Lord," the Butler said wincing at his own pain, "Are you alright?" "Far from it," Maude answered, "My honor has been besmirched. Falling for a stupid trick and giving them the chance to get away. Pathetic." "Those men have no honor," The Butler said with a deep frown, "To use your Warlocks against you in such a horrific manner¡­" Maude pursed his lips and looked down at his shaking hand. He tried to get to his feet and found that he could not. The explosion had done more than just st him away. It had snuck the Vinculum''s energy into his body and its reaction with his Mana was making it difficult for him to amass any physicality. He needed time to recuperate. ''Pathetic,'' Maude said again. This time in his head. ''The Vinculum is a powerful item but what he did¡ª That moron just damaged it. The longer it remains on his godsforsaken chest, the worse off it will be!'' Footsteps from up ahead caused Maude to look up. A few city Guards were making their way over. "Help me up," Maude said to his Butler who quickly linked their arms together to offer support as Maude heaved himself to his feet with a lot of effort. He was feeling a lot of shame already and would not allow himself to look weak before mere Mana-less City Guards. "Lord Aleric," The Captain of the Guard said with a bow, "We intercepted riders on their way out of the City during the¡­motion." Commotion was a massive understatement looking at the deaths and destruction all over the ck Manor''spound but the Captain had searched his head for a better word and found none. The Guards behind the Captain stepped forward and dropped two heavily injured bodies on the ground with hardly any care. One male and one female. Both were sporting Red hair and simr facial features that spoke of some rtion. The Male looked pale and knocked out. The female looked anxious like she wanted to make sure he wasn''t dying. "And you believe they were leaving from my Manor?" Maude asked. "We found this on them, My Lord," said the Captain as he ced tworge pouches on the ground and pulled their openings apart to reveal stolen Gold coins. Chapter 97: More Than A Tether From the moment she heard Maude Aleric''s voice, Triss'' eyes became bugged out as her body trembled ever so slightly. ''Of all the rotten luck,'' she thought in despair while only slightly trying to resist the chains the City Guards had used to bind her. It wouldn''t budge. Then again, even if she had broken the bounds (A highly unlikely concept), could she have gotten away? And what about Stefan? After all, it was her wanting to save him that had gotten her captured in the first ce. Things had gone so well at first. Henry and Angus were keeping the Manor''s strongest forces busy while the rest of them followed the ''map'' Angus drew and took a near-secret path that led into a barracks of sorts used by the ck Manor''s Vykers. It was empty just as the Vyker Angus questioned said it would be and with only the City Guards stationed and patrolling the inside of the Manor to worry about, they were able to skulk about to all the caches marked on the map. It was a risky job where things could and would go wrong the moment Henry and Angus were unable to keep the Manor''s main forces busy. With every bang they heard and every crackle of magic that managed to reach their ears, Triss'' stomach clenched and unclenched in worry. They avoided firing their guns but Devon took care of all the Guards they met along the way by using his shotgun as a club to either knock them out or bludgeon them to death. Depending on how much strength he used. The caches were many and the gold they got away with was a lot. And just as they nned, they retreated through where they came from, nting their explosives on all its supportive structures and lighting it all up as they made a run for it. The detonation of the explosives was meant to serve two purposes; One: To copse the most direct path the enemy could take to catch up with them and, Two: To alert Henry and Angus that it was time to go. The Gold and valuables they managed to get away with were so much that they all had at least onerge pouch to carry along with them. But of course, leaving the City of Saint ret without shing with the City Guards was virtually impossible. A shootout was unavoidable but speed was meant to be a prime factor. They were to ride fast, ride hard, shoot, and trample any Guard who stood in their way and try not to die. They almost made it out when Triss heard Stefan yell and she looked behind her to see him arch his back as a bullet pierced it. Two more struck him in his shoulders and he fell off his horse. The City Guards were quickly there. Encircling his bleeding and weakening body. Triss didn''t think, she just acted. She turned her horse around and started shooting at them. The idea that she could win against that many Guards, all armed with rifles and their ability to shoot not impaired by agitation, was already ludicrous but things only got more bleak when her Gun cocked on empty. A bullet to her shoulder hit her so hard that she fell off her horse too. Speaking of which, her horse wasn''t spared. Neither was Stefan''s. The City Guards could hear the jingling of coins from the pouches strapped to the horses'' saddles and knew not to let them get away. Triss assumed they must have taken some of the Gold for themselves but she could hardly be bothered to care. Kneeling here with her brother''s breathing growing weaker by the second, that gold was no longer her concern. Maude Aleric''s eyes went from the gold to the faces of the redheaded thieves, "A distraction while the rest of his cronies went about my Manor, robbing me? And here I was thinking he was just a ballsy moron who came here to take me on and cause chaos. Look up." The order hit Triss'' ears sharply and caused her to wince. It wasn''t backed by the kind of magic Angus had used to Spellbind her on asion. That said, the order was backed with a powerful aura that urged her to obey. Slowly, she tore her eyes away from Stefan''s pale body as he bled out and looked up at Maude who observed her with his cold grey eyes. His eyes held her gaze and she quickly found that she couldn''t turn her face away. "This is who made up the ''Dionisio Gang''?" Maude asked and then looked at the City Guards, "Were they the only two?" He asked. "No, Lord Aleric," said the Captain, "The others got away but we have a squad after them as we speak." Maude''s eyes returned to Triss and Stefan and he scrutinized them again, "Not one lick of magic in any of you two. I could¡ª No, I should have you executed on the spot for your thievery¡­" The City Guard Captain grabbed his gun and cocked its hammer but Maude raised a hand to stop him before he went too far while still holding Triss'' gaze and her attention so she knew his words were for her and her wheezing, dying brother, "Killing you would be such a waste. I''ll gain nothing from it. And there might be use for you yet," he said and looked to the side at his Butler, "Have them locked up, and (waves at dying Stefan) feed that one a Potion. I''ll decide what to do with them when I have my item back." The City Guards stepped forward and picked Triss and Stefan up, and with the Butler leading the way with the two pouches of stolen gold in his hands, they entered the Manor. Maude took a minute to clench and unclench his hand as he felt the glow of Mana return to normal in his body and thest dregs of the Vinculum''s energy were starting to seep out. He turned his right palm over, and arge circle appeared above it. Indented on the circle was a crude representation of thendscape of Saint ret and the environs beyond. There was a blue dot beeping at the part of the circle that represented Saint ret and away from it was a red dot beeping but steadily moving away. When the red dot reached the end of the circle, the map focused on it, causing the blue dot to vanish from the indented Landscape. With an impassive expression, Maude raised his left hand and made a pinching motion with his thumb and index finger. The map zoomed out, providing a clear view of both the red and the blue dots. The red dot was still moving away and nearing the end of the circle. The blue dot represented Maude Aleric and the red dot represented Angus who he had marked during their battle. The chain that Maude wrapped around Angus'' wrist, which Angus broke off with a crackling spear was more than just a tether. Even now, Arcane symbols were glowing faintly around Angus Dionisio''s wrist as he and Henry rode away from Saint ret. It takes an especially attentive mind to notice the tracking spell because it''s not intrusive and gives no indication that it''s there besides a very subtle glow that is easy to ignore and might not even catch the eye. You have to suspect you are being tracked to ever actually pay attention. Armed with that floating Map-indented Circle above his palm, it didn''t matter how fast Angus rode or where he went to get holed up, Maude Aleric was confident he would find him and with him, find his item. Chapter 98: Don’t Move *** ¡ªMany Kilometers away from Saint ret¡ª Angus'' horse slowed to a trot and while he would have liked to urge it to keep riding, he knew if he nudged it in the sides anymore, the horse would rear hard and buck him off. It needed rest. Henry knew Nyx could still keep going but he urged her to slow to a trot as well to keep pace with Angus. Plus, he received a few notifications just a few minutes ago that told him, that at least for now, they were safe. [You have survived Angus Dionisio''s daring attempt at robbing the ck Manor] [Quest Completed] [You have received 1500 Exp] *[Nyx has received 750 Exp] [Level Up!] [You are now Level 11] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 110] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 120] [You have received 6 Stat Points to Allocate] [Nyx has Leveled Up!] [Nyx is now Level 3] [Nyx''s Hit Point Maximum increased to 80] [Nyx''s Mana is now 90] [Strength: 40 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 45] [Speed: 70 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 80] [Stamina: 35 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 40] "I don''t think we''re being chased," Angus said as he looked behind him while his horse''s trotting became increasingly slower. "I don''t think so either," Henry agreed as Nyx slowed down even more. "Let''s find somewhere to make camp," Angus said, "We''ll rest for no more than an hour and get back on the road. The earlier we get back to the Hadron Mansion, the better." They deviated from the path they were traveling and delved deep into the woods where they found a clearing good enough to rest. With strong trees that they could hitch the horses to and rest against. In a minute, they had sparked a fire for warmth. It was a risky move as the smoke of the fire could prove a marker for their location but seeing as they had both agreed they were not currently being chased, they decided it was worth the risk. "How do you think the others are faring?" Angus asked suddenly. He looked to be doing better. Having watched Tony and many others in his past life bleed to death, Henry wondered if that was also going to be the case for Angus but he looked fine. Henry sighed, "I''d like to think they got away," he said, "I mean the signal says they got started but¡­ who knows?" Despite Henry''s even tone, he was actually worried. If not for Devon and Dana the lovebirds, then at least for Triss and Charles. And Stefan too. He was cool enough whenever they actually talked. "Ah, I''m sure they''re fine," Angus said clearing his throat. ''No you''re not,'' Henry thought somberly, ''If you were sure, you wouldn''t have asked me.'' "You tossed my entire saddlebag at that bastard," Angus said. "Yeah, I didn''t have time to pull out the explosives," Henry said and didn''t sound too apologetic. "Ah, it''s alright," Angus said, "If you had asked me first though, I might have told you to spare some of my rations that were in there." *Rumble* The sound came from Angus'' stomach and he ced a hand on it with a small smile, "Wielding all that magic¡­ well, it makes one very hungry," Angus said. Henry eyed him for a bit before getting up and walking over to Nyx. He opened up her Saddlebag and pulled out the food he had stashed away in there. Wrapped tight to avoid too much contact with the explosives that used to be in there too. "Here," he said as he handed the rations to Angus. "Many thanks," Angus told him with a smile as he unwrapped it and pulled out some bread to start biting into, "Mmm," he said after some chewing, "It''s good." As Angus munched away, Henry looked over at the Vinculum on his chest. The item was clearly damaged. Whatever Angus did back at the ck Manor had put thatrge crack on it. How long would it be capable of breaking bonds? Was the energy inside it limited now? Would Angus even be willing to use it to free Yelena? ''He''s weak,'' Henry thought and his hand inched toward his gun in his holster, ''I can just kill him and take it.'' Henry''s hand inched even closer but then he stopped himself. He couldn''t bring himself to do it. Not like this. Not while Angus was taking such hearty bites out of that bread. Sighing, Henry pulled his hand away and leaned his head against his tree. Looking for something to do, he turned his attention to his Stats and decided where best to allocate all Six Stat Points he just received. ''Put it all into Perception.'' [Are you sure?] ''I''m sure,'' Henry answered in a final confirmation. It was time he started paying attention to the Stat that only he seemed to have in this world. [Perception: 15 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 21] [Perception has surpassed 20] [Conditions have been fulfilled] [Skill Level Up!] [Insight is now Lv.2] Henry raised his brow at that and then he remembered a detail that had been attached to the description of the Skill when he first got it; [Note: This Skill levels up exclusively with your Perception Stat.] ''So 20 was the requirement? Does it increase every 20 Stat Points or is it every 10?'' Henry asked but the System remained mute. ''Okay, moving on,'' Henry thought with the corner of his lips twitching as he called out the skill''s updated description; [Insight Lv.2: ? Effect 1 (Active): With thebination of your Magical energy and your extendable Perception, you have gained the ability to observe the details of the Physical, Mental, and Magical abilities (stats) of the creatures around you. Costs: 1 Mana Point per 1 minute of continuous activation. ? Effect 2 (Passive) -New-: Your Precognition has been boosted. Capable of picking out the slightest shift in the elements of the world around you be it a person''s change in mood or shift in intentions. You will pick up negative changes more sharply than positive ones. Note: This effect can be warded off by targets possessing Mental barriers. Does not cost Mana Points and is always active.] ''Seems ackluster upgrade but okay,'' Henry thought. The passive effect he gained from hitting Lv.2 just seemed like a fancy way of saying he was going to now be very perceptive. An ''ability'' he had had in his past life even without a system. Yes, Henry was aware that this effect was different and would work better in this new world of magic than his old perceptive mind ever did in the old world but he found the thought of the simrities interesting all the same. Henry closed his eyes then and leaned against the tree like he was trying for a quick nap. But then, something thrummed in his head. A vibration¡ª A tingle that caused him to flinch as he slowly opened his eyes. , in all its constantly active glory, was picking up on something and pulled Henry''s eyes to Angus who was no longer leaning against his tree. The Dionisio Gang leader was only a few feet away from Henry now and was kneeling close to the fire, staring into it. A faraway look in his eyes. "Angus?" Henry called out to him gently, his head still thrumming, "You alright?" Angus looked up and smiled with ease, "Of course I am," he said. The thrumming got more intense and Henry winced as he leaned away from the tree as his body went on high alert. "What''s with you?" Angus asked when he noticed this. "Nothing," Henry said but his body was still tensed. His hand moved to his gun so smoothly that Angus almost didn''t notice. Almost. ''Something isn''t right.'' Henry thought as the thrumming intensified and his entire body seemed to feel the tingle now. He had to act. This warning was too intense for him not to. Henry grabbed his gun and pointed it at Angus who seemed like he had been expecting that and said calmly, "Drop it." Themand gripped Henry and his hand loosened around his gun until it fell to the ground. Angus'' smile slipped then and he moved two feet and got closer to Henry whose eyes were wide. "Don''t move." As themand gripped Henry and locked him in ce, Angus lifted his hand and ced it on his shoulder as the Vinculum on his chest began to glow a dull but still-capable purple, "Don''t worry, Son. It''ll be over soon." Chapter 99: ‘Exclusivity Clause’ "Ugh. What the hell are you doing?" Henry asked with a groan as he struggled against the spellbinding that held him in ce. "I need a new Hive, Henry," Angus said, "And you''ll have the honor of being the first one in it." Henry opened to speak again but the purple energy of the Vinculum driving into his body forced his mouth shut as his mind got pulled into a strange space. A realm with nothing besides the magical hue of the Bond-Maker/Breaker. Henry tried to speak but found that he could not. He tried to move but that failed too. In this purple realm, he no longer had control of his body and actions. He was just a sitting duck for Angus to bond with. Tentacles began to stretch all over the space and pierced into Henry''s body. He found his personality began to transform and meld into something else¡ª somethingrger than himself. He hated the feeling. It was sickening, and yet, try as he might, he could not break free. "Wee, Henry," Angus'' voice said from all over the purple space but it didn''t sound as it normally did. There seemed to be another voice talking in unison with him, creating apound voice that resonated with the entire space. ~Hybrid~: No longer quite Man or Item but a part of a collective. A part of something more. "Don''t try to fight it, son," Angus''pound voice said, "We will aplish great things together." The tentacles dug deeper into Henry''s body and he let out a groan of pain and annoyance. Annoyance at his powerlessness against this unnatural activity Angus was attempting. "Just look at this talent," Angus''s voice said, "I knew you were a natural Awakened but this¡ª your mind, your soul, your body¡ª It''s all soplicated. I didn''t feel this when I bonded with the Warlocks. I didn''t feel this when the energy of the Vinculum seeped into the body of Maude Aleric. My word! To be One with such potential. I''m almost giddy¡ª Hmm?" Thepound voice faltered and Henry knew why. After all, it was the only development in thest few minutes that gave him relief; The Tentacles had stopped digging into him. [A foreign Presence has been detected attempting to infiltrate and merge with the User''s mind.] [The Foreign Presence has triggered the System''s ''Exclusivity use''] [The ''Exclusivity use'' states that only one mind {The User''s} can have ess to the System and all its features. The only exceptions are Beings bonded with the User but under hismand or in a mutually beneficial partnership.] [The Foreign Presence does notply with the ''Exclusivity use'' and has been rejected.] ''That''s new but I''m certainly notining,'' Henry thought as he allowed himself a second to enjoy the feeling of relief before trying to pull free of the tentacles again. With his mind no longer under the threat of a bond with Angus and The Vinculum, Henry found he was able to muster the strength (mental strength since this was all happening in his head) to attempt to pull free. Meanwhile, Angus''spound voice sounded confused at his attempt at creating a bond getting repelled and tried again. [Foreign Presence detected¡­] [The Foreign Presence does notply with the ''Exclusivity use'' and has been rejected.] "What the hell is this?" Angus asked and reinforced his infiltrating might to try again. [Foreign Presence detected¡­] [The Foreign Presence does notply with the ''Exclusivity use'' and has been rejected.] [Foreign Presence detected¡­] [The Foreign Presence does notply with the ''Exclusivity use'' and has been rejected.] [Foreign Presence detected¡­] [The Foreign Presence does notply with the ''Exclusivity use'' and has been rejected.] [Foreign Presence detected¡­] [The Foreign Presence does notply with the ''Exclusivity use'' and has been rejected.] ¡­ Henry''s head kept getting spammed with notifications. There must have been twenty of them as Angus didn''t give up and kept trying again and again. And then, Henry received a notification from the System that filled him with dread; [Relentless attempts to breach the ''Exclusivity use'' has led to rapid System Failure¡­] ''Wait, what?'' Henry asked. Being from a time thatcked the technology ofputers, Henry was unfamiliar with the term ''System Failure'' per se but knew there was no way ''Failure'' was a good thing. Sure enough; [If the breaching attempts continue, the User will lose ess to the System entirely. Also, the consequence for forcefully breaching the ''Exclusivity use'' is Death.] ''Now hold on,'' Henry said, indignant, ''That seems very unfair. It''s not like I asked for this!'' [You have 1 Minute] [0:59] [0:58] ''Fucking hell!'' Henry redoubled his effort to break free. Angus was hardly paying attention and kept trying to breach the barrier that was keeping him from Henry''s mind. [0:20] [0:19] [0:18] Henry finally freed his legs and he felt a wave of mental freedom that strengthened him enough to detach the others. With every tentacle he pulled off, the faster and much more easily his mind was able to work. [0:10] [0:09] As thest ten seconds began to count down, Henry pulled thest tentacle off his body and the space was no longer just purple. A warm brown hue joined it. Like the space had be shared between the two conflicting minds and with that, Angus finally took notice. "Hey!" He let out in his loudpound voice. More tentacles charged out at Henry and the first thing he thought of was a gun to defend himself with. There was no magical transition. No shimmer, no ostentatious *bang*. A gun was just suddenly in his hand. "Oh?" Henry let out in surprise not just at how he had created a gun in the mental space but also because of howrge it was. A huge double-barreled shotgun with each barrel beingrger than two of his arms put together. The handle and trigger were normal-sized though and Henry had a thought that a gun like that wouldn''t quite work in the real world. Of course, he shook that thought away, quickly. It was far from important at the moment. Henry pointed the gun''srge double-barrels and fired at the purple part of the space in a shot that sounded with a powerful *Bang* and packed incredible psychic force that caused the entire space to tremble. A warm white light emanated from the spot Henry shot at and his mind was ejected from the mental space just in time for him to witness Angus take his hand off his shoulder and recoil a few steps like he had been smacked while yelling out, "AH!" "You bastard!" Henry said and picked up his gun off the ground, pointed it, and fired. Angus got out of the way just in time and his body blurred as he was suddenly in front of Henry with a blow to his face. Henry''s perception, even sharper now due to the stat increase, warned him in time to get out of the way but Angus was not too disappointed. He had not used his full strength or punched as fast as he could anyway. While Henry was still leaning to the side after avoiding that punch, Angus swung his leg and kicked him in the ribs so hard, that it sent him many feet away to hit the ground with a *thud*. [You have lost 10 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 20/110] "Hmph," Henry let out but as his body hit the ground, he was already in motion to turn around and fire at Angus. Just as he had done against the Spiked Vyker at the ck Manor, he had taken note of Angus'' position. Or so he thought. His fired bullet pierced through empty air and a leg swung and kicked his arm with such force, that it sprained. [You have lost 5 Hit Points] [Hit Points 15/110] Henry groaned at the pain but even worse was his gun flying from his grip. Angus grabbed him and with considerable ease, turned him around and held his wrists so tight behind his back that he could not pull free. "I was wrong," Angus said, "I thought you''d be easier. Decided to try bringing you into the Hive first going for the big one. Haha, you surprised me." "What big one?" Henry asked with a sinking feeling as he made a guess. Angus smirked, "Who else but Yelena?" He asked and chuckled, "You''ve seen her Magic. You''ve felt it. Imagine what I could aplish with her in my Hive. You proved tricky so I''ll just start with her and get back to you." Chapter 100: Did You Think I Wouldn’t Notice? As Angus recited his n to Henry, he ced a knee right against his spine, pinking him into the grassy floor and leaving him no wiggle room. Henry gave up trying and his mind worked fast toe up with something¡ª some series of words to spark sense into Angus'' head when the padding of horse hooves sounded. Nyx was careful about her approach. She didn''t whinny and she didn''t snort. She just trotted over slowly and when she was within five feet of Angus, she built up speed with her head held out like a battering ram, aiming to knock him off her bond. Without taking his eyes off the back of Henry''s head and with one hand more than enough to keep hold of Henry''s wrists, Angus swung out a fist that struck Nyx''s head so hard, that a wave of wind blew out from the point of contact. *Bam!* "NEIGH!!!" Nyx was sent many feet away and hit the ground hard before rolling once to hit her back against a tree. [Nyx has lost 15 Hit Points] [Nyx''s Hit Points: 65/80] Nyx gathered herself off the ground almost immediately, shaking off her pain, and was ready to try again. This time she implemented some strategy into her charge and also made use of . Ordinarily, her Speed was greater than Angus'' Agility and the difference only gotrger thanks to the 30% increase she gained as her body was shrouded in dark mist thanks to her Magical skill. s, it was all for Naught. Angus knew she wasing and as long as she was going to get within four feet of him, he could Spellbind her. "Down!" He said and his purple eyes shed as the Vinculum glowed a dull purple to bolster the force of his Spellbinding. Nyx was seized by the magic and let out angry whinnies while hurling curses at Angus. Curses that only Henry could thanks to their telepathy. *THUD!!!* With a heavy sound of impact, Nyx''s legs grew weak and she was forced to the ground so hard she smacked the underside of her head against the ground. Hard enough for her strong neck to sprain. With his Spellbinding to hold her down, Angus turned his attention from Nyx and back to Henry, "You should tell your horse to just stay there quietly now even if she does manage to break free of my Spellbinding. It would be such a shame to kill her. You both appear to share a special bond." Henry''s eyes widened slightly at Angus'' choice of words but his expression returned to normal quickly and he didn''t think Angus, who was staring at the back of his head, would notice. How wrong he was. "Oh, you didn''t think I''d notice?" Angus asked and when Henry still said nothing, he continued with a chuckle, "How unobservant did you think I was? Do you think I didn''t notice your horse could suddenly use magic? Or that the magic it uses has an interesting simrity with the Shadow Vyker you and the horse killed together? Hahaha, you picked that horse from one of the wild ones we had penned away for emergencies. If it was magical before you tamed it, I would have known, Henry." Angus took a moment to shake his head before he let out a sigh and continued in a more subdued tone that almost took on a somber tremor, "Did you also think I wouldn''t notice Yelena''s dark tendril spell was the same as that of the Warlock we all fought on the train?" That got a reaction from Henry and he arched his head around a bit to ask, "What?" "Oh don''t y dumb, Henry. You know what I''m talking about. When Joe told me what he saw, it wasn''t just Yelena''s immortality that surprised me and I began to wonder if the spell could just be a coincidence. I might have dismissed it as such too but then I finally took notice of how you were around her. She went out to fight in a battle she technically could not lose. In a battle she had no danger of dying in and yet, there you were, offering support. Speaking words of encouragement to her. And then things started to make sense¡­" "What the hell are you on about?" Henry asked but Angus ignored him. "¡­ It finally made sense why we found nothing on the Warlock on the Train. Somehow you got to it before us and on him must have been a book or a scroll or maybe even just a parchment containing the Arcane knowledge for that spell and you gave it to the Witch." "You''re nuts," Henry said. "Oh, am I? The first time the Mansion was attacked by Vykers; After, when we found gold on some of them, Dana searched the Vyker you killed and found nothing. She used you¡­" "Please, she''s never really liked me¡­" Henry said. "But it happened again," Angus said in a loud voice to drown out the rest of Henry''s words, "The second time we were attacked when you so gantly went out to face them by Yelena''s side, we found nothing on any of the Vykers. The only gold coins we were able to acquire were on the body of the one Vyker I took into the Mansion to question. You think I didn''t notice all that? Don''t take me for a fool, Henry. You have not been sharing and I''m very disappointed. You forget¡­ We''re a family." Henryughed then which was difficult seeing as Angus'' knee was pressing him hard into the ground and impairing his ability to breathe, "That''s riching from you," he said, "You have me pinned against the ground and are rambling on about a bunch of nonsense. If you want to kill me, you might as well just get it over with." "Kill you? What, why would I do that? No, I care about you Son. Besides Devon, you are the only one in the Gang with Awakened Potential. Killing you would hurt me, believe it or not. No, I''ll leave you here and get a head start to the Hadron Mansion. I''ll break Yelena''s bond with the Mansion¡­" "What?" Henry asked with wide eyes and for the first time in a while, he resisted against Angus'' hold. It was useless. "You heard me. The Mansion is the source of her immortality and the fount of her incredible Magic. There are conditions I have to fulfill to bring someone into my Hive; They are either weaker than me and subjugated by my Spellbinding as you are or they are so weak physically that their mind is incapable ofing up with a defense. So I''ll break her bond with the Mansion, make her mortal like the rest of us. Maybe deal some damage to soften her up nice and good and thenplete the deed." "Angus, listen to me, you can''t do that," Henry said. "Do what?" Angus asked with a leisured smile. "You can''t break her bond with the Mansion. She''ll die if you do," Henry said, his tone imploring for Angus to be sensible. "Not if I''m quick. I''ve got it all figured out, Henry. Take away the bond, bring her into the Hive, and reinstate the bond. Besides, if she can''t survive a few minutes without the bond, how will I be able to transfer her to the ck Manor." "Tran¡ª Transfer her to the ck Manor?" Henry asked, unsure if he had heard right. Angusughed, "Well, you don''t expect me to start building my empire in a backwater town like New Freudein, do you? I''ll rule the entire countryside but I must establish myself somewhere powerful first. The ck Manor has heritage. There has been some destruction but it should hold up well and just in case that explosion didn''t end Maude Aleric, Yelena as my secret weapon certainly will. How do you think he''ll fare against an Immortal Witch subjugated by me, the ~Hive King~?" "Angus, don''t do this," Henry pleaded, resisting against the ~Hive King~''s hold. "Henry," Angus said gently, "I''ll knock you out now and go on ahead to the Hadron Mansion. If you supported a Witch in a battle she could not lose and handed her precious loot you somehow managed to steal, I''d like to believe you won''t let her down now. You''lle for me and I''ll be waiting. I''d like to see how thatplexity in your head holds up against me drawing on Immortal might." "Angus, don''t¡ª" Henry started to say before¡­ *Bam!* ¡­ A fist mmed the back of his head and he cked out. Chapter 101: Plunging A Trigger ??? As he was getting pulled from the darkness he had been submerged in and regained feeling in his body, Henry felt somethingpping at him. He opened his eyes to see Nyx''s pink tongue licking at his face. "-What- What are you doing?-" he asked her using their telepathic connection because he felt opening his mouth would have her licking inside it next. "-Oh, good, you''re awake-" Nyx said and moved away from him, "-You had me worried there for a bit.-" "And licking me is how you process your worry?" Henry asked her managing a smile despite the situation. "-Well, I tried nudging for a bit. Sniffed you, breathed on you. Called you many times too. Nothing worked so I tried licking your face.-" Nyx said sounding slightly sheepish. "That still doesn''t seem like a natural progression of decisions," Henry said. "-Well, maybe I''ve always been curious how you taste-" Nyx admitted. "O-Kay," Henry said with the corner of his lips twitching as he got up off the ground. "-Your face tasted salty-" Nyx said. "Yeah, I would assume so," Henry said as he pressed a hand against the back of his head as it throbbed. "-I didn''t hate it-" Nyx added, "-Oh and It woke you up too so that''s great.-" "I''m gonna be honest with you, I think I was already waking up without the licking. But I appreciate the effort," Henry said as he stood to his feet and felt a wave of wooziness that caused him to stagger for a bit before you got his bnce. Notifications that had arrived while he was cked out were suddenly in front of him; [You have lost 12 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 3/110] "12 Hit points for that one hit? That bastard could have killed me!" Henry said as he looked around like he was hoping to see Angus still close by even though he knew he was surely long gone. "Nyx, how long was I out?" He asked. "-Maybe an hour,-" Nyx said, "-probably more.-" Henry''s eyes went wide, "He hit me that hard, huh? Fuck!" Henry let out as he looked around for where he had dropped his gun. "-Angus took it with him,-" Nyx said when she realized what he was searching for. "Wait, what?" Henry asked. Nyx nodded, "-I tried to stop him but he used his Magic to keep me down. Would have chased him when I got free but I had to stay close to you. I''m sorry.-" "Don''t apologize," Henry told her gently, "It''s fine." It wasn''t fine. The gun Angus made away with was ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and Henry''s only magical weapon but it would be unfair to take his frustration out on Nyx. If anything, Henry believed the bulk of the me was on him. ''All this could have been avoided if I just shot him back then.'' Hooking his legs in her stirrups, Henry got into Nyx''s saddle and grabbed her reins, "I''m going to have to ask you to push yourself. I''m sorry," Henry said. Nyx snorted, "-Push myself? To catch up with that weak thing Angus rode away on? Please! We''ll be there in no time.- Nyx reared on her hind legs and kicked out her front limbs powerfully before bringing them to the ground hard as she tore forward in an incredibly fast gallop. ''This time, I won''t hesitate,'' Henry said to himself, ''I''m putting a bullet in that skull.'' - ??? ¡ªThe Hadron Mansion¡ª Angus rode through the Mansion''s damaged gate in full gallop and only pulled to a stop about two feet away from the front doors. By the time he got down from the Horse''s saddle, Good Ol'' Joe had waddled over with a smile, "You''re back!" He said, "So I take it the job went well?" "In a manner of speaking," Angus said as he handed Joe his horse'' reins and walked toward the Mansion''s front doors. "And the others?" Joe asked as he looked toward the Hadron Mansion''s damaged gate as though expecting more to ride through it. "We got separated," Angus said now in front of the doors. But then, he paused and looked back at the newbies all camped in the courtyard with most of them looking at him with admiration. Just tens and tens of them wasting away. He had recruited them for a purpose but that purpose seemed null now that his ns were far grander than spreading Gang notoriety. But maybe, they could still have some use. He turned around and walked toward the encamped newbies before saying in a loud voice backed by his spellbinding, "Assemble, all!" The spellbinding flowed in arches that spread all over the courtyard, hitting ears and urging obedience. The newbies stood up and stopped whatever activity they were doing gaging in to gather. "I have no speech. Just know this; You are all about to be part of something bigger than yourselves. To be greater than your pathetically narrow minds could ever dream of." With that said, Angus moved into their midst reaching out his hands and touching them on the shoulders as he walked. He barely stayed longer than two seconds on every shoulder he touched. Beyond the fact that these newbies had seen him oppress a Magic-wielding Vyker, and looked up to him as one with experience in the profession they had chosen, their minds were also very simple. Lacking any Mana or Magical Intelligence, they were easily turned and brought into the Hive. Also, his promise of greatness probably helped. Easily manipted as they were. Everyone Angus touched had their eyes glow a dull purple and the looks on their faces always changed from a jovial and admiring expression to a nk one. Their personalities were gone. Meshed up into an amalgamation under Angus'' control. "Cannon fodder, the whole lot of you," Angus said when he was done, "And that''s okay. That''s all you were ever going to be. Now, get into position!" The subjugated Newbies went to their tents, grabbed their guns, and started marching all about the Mansion picking spots for some nned defense. "What''s happening?" Joe asked with wide eyes, confused about what he just witnessed. "Don''t worry about it," Angus said, "I have a job for you." "What is it?" Joe asked, attentive. Joe was the only one he didn''t quite care about bringing into the Hive. He saw no need for it. The portly man couldn''t fight which was what he needed the newbies for and as for loyalty, that was already a given and did not need to be reinforced. Angus pointed at the Wagon of Explosives. There were still boxes of the stuff that they had not taken with them to Saint ret, "I''ll need you to nt those all over the Mansion." "What?" Joe asked with wide eyes, "Why?" "Trust me," Angus said, "it''s important." Joe looked to hesitate for a minute but Angus had not steered him wrong yet. And he, Joe, had never doubted him before so why start now? "Alright," he said with an enthusiastic nod. "Good," Angus said with a smile, "Be quick. And report back to me when you''re done." The task took a while. Especially because of Joe''s physique but Angus didn''t ask one of his subjugated Newbies to assist. He was very patient because he believed he had time. Half an hour or soter, Joe returned looking sweaty, "It''s done." "And the fuses?" Angus asked with a raised brow. "All connected to a single trigger and set to go off more or less at once," Joe said. Angus nodded, "Well done. Now lead me to it." Joe led Angus to the detonator and with a wide smile, the ~Hive-King~ stepped up to it, grabbed the trigger, and plunged it down as hard as he could. Chapter 102: No, No. None Of That For Now ??? ¡ªWest Wing of The Hadron Mansion¡ª Yelena was lying on the bed in the medical bay reading through a book¡ª a book of stories and fantasies and myths all about chivalry and Prince Charming. She had read that book and others many times over her Three Centuries of ''imprisonment'' mostly because she never could get any new material and had to stick to whatever was in her Family''s library. It was the only part of the Mansion the looters had not cared to rob when they stripped it of its valuables. Apparently, they didn''t think books were worth much. Yelena disagreed. Books were her sce. The only way she could ''see'' out of the four walls of the Mansion. The only references she could refer to and get an inking of what life was like for normal people. She never really got tired of reading this novel in particr but she would be lying if she said she was paying attention to the words on the page. For two days now, only one thing had been constantly on her mind; The Kiss. It consumed her every thought. As she flicked through the pages of the novel she was reading, she paid the most attention to the illustrations. Her imagination imposed her face over the heroine''s and Henry''s face over the hero''s. It made her smile and then it made her chuckle. While the heroine was about as innocent as she was, Yelena found it funny that she sometimes seemed to have more inmon with the viin of the story. A powerful witch who had lived for centuries and used Magic to remain youthful and aimed to kill the heroine to ''steal her innocence''. The simrities were not to the letter but they were there. And Henry, well, he was not quite like the Hero of the Story either; The Hero of the story was an armor-wearing macho blond-haired blue-eyed do-gooder with a heart of gold. Completely infallible in his principles. A chivalrous Knight whose goal was to y evil and take the Princess. Yelena thought there were simrities between Henry and the Hero for sure. He was certainly dashing. He had always been good looking but this past few weeks, his body had undergone developments that had skyrocketed those looks. But his hair was brown and not blond. His eyes, deep and endearing as they were, were ck and not blue. Also, he is no do-gooder, Yelena was sure. He''s not chivalrous. He''s not infallible¡ª He''s a gang member after all. He''s basically one of the very kinds of viins the hero of the novel was always supposed to get rid of. And Yelena felt she preferred that¡ª She preferred him to the cookie-cutter hero. There was something authentic about it¡ª about him. He had killed many times before and would kill many more times again and yet, supported her not wanting to go down that path. He even dly shouldered her grief so she didn''t have to. His profession lived off loot and yet he handed her a precious Magic scroll just because he heard her, at one time, mention how much she wanted one. Yes, she and Henry were different from the Heroine and the Hero but to Yelena, that was what made it perfect. Yelena''s face was flushed a rosy red when she heard a sound from somewhere in the Mansion; *BANG!!!* The sound was followed by the explosive shattering of bricks as an entire section of the Mansion copsed, and as it did, pain tore through Yelena''s body and she let out a loud cry, "AHHHHHHHH!!!" It felt like a part of her body was torn away from her with an excruciating slowness that forced her to feel every bit of the process. She curled up into a ball on the bed but her horrors were just beginning. *BANG!!!* With another powerful explosion, another part of the Mansion was blown up. This time it was an upper level and its floor crumbled so hard it rained down bricks. The bricks fell and struck Yelena''s head, creating a long gash that bled. They crushed her arms and legs with multiple sickening crack sounds. Her body, immortal as it was, healed but healed much more slowly in proportion to the current state of the Mansion. Yelena was still yelling when more bricks fell on top of her head, burying her and drowning out her pained cries. *BANG!!!* *BANG!!!* *BANG!!!* *BANG!!!* All over the Hadron Mansion, walls were getting blown away by the explosions attached to them. Over half and a quarter of the building''s overall structure quickly fell to ruin and crumbled. Angus watched it with a wide smile on his face. Watching the centuries-old structure crumble filled him with a level of tion he hadn''t expected. When the Demolition was finally over, Angus released the trigger he had plunged and looked to the side at Joe whose eyes were widened in horror. "What''s with that look?" Angus asked with a raised brow, "What did you think was going to happen after I asked you to nt the explosives?" "Well, I expected this to happen, I suppose," Joe said slowly and then gulped as he added, "It''s just¡ª I think Yelena was still in there." "Of course, she''s still there. That''s why I did it," Angus said looking confused about Joe''s reaction but then with a shake of his head at the portly man''sck of understanding of his ways, Angus looked away and back at the dpidated Mansion. The dust from the copse was immense and it only cleared a bit when Angus walked into it with an arm over his nose to keep from choking on it. Bricks still fell as he walked. They always seemed to fall on spots he had been standing at before moving forward or spots he would have been at if he hadn''t paused for a second. It was like the damaged Mansion was angry at him. The thought made Angus chuckle as he made his way through the West Wing. The ceiling of the Medical bay had caved in and a well-made arch was the only thing keeping the doorway fairly intact but a little shove from Angus was all that was required to knock the door off its hinges. Angus looked around the room and didn''t see Yelena but he knew she was there. The tether he could sense through to Vinculum indicated she hadn''t left this room. And then his eyes fell on a mound of bricks at the spot where the Medical bay bed was supposed to be. As he watched, the bricks wobbled like something was trying to break free. *Crackle* Dark tendrils crackled from right beneath the topmost bricks. "Ahh," Angus said with a smirk, "There you are." *Bang* A tendril shot out right then and sted open enough space for a broken hand to break through. Gasp! Taking in a breath after the intense feeling of suffocation, Yelena pulled her head from beneath the bricks, and with a heave of effort, she dragged the rest of her body out of it. Her gown was covered with dirt, sttered with blood, and torn up to show gashes on her skin. Gashes that still bled. Her legs were broken in many different ces with her bones sticking out horribly. The weight of the bricks on her body had hindered her already slowed-down healing but now that she was out of them, they pulled back into shape and snapped back into ce with sickening crunch sounds that had Yelena wincing in pain. But that pain was mildpared to what she was feeling due to the Hadron Mansion''s demolition. She no longer felt whole. It was like entire portions of her body had been cut away. She didn''t even notice Angus as he walked closer but she looked up when she heard his voice. "Look at you all weak," he said with a smile, "You must be in pain. Let''s put an end to that, shall we?" Yelena saw his hand reach toward her and knew she didn''t want that. She hurried back a few steps as she summoned her tendrils. "No, no," Angus said wagging a finger at her, "None of that for now." And then, Yelena felt it. Something broke. The connection that kept her tied to the Mansion¡ª The connection that kept her alive was suddenly gone. Her Magic, always so full and abundant, waned and her tendrils fizzled out. Her aging which had slowed due to her conditional immortality, struck back at her as her brown hair turned grey and started to stretch past her shoulders. The process of her body breaking down and her life ending wasn''t instantaneous but she could feel it barreling fast at her. And then, Angus gripped her shoulder and her mind was pulled into a Mental space where the physical aging of her body was shut to the side as her mental individuality was quickly at risk. Chapter 103: Exterminate The Hive (1) *** With thuds that were heavy as well as fleeting, Nyx finally got close enough that Henry could see the Hadron Mansion in the distance and his eyes widened at the sight. Over half of the entire topmost floor had been demolished and the part that still stood didn''t look like it wouldst long. There were trees and a wall around the Mansion that blocked direct sight of the lower floors but Henry knew it wouldn''t be much better. "Angus, you bastard, what did you do?!" And then Nyx let out a sudden whinny as she drifted to the side just as a bullet tore through where Henry had been only a second before. "What the¡ª?!" Henry asked with wide eyes but more shots were fired from all over with a couple managing to strike his body with enough force to cause him to jostle on Nyx''s back. [You have lost 5 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 58/110] [You have lost 3 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 55/110] [You have lost 5 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 50/110] With the three bullets managing to hit him, Henry was d he had downed a Healing Potion on the ride over because, with the 3 Hit Points Angus had left him with, he would surely have been dead. With his hand stretched to the side, Henry reached through the blue-light opening of his Inventory and pulled out his Repeater and his wide-spread Perception picked out his attackers from all over. He pointed the gun and fired his first shot with a precise aim that sunk the bullet into his target''s forehead. [Kill-Reward: 20 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] Had Henry not been busy picking out his next target, he would have paid attention to the fact that he just received the most Exp he had ever received for killing someone who didn''t have magic. And he was sure his victim didn''t have magic despite those dull purple eyes the attackers all had. ''Hold on,'' Henry thought and he just had to pause, ''Purple eyes?'' [Grand Quest Updated] [Main Quest: Exterminate the Hive. (Hunting Quest) Angus Dionisio has sed his minions on you. Gun them down and clear yourself a path to confront him. Quest Reward: For every Hive Member you kill, you receive a bonus of 150 Exp. Killing the ~Hive King~ (optional) will reward you with 1000 Exp. *Nyx will receive 50% of all bonus Exp. Good luck!] ''Optional?'' Henry said as he somehow found the time to skim through the Quest details, ''Fuck that, I''m killing him.'' [You killed a Hive Member] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] Henry made a hard lean to the side and, aided by Nyx''s speed, he avoided a shot and retaliated with a sessful one of his own. [Kill-Reward: 15 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] Watching those who used to be the newbies of the Dionisio Gang now purple-eyed and mind-controlled to do Angus'' bidding did not fill Henry with a feeling of pity. The way he saw it, this was always their fate, Vinculum or not. He would have just very much preferred it if they were not a current pain in his ass. Henry had let go of Nyx''s reins now which made him less stable on the horse but afforded him the two-handed grip on his gun that bettered his aim. They were nearing the Hadron Mansion''s damaged gate when Nyx let out a pained cry as a bullet struck her in the side. [Nyx has lost 5 Hit Points] [Nyx''s Hit Points: 60/80] Whoever shot at her was either a great shot (having caught her even while she had activated) or just very lucky. Either way, the shot knocked Nyx out of her rhythm. She deactivated almost instinctively and in the moment, Henry sensed someone aim at him. He pointed his Repeater and shot that Subjugated Newbie in the face. [Kill-Reward: 15 Exp] [You have received 250 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 125 Exp] His Perception picked up another gun barrel aimed at him and with a flick of his Wrist and without bothering to look over, Henry drew his bronze and Gold gold-painted revolver and shot a bullet into the would-be assant''s chest. [Kill-Reward: 15 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] With two guns now in hand, Henry went on to im two more lives almost instantaneously. [Kill-Reward: 15 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 15 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] Nyx finally regained her rhythm and crossed the damaged gate into the Hadron Mansion Compound where Henry found that there were more of the Subjugated Newbies waiting for him. The difference was, that they didn''t stay far away and shoot at him. They ran over the moment Nyx was getting close to the Hadron Mansion''s front doors and leaped at Henry to pull him off the horse. Nyx swung her head and smacked some of them away but the vast majority of the crazy jumpers got close enough. Their hands touching and gripping Henry''s clothes to pull him to the ground. With a powerful swing of his leg, Henry kicked a couple of them off of him but they stood up quickly enough and others were very ready to rece them. The positive though was that, at such close quarters, sessful shots by Henry were assured. Blood spewed all over and brain matter flowed out of headshots as Henry managed to kill three of the Subjugating Newbies wing at him before one of them collided with him with such force, that he had no choice but to fall off Nyx''s saddle. Meanwhile, without a rider, Nyx reared and bucked powerfully as she angrily struck one of the newbies with her hind hooves before trampling on him until she was sure he was dead. [Nyx has made a Kill] [Nyx has received 20 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] She went after another one almost immediately and in minutes, she had crushed three Newbies underneath her hooves and was hungry to crush more. [Nyx has made a Kill] [Nyx has received 20 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] [Nyx has made a Kill] [Nyx has received 20 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] [Nyx has made a Kill] [Nyx has received 20 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] While the notifications of Nyx''s kills sounded in Henry''s head, he felt a hand grip his wrist and try to pin him to the ground but he overpowered the hold easily, knocking his attacker to the side before nting a bullet in his skull. More of them crowded over but despite such close range, they didn''t try to shoot at him. They used their guns like clubs instead and grabbed at him to hold him down. And then, it hit Henry, ''He doesn''t want to kill me,'' he realized. The shots so far were to stop him and had aimed at body parts he could survive getting shot at. It was certainly a stupid way to try and stop him and one awry shot could have ended him but Angus was clearly okay taking that risk. Now that Henry was no longer on his horse though and could be crowded and ganged up on, things were different and the minions were trying for non-lethal strikes. Unfortunately for them though, Henry had no qualms about killing them. They were in his way and he had to be rid of them. [Kill-Reward: 15 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 15 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] With two more kills and a powerful kick to knock an enemy many steps away, Henry was ever-ready to turn his guns at his next victims when a particrly interesting notification sounded in his head; [Skill Level-Up!] [Marksmanship is now Lv.4] ''Finally!'' Henry thought. Every shot he had made for days now, despite his usualck of need for extra uracy, had been made with the {Marksmanship Skill} activated and it was finally about to pay off. "Alright," Henry said allowing himself a moment to look up the description screen. "What do I get this time?" Chapter 104: Exterminate The Hive (2) [Marksmanship Lv.4: Your Gun toting skills have be further honed; ?Skill''s Active Effect of +5% uracy increased to 15%. With the skill activated, you have an added 15% chance of making a sessful kill.] ''Wait, that''s it?!'' Henry thought and the relief that he was starting to feel at the idea of having something else to face off against Angus who outstripped him in all physical stats, began to wane, ''Are you serious?'' He asked the System like he was expecting an answer, The way he saw it, he already didn''t need the uracy bonuses and only used them for the Skill Exp and to finally level up the Skill and to only have that Percentage increased as opposed to receiving some new Sub Skill that could prove needed for the fight toe had him feeling more disappointed than he had probably felt since he came into this world. Henry didn''t get an answer from the system and he stopped asking for one when more of the Newbies were crowding over now, moving like Zombies. Lacking any actual personality or individual intention. Just a Hive mentality to put their lives on the line to do their ~Hive-King''s~ bidding. "Ah fuck it," Henry said and more directly to the System (As direct as he could, seeing as he was talking to a screen that dispensed information with almost callous detachment) he said, "Fuck you! I don''t even need it." He spun his revolver in his hand and, in a flow of movement guided by his agile wrist and fast finger, he made to shoot at the crowding Newbies and kill at least one of them with every single bullet he still had in the gun''s cylinder. s, there was only one bullet left and with a somewhat awkward cocking-on-empty sound, his superb move was cut short. Plus, there was an interesting notification when the System dispensed rewards regarding the one kill he made; [Kill-Reward: 15 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] Yes, despite how vocal Henry was about the System and not needing its bonuses, he activated his {Marksmanship} Skill all the same. He was disappointed about the oue of the Skill Level-up but decided to keep at it for a chance for a better future oue. The mentality almost mirrored that of a gambler who believed his losses were merely paving the way for a bigger win. Whether that would be the case or not remained to be seen. Meanwhile, Nyx was not having all that better a time. Having made four kills already, the Subjugated Newbies were starting to pay attention, as directed by their ~Hive King~, and since it was Henry that Angus wanted alive and not her, they had no qualms about shooting at her. Already, bullets had struck her and cut her Hit Points down by another 20 but, of course, still she raged. She went after the ones who had shot at her first and struck one of them so hard, that he went flying and mmed into the Hadron Mansion''s partially dpidated wall with such force, that his head cracked on impact. [Nyx has made a Kill] [Nyx has received 20 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] Her next victim suffered the very impactful barreling at her topmost speed further boosted by the skill. The trauma seemed to have already robbed him of the ability to breathe but Nyx went a step further by trampling on him as she had done many others before. [Nyx has made a Kill] [Nyx has received 20 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] Right then, as Henry was activated to ensure both his guns had enough bullets loaded so he could resume his shooting, he received an alert from the System; [You have Leveled Up!] [You are now Level 12] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 120] [Hit Points: 60/120] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 130] [You have received 6 Stat Points to allocate] [Nyx has leveled Up!] [Nyx is now Level 4] [Nyx''s Hit Point Maximum increased to 95] [Nyx''s Mana is now 105] [Strength: 45 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 50] [Speed: 80 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 90] [Stamina: 40 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 45] ''Put all my Stat Points into Agility,'' Henry said immediately. Not particrly due to current need but rather to follow up on an earlier decision. [Agility: 30 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 36] As Henry was feeling swifter than ever and could feel something start to right itself in the bnce of his Stats, Nyx reared powerfully and let out long aggressive whinnies as she reveled in a boost to her physicality. "-Henry, go on ahead!-" she told him through their telepathy, "-I''ll cover you.-" Nyx didn''t wait for Henry to answer. She activated in a steady stream that cost her Mana reserves but she could endure long enough to do what she had to do. She dodged bullets fired at her but didn''t go after the shooters but rather at those who were crowding around Henry and blocking his path to the Hadron Mansion. Suddenly, the most prevalent sounds all over the Hadron Mansionpound were ms of collisions as the victims were sent flying by a mighty force they had no hope of surviving whether they made eventual hard contact with another hard surface or not. With a path cleared, Henry gave Nyx a few words of thanks through their telepathy, and with powerful bounds backed by his Agility and Strength, he got across thepound and leaped through a hole in the wall. He made to turn toward the West Wing when his Perception detected enemies. He looked up and pointed his guns before firing a few shots. One of his targets ducked behind a damaged wall and survived while the other keeled and fell off the top floor to hit the ground with a *Thud*. The one who survived Henry''s shot was suddenly no longer alone and with two others, leaped down before Henry could turn his gun at them. Utilizing gravity, their leap-down was powerful and they aimed to dog-pile on Henry and finally pin him down as the tens and tens of Subjugated Newbies outside had been unable to do. A foolish notion. There were only three of them and despite a slight buckle of his knees, Henry remained standing. One of them was gripping his left arm so Henry swung it and mmed him into the ground and followed up with a bullet to the forehead. [Kill-Reward: 15 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] Another was gripping his right arm and quickly suffered the same fate. [Kill-Reward: 15 Exp] [You have received 150 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 75 Exp] [You have gained Skill Exp] The third was holding on to Henry''s neck and hugging his back tight so he turned and mmed him into the wall with enough force that the hold around his neck loosened. Henry turned and made to shoot but paused. The Subjugated Newbie was knocked out and ordinarily, that wouldn''t have mattered but Henry recognized him. It was Tom the Newbie. The one who hade up with the tip that eventually led to the Bounty Hunter chase and went on to cost Tony his life. After the incident, Henry defended Tom because he believed the boy wasn''t at fault. Looking into that face, eyes closed and slumped against the wall, Henry felt some feelings. It was starting to dawn on him that he and Nyx just ughtered a bunch of innocents whose only crime was that they were manipted by Angus. Henry didn''t regret the killings ¡ªIt was essential¡ª but maybe, he could let just this one live. Leaving Tom the Newbie behind, Henry ran the rest of the way to the West Wing and walked through the doorless arched doorway just in time to see Angus recoil with a grimace. "Ah!" Angus let out while shaking his hand in pain with an inscrutable look at Yelena. "Yelena?" Henry called out with wide eyes at her current look. Her hair had grown so grey, it was now white and it had grown out in tangled, untidy locks and was so long, Henry was sure it would reach past her ankles if she were standing. "Henry," Angus called out like one would call out to an old friend. The look in his eyes became a gloating one as the Vinculum on his chest pulsed with revitalized energy, "d to see you made it in one piece. And just in time too¡­" Yelena opened her eyes slowly and her beautiful green orbs had been reced with a sickening purple hue and her expression was nk. Angus continued with his arms spread like a gracious lord, "Just in time to be one with us." Chapter 105: Kill The Infernal Spawn Henry tore his eyes from Yelena and with his guns already raised from the moment he stepped into the damaged medical bay, he clenched the trigger but Angus was already in front of him. The Dionisio Gang Leader grabbed Henry''s wrists and lifted them to force the guns to point upward and fire at the loose bricks of the upper floor. Raining down debris and dust on both their heads. "That''s enough of that," Angus said and the way his purple eyes red, Henry thought he was about to be gripped by Spellbinding. Instead, Angus just head-butted him so hard, that Henry''s head rang and his vision became blurry. "Resistance is useless," Angus said as he wrenched the Repeater out of Henry''s hand to smack him with it and send him to the ground. Angus raised a hand and Mana crackled around it to take the shape of an Arcane tendril that sputtered weakly into appearance. "Hmm?" Angus said, taking note of the Spell''s weak magic, "It should be stronger than this, shouldn''t it? Oh right, I haven''t reinitiated the bond. Forgot she''s useless without it." Angus reached down and grabbed Henry''s shoulder, passing the purple energy of the Vinculum into his body and locking his muscles in ce with a temporary subjugation bond pending a true one he hoped to initiate after bringing Yelena back to her Magical peak. When Henry''s body went limp, his grip on his revolver loosened so that it dropped uselessly to the ground with a tter sound. Angus picked it up and stuck it into his second holster with ''The Hydra''s Sting'' already upying one. Angus also slung Henry''s repeater across his back and patted Henry down for any more weapons. Once Angus had ascertained that Henry was weaponless, he grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him along as he walked back to where Yelena was sitting atop a mound of bricks. Her dull purple eyes were open and staring into nothing. "You see that Henry? Her bond with the Mansion was broken but she still breathes. A transfer to the ck Manor is very much possible. Now just sit tight while I re-initiate her bond." Angus released Henry''s shirt and with the Vinculum pulsing on his chest, he began the process of Bond-making. ''Something''s strange,'' Henry noted as he watched the process limply from the ground. He had seen subjugation happen before and had faced a horde of the Subjugated until just a minute ago and the energy Yelena was giving off was quite different. Her skin had grown pale and was starting to wither and her heartbeats were slowing but something was raging stronger than ever inside her. Fortunately, being paralyzed by the Vinculum did not prevent Henry from bringing magical energy up to his eyes; [Activating ] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Yelena Hadron] [Race: Human (Infernal Spawn)] [ss: Witch] [Health: 50] [Mana: 200 (Overload)] [Strength: 15] [Agility: 20] [Stamina: 15] [Intelligence: 1500] *[Remarks: Cursed to an early death but her life was extended through Infernal Energy that has doomed her to a pitiful existence bound to end all the same. Beauty that ranges from Angelic to Frosty but is consistently outstanding. She CAN be killed but would you even want to? - With her earthly bond broken, Yelena Hadron''s Soul is falling into the control of her Demonic Patron and without the ability to control the magic she has been bestowed, it will continue to swell as her health steadily drops and will likely build to an explosive crescendo. You should RUN!] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry''s eyes widened which was a testament to his shock because the sheer might to resist the Vinculum''s paralysis and aplish that was not at all negligible. As Henry stared at the Status screen, he watched Yelena''s Health drop point by point; [Health: 50] [Health: 49] [Health: 48] On the other hand, her Mana increased. [Mana: 200 (Overload)] [Mana: 300 (Overload)] [Mana: 400 (Overload)] For every point Yelena lost in Health, she gained a hundred in Mana with the (Overload) sign shing a threatening red while her body grew hotter with energy that felt beyond the mortal ne. Angus didn''t seem to take notice or maybe he did and just decided to continue the bond re-initiation. ''It''s probably for the best,'' Henry thought, ''If he gets the bond back in ce, maybe she doesn''t blow up. But that''ll only trap her here for who knows how many more centuries. Plus, with how destroyed the Mansion is, who knows how long it can stand¡­ Re-initiating the bond might just be dying the inevitable. And let''s not forget she''s under the influence of the Vinculum. That''s almost the worst fate of all.'' Henry''s chest clenched at the dilemma and the System must have that was the right time to pile on because; [Grand Quest Updated!] [''Follow Up Quest: Eliminate the Infernal Spawn'' has been moved up in priority] [Main Quest: Kill the Infernal Spawn. As a being with the potential to serve as a conduit for a Demon, Yelena Hadron cannot be allowed to remain in the Mortal ne. You now have your chance. She is mortal but also very vtile. However, if you kill her before her Health drops to zero, you will avoid a catastrophe you cannot possibly outrun. Reward: 15,000 Exp] ''To increase the reward by 10,000, you must really want to tempt me,'' Henry thought with his lips pursed as his eyes read through the Quest details. "Ahh!" Angus yelled out suddenly and Henry saw the ~Hive King~ recoil a few steps, his brows scrunched up and his mouth gaping in the shape it had taken when he howled out his pain. "What in hell?" Angus yelled out and he would likely never know how urate that phrase was. When Angus brought Yelena into the Hive, it was a hectic process that exposed him to just how much she outssed him. Her capacity to understand Arcane knowledge was immense. Far more than Angus had ever sensed or felt in anyone else but a dying and weakened body made it impossible for her to mount a mental defense, and yet, somehow, he had felt something during that process. Some recess of power that did not seem to being exactly from Yelena''s body. Like a pair of eyes staring at Angus from some deep abyss. That gaze¡ª That power, repelled Angus right after he was done bringing Yelena into the Hive, and was why Henry had seen him yell out and recoil when he first arrived at the damaged medical bay. And that gaze¡ª That power, seemed to have returned in even greater strength. Angus tried to re-create the bond he had broken but the energy, sizzling like the mes of hell, burnt right through it and hit him with a recoil that reverberated throughout his body but hit his mind the hardest. As Angus yelled out his cuss and grabbed his head, Henry felt the grip of the Vinculum loosen, allowing him to finally move his body. This was his chance and he would be damned if he didn''t take it. Whatever Angus just suffered onlysted a second but a second was all Henry truly needed. Out of his Inventory, Henry pulled a Revolver. A normal, ordinary-looking weapon that was the first gun he ever held in this world, and with a cock of its hammer he fired a shot into Angus'' side. "Ack!" Angus let out as he looked at Henry with wide eyes. He had felt his hold on Henry''s body with the Vinculum loosen but the only guns that were in this room were on him so where did that onee from? "Where¡ª" he started to say and even let out his Spellbinding. What orders to disarm him could possibly start with ''where'', Henry had no idea. He assumed Angus was just about to ask him where he got his gun, and the Spellbinding just came off like a defense mechanism. All in all, it hardly mattered. Angus had barely got out that first word that Henry shot four bullets into his chest, just inches away from the Vinculum and with one aimed specifically for his heart,before topping it all off with a bullet to his forehead¡­ Bang! ¡­ Just as he had ''vowed'' to himself that he would do. Chapter 106: I Don’t Want Any Of That Angus'' eyes were wide as he rocked back and forth on his feet like he was trying his hardest to resist some external force that wanted to push him to the ground. The hole in his head that was gushing with blood did not look to have had the immediate effect of death that Henry had seen Headshots make all his life. "I¡ª" Angus started to say and then choked as blood started to fill his mouth. Henry would have shot him again but there were no more bullets in the Revolver. So he walked over to Angus and watched as the ''light'' dimmed in his eyes but it still glowed a dull purple. And then, Henry understood; For all intent and purposes, Angus was dead but due to his intensive assimtion with the Vinculum, the object was keeping his body standing¡ª Keeping him ''alive'' and doing a horrible job at it. Henry grabbed the handle of ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and pulled it out of Angus'' holster before sending it into his Inventory. Next, he grabbed the Vinculum and pulled at it as hard as he could to get it off Angus'' chest. With Angus physically incapable of maintaining his bond with the item, the silver tentacles that had dug into his body began to retract until the item finally pulled free of his chest. The purple glow in Angus'' eyes finally dimmed to return them to their natural hue as he keeled over backward and hit the ground with a heavy thud. [Quest ''Exterminate the Hive'' Completed!] [Kill-Reward: 450 Exp] [Vyker-Killer Bonus: +1 Strength] [Strength: 30 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 31] [You have received 1000 Bonus Exp] *[Nyx has received 500 Exp] [You have Leveled up!] [You are now Level 13] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 130] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 140] [You now have 6 Stat Points to Allocate] [You have killed Angus Dionisio and have thus, disbanded the Dionisio Gang] [You have lost the Title ''Gangbanger''] Henry hardly paid attention to the notifications. He looked from the dull glow of the purple gem of the Vinculum to Yelena whose head was now bowed as cracks began to appear all over her skin as she continued to release powerful thrums of Magical energy at the expense of her life. *Clip* *Clop* *Clip* *Clop* With the Hadron Mansion as damaged as it was, the hallways were more than rge'' enough to amodate Nyx who trotted over through the archway of the once-medical bay with her eyes falling on Angus first. "-You did it!-" she said and then her eyes went to Yelena, "-What''s wrong with her?-" "She''s dying," Henry said and nced at Nyx to see her body syed with blood and some bullet wounds where the Subjugated Newbies had managed to shoot her after he left. Thanks to the System''s way of calcting injuries, she wasn''t bleeding out and Henry knew she had left no Subjugated Newbie alive. It was her kills that continued the ''Eliminate the Hive'' Hunting Quest and gave Henry the Exp required for another Level up. "-What are you going to do?-" Nyx asked as she saw Henry walk toward Yelena. "I need to try and help -Ah!" Letting out a cry of pain, Henry recoiled a step with an arm across his face. The energy thrumming from Yelena''s body was no longer just a forceful force of unseen psychic burning effect. The violent mana was starting to take the form of mes that burned sporadically every few seconds and carried a wave of burring heat that burnt everything it touched. With , Henry watched Yelena''s Health level and Mana Overload level; [Health: 29] [Mana: 2300 (Overload)] "Henry?" Yelena''s voice came out weakly and she raised her head slowly to look up into Henry''s face. "I''m here," Henry told her in a gentle voice, and with a steeling of his nerves, he picked his moment and leaped the rest of the distance that separated them so he could go on one knee in front of her. He held out the hand holding the Vinculum and said with conviction, "I''ll help you." Yelena raised a hand, her green eyes tearing up and she raised it to his face, "You''re burning," she said. She was right. Being so close to her, Henry''s skin was getting scorched. His clothes were already getting reduced to cinders. "I''m doing this to you?" Yelena asked. She almost didn''t sound sure. Like she was refusing to believe she was capable of such uncontroble destructive magic. "It''s alright," Henry told her. "No, it''s not," Yelena let out in a choked-up voice, "You should get away. I''ll burn you if you don''t." "I''m fine," Henry insisted with a hard look into her green eyes. "No, you''re not," Yelena said as tears streamed down her face. She raised her other hand now and with both her hands touching his face, she tried to find the nourishing energy she had once been capable of exuding. But it was gone. She was no longer immortal and the little Health she now had was falling too fast to be shared and would likely not even keep up with the destruction of his body. "No, no, no," Yelena let out in despair as she shook her head, "Henry please, go," she said, "I can''t¡ª Argh! I can''t stop it!" [Health: 20] [Mana: 3200 (Overload)] Henry said nothing. He just pursed his lips and dropped his eyes to the Vinculum. He clenched and unclenched the item''s gem as it pulsed with an almost eager rhythm. Henry had seen Angus use the item enough times and had investigated the use with enough to know what it wanted was another vessel. Wincing as the tongues of magical, almost hellish mes licked at his body, Henry raised the Vinculum and ced it against his chest. Instantly, the item let out its tentacles and dug into Henry''s body creating an instant bond but Henry was far from satisfied. "That''s it?" He asked in a loud voice, "Come on, I know that''s not all you have. Give it here!" The Vinculum seemed to pause and then it pulsed with even greater intensity as its tentacles dug even deeper into Henry''s body to create the level of assimtion Angus once enjoyed. Turning him from human to Hybrid and granting him the disgusting and ostentatious title of ~Hive King~. As the item''s purple energy thrummed through him, Henry made to get started on stabilizing Yelena''s condition when he suddenly felt the Vinculum''s ''sense of self'' nudging him. It filled his head with grand dreams of epic proportions. Entire cities and kingdoms and nations¡ª subjugated to ''them''. Allowing ''them'' to sit at the very top of thedder of power with no one to dare oppose them. ''Together,'' The Vinculum seemed to say. If Henry was to imagine its tone, he would have likened it to that of a lover and the unnaturalness of it caused his body to tremble. "What a load of horseshit!" He eventually said and managed a smile despite the situation before he added, "No offense, Nyx." "-Why would I be offended?-" the Horse asked, confused. "You don''t really want a partner. You want a tool," Henry said to the Vinculum, "And I don''t really want any of that. Not the way you do it anyway. Your ''~Hive~'' robs people of their individuality and with Angus steering your power, I saw what you almost did to her (gestures at Yelena) so now shut up and let me use you to fix the mess you made!" The Vinculum''s sense of self shrunk back as though bitten but it made no more nudges. Leaving Henry''s mind clear enough to think. As the wielder of the Vinculum, Henry understood the mechanics of Bond Making well enough. It just came with the job, so to speak. The problem, however, was that any attempt to create a bond between Yelena and the Hadron Mansion was met with a sizzling heat that burnt away the connection and struck him with powerful psychic feedback. A minute of trials and failurester, Henry was faced with the ufortable truth that he was attempting the impossible and that he and Yelena were running out of time for him toe up with a workaround. Chapter 107: I Advise against This! With a bond with the Mansion proving impossible, Henry cast his eyes around the destroyed and now burning room in hopes of finding some anchor, some structure to use, even though it was clear that there was none. [Health: 10] [Mana: 4200 (Overload)] Suddenly a screen projected out in front of Henry''s eyes shing a red ''Danger'' sign and beeping loudly with alerts in his head. "Nyx, get away from here," Henry called out. "-Nuh, huh,-" Nyx let out with a snort, "-Why would I leave?-" With her ck coat starting to smolder due to the aggressive burning nature of Yelena''s violently released Mana, Nyx trotted closer to Henry to provide her support in some way even though she had no idea how. "Damn it," Henry said with a sinking thought that he was about to fail. [Yelena Hadron''s Mana Overload is reaching critical levels. Kill her Now!] "Shut up!" Henry said out loud. But the System didn''t shut up; [You are at risk of failing the Grand Quest before truly starting it. Kill the Infernal Spawn! You would be ridding the world of potential evil if you do!] Had Henry''s mind not been upied at the moment, he would have taken note of the System''s tone slipping from the mechanical impassioned tone it always had to one of urgency that went beyond simply shing lights into his face. That said, Henry might not have detected the tone but he heard the words, "Rid the world of Evil? When you ripped me from my world and put me here, did that sound like something I''d be up for?" The system didn''t answer and just repeated its earlier message; [You are at risk of failing the Grand Quest before truly starting it. Kill the Infernal Spawn. You would be ridding the world of potential evil if you do!] Henry tuned it out. He had a hand on Yelena''s shoulder and his other hand cradled her face, wincing but enduring the violent energy burning through him. And then he looked all over the room. The walls were already ame and burned so hot, they were being melted. The sight of stones melting only drove home to Henry just how pathetic this situation was. "I wonder if Tom the Newbie made it out," he thought suddenly. With the Vinculum off Angus'' chest, those who were under his control became free, as evidenced by Yelena. If Tom woke up quickly enough, he might have had the sense to get away. Henry was doubtful but had hope. Nyx was nowid down on the hot ground. Holding in her pained sounds like she was trying not to distract Henry from his critical thinking. Henry managed a smile at that before he looked back at Yelena who was now quiet in eptance of her fate; [Health: 6] [Mana: 4600 (Overload)] ''If only I could find something to bind her to¡­ Even if just temporarily.'' Bonding Yelena with himself would only have brought her into his ''Hive'' and learning from Angus'' attempt at that, Henry knew that wouldn''t stabilize her condition. It would just make her a mindless minion who was a ve to the Hive Mind. Henry closed his eyes and delved deep into the power of the Vinculum. "Something," he mumbled, "Something strong enough for a bond¡­" [It''s now or never! Kill the Infernal Spawn. You would be ridding the world of potential evil if you do!] Henry was about to yell for the System to shut up again when he paused. He had felt something from the Vinculum when the System''s alert sounded in his head. It was faint and he might not have felt it if he was not so deep within the Vinculum''s energy but he had certainly felt it. As a Bond-Maker/Breaker, the Vinculum can empower its wielder to seek out existing bonds and make new ones and the fact that it was reacting to the System meant there was a bond there to be detected. ''Of course,'' Henry thought and his eyes opened slowly, ''I AM bonded to the System¡­ Maybe I could bind someone else to it?'' Looking at the bullet wounds he and Nyx had sustained from the subjugated Newbies and yet were not bleeding out; it seemed like stabilizing life was exactly what the System was best at. As the idea formed in Henry''s head, he gripped both of Yelena''s shoulders tight and closed his eyes to seek out the intangible bond he had with the System. Now that he knew to look for it, and with the Vinculum''s Bond-seeking ability to guide the way, Henry found the epicenter soon enough and found it pulsing stronger than he could possibly have imagined. And so Henry began the process. With him as the medium, he seized control of Yelena''s Health and her weakening soul and brought it to the System to initiate a bond. [Including a third party to the System-User Contract without prior subjugation is ill-advised!] ''She''s not a pet to tame,'' Henry retorted like the very notion displeased him, ''Please, just shut up and let me work!'' [I advise against this!] ''And I dismiss your advice!'' That time Henry had definitely heard the tone of urgency from the System but chose to ignore it. It didn''t matter to him at the moment anyway. [Health: 3] [Mana: 4900 (Overload)] ''Come on,'' Henry thought fervently. [Health: 2] [Mana: 5000 (Overload)] Henry could feel he had started making the connection but it didn''t seem to be catching up the the rate Yelena''s Health was falling. "Work, damn it!" Henry yelled out loud this time and the Vinculum let out a powerful pulse before another long crack appeared to join the one Angus had caused when he detonated his Subjugated Warlocks. [Health: 1] [Mana: 5100 (Overload)] Henry''s heart skipped a beat and he waited with bated breath knowing the next update to that Stat screen would either cement the oing doom or be his saving grace. . . . [Health: 2] Henry''s eyes widened and his eyes moved from the Health tab to the Mana tab beneath it; [Mana: 4900 (Stabilizing)] Henry cracked a smile of relief but his eyes widened even further as he felt something rupture inside him, forcing him to bow his head and spit out blood. His Hit Points were critically low from the prolonged exposure to the hellish mes but even worse, his health was taking a hit from the sheer effort it was taking to forcefully connect another person''s entire being to the System he did not even truly understand. Pulling out an improved Healing Potion, Henry recovered 60 Hit Points but that started dropping point by point as well and even more of his insides were rupturing, causing him to spit out even more blood. *Crack* Another jagged diagonal line appeared across the Vinculum. Every bit of its Bond-Making energy was getting siphoned to facilitate Yelena''s bond with the System and with every bit of energy it lost, the integrity of the purple gem suffered. Yelena finally stirred. She felt her health begin to stabilize. Her cracking skin mended and its pale parlor started to gain color. Beyond that, she felt an inexplicable connection with something she could not quite exin and in that connection, she felt two other parties. One with a stronger hold than the other. She recognized those parties to be Henry and Nyx. She was just about to open her eyes and question what was happening when her entire psyche was pulled out of her body and into a strange space filled with interlocking intangible fibers that were spinning fast and attaching to various aspects of her existence to keep her alive. Her curse was gone since she turned Twenty-five. Her brother suffered it instead. What she was dealing with now was her mortality. Death had been kept away from her by the infernal bond a Sorcerer had made between her and the Mansion and with the bond gone, Death came to stake its im. But these fibers carried a powerful energy that staved Death away and sought to stabilize her life to some degree of normalcy. "Henry¡ª you''re doing this?" Yelena asked incredulously but Henry couldn''t hear her. He was outside of that space battling to keep the stabilization going. [Health: 30] [Mana: 2200 (Stabilizing)] He drank another Healing Potion but it still felt insufficient. So he drank thest one he had and even then, the points dropped fast. "-Use mine too.-" Nyx said. "-No, there''s no¡ª" Henry started to tell her through their telepathy but stopped when he felt she had already started supplying him. The burden he was under began to lessen ever so slightly and the speed of Yelena''s stabilization sped up. [Health: 41] [Mana: 1100 (Stabilizing)] [Health: 45] [Mana: 700 (Stabilizing)] [Health: 48] [Mana: 400 (Stabilizing)] ¡­ [Health: 50] [Mana: 200] From then on, Yelena''s Health began to hike but her Mana remained the same having now lost the (Stabilizing) sign that was before tagged to the front of it. And then finally¡­ [Health: 100] [Mana: 200] ¡­ It stopped. The mes were gone. Violent Mana no longer surged from Yelena''s body and the final dregs of the Vinculum''s energy were siphonedpletely in the process of creating the bond. The purple gem lost all of its glow and all of its power. The item''s tentacles detached from Henry''s body so it fell to the ground and the gem shattered. Henry was sure he heard the Vinculum''s ''sense of self'' curse him with thest of its consciousness but he didn''t care. He was d to be rid of it. He was d he had used thest of the item''s power to right Angus'' wrong and give Yelena some semnce of a real life going forward. [Your attempt to bond a Third Party with the System has been deemed in line with the System''s ''Exclusivity use''] [Bond Complete!] [You have achieved an Extraordinary Feat!] [Due to the System not anticipating your actions, your reward is being decided upon¡­] [''Main Quest: Kill the Infernal Spawn'' has be ''Main Quest: Save the Infernal Spawn (Hidden)] [Quest Completed] [You have received 15,000 Exp] *[Nyx has received 7500 Exp] [You have Leveled Up!] [You have Leveled Up!] [You have Leveled Up!] [You have Leveled Up!] [You are now Level 17] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 170] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 180] [You now have 30 Stat Points to Allocate] [Nyx has Leveled Up] [Nyx is now Level 5] [Nyx has acquired the Skill: ] [Nyx has Leveled Up!] [Nyx has Leveled Up!] [Nyx is now Level 7] [Nyx''s Hit Points increased to 125] [Nyx''s Mana is now 135] The many notifications rang in Henry''s head one after the other but he couldn''t pay them any attention because at that moment, he slumped to the ground and his soul was pulled from his body and dragged deep into the unknown. Chapter 108: Hell *** Henry fell deep. At first, the darkness around him was familiar. He remembered feeling it many times when had experimented with death. ''Is that what this is?'' He wondered, ''Did I die again?'' Henry looked around and for a second, he wondered if he was going to be stared at by those horrible eyes of death again. The memory of how that haze had been so powerful that it was shredding his very soul caused Henry to shiver. When that shiver passed and he was again capable of critical thinking, Henry realized this darkness was different. For one, it wasn''t suffocating. It was so pitch dark that he couldn''t see his own hands, but it was a far morefortable experience so far. ''So I''m not dying,'' He thought and let out a breath (as much of a breath as a soul could let out), ''That''s good.'' Henry had no idea how long he spent falling. It could have been hours, it could have been minutes, it could have been days. What he did realize the longer he fell, was that he was being pulled. Something was dragging him deep. What it was though, he had no idea. And then came the suffocation. A powerful wave of energy swarmed over from all sides and choked at every part of Henry''s soul. It was like he had been forced through a grinder that churned with the intent to turn him into a paste. And then, there was heat. Violent heat. Henry recognized that Heat. He had felt it from the uncontroble Mana Yelena had led out except this level was so intense, he was sure he should have melted already. That he was still ''alive'' enough to struggle was frankly miraculous. And then came light. It came from below. Henry looked down ¡ªstill suffocating from the pressure¡ª, at what was undoubtedly ake of fire. His eyes went wide. He had seen fire before. He had seen it rage many times in his past life from mountain fires to entire towns being set aze during certain violent raids but never had he seen fire move so much like liquid. It flowed, it ebbed and sometimes it rose in powerful waves like an ocean as it mmed against a hellish riverbank that was so dark it resisted getting shone on by the lights of the mes. The ''Hellish'' description was intentional. Henry was sure; This could only possibly be Hell. Unfortunately, whatever was pulling him, continued toward thatke of churning violent, strange liquid fire. "No!" Henry said out loud, surprised that his voice worked but too busy trying to leap away from the fire to pay it any attention, "No! I''m not going close to that thing!" But he did. He had no choice. He was powerless against the pull. His body touched the liquid fire and it burned through him with a scorching heat. He tried to yell but the pressure his body was under forced his mouth shut. And then it was over. The Heat was gone. He was no longer getting pulled. For the first time in a while, Henry''s soul was stable. Henry looked around. He was in a massive dimly-lit study. The only light wasing from arge desk at least ten feet away from Henry. Someone was sitting at that desk; A woman¡ª the strangest woman Henry had ever seen. Her skin was red and two giant horns were sticking out of her head and curled malevolently. Her raven-ck hair was also tied in a tight bun. Whoever she was, she didn''t pay Henry any attention and just held a quill as she scribbled away on a piece of parchment on herrge desk. Stacked on that desk were multiplerge books and scrolls and parchments she had either discarded or very recently written on. Henry would have spoken but the pressure was still keeping his mouth shut. "Wee," the woman said in the most sarcastic tone Henry had ever heard, "I trust you enjoyed the journey." "¡­" "You won''t say anything?" The woman asked when Henry was silent, "What? Are you disappointed? My Study is underwhelming to you? Let me guess, you were expecting a Throne room¡ª A pedestal where I stare down at you imposingly?" Henry still couldn''t speak but if the woman just once looked up from whatever it was she was writing, she would have read his intentions clearly in his eyes as he yelled in his head, ''What the hell are you talking about?!'' The woman paused but still didn''t raise her head, "Oh right," she said like she suddenly remembered something, and with a wave of her free hand, Henry felt the pressure around his body loosen, finally freeing his mouth to speak. Henry stared at the woman for a good few minutes as she continued to write and then he asked, "Who are you?" "Bold," the Woman said. "To ask a question?" Henry asked, confused. "Yes," the woman answered, "You don''t have the right to demand an answer from me." "Demand? Lady, I only asked a question¡ª" Henry started. "Lady?" The woman repeated the word like it was ridiculous, "Is that what you think I am?" Henry''s eyes widened as her voice hit him with a wave so powerful and fiery that it threatened to burn his soul to ashes. The idea that that was even possible was horrifying. "What¡ª are you?" He asked. "Yet another demand." She said and finally raised her head. Henry saw her face. Like an amalgamation of the most seductive beauties he had ever seen all his life in a mix that definitely worked and drew him in with the promise of eternal entrapment. Henry saw her eyes werepletely ck. No pupils at all. Just two ck voids that seemed to suck him in both in an ensnaring way and a horrifying way that promised he would lose himself if he stared for too long. So he looked away and his eyes fell on the parts of her body he could see with her seated behind that desk. He saw quite possibly thergest breasts he had ever been opportune to see and yet they did not arouse lust or interest in him. They scared him instead. ''How can breasts be terrifying?'' Henry asked himself with no one to supply an answer. He knew what the ''woman'' was now. How he hadn''t realized before now was quite frankly a mystery considering herrge horns and red skin were the first things he noticed about her when he first arrived in this Study; "You''re Demon," Henry said. "And you''re the scummy mortal who bonded with my Spawn," the Demoness said. "Your¡ª Spawn?" Henry asked slowly before realization dawned in his eyes, "Yelena?" The Demoness had her elbows on herrge desk now and her chin rested on her hands while the corner of her ck-painted lips curled into a smirk, "You have no way of knowing this, but I hardly entertain deals with mortal Sorcerers but that girl¡­ her talent for Magic¡ª Well, I couldn''t let such a fascinating soul slip through my fingers and fall to another Demon, now could I? Three centuries she spent trapped and useless to me. And all the while, I thought; ''Well, the payoff will be great once her soul is here with me''. ''It''s only a matter of time'' I said. And then it was finally happening and with a spectacr explosive bonus too. But you got involved." The Demoness'' eyes locked on to Henry, with those ck voids pulling at his soul, "I don''t know if I should thank you or smite you," she said. "Thanking me sounds good," Henry said and struggled to smile because the mere mention of ''smite'' had his soul smoldering close to non-existent. The Demoness ignored him, "On one hand, you kept her on that mundane mortal ne and have given her the freedom to be useful to me. That pleases me. On the other hand, you have her bonded to that insufferable mechanical nonsense in your head¡­" ''She knows about the System?'' Henry asked. "Yes," the Demoness answered. Henry''s eyes widened, "Can you read my mind?" "That amazes you?" The Demoness asked as she leaned back in her high-backed chair, "I brought your soul to me in Hell and you think your ''thoughts'' are private? Laughable. Now about thanking or smiting you¡ª" The Demoness paused and tapped a wed finger against her ck lips as a tail coiled and undted behind her, asionally catching the light. "I''ve decided," she announced, "I''ll do neither." "Okay," Henry said slowly. The Demoness nodded, "Yes. Thanking you is beneath me. Smiting you does not satisfy me." "Alright," Henry said with a nod. ''As long as I''m not dying,'' he added in his head. The Demoness smiled, "That bond you formed with my Spawn goes both ways. You included her in the¡ª what''s it called? ''Exclusivity use'', I believe. Made her a ''Third Party'' or whatnot? When you included her in that, you included me as well. More than ever, your life, your Soul, Henry Morgan, is within my reach. Please me and I won''t have to bring it all to a sudden and excruciating end." Henry said nothing. He couldn''t even think of something tosay. "That will be all," The Demoness said, and with a wave of her red w-tipped hand, she dismissed Henry''s soul from her Study. She dismissed his Soul from Hell. Chapter 109: Burdened With Loot *** ¡ªThe Hadron Mansion¡ª It was noon but the day was moody. Sunlight was unable to break through a thick collection of clouds and with a few rumbles of thunder and some streaks of lightning, rain began to fall. The rain washed away the drying blood of the many dead Newbies in the Hadron Mansion''s courtyard and the sounds of raindrops were all there was to be heard. And then came the sound of horse hooves thudding against the ground. Multiple of them rode hard and fast and came to a stop when they entered the courtyard and found the scene of death of destruction. Shattered walls. Scattered bricks. Melted stones¡­ Multiple Dead. The one at the very front of the riding party was a brown-haired, grey-eyed man who looked to be in histe forties and was dressed in a ck robe that shimmered ever so slightly with Arcane symbols that warded off the rain droplets and kept the fabric dry. The man had his palm open and facing upward.On top of his palm, a couple of circles were projected with the one at the very top depicting a crude description of andscape and two dots; One blue and one red. The blue dot marked the location of the tracker and the Red dot was for the tracked. The Lord of the ck Manor, Maude Aleric, hade for his Item. "My Lord, we''ll go on ahead," said a hard-faced man whose horse trotted until he was side by side with Maude before then riding slowly ahead. "No," Maude said and got down from his horse with the tracking spell held out in front of him. This Squad of Vykers had made it back to Saint ret just in time to join him in this retrieval but Maude believed that the mere fact that he needed to be here personally spoke heavily of the failures of Vykers past and none of them could be trusted to lead. Besides, capable as they were, Angus believed that whatever enemy he could not defeat, the Vykers would fail against too. He walked through the hole in the damaged Mansion''s wall and walked past two more bodies as he followed the tracking spell into the room that looked to be the epicenter of the fire damage the Mansion had suffered. He spotted Angus'' body quickly enough and he knew it was Angus'' despite how badly burnt it was because of the Arcane Symbols glowing bright now the Tracker was near. ''It''s gone,'' Maude noted. He didn''t even have to pay attention to Angus'' charred chest to know the Vinculum was missing. The Vykers trooped in after him but they just stood in ce while their Lord released an aura so intense, it seemed to smack their faces with its intense disappointment. "I was toote," Maude Aleric mumbled as he canceled his Tracking Spell. He had seen with his Tracking spell as Angus rode back to the countryside and had believed, especially based on the Gang Leader''s disy at the ck Manor, that there was nothing that would rob Angus of the Vinculum. Surely, there could be no one in the Countryside with enough strength and Magic to wrestle the item from Angus''s grip. Maude now realized how wrong he was and now his precious item was gone. Then Maude''s eyes began to roam and, for the first time since he had entered this room, he realized there were others present. He had been so focused on Angus that he had not had eyes for anything else. "That boy," Maude said with a frown. He recognized Henry from the assault on the Manor. Henry''s upper body was bare and his pants looked smoldered by mes and were hanging by a thread. The slightest pull would rip them. Despite the apparent burn of the clothes, the boy appeared mostly unharmed. Of course, Maude Aleric couldn''t care less about the thief that had stormed his Manor with Angus Dionisio, however, someone else caught his eye; A beautifuldyy just an inch away from the boy''s unconscious body. Also unconscious. Her clothes were not burnt like his but they were ripped. Thedy''s skin was pale, her long tangled hair was a peculiar grayish white. The sort of hair you''d find on the elderly and not on ady in her twenties but Maude knew magic could do incredible things and thisdy certainly had a lot of talent for it. Maude stretched out a hand and passed it over her unconscious body as he released Mana that radiated all over her form and his eyes widened. ''I might not be precise but her Intelligence is at least twice mine,'' he thought and let out an incredulous chuckle, ''Incredible. Mmm, there is a deficiency in her Mana. It''s much too weak for this much talent. But that can be corrected with enough training. I wonder¡ª How did she end up here?'' The Vykers stepped forward now. "My Lord," one of them called out tentatively. Maude ignored the call and his eyes went all over the girl''s ripped clothes as he produced a cloak seemingly from out of nowhere and covered her with it. "Carry her. And be gentle," Maude said once he was sure thedy was properly covered. The Vyker lifted the grey-haireddy in a bridal carry while Maude eyed Henry''s unconscious body, "Take him too," he ordered suddenly and another, slightlyrger Vyker stepped forward and grabbed Henry off the ground to throw him over his shoulder with incredible ease before stepping back. As Henry was lifted, Maude Aleric made to turn away when something caught his eye. He reached down and picked it up. It was a dull, partially shattered purple gem surrounded by silver tentacles. All that was left of the Vinculum. It''s Bond-Making/Breaking magic all gone. Maude frowned deeply as his fist gripped the gem while the silver tentacles spilled out of the gaps between his fingers. As Maude thought back to the cost of acquiring the Vinculum, his heart ached and he gripped the powered-down Vinculum so tightly that the rest of its broken gem shattered into tiny bits before he let it drop to the ground. "Let''s go," he told the Vykers and led the way out of the room, out of the Hadron Mansion. Ready, in some part, to put this entire experience behind him. Well, almost. With a nce at Henry''s limp body, Maude Aleric was reminded he still had onest bit of this experience at hand and his mind worked quickly to determine just how best to use it to assuage some of the losses he had suffered. - *** About half an hour after Maude Aleric and his party of Vykers left the Hadron Mansion with Henry and Yelena''s limp bodies, three horses trotted over. "Holy¡ª" Charles said at the sight of the many dead bodies in the courtyard as well as the damaged Mansion. "What happened here?" "Guns¡­" Dana said as she blinked raindrops from her eyes to study the corpses, "They were all shot." "I''ll search inside," Devon said and got down from his horse to walk into the Mansion. Dana and Charles followed after hitching the horses to Hitching Posts. There were pouches of gold attached to all three horses but neither thought to worry about that. Not now at least. Not when they feared the worst. With most of the floor caved in, they focused their search on the lower floor and it didn''t take long before they were inside the only room with a body. Devon knelt beside it, "It''s Angus," he said. "How can you know?" Dana asked which was valid since the body was quite badly burned. "I just do," Devon said in a grave voice. Charles walked around the room and found a broken trinket with silver tentacles, "Dana, I think he''s right," he said, "Look, isn''t this the item Angus used to have on his Chest." Dana took it, "It''scking the gem but it does look like it," she said. "Here''s the gem," Charles said as he held up broken pieces of a purple gem he had found on the ground next to the damaged item. Dana let out a sigh, "Then it''s confirmed then," she said, "It *is* Angus." "Henry," Devon said suddenly. "What?" Charles asked with a raised brow. "Henry did this," Devon said and pointed at bullet holes all over Angus''s chest with one in his head. "Come on, you can''t be serious," Dana said, "Have you forgotten who we robbed?" "Please, Vykers don''t fight with guns," Devon said. "And the City Guards that chased us?" Charles asked. "Yes, them," Dana said, "They could have followed them here." Devon snorted, "Please, those guys were worthless. I could have taken them if the n wasn''t to get away. They could never have beaten Angus. Not before he got that thing on his chest and certainly not after. Henry did this." "Devon¡ª" Dana started. "Dana, he did it," Devon insisted, "Look around, do you see him?" "I don''t see Yelena too, does that mean she was in on it?" Dana asked, her tone clear she meant to be sarcastic. Devon took it seriously though, "Someone had to burn the Mansion. Who better than a Witch?" "My gods!" Dana let out exasperated. "Enough, you two," Charles said, "There''s nothing left for us here, we need to go." "What about Stefan and Triss?" Dana asked. "Will you return to the ck Manor for them?" Charles asked and she went on quiet. "Face it, there''s nothing we can do for them," Charles said and then waved at Angus'' burnt body, "There''s not even really a ''We'' anymore. The Dionisio Gang ended with Angus." "So what now?" Dana asked as Devon bowed his head and observed a personal moment of silence for Angus. A final tribute. Charles shrugged, "We move on," he said, "We try to survive." Charles shrugged and walked out of the Hadron Mansion and loosened his horse from the hitching post to get into the Saddle. Dana and Devon walked out to see him turn his horse around, ready to ride away. "Where will you go?" Dana asked. "Away from here. Find a town toy low and try to make something of myself from there. I mean, I do have gold." "We''ll ride with you," Dana said and nced at Devon with a raised brow. Devon shrugged, "That sounds alright. We might as well stick together until we don''t have to," he said and then his brown eyes shed an intense red as he vowed, "But if I evere across that little shit again, I''m going to rip him apart with my bare hands." And so, in a few minutes, all three were back on their horses and riding away together under the pouring rain. Leaving their Gang-banging life behind while burdened with the massive loot they were no longer obligated to share. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ~End Of Volume One~ ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Chapter 110: Main Quest: Escape ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ~Volume Two~ ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª *** Cold. Henry woke up shivering and confused. "Hmm, where is this?" He mumbled as his hands roamed the ''ground'' he was lying on, "This is metal." Henry stood up suddenly and winced when his head smacked a metal ceiling; "Ahh!" He cried out, "Where is this." Only now did he properly observe where he was. It was clearly some kind of metal cage with enough space on the ground for him to lie on curled up but not high enough to support his height fully extended. Henry''s eyes easily found the only source of light in the cage; A barred window that didn''t have nearly enough space to amodate a human head not less fit a whole body in an attempt to escape. On his knees, Henry moved over to the window and pressed his face as hard as he could through the iron bars as he called out, "Oi! What the hell is going on? Where am I?!" Augh sounded and a horse trotted over to the side of the cage. The rider was a bearded man who gave Henry a crooked grin, "So you''re finally awake. Whew, The lungs on you. You must be well rested after sleeping for Four days. You were out like a log, youzy bum," the man said with a cackle before adding, "Good to know you''re viable cargo." Because the horse was trotting to keep pace with his cage, Henry realized for the first time that he was moving. How he had missed the blurringndscape was a mystery. "Cargo?" Henry repeated the word, confused, "What are you talking about?" The man raised a brow, "What''s not clear?" He asked and pointed at Henry as he spoke slowly with each word almost spelled out, "You. Are. Cargo." The man dropped his hand then while still smiling at Henry whose eyes had grown wide between the bars, "Maude Aleric had to do a lot of convincing to assert your viability. Even went as far as saying you were ying dead." "Wait, Maude Aleric¡­ Lord of the ck Manor?" Henry asked. "If you know the name, then you know there''s only one person who goes by it." "He sold me to you?" The Man nodded, "Indeed, he did." "Why?" Henry asked. If Maude Aleric had gotten to him at the Hadron Mansion, why hadn''t he just killed him? Not that Henry wasining about not being dead, of course. Just his curious mind wondering. The man shrugged, "He said something about making up for losses and what-not but I don''t know what that''s all about and I don''t care." ''The Vinculum,'' Henry realized, ''He must have meant the losses from the damaged Vinculum.'' Henry cracked a smile at that. Not a happy smile, mind you. More of a self-deprecating one as he knew there was no way he had fetched a high enough price to make up for a powerful Magical Item like that. The man continued, "Anyway," he said, "From what I know, Maude Aleric, being a Wizard, is all about making Vykers. But people like you and I can''t be made into Vykers¡ª" "Wait, people like us?" Henry asked, "What does that mean?" The man rolled his eyes, "You''re Awakened, aren''t you? You''ve got Mana, don''t you?" "Well¡ª" Henry started to say not sure if it was wise to admit it. The man interrupted, "I know you do. It''s why my employer ''bought'' you. You''ll be useless to him without it. You''ll be doing the work he would have paid Mercenaries to do but you''ll be doing it for a lot less. You''ll be doing it for free." The man ended his words with a chuckle of admiration most likely directed at his Employer''s business savvy. "Who''s your employer?" Henry asked. "Never you mind." The man said and with a clicking sound from his mouth, he urged his horse to ride ahead. "Hey!" Henry called, "Hey, get back here!" Henry called out as loud as he could but if the man heard ¡ªand Henry was sure he did¡ª, he did very well to ignore him. "Fuck!" Henry let out as he slumped to the base of the cage, "I have to get away from here," he mumbled with a scrambling tone to his words, "I have to¡ª Argh!" All thoughts of escape were put on immediate hold as pain shot from Henry''s wrist into his brain. It felt like all his nerve endings were hit with the multiple heavy jolts of electricity that ultimately messed with his mental synapses and had him spasming on the cold metal base of his cage. When the pain passed, Henry''s eyes widened in horror as he raised his right hand and noticed a metal cuff was snapped around his Wrist. The cuff glowed with Arcane symbols and only now began to dim. "What is this?" Henry asked and grabbed it with his left hand to attempt to pull at it. "Arrrghhhh!!!" The pain from before returned even stronger andsted a full minute with Henry writhing and twisting as much as he could in the confined space of the cage. "Having fun?" The voice of the man caused Henry to pull himself off the Cage''s metal base as he struggled to the small window and pressed the metal cuff on his wrist through the bars as he yelled, "What the hell is this thing?" The man smiled, "That is a ''Control-Cuff''. Might be on your wrist but it''s far more connected to your brain. Youe up with thoughts of escape? You hurt." The man took one hand off his horse''s reins and held it up to show he had a cuff on his wrist as well, "You get too far away from this? You hurt. Youe up with thoughts to attack me? You hurt. So, now that you know, the next time you hurt, you''ll know it''s all your fault." "Myfault?!" Henry yelled through the bars as he pulled his hand back, "You bastard¡ª" Reaching into his Inventory, Henry pulled out ''The Hydra''s Sting'' but before he could even get to aim, pain shot through him sending the gun to tter against the cage''s metal base at the same time he fell with a thud. "ARGH!!!" Henry yelled with even more hurt in his voice. The man cackled, "Told ya," he said and with a clicking sound from his mouth, he had his horse ride ahead. When the pain passed, Henry got an idea, and knowing dwelling on it would only hurt him more, he just acted. Elminster''s brand appeared in his right palm and burned bright. An Oval portal appeared. It wasn''t as tall as it usually was and appeared to have condensed to fit into the cage. Henry didn''t mind, he pulled himself toward it but he had barely moved an inch when the pain returned and had him yelling as he spasmed. When the pain passed, Henry remained on the ground, his body twitching at sporadic intervals. He was wondering if his brain was still functioning properly when a screen projected in front of his eyes as he received an alert that was now all too familiar; [Grand Quest Updated!] [Main Quest: Escape. Quest details: Sold by a scorned Lord and facing an uncertain future¡­ Things don''t seem to be looking up for you. -Break free of the shackles (Cuff) that bind you and escape captivity. Reward: Level +2] Henry raised a brow as he read through the screen. The Quest detail was pretty ordinary. After all, it wasn''t like he wanted or nned to remain in capture. He would have tried to get away whether there was a Quest to do so or not. The reward, however, was what truly caught Henry''s eye. ''Level +2?'' He thought, ''Interesting new Reward Format. And very wee too.'' [Your Reward for achieving the Extraordinary feat of binding a Third Party to the System, has been decided¡­] ''Oh?'' Henry thought and the memory of Hell, its mes, and the Demonic Patron he met, came rushing back as his hairs stood on end in fear. [You were warned but you disobeyed and bound yourself and the System to an Infernal Spawn and have thus, opened yourself and the System to possible unfavorablepromises¡­] ''Is this my reward? To be told I was wrong?'' Henry asked with his lips twitching. The message continued, [¡­ Nevertheless, regardless of the eventual consequences of your unwise actions, you achieved a feat the System did not think or expect you to achieve. As a Reward, you have been granted the Skill: ~Arcane Tapestry~. May it serve you well against the troubles toe. Good Luck!] Chapter 111: ~Arcane Tapestry~ Henry''s body felt weak and he could hardly bring himself to raise his hand and reach out to the screen in front of him and open up the description of his New Skill. And then he felt whatever was carrying his cage in motion (most likely a carriage) stop. A minuteter, someone walked to the front of it and pulled open a small opening to slip in a small parcel and a cup of water. "Eat up," the voice of the man from earlier came through the p. Henry managed to angle himself and he saw the man had ced his face at the opening and was smiling at him, "Well, you look like crap," the man said, "And I bet you''re really hungry too." Looking into that face, Henry nursed the idea of grabbing ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and putting a bullet into the man''s head. He even considered how the resultingbustive explosion would probably melt his cage and free him¡­ "HNGHH!!!" Henry let out as the cuff around his wrist lit up with Arcane symbols and fired its intense jolts of fire electricity into his brain, sending his body twitching again. "Haha," the manughed as closed the opening and walked away. Henry remained on the ground for a few minutes and then slowly reached out for the parcel to pull it close. Hungry as he was, Henry thought, if the man was right and he had been asleep for four days, he should have been absolutely famished. He shouldn''t have even had the energy to do much of the yelling he had done earlier. Henry unwrapped the parcel. It was stale bread but his taste buds were not at all choosy at the moment. After every few hard bites, he''d take a sip of water to let it go down much more easily. When he was done with the food, he had more energy. His body was barely twitching and he had avoided all thoughts of escape. It was clear that for now, escape wasn''t on the cards. Henry sat against the cage and could finally pay attention to the Reward the System seemed to have begrudgingly given him. He clicked on it and a long page of Descriptions rolled out; [~Arcane Tapestry~ Youck the Intelligence to understand Arcane Knowledge but by turning your skin into a canvas on which to imprint thoseplex magical secrets, you might yet wield magic for yourself.] Reading up till that point, Henry paused. ''Am I reading this right?'' He wondered and the corner of his lips twitched, ''I can wield magic now?'' The description continued; [~Arcane Tapestry~ refers to your very skin, your body, bing a tapestry on which magical knowledge is imprinted for you to wield as you see fit. By making use of to observe a spell being cast, you can replicate the magic you observe as artistic representations on your body in a branding ritual.] ''So¡ª tattoos?'' Henry thought to himself with a small chuckle, ''Please tell me I get to choose where they go. I can certainly alreadye up with areas I don''t want to have branded with magical Tattoos.'' Even as he made light of it, Henry knew this was a very big deal. He remembered how he had once asked the System about other ways to acquire magical knowledge without possessing the Intelligence Stat and it had kept mute and that memory caused him to wonder if this was the method it would not reveal to him back then. The Description continued; [However, there are a few things you must take note of; ?Because youck the Intelligence Stat, you have nothing to scale the might of your imprinted Spells on. I.e they will only ever be as capable as they were when you Imprinted them. There will also be no maneuvering the Mana requirement. You either have enough to cast the spell or you don''t. ?The Imprinted spells will remain for as long as you want them to remain. They will be a part of you and you will have rtive control over them. I.e Should you no longer want an imprinted spell, you can remove it and rece it with a better choice. Otherwise, it will nevere off. ?Spells are veryplex and theseplexities will only increase the stronger they are. Only by improving your can you keep up with thoseplexities. I.e Should you attempt to study a desired spell and fail, simply Level up your Skill and try again. And finally, ?Imprinted Spells must not and cannot ovep on the canvas that is your body. If youck room on your ~Arcane Tapestry~ for a spell, you either make room or give up on it. Good luck!] ''This is¡ª incredible!'' Henry thought. The issue of possible horrendous tattoo cement still had him cracking up but taken as a whole, this was an incredible skill. Sure the System had yed it down with the limitations to the Imprinted spells due to hisck of the Intelligence Stat but Henry could hardly see that as a con. Especially not when he was so eager to make his first imprint. His eyes seemed to glow as he pulled himself off the Cage''s base and looked out of the small barred window and saw the man from before with two others (likely the ones who were driving the carriage the cage was on) as they sat by a fire. The sky was darkening and they were roasting meat and talking among themselves. "Come on," Henry mumbled, "Do some magic!" Henry remembered the man saying he had Mana and so he waited for fifteen minutes for the first Spell that''d take its ce on his ~Arcane Tapestry~ before his excitement eventually began to wane. ''Silly me,'' he thought with a smile tugging at his lips, ''I forgot, having Mana doesn''t mean you can cast spells.'' Sitting back down on the Cage''s base, Henry let out a sigh before he said quietly, "Status." ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 17 (791/4500 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Death''s Bane, Vyker-Killer, Infernal Partner] [Hit Points: 170/170] [Mana Points: 280/280] [Strength: 31] [Agility: 30] [Stamina: 19] [Perception: 21] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 4 } {Taming Lv. 2 } {Insight Lv.2} [~Arcane Tapestry~: Imprinted Spells: None.] [You have 30 unallocated Stat Points] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Seeing that ~Arcane Tapestry~ had its very own tab that it didn''t share with the rest of his Skills did cause Henry to raise a brow but what caught his attention far more was the 280 Mana Point Maximum he had. He was sure it should have been 180 at Level 17. And then he spotted a new Title had joined his Status screen. It would have probably gone unnoticed since the Title tab was only slightlyrger than it had been when he still had the ''Gangbanger'' Title. Anyway, Henry clicked on his new Title and of course, it opened a pop-up Description page; [Title: Infernal Partner; You have tied yourself with an Infernal Spawn and gotten the Attention of a Demonic Patron. It is unknown whether this will have a positive or negative effect on your journey. (The System bets it will be thetter) As a result of this Title, you have tapped into a Hellish reservoir of Mana and your Mana Point Maximum is increased by 100. -The increment will remain for as long as you possess this Title. -You will possess this Title for as long as your Infernal Partner, Yelena Hadron, lives.] ''Ah, so that''s why,'' Henry thought as he ignored the System''s snidement and its apparent difficulty to let things go. He let out a long breath then and leaned his head against the Cage''s metal wall as a sad smile formed on his lips. Beyond the 100 Mana Points he gained, Henry was also d to have the title because, in a slightly morbid way, it let him know Yelena was still alive. He wondered where she was now. What she was doing? "I hope you''re having a better go at life than me, Yelena," he mumbled, "I really do." Chapter 112: Gunslinger’s Partner *** ¡ªThe City of Saint ret¡ª ¡ªThe ck Manor¡ª It was midday and a woman stood at the balcony of one of the topmost rooms in the Manor. Her hands rested on the ck stone railing as her green eyes stared off far into the distance while her grayish-white hair swayed in the breeze. Yelena''s lips were pursed and the longer she gripped the railing, the tighter she held on to the point where her knuckles were turning white. The sounds of footstepsing from behind didn''t cause her to turn. She knew who it was anyway. It was a servant girl ''meant to see to her every need'' in this unfamiliar home she had found herself and found it difficult, no, impossible, to leave. "Mydy," the servant girl called gently, "Lord Aleric has invited you to the hall." After speaking, the Servant girl went silent for a few minutes before bowing, "I''ll let him know you''re not yet feeling well enough." She said in a tone that made it clear that was a response she was getting used to delivering. This absolutely beautifuldy had been brought to the Manor barely a day after some thieves struck and destroyed parts of the building. She awoke that very evening and Lord Aleric gave the order that she was to be shown the best care. While also ordering for her to remain under watch because she was not to leave the premises. Not even to venture into the City proper. The day after that, Lord Aleric, through this servant girl, had asked Yelena to join him in the hall but she had refused. She had refused every time since then so the Servant girl, of course, expected today to be the same. "No," Yelena said suddenly in a clear voice just as the servant made to turn around, "I''ll see him." The servant girl''s eyes widened, "What?" She asked, surprised. "I said I''ll see him," Yelena said again and turned around to face the girl. "Al-Alright, Mydy," the girl said. "My name is Yelena," Yelena said with a small smile despite herself. She found it slightly funny that the girl was so flustered. "I couldn''t dare call you by your name, My Lady," the Servant girl said while shaking her head. "How old are you?" Yelena asked. "I turned Twenty-twost month," the girl said. "Well, I''m Twenty-five. So not much older than you," Yelena said with a brazen look on her face. Three hundred and Ny-Two years old was far from Twenty-five but in Yelena''s defense, she didn''t look her age. "It''s not about age, My Lady," the girl said and shook her head, "You''re the Lord''s guest." "What''s your name?" Yelena asked suddenly. "Ma, mydy," the Servant girl said. "Beautiful name," Yelena said. The girl flushed and shook her head, "No," she said, "It''s ordinary, My Lady." "No, it''s not," Yelena insisted, "It''s beautiful. And again, call me Yelena." "Alright, I''ll try My L¡ª Yelena," Ma said with a bit of a stammer. "Good," Yelena said with a nod, "Now, please lead me to the hall." Ma led the way out of Yelena''s room and out into the hall where she saw two men in uniforms guarding her door with even more on patrol. Yelena was d they didn''t escort her and Ma on their way. "Ma?" Yelena called. "Yes, My La¡ª I mean, Yelena?" Ma said with a stutter. Yelena smiled but acted like she hadn''t heard the slip, "What happened there?" She asked and pointed at a section of crumbled wall where Men were at work trying to mend. "Oh," Ma said, "It was horrible. Thieves stormed the Manor! They killed so many people. Guards, Vykers¡­ Even the Lord''s Warlocks. Horrible, horrible." "I see," Yelena said and that was it for her attempt at small talk. After a few minutes of traversing the Manor''s long corridors and spotting signs of destruction in certain other areas, they finally arrived at the door to the hall. "He''s waiting for you, My Lady," Ma said. Yelena was so upied mentally that she let the slip slide. The Guards opened the door and Yelena walked in alone as they closed it behind her. The hall wasrge and mostly empty besides ornaments and some paintings that adorned the walls. Yelena ignored all else and kept her eyes on the ck-robed man standing some feet away from where she was. "You finally came," Maude Aleric said and turned slowly to stare at her with his grey eyes while a small smile appeared on his face, "I was growing impatient." Yelena said nothing. "You know it''s good manners to speak when spoken to. Or, better still, to perform a respectful curtsy when in front of a Lord." "I''m sure it''s also good manners to not lock up a stranger who''s done nothing to you, but here we are," Yelena said with her hands behind her back. Maude Aleric raised a brow and chuckled, "Fair," he said, "I mean, I can see why you''d think that but I did not lock you up." "The Guards¡­" Yelena started. "¡­ are purely for your protection. You must have seen the recent wreckage on your way over. Imagine a simr incident happening again. It would be a shame to see such impressive talent like yours cut down before you can truly blossom." "When you took me from the Ruins, there was¡ª I mean, was there someone else with me?" "Mmm," Maude said slowly, "There was one body at the scene but it was horribly burnt. Just what he deserved of course. For what he did to you and me." "What?" Yelena asked, confused. "Angus Dionisio," Maude said with a raised brow, "I assume he was the reason you were in the wreckage of the Mansion. I can only imagine what a bastard like him tried to do to you." Memories of herst encounter with Angus came rushing back to the forefront of Yelena''s mind. The attack on the Mansion that was quite literally her lifeline, the attacks on her mind that saw her lose control of herself. She shivered ever so slightly at the memory. Maude caught that and the look in his eyes became sympathetic, "I''m sorry for what you had to go through. People like Angus Dionisio only seek to strike and subjugate their betters¡­" "I wasn''t asking about Angus," Yelena said, "There must have been someone else you saw in the ruins." Maude seemed to give it some thought and then shook his head, "No, I don''t believe so," he said and sighed, "Besides, you are dwelling on the past. It''s a sad thing to do for one with your talent. The future is bright and the location or well-being of anyone other than you should be unimportant." Yelena said nothing and just pursed her lips. When she woke up four days ago, she was greeted by a screen; [Yelena Hadron, Congrattions on getting bound to the System! You now have ess to your Status screen however, as one who was not specifically chosen to have the System, you will not be issued Quests and thus, will not ordinarily receive Rewards.] "What is this?" Yelena asked confused, "What''s a System? What''s a ''Status Screen''." And so another screen appeared, this one littered with numbers; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Yelena Hadron] [Race: Human (Infernal Spawn)] [ss: Witch] [Title: Gunslinger''s Partner] [Health: 150] [Mana: 200] [Strength: 35] [Agility: 50] [Stamina: 25] [Intelligence: 1500] [Spells: .] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Like probably any inquisitive person would, Yelena had clicked on the tabs seeking understanding. She clicked on the tag right beside her race first; [(Infernal Spawn) Description: One who has been touched by Infernal Energy. An Existence promised to Hell.] "Holy¡ª! Hell?!" Yelena let out with her eyes widened, "Is that what that ritual did? Promised me to Hell?!" When Yelena''s shock eventually waned, she clicked on the next tab to catch her eye; [Title: Gunslinger''s Partner Description: With the System as a medium, you have been bound to the Gunslinger, Henry Morgan. Tapping into his Physical Stats, you have received the following boons; -Your Health has been permanently increased by 50. -Your Strength has been Permanently increased by 20 -Your Agility has been Permanently increased by 30. -Your Stamina has been Permanently increased by 20. These increments will remain for as long as you possess the Title ''Gunslinger''s Partner''. This Title will remain for as long as Henry Morgan lives.] Chapter 113: Those Who Didn’t Get Away Yelena let out a few giggles as she read the description. Of all that was written on that screen, only one detail really got her attention; "Hisst name is Morgan? He never said." She smiled to herself with a wistful expression because the screens confirmed the guess she had already had that it was all rted to what Henry had done to keep her alive. And then she was reminded of the sight of him burning and she winced. She sat up on the bed and looked around the room like she was hoping to see him sitting or lying close by. She didn''t. What she did see was how unfamiliar the room she was in, was. Lavish and gaudy designs that put to shame every bit of affluence the Hadron Mansion used to have when it stood in its prime. "Where am I?" She wondered. She raised her hand and clenched and unclenched her fist as she marveled at the strength she seemed to possess. She moved her arm in a back-and-forth swishing motion and the lightness and swiftness of it had her cracking a smile as her eyes went back to the screens to look at her physical stats; [Strength: 35] [Agility: 50] [Stamina: 25] She had no idea what the numbers used to be but seeing as she had never felt as strong as she did right now or as swift, Yelena believed the increments she had received from the Title ''Gunslinger''s Partner'' were truly in effect. Reading through the Title''s description again, Yelena''s heart ached. Something tugged at her. A connection that she nursed with her hand over her chest. And then Ma the Servant Girl walked in, saw she was awake, and delivered the news to the Lord of the Manor before fetching her some food. "I''m not hun¡ª" Yelena started to say but stopped and blushed when a rumbling sounded in her stomach. At first, she was embarrassed and then her eyes brightened up. For the first time in her life, she was hungry. For the first time in her life, there was no tether attaching her to a building. When the food came, she ate ravenously. It tasted incredible like it had been made by the finest chef but to be honest, Yelena would likely not have been able to tell the difference anyway. Herst memory of eating food was Three hundred and sixty-seven years ago during one of the dinners her parents always made her have with the family. At the time she could hardly be bothered. After all, she was depressed from being stuck in the Mansion and food had no meaning to her. But now it did. The girl, Ma, watched Yelena eat with her eyes slightly wide in surprise. You see, to her, Yelena looked noble. The aura she let off was almost exactly the kind the Manor''s Lord let out but the absoluteck of etiquette in her mannerisms seemed to humanize her. The girl smiled and let a chuckle slip out. Yelena looked up and realized she might have gotten a bit carried away, "Sorry," she said. "No, no," Ma said with wide eyes, "Don''t apologize to me, My Lady." A moment of silence passed as Yelena took a few more mouthfuls before she nced down at her dress. Realizing it wasn''t what she had been wearing at the Hadron Mansion. "Did you dress me?" She asked. "Yes, My Lady," Ma said with a nod, "I can trim your hair too if you''d like." "My hair?" Yelena asked and only now realized there were tangled gray-white locks fanned out around her on the bed and they all came from her head. Putting aside the tray of mostly emptied tes, Yelena stood to her feet and her eyes went wide when her hair reached to her ankles. "My Lady?" Ma, the Servant girl called out gently. "Cut it," Yelena said in a low voice as her fingers filtered through the tangled locks. "As you wish." During the cutting that reduced the hair length to the middle of her back and was followed by styling that had her looking like the Noble Ma felt she was, Yelena asked about where she was. She learned she was in the ck Manor and was a ''guest'' of its Lord but even as she received all that information, Yelena found herself bored down by a feeling of lethargy. She realized quickly ¡ªdue to the Guards at her door and the feeling that she was under watch¡ª, that she might have simply traded one imprisonment (The Hadron Mansion) for another (The ck Manor), but she found herself simplycking the enthusiasm to do anything about it. In the days since then, Yelena remained in that room. Food was delivered in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings always with the exceptional quality of the first. She also received invitations from the Manor''s Lord. Why he didn''t just storm her room and demand she speak to him, Yelena had no idea but was d saying ''no'' was all that was required for her to have peace and wallow in her lethargy. And then, today, something changed. At the other end of the inexplicable connection she had with Henry, she felt something stir. It pulled her out of her lethargy¡ª pulled her out of the monotonous funk she had found herself, and for the first time since she had been in the ck Manor, she epted its Lord''s invitation. With every step she took on her way to this Hall, Yelena had cast her eyes around picking out spots she could escape through. The damages to the Manor''s walls created an opening of sorts but were well guarded. ''Arcane Tendrils,'' Yelena thought, ''A few sts of it should get them away from me.'' Yelena wasn''t foolish. She knew she no longer had Infinite Mana but hoped what she did have would be enough. Just enough to knock the enemy away, find her way to the Stables, and grab a horse to ride away on. Escape was all she had in mind. "Hey!" The voice seemed toe from so far away¡­ "Hey, are you with me?" Maude Aleric said and he jolted Yelena out of her thoughts of escape. "Mmm? Yes, yes, I suppose I am," Yelena said with a nod or two. "Good," Maude said, "Come with me." Yelena raised a brow, "Where are we going?" She asked. Maude chuckled but said nothing and led the way out of the hall. They walked to the very back of the massive Manor until they were at a metal door with two Uniformed guards stationed on each side. After a respectful bow, the guards pulled the door open to reveal a spiral staircase that led deep underground. Maude held out a hand and spoke a quiet spell that caused a ball of light to appear above his palm as he led the way down the stairs. He turned off the ball of light when they arrived at the bottom of the stairs that were lit up with torches. They were now in a long hallway segmented into Metal cells all barred. Yelena looked around with cautious eyes, wondering what Maude was nning. She brought her knowledge of the Arcane Tendrils to mind, ready to defend herself. "A few days ago," Maude said, "Some fools stormed my Manor in an attempt to steal my Gold. Among other things I''m sure. To my great regret, some of them got away. But two did not." They were in front of a cell now and Yelena''s eyes went wide when she saw two redheads seated within the cell with their heads bowed. The two didn''t react to Maude''s voice but they did raise their heads when they realized the Manor''s Lord hadn''te alone today. "Y-Yelena?" Stefan said with his eyes wide in shock. Triss said nothing and simply pursed her lips as she clenched her fists. Maude chuckled, "I expected the recognition but the hurt in your voice surprises me." "Why are you keeping them here?" Yelena asked as an intense pity gripped her chest. Maude raised a brow, "You pity them? After what they did to you?" "They didn''t do anything to me," Yelena said shaking her head. "They didn''t?" Maude asked and then smiled as he shook his head, "I find that hard to believe." "Please let them go," Yelena said with her eyes on Triss'' angry but tired face. "I can''t do that," Maude said. "What will you do with them?" Yelena asked in a gasping voice, "Kill them?" Maude chuckled, "I won''t kill them. No, no, they will serve me well. Eventually. Nowe. As my Prot¨¦g¨¦e, we have much to discuss. Away from here." "Prot¨¦g¨¦e?" Yelena asked, confused as Maude led her away. "Well, yes," Maude said, "Only one with your Magical talent is truly worthy of inheriting my vast Magical knowledge." Yelena heard the words but they failed to register. All she could think about was the faces of two redheaded siblings, and how, if ever, she could save them from what could be a horrible fate. Chapter 114: It’s Just Good Manners *** Henry missed Nyx. It was the morning after the ones who had locked him up in a cage camped by a fire and they seemed to be preparing to get moving again. As Henry crossed his legs and tried to find some iota of serenity in his current situation, Nyx kepting back to mind. He wondered where she was. Had she run away before Maude Aleric arrived at the ck Manor? Or had she fought to stop him from getting carted away? Henry remembered how Maude Aleric had reacted to Nyx being capable of Magic and found himself nursing the thought that the Lord of the ck Manor could have captured her as well. ''I mean, if he thought to sell me, who knows if he thought to do the same to her.'' Henry thought sullenly. He tried reaching out to her through their telepathic connection but he received no response. ''Likely too far away,'' he realized as he let out a sigh and then reached out to the System to call forth his horse''s Status screen; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Nyx] [Creature: Shadow Mare] [Breed: Veren Night-Mare] [Level 7 (1140/3500 Exp)]* [Hit Points: 125/125] [Mana: 135] [Strength: 65] [Speed: 120] [Stamina: 60] [Skills: {Shadow Dash Lv.1} {}]* ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª "Oh," Henry said as his eyes went over Nyx''s stats, "With Stats like those, surely she can- Hnghh!" As usual, the slightest bit of his thought moving to the idea of escape rewarded Henry with powerful jolts of electricity into his brain. However, as though the Control-cuff wished to be lenient, the pain was not powerful enough to send him to the base of the cage, and after a few pained winces, it eventually passed. "Fuck¡ª" Henry let out in a breath. He took better caution to avoid the idea of escape and simply focused on admiring his Horse''s stats. Wherever she was, Henry was d he could at least still call up her Status screen. It kept their connection alive. And then his eyes fell on the Skills tab. "Hmm? ¡­ That''s new¡­" Henry mumbled as he reached out and clicked on it for its description; [ Description: At the cost of Mana, vanish into shadows.] Henry raised a brow at the considerably short description and he was almost tempted to ask, ''That''s it?!'' *ng!* With the sound of a heavy bolt being pulled, the p from before was pulled open and another parcel of food was dropped into the cage along with a cup of water. "Eat," the man said and walked away. A few minutester, the Carriage began to move again with the man riding beside it on horseback. Henry grabbed the cup of water before it fell and spilled from the jostling of the carriage and after eating the vish'' meal of stale bread, he began to meditate. It was the only activity he could perform freely in the small space of the cage and also, he had really gotten into it since the System had made it a series of Daily Quests for him toplete. At nightfall, the carriage came to another stop within a clearing but when the Man returned with yet another parcel of stale bread, Henry called out to him, "Hey, how about letting me out?" He asked. The man paused and let out a chuckle, "Why would I do that?" "Ohe on," Henry said with a slightly exasperated sigh yed out for effect as he raised his hand to show the control-cuff on it, "You said already that I can''t get too far away from you so what are you worried about." "I''m not worried about anything," the man said, "I just don''t see any reason why I should let you out." "It''s cold in here," Henry said. "I don''t care," the man answered. "Well you *should* care," Henry said and adopted his most brazen expression yet "If I don''t get a certain level of warmth, I could die." The manughed, "You survived four days¡ª" he started to say. "Exactly," Henry interrupted to say, "I''m long overdue for some heat." The man''s face was looking through the p and he held Henry''s gaze for a full minute before he rolled his eyes, "Alright," he said, "But you''ll sleep in your cage still." "Fine," Henry said with a nod. The p mmed shut and after some jingling and nging of bolts, the door of the cage pulled open. The man stepped aside and held out a hand as though graciously inviting Henry to step out. "Thank you," Henry said and walked to the camp the men had set up. He got very close to the fire and held out his hands to it as if to warm them. While it had been a lie that he would die if he stayed too long in the cage, Henry did miss the warmth. He noticed the cage felt colder than it had when he first woke up and the degree continued to drop by the minute. His meditation made him so attuned that his Perception could pick it out clearly. The man came over and sat by the fire while the two others ¡ªThe ones who drove the carriage Henry''s cage were on¡ª just kept staring at him. "What''s this?" One of them asked, "Why''d you let him out?" The man shrugged not at all bothered by the usatory tone, "He wanted warmth," he said, "It''s not like he can run away." The two men said nothing to refute that point but they continued to re at Henry who met their res calmly and took that moment and the fact that he was so close to them to study their features. The two wererge and dressed in tight fits that seemed aimed to purposely show it off. Both had bald heads and were sporting simr scars. A nce at them and one can be forgiven for considering they might be rted. They both had bald heads. Just shiny bulbs that reflected the firelight. "So¡ª" Henry said with a smile on his face, "Tell me about yourselves." The three just stared at him as silence stretched on. A silence that was only ever interspersed by the cracking of the fire. "What?" They asked almost as one with incredulous expressions on their faces. Henry didn''t seem to notice the expressions, "My name is Henry," he said slowly, "What are yours?" The two bald men were still staring at him when the Man Henry had spoken to the most since he had woken up in his cage, let out augh. "You can''t be serious," he said. "I''m very serious," Henry said. "Alright," the man said, "Alright I''ll bite. My name is Jonas." "Alright, Jonas. But there''s nothing to bite," Henry said with a frown, "I just want to know your names." "Why? To track us down when you ''eventually get free''?" Jonas asked with a smirk. Henry shrugged, "You''re thinking too much. It''s just good manners to introduce yourself to strangers you''re journeying with." Jonas burst outughing again, "''Journeying''? You''ve been locked up in a cage for over four days," he said. "So what? We havebeen traveling, haven''t we?" Henry asked and then looked at the bald men, "So, what of you guys? What are your names?" The two shared a look but said nothing. "Al and Eli," Jonas said suddenly as he pointed each of the bald men out for Henry. "Hey!" The one called Al called out. "What are you doing?" Eli asked in a deep voice. Jonas waved off the outbursts, "What are you worried about?" He asked and chuckled, "They''re just names. Scared he''lle for you?" Eli looked outraged by that, "Scared? Of him? Please!" "Good," Henry said and mmed his palms together with apparent delight, "Now that we''ve gotten names out of the way. How about you tell me where you''re taking me." Chapter 115: Profitable Business Of The Modern Day "Alvareen," Jonas answered just as Al stepped away from the fire and walked to the Carriage. "Where''s that?" Henry asked. Al returned now with arge package that he set beside the fire before he began to arrange sticks in a pattern Henry recognized was for roasting Meat. Sure enough, Al unwrapped the package to reveal pieces of meat that had been dried for preservation. He speared them on sticks and sprinkled on seasoning he provided from his satchel before arranging them next to the fire. "Alvareen is a Northern City," Jonas said, calling Henry''s attention away from the Meat, "Speaking of which, you might want to get used to the cold. It''s only going to get worse." A moment of silence passed as the meat smoked by the fire and soon they were ready to eat. Jonas, Al, and Eli began grabbing the sticks and biting into the meat with none of them offering Henry any. "I''m sorry, I have to ask," Henry said eventually. "For meat?" Jonas asked with a smile while Al and Eli red at him like they were worried he''d offer to share. "No," Henry said, "For your Employer. Who is he?" "He''s your employer now too," Jonas said andughed when Henry''s expression turned sour, "Hahaha, you''ll get used to it." Henry shook his head, "No, I don''t think I will," he said, "I don''t think I''ll be doing much work for him, to be honest." Jonasughed and waved his stick of meat in Henry''s face, "You''re not the first to say that. Matter of fact, you all say that at first. A couple jobster and you''re as docile as amb. The one we had in that cage before you was worse though. Fucker went nuts and killed himself to ''escape''." Henry''s eyes widened and his eyes went to the cage, "He died in there?" He asked. "Yes," Jonas nodded nonchntly, "Smashed his head against the wall as many times as he needed to break it open." "When was this?" Henry asked. Jonas scratched his bearded jaw for a bit. "That was two days before we bought you from Maude Aleric," he said and then shook his head with a sigh, "A damn shame too. We came all the way from Alvareen for him and he died before we could even start the journey back. Would have been a wasted trip had Maude Aleric not reached out and given you to us. You made this trip not a total waste. And I know you''re not going to kill yourself." "What makes you so sure?" Henry asked. He, of course, had no intentions of suicide but didn''t like his captor sounding so sure. Jonas scoffed, "Please, it''s obvious you want to live. Must be killing you not to think about running every few seconds but I know you haven''t given up." "AH!" Henry said as his body spasmed. Jolts of electricity had driven hard into his brain. "Please don''t bring it up," he told Jonas as he tried to temper his yell. Jonasughed and went back to munching on meat. "You never answered," Henry pointed out, "Who''s your employer?" "What good will a name do you?" Jonas asked with a smirk, "You don''t even know of Alvareen so how would you know of one of the important people who run itsmerce? Don''t ask anymore. The answer is pointless to you." Henry considered disagreeing but stopped himself to ask another question that had gued him, "What''s the work your Employer wants me for?" He asked. Jonas shrugged, "There''s a lot of work for Awakened like you. Mostly in security but you could also be involved in the one of the most profitable businesses of the Modern day; Dungeon Raiding." "Huh?" Henry asked as he blinked a few times. Henry remembered the Vyker Angus once questioned mentioning something about Dungeons and Angus had then given a short exnation that he could hardly be bothered to keep in mind back then so his knowledge of it was foggy at best and non-existent at worst. "Dungeon Raiding," Jonas repeated, "These portal things that people can just walk into and get snapped up by monsters that''ll devour them in two bites or less. It''s all the rave now. Nobles want it to train their fighters, Merchants want it to reap materials they can sell for insane profits and the people just hope the Day of reckoning doesn''te too soon." "''Day of Reckoning''?" Henry repeated taking note of how ominous that sounded. Jonas waved his worried tone away, "Just a term themon people use to describe theing consequences of Dungeon Raiding. No big deal. No big fuss. To people like my Employer, Dungeons are more Gold mines than actual Gold mines." ''Yeah, I''m definitely not doing that,'' Henry thought to himself. It was not so much the ominous tone of the whole thing that put him off as much as it was the idea of doing that work for one fat cat''s benefit. Time passed and soon, Jonas, Al, and Eli had eaten all their smoked meat. Al and Eli walked to the Carriage and returned with three bedrolls that theyid on the ground around the fire. "We should get some sleep now," Al said in a gruff voice, "Dangerous journey tomorrow." "Ah yes," Jonas said, nodding, "Right." "Dangerous?" Henry asked, "Why dangerous?" "We''ll be going through a Mountain Pass to reach Alvareen and it''s dangerous terrain. Steep slopes and narrow roads that are prone to breaking down. Also, there are Bandit checkpoints to worry about but of course, you''ll be in your cage so you''ll have nothing to worry about." As he spoke, Jonas stood to his feet and gestured for Henry toe along as he led the way back to the Cage. As he walked, Henry looked around and took in the scenery. Especially the direction the Carriage was going to be riding in,e morning. It was easy to tell because he could see the Mountains ¡ªsnow-peaked as they were¡ª, some tens of Kilometres away. If he needed to make a break for it, he''d still be unfamiliar but at least not totally confused. Hopefully. As he entered the cage, Henry endured the jolts firing into his head and forced his mind to focus despite it. Something about the danger Jonas had talked about gave him an idea and he''d be damned if he let pain stop him. Of course, he was still careful. Through multiple trials thatsted hours into the night, and quite a bit of spasming pain, Henry felt he now had a good grasp on what triggered the control-cuff''s reactions and now that he knew, he could avoid that and still try and n for an eventuality. Calling up his Status screen, Henry decided to make use of his 30 unallocated Stat Points all for the purpose of preparation; ''20 into Agility and 10 into Perception.'' [Are you sure?] ''I''m sure.'' [Agility: 30 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 50] [Perception: 21 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 31] The addition to his Perception was because Henry was hoping to get another level-up in his and although his Perception was certainly sharper and seemed to pulse with an interesting intensity, a level-up was not forting. Stomaching the disappointment, Henryid down on the cage''s base and decided to get some sleep. For tomorrow, he''d certainly need his energy and to be at his possible best. Chapter 116: Precious Cargo ??? -The Next Day¡ª The group got moving again at dawn and a few hourster, they were pulling through a considerably narrow path. Jonas'' eyes darted around on high alert. The mountain was a treacherous terrain and was home to creatures that had adapted to it. They''d have the Home-ground advantage and anypse in vignce could be costly. Of course, the possible animal attacks were the least of Jonas'' worries. More important were the people who had subjugated the Mountainous wildlife and ''ruled'' within the peaks. "There they are," Al said suddenly and Jonas looked forward to see about five men standing many feet away from them. "My, you never get used to seeing their ugly mugs, do you?" Eli said with a smile ying at his lips while his hand stroked the handle of his weapon that he had hidden away under a tarp. "''Ugly mug'' from you is rich, Eli," Al said with a chuckle, "Have you seen your face?" "Shut up!" Eli said with a grunt. Jonas would have pointed out that they both looked quite simr so an insult to one was an insult to the other but he was much more focused on the additional numbers that were starting to show up. Two men joined the Five up ahead and, up on the mountain peaks that bordered the path on each side, more were showing up with Arrows drawn. An entire operation, almost seamless in its organization. With the mountains being a non-avoidable terrain to traverse on the way to and from the Northern States, the Bandit group (or groups because there were likely more than one) had had many marks to hone their skills on over their years of activity. They were now experts at their craft. The Bandit at the middle of the checkpoint was arge man standing well past six feet and he had arge curved sword whose tip he pressed into the ground while he rested his hands on the handle as he eyed the approaching Carriage with a smile. "Friends," he said, "That''s far enough." The Carriage pulled to a stop and Jonas also urged his horse to halt while he frowned at the Bandits at the checkpoint. He was familiar with theing shakedown and was sure this very same Bandit group had collected a toll from him on his way through the Mountain path when he was heading toward Saint ret but of course, he could not be bothered to remember faces. He, Al, and Eli had gotten through quickly before and they nned to get through quickly again. Jonas reached into his Saddlebag and pulled out a pouch that jingled with coin. He tossed it on the ground right in front of the Bandit in the middle. "Oh?" The Bandit said impressed by the protectiveness. He gestured to one of the others by his side who bent low and picked up the pouch to pull it open and ascertain the contents were gold and all gold. The Bandit in the middle nodded, "It''s eptable offering," he said. "eptable?" Al said, sounding insulted. The Bandit stared at him, his smile unchanged, "Yes," he said, "eptable." "May we pass now?" Jonas asked, ready to get this all over with. "Wait," the Bandit said and then gestured at what was carted on the carriage, "What''s in the cage?" "Nothing important," Jonas said calmly. The Bandit eyed him for a while before gesturing with his head at yet another Bandit by his side, "Go check!" The Ordered bandit looked eager to obey and walked forward, unworried, past Jonas and to the Carriage. He looked through the cage''s barred window and saw Henry seated in the middle-cross-legged with his eyes closed in meditation. Henry''s brow twitched like he sensed a presence observing him and he opened his eyes and looked to the window before raising his hand in a wave, "Hello." The Ordered bandit raised a brow in surprise at the wave and the greeting before pulling back as he called out to therge Bandit, "Roran, there''s someone in here." "Oh, there is?" Roran asked with a grin as his eyes returned to Jonas, "Who is it?" "Someone unimportant," Jonas said. The Ordered bandit called out almost immediately, "Roran, he says he''s someone very important. He says he serves Lord Maude Aleric of Saint ret. Says this lot kidnapped him for ransom." Roran stroked his jaw, "Maude Aleric¡­ Who''s that?" He asked. Henry blinked in his cage. ''Did I overestimate how well-known Maude Aleric is?'' He asked himself and then secretly shook his head, ''No. Now''s not the time to waver. I crafted a story and I must stick with it.'' "Maude Aleric is a powerful Wizard in the City of Saint ret. Lord of the ck Manor!" Henry said in a grandiose voice that carried past the Bandit that had been delivering his words and hit Roran''s ears. Roran''s eyes lit up, "Oh, I''ve heard of the ck Manor!" he said in a loud voice. Henry let out a breath of relief. How the Bandit knew of the ck Manor and not its Lord was worthy of note but Henry could hardly be bothered. Maude Aleric was the most powerful name he knew and he had tried his shot. Now that he seemed to have gotten a hit, he needed to press. Adopting his grandest tone ever, he said, "You should know, these three n to extort hundreds of thousands of gold from My Lord. So I just think it''s only fair they pay a toll to match such potential massive gains." "Henry shut up!" Jonas yelled while the duo of Al and Eli were ring at the cage. "Oh don''t try to shut me up now," Henry said and he almost sounded sullen, "I''m sure you already gave this fine gentlemen bags and bags of gold for safe passage." "No. No, they didn''t," Roran said in a musing tone and he looked at the pouch Jonas had given. The already just eptable offering was starting to look far too little. Especially when Hundreds of thousands of gold were on the line. "He''s lying!" Jonas yelled, "He''s very unimportant. We''re just transporting him." Henry let a few seconds pass. He had attempted deception many times in his career as a gunslinger and the asional dabble into being a chatan so he knew when there was a need to pause for effect. Eventually, he let out a sigh, "Roran, is it?" He asked, "Ask yourself which is more likely; Three men transporting a totally unimportant man that they have locked in a cage. Or Three men transporting very precious Cargo that they just can''t wait to throw you fine folks a measly bit of gold so they can be on their merry way and bide their time for their bigger gains." As someone who had spent years in a career of crime and knew what it was like to always want toe out on top ¡ªTo never feel cheated¡ª, Henry knew it didn''t matter which of his two scenarios made the most sense. What mattered to the Bandits was that they could earn more gold and their marks were reluctant to cough it up. Roran spent a minute ring and then his hand tightened around the handle of his curved sword as he said in a loud voice, "Open the Cage. I want to see the face of this precious Cargo of yours." Chapter 117: The Plan "I can''t do that," Jonas said slowly. "I wasn''t asking," Roran said, "Open it." For a minute, Jonas said nothing and just held Roran''s stare, and then he looked at Al and made a head gesture. With a deep frown, Al reached around the front of the Carriage and pulled a set of keys before he got down and walked to the cage. He fiddled with locks and bolts for a while and soon, the Cage''s door swung open. The Ordered Bandit pushed past Al and reached into the Cage to grab Henry''s arm and yank him out so he could turn him toward Roran. Roran raised a hand off his sword handle and curled two fingers toward Henry to call him over. Henry was still somewhat surprised at the strength of the Bandit that pulled him from the Cage when he saw the gesture and began taking slow steps forward. Taking care to nce at Jonas and give him a sly smile. Henry stopped about two feet from Roran and stood still as therge Bandit scrutinized him. "You look small," Roran said before stretching out a hand toward Henry. From the hand that was stretched to him, Henry felt a wave of Mana that seemed to ebb around his body. It coaxed his Mana to rise and flow from his body in a haze of magical fog that could barely be seen by the ordinary eye. "So much Mana," Roran said and nodded a few times, "You really must be special." "He''s really not," Jonas said and Henry noticed his hand reaching for something attached to his horse''s saddle. "What do you mean ''He''s not special''?" Roran asked with a frown, "I can feel it." "Well, yes he has Mana," Jonas admitted with an exasperated tone, "That''s why we''re transporting him but he has no rtion to the ck Manor or its Lord." "Lies!" Henry cried out in a loud grandiose tone before he held Roran the Bandit''s stare to say, "He''s lying to you." "Henry!" Jonas yelled, "If you don''t keep quiet right now, I swear to gods, I''ll¡ª" Henry raised his hand and showed his cuffed wrist to Roran, "They put this on me," he said. Roran eyed the cuff and grabbed Henry''s hand to pull his wrist closer and observe the Cuff even more closely. He saw Arcane symbols shimmer on it and detected a whiff of magic. "You can tell, can''t you?" Henry said, "Powerful binding magic. They did all they could to make sure I didn''t run back to my Lord and request help until they got me away. What more proof do you need to know they''re cheating you?" Jonas nked for a few seconds as he looked at Henry in awe of just how much bullshit he seemed capable ofing up with. Meanwhile, Roran released Henry''s wrist and scratched his jaw, "I''ve decided," he announced and looked at Jonas, "I''ll let you go." Henry''s heart sank. Things were not going the way he hoped. Jonas let out a sigh of relief immediately and took his hand off whatever he had been reaching for on his horse''s saddle. He smiled lightly. "Thank you," he said and gestured at Al to grab Henry and return him to the cage, "We should get back on the road. We''ve lost so much time already¡­" "What are you talking about?" Roran asked in a deep incredulous voice. "You said we could go," Jonas said. Roran shook his head and chuckled, "You didn''t let me finish," he said, "You can go if you give me a percentage of youring gains." Henry''s sullen face quickly brightened up again as he realized things might not be looking all too bleak for him at the moment. Al, who had stepped forward to grab and return Henry to the Cage, found his path blocked by the Ordered Bandit while Roran scratched his jaw as though deep in thought, "20,000 Gold should be enough." "20,000?" Jonas repeated with his eyes wide, "We don''t have that much." Roran shrugged, "Then I suppose you can''t leave then," he said. "This is unfair. We already paid your toll," Jonas said. "The world is unfair," Roran said and then gained a generous expression as he smiled, "But I suppose you''re right. You did pay the toll. You can go. But your precious cargo stays with us." Roran ced his hand on Henry''s shoulder almost possessively. "What sort of rubbish is this?" Jonas asked. "Rubbish?" Roran repeated andughed, "You paid a toll for three people and one ''unimportant'' Cargo. Now that the Cargo is revealed to be so ''precious'', it''s only fair you pay a toll to match it. You don''t have that toll so you can''t leave with it. Is that clear enough for you?" "I''m afraid that''s an arrangement I can''t agree with," Jonas said, "I''m leaving with that loud-mouthed lying bastard!" Henry blinked innocently like he was stumped as to why he was receiving such an insult. He even pointed at himselfically before winking at Jonas but that only annoyed the man more. "Hey, Roran?" Henry called out. "Hmm?" Roran answered with a grunt. Henry raised his hand to show his cuff again, "Thises in a pair," he said before pointing at Jonas, "The other one is with him. You''ll need it to keep me with you." "Hmm, is that so?" Roran asked and gestured at Jonas with his head, "Hand it over and be on your way. We''ll be handling the Ransoming instead." "There''s no ransom," Jonas said through gritted teeth. "Then you''ll have no issues giving up the cuff," Roran said and stretched out a hand to gesture with as he said, "Give it." Jonas looked from Roran''s face to Henry''s smiling one and he just found himself feeling more confused than he already did. Jonas could already tell by now that Henry hade up with some sort of escape n that involved causing conflict between their group of three and the Bandits. How Henry could have devised such a n without getting jolted with electricity every few seconds was already a mystery but even more so was how the n could at all be beneficial. As far as Jonas could tell, even if the Bandits did grab themand cuff off his wrist, Henry would have only traded one imprisonment for another. It made no sense to him how this was the best Henry coulde up with. But this truly was the best Henry coulde up with at the moment. The very thought of pulling the cuff off his wrist (something he was not even sure he was strong enough to do) hurt him. The thought of running away hurt him. The thought of attacking his captors hurt him. So Henry thought, the only way he could seed was to have someone else do the work for him. When Jonas mentioned the Mountain Banditsst night, Henry realized he might have found the little window of opportunity he needed. To avoid getting electrocuted over and over, he thought of it as lying to the Bandits just for the sake of sowing chaos rather than solely to escape. The way his mind worked, ''escape'' was merely a byproduct of Henry''s n and not the reason for it. It took many trials for Henry to know what keywords (thoughts) triggered the cuff''s reaction and it took even more work to avoid those triggers. The n was simple. Lie to the Bandits ''Because causing chaos and sowing discord is fun'' and the by-product of the resulting skirmish would free the Command cuff from Jonas'' wrist. That one moment when the cuff was not on a living person whether because Jonas died or because he surrendered the cuff willingly was Henry''s window. He''d take advantage of the chaos, grab the Command cuff, kill a few bandits, rob Jonas of his horse, and get the hell away. At least¡­ That was the n. Chapter 118: Fighters And Warriors Henry called Magical energy to his eyes. [] With his eyes glowing subtly with the analyzing Magic of the , Henry cast a long look at everyone he could see, calling up Status screens. Starting from the trio of Jonas, Al, and Eli. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Jonas] [Race: Human] [ss: Fighter] [Job: Mercenary] [Health: 200] [Mana: 150] [Strength: 60] [Agility: 35] [Stamina: 40] *[Remarks: A Fighter who has honed his body with Mana and is capable of letting it out to perform incredible feats. Very capable with the sword and although certainly Kible, must be approached with caution. ] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Al] [Race: Human] [ss: Fighter] [Job: Mercenary] [Health: 180] [Mana: 140] [Strength: 50] [Agility: 34] [Stamina: 42] *[Remarks: A Fighter who has honed his body with Mana and is capable of letting it out to perform incredible feats. Capable with a sword and although certainly Kible, should be approached with caution. ] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Eli] [Race: Human] [ss: Fighter] [Job: Mercenary] [Health: 180] [Mana: 140] [Strength: 52] [Agility: 36] [Stamina: 40] *[Remarks: A Fighter who has honed his body with Mana and is capable of letting it out to perform incredible feats. Capable with a sword and although certainly Kible, should be approached with caution. ] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [ss: Fighter A Martial ss that is especially adept in Meleebat, Fighters are capable of causing their Mana to surge, bolstering their physical might and making them capable of unleashing incredible feats far beyond their preconceived stations. Althoughcking the chivalrous oaths of Knights or the Godly Patrons of Pdins, Fighters still follow fairly structured Martial Techniques that set them apart from another Martial ss; Warrior.] Discovering Jonas was stronger than either Al or Eli did not surprise Henry seeing as the man was clearly the leader of their operations. Also unsurprising were the simrities between the stats of Al and Eli. Moving on, Henry turned his subtly glowing eyes to the Bandits. Most particrly, Roran. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Roran] [Race: Human] [ss: Warrior] [Job: Bandit] [Health: 220] [Mana: 160] [Strength: 70] [Agility: 40] [Stamina: 45] *[Remarks: A Mountain bandit who has spent years honing his body with Mana all to pursue his criminal goals. Exercise caution!] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [ss: Warrior A Martial ss especially adept at Meleebat, Warriors are capable of causing their Mana to Surge, further boosting their physical abilities. Unlike Fighters, Warriors do not follow ''standard'' techniques which can make them very unorthodox. For Warriors, strength reigns supreme which is why they continue to push to surpass their peaks. Improvement is never over for a Warrior.] Henry had guessed as much and wasn''t surprised to see the rest of the Bandits were warriors as well even though their stats were very muchckingpared to Roran and Jonas. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Roran asked as he lifted his curved sword off the ground and ced its blunt edge over his shoulder with his hand still stretched toward Jonas, "Give it to me." "I''m not going to do that," Jonas said with a steeled look on his face, and with an unsheathing sound, he pulled a sword from a sheathe that was attached to his horse''s saddle. Eli pulled at the sword whose handle he had been touching earlier. He pulled out a second one and tossed it to Al who snatched it out of the air and spun it expertly looking ready for the fight toe. "Do you have a death wish?" Roran asked with a chuckle, "You''re outnumbered." Jonas smirked and cast his eyes at the Bandits, "This bunch?" he asked, "They''re nothing." Roran grabbed Henry''s shoulder and pulled him back to m him into a Bandit standing close by, "Take him away from here," he said, "We can''t have our meal ticket dying identally, now can we?" The Bandit nodded once and with an iron grip on Henry''s arms, he started to pull him away. "Hey hold on," Henry said realizing they were about to put too much distance between him and the Command cuff and if he wasn''t close enough, he stood the risk of someone else snatching it up before he could. Roran didn''t hear his objections. Therge Bandit Warrior simply called to tie Bandits close to him, "Get them!" The Bandit in front of Al swung his sword at him but Al parried the de aside before retaliating with a powerful kick into the enemy''s stomach. As the Bandit slid away, Al dashed forward, closed the distance between them, and swung down vertically with the clear intent to cleave his enemy''s skull in two.The Bandit sidestepped and unleashed Mana that coated his sword arm and by extension, coated his sword, speeding up his swings. Al smirked as a red haze of Mana surrounded him and boosted his reflexes enough to keep up and soon, the two were locked in a flurry of attacks that had them spinning around and away from the Carriage. Meanwhile, besides the Bandits charging at them, Jonas and Eli also had the Archers at the Mountain peaks to worry about. Arrows began to rain down. With a graceful swing, Jonas cut multiple of them in two but then his horse let out a pained whinny as an arrow hit its backside. It bucked and knocked Jonas off his back before galloping away. The horses pulling the Carriage carrying Henry''s Cage were not exempt from the arrow rains and they also galloped away. Much slower than Jonas'' horse due to the load they pulled but fast enough to get them to safety. After getting tossed off by his horse, Jonasnded on his feet. The Archers paused their arrow shooting now that their fellow bandits had arrived in front of their target. Besides the fact that they trusted in theirrades winning because they outnumbered the enemy two to one, shooting arrows now with the fight bing so fast-paced put them at risk of striking down an ally instead. *ng* *ng* *ng* Jonas and Eli were fending off attacks of two enemies each but while Eli had a look of strain on his face and had already suffered cuts that were quickly making his attacks sluggish, Jonas seemed more than capable against his opponents. Henry knew why. Jonas had Strength and Agility greater than that of both his opponents and had a Mana reserve that made him capable of surging for far longer than they could. He was also far better trained than they were. He knew when to parry with just the right amount of strength before going in for a powerful jab. Already, Jonas hade close to killing both his opponents, and both times, they survived by mere inches but not without his sword drawing blood. But, even as capable as he was, he couldn''t help but give way. And had to take a few steps back to remain capable of fending off the sword strikes that kept jabbing and shing at him. At the same time, Henry was being pulled away from the fight by a Bandit. He wanted to stay close so he was in range to grab the Control Cuff once Jonas was dead but, when electricity drove powerfully into his brain, Henry realized there was another reason to stay close. "ARRGGGHH!!!" Henry yelled and as he spasmed, he remembered the warning Jonas had given him; "If you get too far away from me, you''ll hurt." Henry, being in pain, lost the ability to properly control his body, and the Bandit took that as an opportunity to pull him even further away from the fight. Away from the Command cuff on Jonas'' wrist, worsening his pain to the point where his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Chapter 119: Oh… Fuck It was torture. "Stop¡ª" Henry tried to say but the Bandit didn''t care. As the pain wracked through him and he spasmed, Henry realized it was only going to get worse because of the moron pulling him away so he summoned every bit of physical ability he had to m an elbow into the Bandit''s face. "Hmph!" The bandit let out just as Henry took that chance to pull free and leaped closer to where Jonas was. His legs went weak and he fell to the ground but even then, Henry continued to pull himself close and the closer he got to the Command-Cuff, the easier the jolts were to bear. "Hey, get back here!" The bandit said after dabbing at his nose as it bled from Henry''s elbow strike. Reaching down, the Bandit grabbed the back of Henry''s shirt and made to pull him off the ground. Henry reacted by reaching behind him to grab the bandit''s wrist and he used to pull him hard. Once the bandit''s head was close, Henry mmed it with a back-handed fist that sent him to the ground. *Bam!* While Henry was now starting to neglect his Strength Stat in favor of the Stats he actually used more, it was still at 31, and from the information he had gleaned with , that was only a few points lesser than the Bandit trying to grab him. But of course, even as the Bandit started to pull himself off the ground, Henry could not be bothered. His eyes were on Jonas as he bided his time until he could run and grab the Command cuff from his Captor''s dead body. "You bastard!" The Bandit said now that he had risen off the ground and had checked the damage Henry had done to his face. The Bandit had a sword in hand and he mmed the pommel of it toward Henry''s head. Henry rolled out of the way just in time and made sure he moved toward Jonas and not away from him. The electrical jolts in his head were almost totally gone now so he got to his feet and begrudgingly faced the Bandit that just won''t quit. "Roran said to take you away from here," the Bandit said, "And that''s just what I''m going to do. Don''t resist." Henry scoffed, "Fat chance," he said and the Bandit lunged at him. A sword came jabbing at him backed by considerable strength. Henry''s Perception warned him of theing attack and his Agility aided him in leaning to the side so the sword pierced the air at the spot his body had been only seconds before. Henry grabbed the Bandit''s arm before he could pull it back and he used it to pull the enemy closer before delivering a punch to the spot where the arm met the shoulder. "Ugh!" The Bandit cried out finally managing to pull his arm back but then his eyes gained an intensity as an aura rose from his body. Mana mixed with an intent to kill. "You asshole¡ª!" The Bandit let out. "Oh, he''s mad," Henry realized right before he was at the receiving end of multiple sword swings. Thanks to his agility and Perception, Henry dodged most but was unable to dodge all. "Ahh!" He cried out when the sword''s tip stabbed through his ribs. [You have lost 20 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 150/170] Just as he pulled his sword out of Henry''s side, the Bandit struck him with a kick to the side of his head that sent him rolling a few feet away. A few feet away from the fight Jonas was still locked in with his two Bandit opponents. [You have lost 15 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 135/170] "Hnghh!" Henry groaned. The jolts of electricity were back and striking at his brain. The Bandit took advantage of Henry''spse in concentration by mming a kick into his side and sending him rolling even farther away. Intensifying the pain Henry was already feeling. [You have lost 15 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 120/170] ''Ah, fuck it!'' Henry thought and pulled a revolver from his Inventory. If this idiot was insisting on attacking him, Henry felt he had earned some bullets to the head. Another kick came, and Henry managed to avoid it as he raised his gun to fire three shots. Despite being caught by surprise, the Bandit dodged two of the bullets impressively. Henry had expected that much to be honest but was d one still hit him in the shoulder. "Ah!" The Bandit let out, "Gun? Where did you get that? Why do you have that?" "Why don''t you?" Henry asked and it was a genuine question. The bandits who were lined up across the Mountain Peaks were armed with bows and arrows. A poor alternative to guns. Of course, while the question was genuine, Henry wasn''t foolish enough to wait for an answer. Guns were not all-powerful. Quite the contrary, in fact, his experience with Vykers had taught him that if his Stats were poor, he would hardly get to hit anything with his shots. Immediately the question left his lips, Henry was firing every bullet left in his Revolver''s cylinder. The Bandit dodged most but incredibly, deflected the others with his sword before charging at Henry hoping to give him barely enough time to shoot again. Henry simply chuckled to himself. A leap back followed by quick movements thanks to his Agility had him maintaining their distance. As he moved, he pulled a second gun from his Inventory; ''The Hydra''s Sting''. His ever-trusty weapon. His normal Revolver''s cylinder became filled up with bullets again and Henry fired two shots at the Bandit who deflected both only for his eyes to widen when a third bullet, glowing an acidic green traveled faster than the first two and faster than he could react to attempt to deflect. The best the Bandit could think to do was lean to the side and have the bullet hit somewhere harmless like a shoulder. After all, he already had a shoulder wound and was fine and still pushing. *Thuck!* With a dull but powerful impact, the bullet hit and the Bandit''s eyes widened as he realized, in that moment how wrong he was. Horrid veins began to spread from the point of the bullet''s contact with his body. His shoulder, and by extension, his arm and entire side began to bubble sickeningly. The Bandit let out a horrified yell as the bubbling continued until it had swelled to a crescendo and exploded sending bits of acidic bubbling body parts sttered all over. Henry moved out of the way just in time to avoid getting hit by a piece. [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [You killed a Warrior for the First time] [You have received 200 Exp] "Whew," Henry said and smiled. But then he felt something shift. Something pulled his attention away from the Bandit carcass now missing an entire side and to Roran whose widened eyes were on him. Next, he looked up at the Archers on the mountain peaks and saw them all notch arrows onto their bows and turn them at him. At that moment, Henry realized he had messed up. The n was to use the Bandits to get rid of Jonas, Al, and Eli and not to aggravate them to attack him instead. s, he just killed one of their own in a horrifying garish manner and now had their hate and attention. "Oops," Henry said with the corner of his lips twitching as he saw the Archers prepare to let their arrows fly. [Grand Quest Updated] [You have received a Main Quest] [Quest: Survive Quest Details: So much for your n to escape using an outside force. You have antagonized the Bandits and they will not listen to reason. Survive the attacks toe. Reward: 1000 Exp Good luck!] "Oh¡­ Fuck." Chapter 120: A Gunslinger Vs Archers *Thwack!* "Ah!" Henry yelled as an arrow pierced his shoulder. [You have Lost 15 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 105/170] Henry''s eyes were wide. He had sensed the arrowing close. His Perception had warned him of that much but before his mind could even process the warning his senses had given and transfer that to his body to move even an inch, the arrow made contact. Had the Archer been far more precise, Henry worried his head might now have an arrow sticking out of it. ''How is an arrow that fast?'' He wondered and then saw the shaft sticking out of his body glowing with Mana. "Ah, I see," he said with a smirk before looking up just in time to see more arrows make their way toward him. Making use of the principle that had served him well to dodge bullet shots, Henry reacted to the hands of the Archers. He moved just before they let go of the strings of their bows and with his Perception as sharp as it currently was, he was away from the spot about seven arrows came striking at the very next second. With a slight *chink* sound, Henry raised his guns toward the Archers and fired. He wasn''t surprised to see most of them leap back just far enough to not get shot. He had seen their Status screens with and knew Agility was their best stat with strength only capable enough to handle drawing their bow''s strings. What helped the Archers avoid Henry''s shots the most were the mountain peaks and the jagged rock formations that were all over it. All they had to do was duck out of sight while the bullets struck and broke off pieces of rock, leaving them rtively unarmed. ''Rtively'' being a deliberately used word because the few shots Henry fired with ''The Hydra''s Sting'' punctured harder through the rocks and grazed some body parts. Had Henry been close enough to them, he would have heard those grazed by the bullets let out pained groans but they were otherwise fine. Because the bullets had merely scratched the targets and had not gotten lodged within their bodies, there were no ghastly acidicbustions. At least not for this bunch. However, Two hadn''t ducked away fast enough to survive Henry''s assault of bullets and had not been lucky enough to just be grazed. One suffered a headshot that had his head lolling atop his neck before he fell off the peak and hit the ground with a crushing sound. [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] There was no ''first-time'' Reward because the Archer, ording to the System was technically still a Warrior. Anyway, Henry''s other victim also suffered a headshot but it was from ''The Hydra''s Sting''. His head turned into a cauldron of bubbling acidic goodness, that swelled to at least twice its size before exploding in a burst that sttered against rocks and sizzled violently as the acid burned through while other bits hit other Archers standing rtively close by. "AHHHH!!!" They all cried out in unison. [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] Henry might never have felt the pain those sshed by the acidic bits were feeling but he remembered Triss suffering something simr and he could not help but sigh like he pitied them. The injury caused by the acidic ssh was a ''living one'' ording to Elminster. It would continue to fester and since Henry doubted they had a Healer as capable as Yelena on their side, he assumed the Bandits were in for many weeks of agony bound to end in death all the same. "I''ll just put you out of your misery," he mumbled and readied to fire more shots when he had to stop and leap away as more Arrows came flying at him. The ones who had survived were quick to draw their bows again and Henry could have sworn their arrows traveled faster because they were angry at him. "Ngh!" Henry let out as an Arrow pierced his back and caused his movement to stumble. [You have lost 20 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 85/170] Henry recovered from his stumble soon enough and leaped towards the base of one of the many mountains that bordered the Mountain Path, making it difficult for the Archers to aim at him. Of course, with there being Archers on the mountain peaks on the other side of the Mountain Path, Henry knew he was not actually safe. Said Archers were already drawing their bows and taking aim but Henry saw it as an opportunity and in a flurry of shots, he picked three from the bulk and shot them dead. Two out of the three had their heads explode causing more cries of pain from others getting sttered by the acidic sizzling bits. The third victim, however, froze in ce as his mouth opened wide and he let out the green cloud of . [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] As the notifications of his Exp gains from the three kills sounded in his head, Henry watched the Archers breathe in the before they had the good sense to get away from the cloud. At least four of them managed to resist the paralytic effect of the gas and got away from the cloud to seek cover behind rock formations so they didn''t get picked out by Henry''s shot. However, three Archers who had been sshed by the acidic bits from two of their explodingrades were far too upied with their paid groans to think to resist paralysis. They endured their pain enough to try and shoot their arrows at Henry but their muscles locked in ce and they twitched while Henry raised his normal Revolver and picked them off one by one. [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] Those who had avoided getting paralyzed rose from behind their rock formations now with their bows drawn and Henry had to roll away to avoid getting punctured all over by their arrows but within the second they took to notch more arrows, another fell to Henry''s shot. [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] Having learned from the death of others, the Archers knew to get away from the victim with the garishly swelling head but they made sure their running did not stop them from shooting their arrows. It was a good idea. Unfortunately for them though, they were not faster than Henry. And in three shots, all backed by his {Marksmanship Skill} like the other shots he had made so far, Henry had the three falling back or off the mountain with holes in their heads. [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] "Fucking Hell!" The Archers whose sight of Henry had been blocked by him sticking by the base of the mountains on their side of the Mountain Path watched with their eyes wide in awe mixed with horror as their fellows fell to a single man''s attacks. And then, Henry kicked off the Mountain base with every bit of strength he had in his body focused on his legs to give him the longest ''leap'' possible. The Archers, despite their awed horrors, were ready and let their notched arrows fly but even as a couple struck Henry with the arrowheads cutting deep into his body, he gritted his teeth, knowing the pain would pass in a second, and fired his guns in retaliation. He aimed for those who had been sshed with the Acidic bits first. Putting them out of their misery just as he had nned to do a few minutes earlier. Chapter 121: Two Halves Of A Whole ??? As Henry quickly got in conflict with the Archers and began running to avoid getting filled with Arrows, Roran had his attention pulled to the trio of Jonas, Al, and Eli, and the longer he watched, the more he frowned. Minutes Earlier¡­ Al had deflected his opponent''s attack and with a powerful diagonal sh, he dealt a heavy blow that had blood spilling out of the Bandit''s front. Stunned by the pain, the Bandit kept a hold of his sword and made to swing it. Al ducked so the de sailed over his head before he then stabbed his sword into the Bandit''s stomach and twisted. "Ack!" The bandit let out and when Al pulled his sword out, he fell to his knees, the light vanishing from his eyes in a second. Al turned away from his kill immediately and his eyes fell on Eli who had just gotten stabbed in the side. Eli had been fighting off two Bandits and had managed to hold his own but the longer he fought, the weaker he became so when a sword cut through his ribs, he arched his back and his sword arm slumped. With blood streaming down one side of his bald head, Eli closed his eyes like he was embracing the death that looked so sure toe. *ng!* Eli opened his eyes when he heard the unmistakable sound of a sword stopping the de that would have ended his life. "Get a hold of yourself, Eli," Al yelled and as he channeled his Mana to coat his sword''s de, he pushed hard until the Bandit whose sword he had stopped was forced to stagger a few steps back. Next, Al swung his sword at the Bandit who still had his sword in Eli''s ribs, forcing him to pull the sword out and raise it in defense. *ng!* The des met and the Bandit sessfully parried the strike but had to leap away when Eli, one hand over the wound in his side, swung his sword in a wide and dangerous arch. "In my defense, I was facing two of them," Eli said with a sad smile. Al just rolled his eyes and gestured with his head at the Bandit he had caused to stagger away, "I''ll take him. Handle the other one." With a nod of agreement, Eli said nothing more and gripped his sword even tighter as he let out his Mana in a turbulent haze. The roaring of Magical energy through his body numbed the pain of his wound and with one second to adjust his stance, he was charging at his Bandit the very next. *ng* *ng* *ng* Now only needing to focus on one opponent, Eli seemed to finally be able to shine. Striking at his opponent over and over with the force of a hammer striking a nail. He hit so many times and so heavily that the Bandit''s knees shook and he wobbled. Eli took advantage of the shaking stance to draw his sword back and make a dangerous jab. The Bandit fell to his kneespletely and then leaned as far back as he could to the point where his back was almost t against the ground. Once Eli''s sword had pierced harmlessly through the air above him, the Bandit made a skillful twist of his wrist before jabbing his sword at Eli''s jaw. Eli''s sword arm was still outstretched and there was no way he''d manage to pull his sword back in time to parry the deing at him. Fortunately for Eli, a sword wasn''t required to knock the hand controlling the sword off course. Eli swung his free hand and smacked the Bandit''s wrist aside. That should have been enough. By all rights, it should have knocked the de off course long enough for Eli to pull back his sword arm and be ready to make a proper parry. s, the Bandit, while crude in his techniques, was not all too incapable. Even as his arm was knocked off course, he recovered quickly enough to turn it into a sh. "Ugh!" Eli let out as the de cut through his shirt and drew blood but before it could get even deeper, his outstretched arm was pulled back and he mmed the pommel of his sword into the Bandit''s head. Stunning him while knocking him to the side. The Bandit blinked and as light danced in his sights, he made a wild swing with his sword. He hit nothing and Eli''s sword cut through his neck the very next second, ending his life. Letting out multiple breaths and looking spent, Eli looked over at Al and saw he hadpleted his kill as well. Al looked around and saw Eli had sustained more injuries since hest saw him and let out a chuckle, "You look terrible," he said. "I''ll live," Eli said with a smile as he pulled himself closer to him. Together, they both looked over at Jonas and watched as he expertly stabbed one of his opponents before shing the neck of the second in what looked like a single fluid move. Even more impressive was how Jonas looked to have barely sustained any injuries in the fight. The most both Al and Eli could see were scratches. "Kinda looks like he''s showing off, doesn''t it?" Al said with a smile. "That''s Jonas for ya," Eli agreed with a chuckle, and then the smile froze on his face as he seemed to detect something off. Al had sensed it too and he raised his sword just in time to intercept a powerful strike that came at him. *CLANG!* "Hngh!" Al groaned and his legs went so weak that he fell to his knees with Roran the Bandit standing over him pressing him to the ground with the heavy and overpowering contact he had made with his sword. Roran had looked away from Henry to this trio just in time to see them put swift ends to hisrades and was so irate that his body let loose a powerful aura that backed his sword swing. "You dareugh while I still live?" Roran asked in a deep rumbling voice, "I''ll wipe that smirk off your face." With a strained expression, Al struggled to keep Roran''s sword from shing him. It felt so heavy that he knew that the slightest show of weakness on his part would likely kill him so he put every bit of his strength on his defense. "Al!" Eli called out before charging forward to swing his sword at Roran only to be smacked in the face by an outburst of Mana so powerful that it caused dust to erupt. "Oof!" Eli let out as he was sent many feet away. Jonas noticed what was happening and with his eyes wide, he charged and unleashed his Mana in an outburst meant to quell the one keeping him away. And then the dust began to settle. Eli rose off the ground and squinted to see what was happening through the cloud of dust only for it to be all too clear the very next second. The wide de of Roran the Bandit''s sword was on the ground. It was bloodied and more blood was pooling on the ground. Blood that came from two halves of what used to be a whole. With a sickening Squelch sound of gore and spilling innards all perfectly cut down the middle (if they were symmetrical and centered in the first ce), both halves of Al''s body hit the ground. The whole of him, very much dead. Chapter 122: Sly Piece Of Shit "NO!!!" Eli yelled. Jonas'' eyes were wide at the horror in front of him but now that the repelling surge of Mana keeping him away was gone, he let his own out and used it to reinforce the strength behind his sword swing as he aimed for the quick killing of an enemy that would pose a dangerous threat to their surviving this ordeal. With hardly a care for the brutal manner he had just ended a life or the blood that sttered from his victim''s halved-up carcass, Roran the Bandit raised hisrge curved sword off the ground and parried Jonas'' sword heavily. *ng!* "Hng!" Jonas groaned as he was forced to take a step back but he quickly recovered as Roran charged at him swinging his sword. This time not to parry but to kill. Jonas shed with the heavy de and gritted his teeth at the reverberating force that traveled up his arm through his sword. Swiftly and with impressive grace, Jonas used the force behind Roran''s sword swing to pivot on a spot and swing his sword at the Bandit''s side. With his brows furrowed, Roran realized what Jonas was up to, and rather than catch up with the move with his sword, he struck out a blow at Jonas''s face instead. *Bam!* The punch hit and, stunned, Jonas was forced back. He shook off the lights that were starting to dot his eyesight, endured the pain in his face as Roran''s fist drew blood, and focused on raising his sword in defense. *ng!* The des made contact but, unbnced as he was, Jonas could not root himself solidly enough on his feet to avoid getting mmed back into the mountain''s rocky surface. "Ahhh!" Jonas yelled as the jagged rock formations cut into his body. His back was arched and it was going to take him a few seconds to regain a proper handle on his body. Seconds that Roran was not going to let him have. Roran made to attack when he sensed somethinging at him and made a wide arch with his sword to knock a projectile aside. It was half of a sword''s de. Half of Al''s sword de. When Roran cleaved Al in two, he had broken his sword too and now Eli tossed it for a sneak attack. In the space of a second that Roran spent swiping the de out of the air before it could stab him, Eli leaped out with his sword stretched out for a jab. "Slow!" Roran announced with augh as he leaned to the side to avoid the jab and retaliated with a sh. Eli''s eyes widened and quickly put as much distance as he could between the de and himself. "Ah!" Eli cried out as Roran''s sword still cut through him and added to the series of injuries he had already sustained today. Fortunately, Eli''s interference had given Jonas the time he needed to collect himself and he was again swinging his sword at Roran who parried every swing with ease. "Pointless," Roran said before their swords shed in a powerful *ng* of metal that turned into a power struggle during which, Roranughed, "Hahahaha! Don''t tell me you haven''t realized it by now. You''re too weak to contend against me!" It was true. While Jonas did not have the grace to see Stats as Henry could to know the difference in his and Roran''s strengths was 10 Points, he could still feel it in each of their shes. That being said, what would his considerable experience as a Fighter amount to if that was all that was needed to take him down? Unleashing his Mana in a turbulent st that supported his pushback against Roran''s sword, Jonas was able to maintain some bnce. He couldn''t quite overpower Roran but he made sure he wasn''t forced further back. Roran felt the wave of Mana Jonas was releasing for support and let out a chuckle as his Mana began to leak from his body in a surge he could keep up for fairly longer than his opponent could. And then, Jonas took one hand off his sword''s handle to reach back and pull out a dagger he had hidden away. In a sh of steel and a move whose sess was only ascertained by Roran''s arrogance and oversight, Jonas stabbed the dagger into the Bandit''s wrist. "AHH!" Roran yelled as pain shot from the wound while blood spilled out of it. Jonas took his sessful stab even further and drew the dagger along Roran''s forearm so that it created a long gash. Roran''s strength slipped only for a second but that second was all Jonas needed to lift himself off his lowered stance and push back at the sword that had kept him at bay. Due to the pain in Roran''s wrist, his grip on his sword ckened just a bit. Jonas noticed this while he was pushing against the sword''s de and promptly shifted his focus from strength to Dexterity, twisting and spinning his sword around therge de of Roran''s sword until the weapon fell out of the Bandit''s hand. Roran didn''t appear bothered by losing his sword. He also didn''t pick it back up, knowing that could prove a costly mistake to make as his opponent could take advantage. So, he just punched Jonas with his uninjured hand. *Bam!* The blow connected and, resisting the pain in his forearm, Roran followed up with a series of punches. Each knocked Jonas a step back every time they connected until his back was mming into the rocky formation of the Mountain base again. "Ugh¡ª" Jonas let out in pain as he raised his sword arm and tried to take a swing. Roran grabbed the arm and mmed it hard against the Mountain. Gritting his teeth at his pain and giving up on resisting the Bandit''s strong grip on his sword arm, Jonas made a swipe with his dagger-wielding hand. Roran grabbed the arm and mmed it against the mountain as he had done with the sword arm. He was just about to deliver a headbutt that promised to crack Jonas'' skull when he sensed an attacking from behind. Eli had snuck up on him and was thrusting his sword for a deadly jab. As he had been able to do once before, Roran leaned to the side to avoid the sword only for his eyes to widen when he realized something about Eli''s stance. It was never meant for a jab. It was meant for a cutting sh. "You¡ª!" Roran started to say just as Eli swung his sword upward, targeting the arm that was holding Jonas''s sword-wielding arm against the Mountain. *Skisch!* Half of Roran''s arm fell to the ground. Leaving him with a stump that let out blood in violent sprays. "AHH¡ª ACK!" Roran started to yell but with his sword arm now free, Jonas wasted no time making a jab that stabbed his sword through the Bandit''s open mouth and he continued to push until half of his sword''s de was sticking out of the back of Roran''s head. When Jonas pulled out his sword, Roran''srge body wobbled once before falling to the ground with a heavy *Thud*. Eli slumped to the ground after. He couldn''t even delight in the win because just a few feet away was the halved-up body of his friend. And then he saw Henry. "You bastard! You caused this!" He yelled, "YOU DID THIS!" "Shit," Henry let out. [Quest Completed!] [You survived] [You have received 1000 Exp] ''It doesn''t feel like I survived though,'' Henry thought sullenly. Henry couldn''t care less about the death his n had caused. He, however, cared very much that his n had failed. If only he had finished up with the Archers faster, he could have killed Eli. Without anyone to step in, Roran would surely have killed Jonas. Something Henry couldn''t even consider doing because of the Control-Cuff on his Wrist. With Jonas dead, Henry could have picked off Roran and would now be on his merry way. Killing Eli was still doable but what would be the point if he couldn''t kill Jonas? Speaking of Jonas, he walked over to Henry, ring at him, "All this just to get away?" He asked. "You underestimate my desire to escape," Henry retorted with a small sad smile just as Jolts of electricity charged into his brain and caused him to spasm because he just thought about something he shouldn''t have. "You''reing to Alvareen with me, you sly piece of shit!" Jonas said, "But you don''t have to be conscious for the journey." *Bam!* The pommel of Jonas'' sword struck Henry''s head, stooping his spasms as he fell backward, hit the ground, and cked out. Chapter 123: Legacy Of Those Who Came Before *** ¡ªSaint ret¡ª ¡ªThe ck Manor¡ª "Focus, Yelena," Maude Aleric said in a firm voice, "You''re letting your Mana run rampant." "Sorry," Yelena said with a sigh. "You channel Mana like someone who has too much of it. Like someone who can never run out," Maude said, "But you can run out. You need to learn proper Mana management." "I understand," Yelena said with a nod. "Good," Maude said with a nod, "Now try again." The two were in a Hall Maude Aleric had set aside within the ck Manor specifically to practice spell casting. A Hall that always served as a training ground for his Prot¨¦g¨¦es which Yelena now was. Besides the fact that Yelena doubted she could escape as inexperienced as she was with her now finite Mana reserves, there was also the fate of Triss and Stefan to worry about. While she workshopped ideas to help free the siblings, Yelena decided she might as well get better with her Magic. With her eyes closed, Yelena began to form seals with her hands before she chanted a short spell to infuse her Mana into her formed seals all to create a spell circle that appeared and stayed floating about one foot away from her. "Good so far," Maude said with a nod, "Next is the conjuring." Yelena took a while to focus and then, out of the spell circle she created, a de of Mana was formed and it floated out slowly waiting to be unleashed. With a deep breath, Yelena opened her eyes to aim at a target on the far wall in front of her when she suddenly felt something tug at the pit of her stomach as the whole of her mana reserves flowed out and charged into the de of mana. The de swelled as it absorbed all she had to give but was quickly bing unstable. Maude sighed and shook his head. He was behind her now and ced a hand on her back. The Mana that Yelena could feel violently surging into her conjured Mana de suddenly stopped and began to return to her body in a reversal so skilled, that only an aplished Wizard like Maude Aleric could attempt. When all of Yelena''s Mana was back in her body, her conjured de vanished and her spell circle fizzled out. "I''m sorry," she said deciding to take the preemptive move to apologize for her failure. "Your mind is preupied," Maude said shaking his head with an expression of disappointment, "You can''t excel in Magic if you don''t devote yourself totally to it." "Believe me, I''m trying my best," Yelena said with a frown. Maude shook his head, "I don''t think you are," Maude said, "The only other exnation for yourckluster Mana control would be years of never being worried about running out of Mana to the point where it became a habit." Yelena pursued her lips but held her tongue. It had be a habit. Never having to worry about Mana had been her way for almost Four centuries and it was taking a lot of effort for her to unlearn that habit and yet, she knew she had to. It had very little to do with impressing Maude and more to do with the consequences of ack of proper Mana management. ording to Maude, not knowing your limit and going past it could lead to a Witch having to supplement hercking reserves with her life force instead. "Life is Magical," Maude had said, "But once it''s depleted, there''s no recovery." So Yelena had to learn. They kept practicing for hours. Taking breaks in between for Maude to teach Yelena how to speed up Mana recovery. There was a lot of meditation and serenity involved. Yelena didn''t originally care for it but she was won over by the soothing feeling of her body producing Mana faster and circting it far more smoothly. And then a knock sounded at the door. A gentle knock not meant to disturb the proceedings within the Hall but to announce a matter of possible importance. With a wave of his hand, Maude pulled the door open, and in walked his Butler who bowed, "My Lord," he said to Maude and then nced at Yelena to acknowledge her as well, "Miss." "What is it?" "Vyker Rion and his Squad have returned, My Lord," the Butler said, "They have what you requested." Maude smiled, "Excellent," he said and then turned to Yelena, "I''m afraid we must end today''s lesson here. I have a matter to attend to." Maude was on his way out of the Hall but then paused and looked back at Yelena, "On second thoughts, you shoulde along." Yelena raised a brow, "Really?" She asked, "Why?" She had only been learning from Maude for about two days and didn''t think had that much of a ce to join in whatever it was he had to attend to. "Well, yes," Maude said, "The knowledge of Vyker Awakening is very primal to your being a Witch so you shoulde along. Especially since it involves those two thieves." "Triss and Stefan?" Yelena asked as she stood to her feet. Maude waved off the names like they meant nothing to him which they didn''t. "Yes, them," he said, "Come on." Maude walked out of the hall then and Yelena''s stomach twisted as she followed him. It dawned on her that she hadn''t even had the time to do anything to help them. ''Should I have attacked Maude the moment he took me there?'' She asked herself but of course, she knew that would have been foolish. She was not magically capable enough to contend against him. Hell, she couldn''t even properly harness her Mana without risking death. Maude led Yelena down a flight of stairs that led almost as deep underground as the cells he had led her to just two days before. The cells where he had Triss and Stefan locked up. Anyway, at the bottom of the stairs was a long corridor with all manner of symbols etched into the walls on either side. Yelena had never seen the symbols before and yet, she found herself understanding what they meant because they were written in Arcane scripts. The symbols were words of power that told of a powerful history and ''painted'' a picture of the importance of Vyker creation. Of how it was a staple in the legacy of every Witch or Wizard. "You can understand them, can''t you?" Maude asked. "I can," Yelena said in a low voice. Maude nodded satisfied, "The legacy of those who came before me. The legacy of the Alerics. My children turned away from it." "You have Children?" Yelena asked surprised. Maude had never mentioned it. Then again, she had only really known him for two days. "I do and they found this (waves at the walls) ''repulsive''. They could never understand the importance, the gravity, of Vyker Creation. They can never understand how superior it makes people like you and me. It ces us above the rest. Grants us the ability to create. To reshape otherwise unfulfilling lives." At the end of the corridor was arge door whose ornate surface was carved with symbols that continued the history of the Awakening Ritual Yelena had read about on the walls on the way here. Behind the door was arge room where Vykers stood awaiting Maude''s arrival. "My Lord," said one of the Vykers with a box in hand. "Rion," Maude said before cing his hand on the box but only for a moment as he continued deeper into the room to stand right by the side of therge pentagram imprinted into the middle of the floor. Maude drew in a deep breath and without taking his eyes off the symbols within the Pentagram, he ordered, "Bring them." Chapter 124: Awakening Ritual In the minutes it took for Vykers to exit the Awakening Room and fetch the prisoners, Maude made the required preparations. Yelena didn''t understand them and Maude didn''t exin. He seemed far too focused and studious to pay her any mind. Then, therge door opened and the Prisoners were prodded into the room proper. "Stop nudging me," Stefan said and while he would have loved to sound angry, his voice just came out sounding defeated. Being locked up in a cell with very dim lighting can have that effect. What used to be quite a handsome face was far more muted in its attractiveness. Smudged up with dirt. "You look well," Triss told Yelena in a low voice. "Triss¡ª" Yelena started to say but wasn''t sure what to say. She was standing here, powerless to do anything to help and dressed in finery while the siblings had spent days in a cell and were now about to be subjugated and forced to serve the Man they tried to rob. "You don''t have to say anything," Triss said, shaking her head, "It''s fine." The Vykers forced Triss and Stefan forward then until they were standing next to the Pentagram. "Get them to the middle," Maude said in an impassive voice as he reached out to receive the box the Vyker called Rion had held out to him. Maude opened the box and smiled, "You should feel grateful," he said, "The ingredients to be used in your Mutations have been sourced from powerful Dungeons. Your Evolution will continue for years toe." "Maude¡ª" Yelena said and stepped forward only for the Vykers to block her path. "You can''t get too close to the Ritual," Rion said in a stern voice. Maude nced over Yelena as she tried to push past the Vykers and furrowed his brows, "You''re reacting like this is an execution. I''m about to give meaning to their lives." "In exchange for controlling them," Yelena pointed out. Maude shrugged, "Do you see any of my Vykersin?" "Can they?" Yelena asked. Maude pursed his lips and then, with a tone that made it clear this was thest time he was going to address this topic, he said, "Their assault on my Manor lost me Vykers. My attempts to retrieve my item from their thieving clutches rewarded me with deaths upon deaths of my Vykers. These two will barely be able to make up for my losses but it''s certainly a start. And they can apologize for their misdeeds by serving me for the rest of their lives." "Apologize?" Stefan asked, pulling Maude''s attention to himself as he and Triss stood in the middle of the Pentagram with their backs to each other, "I regret nothing so why would I apologize?" "Stefan," Triss called to him. "What? It''s true," Stefan said. "Didn''t say it wasn''t," Triss said and managed a smile before she added, "Just don''t think it''s smart to say it, is all." Stefan scoffed, "What''s he going to do, kill me? That''d be better than having to see his face and say yes to his insane orders for the rest of my life." Triss looked to give it some thought before she nodded, "You know what, you''re right," she said and then shrugged, "Either way, this is thest time we can give him a piece of our minds." "That''s enough!" Maude snapped interrupting whatever Stefan was about to say in response. Maude spread his arms wide and began to chant a long string of spells. His chanting caused his Mana to surge as every bit of magic in the room seemed toe alive. And there was a lot of it. This room had seen many Vyker-creating rituals for millennia and was thick with its Arcane history. The Pentagram glowed before chains began to rise from it. The chains were first intangible but with every spell that left Maude''s lips, they gained tangibility until they were wrapping around the wrists of both Stefan and Triss. Pinning them to the Pentagram. "What power do you think you''ll get?" Triss asked Stefan as she tried once to pull against the chains. "You''re considering it?" Stefan asked like he couldn''t believe his Sister''s tangent. Triss shrugged as best as she could despite the chains, "I mean, it''s going to happen. Nothing we can do about it so might as well wonder, don''t you think? The only bright side to this is no longer being ordinary." Stefan let out a sigh, "Never knew you were unsatisfied to be normal," he said. "Well, not unsatisfied, per se," Triss said, "But I have sometimes wondered how it would feel to be something more¡­" "This¡ª Is this about Henry?" Stefan asked. "What?" Triss asked sounding slightly flustered. "It is, isn''t it?" Stefan said andughed, "It''s because he''s special. You were starting to feel left out." "No¡ª" Triss said but Stefan justughed again, "Don''t try to deny it. I''ve seen it," he said. "Seen what?" "The look," Stefan said. "What look?" "The look you give him," Stefan said and wiggled his brows even though his Sister couldn''t see it. "I don''t give him a look," Triss said blushing slightly. "Come on," Stefan said with his voice dragged out, "You clearly give him a look." "Ah, whatever," Triss said, giving up on denial, and then she mumbled, "I wonder where he is now." "Wherever it is, he''s sure to be having a better time than this, right?" Stefan said with his eyes on Maude who didn''t seem at all bothered by the conversation happening in front of him and never once broke from his long spell chant. "Do you think it''ll hurt?" Triss asked and then she felt it. The Pentagram siphoned the energy within the ingredients prepared for the Ritual and drove it into her body. It felt like multiple knives were slicing through her. Her blood burned hot to a boil like she was about to explode and she couldn''t help but let out a groan of pain. "I think that answers your question," Stefan managed to say even as he felt the same. And then he felt worse. Although the process started for him and Triss at the same time, his actual Awakening started before hers. The mutation ingredients were charging into him with the energy focused on his heart. Transforming it from just a muscle to pump blood and into a power source for his uing Vyker Mutation. Meanwhile, Yelena was watching on as the siblings groaned in pain when she heard a voice. A voice that sounded more clearly and strongly than any voice she had ever heard in all her years of living. Completely unfamiliar too. "-First time I visit the Mortal Ream through you, and I witness this imitation Ritual. Haha, must be fated.-" "Who said that?" Yelena asked loudly as she looked around wildly. She even looked at the Vykers in front of her but they were all staring at her like she was mad. "-You think a voice like mine coulde from weak beings like them? My, my, Yelena, I''m disappointed.-" "Who are you?" Yelena asked still looking for the source of the voice even though it was starting to dawn on her that it wasing from her head. "-Who am I?-" The voice asked like it was musing on the question before it then said in a voice of callous delight, "-I am the ''generous'' Demon who took pity on a young girl fated to die¡ª You. I am the source of the Immortality you have now lost. Good riddance to that nonsense, by the way¡­-" "Wait, Demon?" Yelena repeated the word and then she remembered what she had read on the screens she saw when she woke up in the ck Manor. "Demon¡ª Hell¡ª" she said with the next word not quite leaving her lips as easily as it should have. The Demon in Yelena''s head seemed to hear what she wanted to say though and chuckled, "-Yes, Yelena. You are my Spawn. And I, am your Patron.-" Chapter 125: My Dear Sweet Girl A few moments passed with the only sound in the room to be heard being Maude Aleric''s monotonous spell chanting and the groans of the redheaded siblings chained to the center of the Pentagram. "-Mmm, I was expecting a bigger reaction than that but no matter, I can work with¡­-" "What does it mean to be an Infernal Spawn?" Yelena interrupted to ask with her voice low and thest word leaving her lips in more of a gasp. The System had given her a description but it said very little about the underlying connotations so who better to ask than the one responsible for it? "-Well, my dear,-" The Demonic voice said, "-It simply means you have been fed so much infernal energy for years that you are doomed to be a Demon. It will either happen while you remain on this Mortal ne or happen the instant you die and your soules home to me.-" "Oh gods¡­" Yelena said with a horrified expression on her beautiful face as she took a step back from the Vykers who were still looking at her talking to herself like she was insane. Yelena ced a hand on her stomach. She wasn''t sure if it was real or if she was imagining it, but she could feel something within her. Something otherworldly¡ª infernal, rearing its head within her guts. "Oh, gods!" She said again with her voice hiked a few octaves higher. "-Oh honey, stop that!-" the Demonic voice said, "-Invoking the gods that many times burns me- Argh!-" "Really?" Yelena asked and perked up. She began to bring the names of gods she knew to her mind. If invoking vague gods was chasing the Demon away, then would it not be better to invoke a powerful divine god to rid her of this evil once and for all? And then she heard a hearty cackle from the voice, "-HAHAHAHAHA! My dear, you delight me! I was just joking. Demons have a sense of humor, you know. It''s oftentimes twisted but it isthere.-" Yelena''s heart sank, "So¡­ invoking the gods doesn''t hurt you?" She asked. "-Of course, it doesn''t! What do you take me for?-" the voice asked andughed even harder. Yelena flushed at the sound. Feeling embarrassed and naive that she had fallen for such an obvious trick. "-No, no, my dear, we are forever linked, and you can''t be rid of me. Besides, no member of the pantheons of gods will ever look upon you favorably.-" "What do you want?" Yelena asked. "-I want what every Patron wants; For her charge to seed. And to seed, you''re going to need some help.-" Yelena was going to ask what she was supposed to seed at when the Voice nudged her and turned her eyes back to the Pentagram. "Wait, can you help them?" She asked with her eyes wide. The voice chuckled, "-How quickly you go from rebuking me to asking for help.-" "Can you help?" Yelena asked again knowing that the longer she spent conversing with the voice, the closer Maude got topleting the Awakening Ritual. "-Help them? They don''t seem to be in any danger.-" "They''re about to be subjugated against their will," Yelena pointed out. "-And?-" "What do you mean ''And''?" Yelena asked, confused before she added in a slightly more exasperated tone, "It''s wrong!" "-Wrong? My dear sweet girl, has it not dawned on you that you''re speaking to a Demon? Does ''morality'' seem like something I''d be remotely invested in?-" "Just help them," Yelena pleaded, "Please." "-Fine.-" Yelena felt the voice cease after that and she felt whatever entity had been in her head vanish. She was about to start wondering exactly how her Patron was going to help when the Pentagram that had been glowing a soft blue color turned a bright red. Maude Aleric''s spell chanting faltered as he felt his connection to the Pentagram and the Awakening Ritual break even though the violent energy of the ritual continued. And then he felt a powerful heat ¡ªA heat that didn''t aim to burn his body but his very soul¡ª roar out of the Pentagram in a force that would have sted him into a wall had he not been rooted to the spot by an otherworldly authority. The force spread all over the Awakening Room with an intensity that spared no one besides Yelena and bore down on all shoulders with an overwhelmingmand to kneel. *THUD!* The knees of everyone in the room, besides Yelena, hit the ground at the same time. That included Triss and Stefan who were still groaning in the pain of the Awakening Ritual. "What the hell is this¡ª?" Maude struggled to say as he mustered his Mana only to have it stifled out before it could even take shape for a protective spell to shield him from the pressure. And then a red haze rose from the Pentagram and took the form of a buxom figure withrge horns. The figure''s face was unclear. The haze merely took shape and left out further details like the eyes, nose, and mouth. "Much too iplete to serve as a true summoning Pentagram but it''ll do." Said the voice that came from the red haze. The red Demonic haze. Maude had had very few encounters with infernal beings. Not being a Sorcerer who had to borrow his Magical talents from them, Maude had very little business with the Otherworldly but how could he not recognize the nature of the energy ¡ªthe heat¡ª, he was feeling all too clearly. Immediately, all thoughts of resistance left his mind and he bowed low. This was merely a haze, a pressure of this being, and it was powerful enough to incinerate him. ''It would be foolish to be rude.'' "Your Infernal Majesty¡ª" Maude started to say. The voice interrupted him with a heartyugh, "''Infernal Majesty''? You''re not wasting time, are you? Straight to the bootlicking¡­ The Ass-kissing?" Maude gulped, "Your Infernal Majesty," he repeated before he continued, "I''m sorry but you weren''t summoned." There were rules for the infernal to interfere with matters of the Mortal ne and precise summons were almost always required. While the Awakening Pentagram has simr fundamentals to a Summoning Pentagram, they are not at all the same. It should have been impossible to catch the attention of a Demon from hell to the point of causing it to break through. "I assume you''re aware that the rules can be partially subverted by the presence of an Anchor." The Demonic haze said. "Anchor¡ª?" Maude started and then turned his head slowly to where Yelena stood. The only one not forced to kneel. ''Yelena?'' He thought, ''Your talent attracted a Demon?!'' Meanwhile, the chains that had held both Triss and Stefan down turned bright red to match the energy of the Pentagram. Stefan''s Vyker Transformation was already underway before the arrival of the Demonic haze and so when the Infernal energy that infected the Pentagram, drove into his body, it resulted in a mix of sorts between Vyker Mutation and Infernal subjugation. Triss was different. Her body had been prepared for the mutation toe but the ingredients were turned to ashes before they could be a part of her. Instead, she felt the heat of Hell roar through her body. The mes licked at her soul but rather than burn it and destroy it, they transformed it. "ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!" Triss yelled at the top of her lungs as she felt more than a burning intensity. She felt the pain of multiple damned souls. Their torment drove into her, turning into something more. Attaching her to a being so depraved, it watched her anguish with intense delight. "Stop it, you''re hurting her!" Yelena called out as she stepped forward. "Of course, I''m hurting her," The Demonic haze said, "Without pain, there can be no gain." "I asked you to help. I asked you to stop the Ritual but you''repleting it!" "Yes, I''mpleting it," the Demonic haze said, "You''ll need help for the things toe. These two, while subpar, will work well enough." The Demonic haze began to dissipate then and it let out a sigh, "It appears my time here is at an end," it said before it turned to Maude, "You. Human Wizard!" "Yes?" Maude answered in a tone of utmost respect and fear. "Take good care of my Spawn," the Demonic haze said, "I''ll be watching." The haze fizzled out. The pressure all over the room lifted. The Pentagram returned to being an indentation in the middle of the floor and the chains that held both Triss and Stefan to it vanished. Maude finally raised his head off the ground and he looked at Yelena with a mixture of horror and awe as he wondered if, by taking her in, he had invited disaster or great fortune. Yelena''s eyes, however, were on Triss and Stefan. Stefan recovered from his pain first and clutched a hand over his heart as it pumped with power he had never in his life experienced. And as a bonus, when he looked at Maude and had an urge to haul insults at him, nothing stopped him from doing it. However, rather than follow through with his basal instincts, Stefan worried for his Sister and turned around to her. Triss wasid down on the Pentagram with her eyes closed but when Stefan stretched his hand out to touch her, her eyelids flew open, and in her originally brown eyes were two mini-infernos that seemed to bore right into her brother''s soul. "Holy¡ª" Stefan said as the stare forced him to recoil. Triss said nothing. She simply raised her hands to the front of her face to eye them. She felt changed. She felt like she had been forced into a deal with the Devil. And in a sense, that was exactly what happened. Chapter 126: Alvareen *** ¡ªTwo Days After the Bandit Encounter in the Mountain Path¡ª Henry looked out of the barred window of his cage as snow fell outside. The sounds of the carriage finally nearing civilization started slowly as they pulled through homesteads and towns staying in the fringes of the more developed regions in the North. Finally, with the grating sounds the carriage made as it dragged across cobbled stoned roads, as well as the tall buildings of all sorts he could see through the barred window, Henry realized they had arrived at their destination. If not for anything ¡ªand there was very little that made Henry happy at the moment¡ª, he was d the journey was finally at an end. After his escape attempt failed, Henry woke up back in the cage with a throbbing in his head. He had lost Hit Points from the hard head knock but, at least, he was still alive. Which could have gone either way because Eli was pissed. The way the Mercenary Fighter saw it, it was Henry''s fault his friend got cleaved in two which, of course, wasn''t wrong. From the bits of conversation Henry had gleaned whenever they made camp, he learned that Jonas had to constantly remind Eli they had a job to do to keep him in check. "We can find someone else, Jonas," Eli had insisted, "We can find someone else. Just let me kill that piece of shit." When he said those words, Eli red daggers at the cage and Henry was sure he would get murdered in his sleep. All in all, the two-day trip was tense. Henry was never let out of the cage. His feeding was sparse at best and the portions were vastly reduced. But now it was over. Once out of the cage, Henry was determined to start workshopping more ideas of escape. It didn''t matter how many jolts of electricity fired into his brain, he was going to be free. Of that he was sure. Alvareen¡­ Henry assumed that was the name of the City they were in because it was where Jonas once told him he was being taken to. Looking out the window, Henry felt he had been pulled into another world. Sure, he had already experienced much that set this world apart from the one he had died in, however, there were still familiar elements. There were gangs made up of normal people. The most advanced City he visited, Saint ret, was also still rooted in some familiarity with guards who walked about with guns. There was none of that here. Everyone who had a weapon either had some kind of sword, some kind of bow, a spear, or some variation of those weapons on their backs. In Saint ret, Henry had caught sight of maybe, one person, like that. Here, it was all over. No one the carriage passed batted an eye at the cage. The few who nced at it had nonchnt expressions at seeing Henry''s face through the barred windows. The carriage continued on its way till it was pulling through gates manned by guards that continued the trend Henry had seen all over the City already by having sheathed swords hooked to their belts. "Another one?" Asked a voice Henry assumed belonged to one of the guards. He didn''t hear either Jonas or Eli respond but the guard spoke again, "Gave you some trouble, did he? Where''s Al?" Again there was no response from either Jonas or Eli but Henry could have sworn he heard the veins popping out of Eli''s neck at the mention of Al, whose death he had not yet avenged by killing Henry. "Damn, such silence," the Guard said, sounding disappointed that neither of the two answered him, "Well, you know where to take him." As the Carriage pulled on along, Henry''s cage got close enough to the guard to hear him mumble ''Assholes'' under his breath. The ride wasn''t long this time and when the Carriage pulled to a stop, there was a finality to it. A minuteter, there was the sound of lock fiddling followed by bolt pulling before the cage''s door was pulled open and Jonas pulled Henry out of it and tossed him to the snowy ground unceremoniously. Henry got back to his feet and quickly enough and shed him a smile, "Thank you," he said sarcastically as he brushed the snow off his face, "It was getting warm in there. I was begging for some cold on my cheek." "Shut up," Jonas said and grabbed his arm to pull him along as he walked. Henry looked around. He looked to have been brought to arge Estate. "New recruit?" Called out a voice that caused Henry to look ahead. Two men were walking over. Both tall and both dressed in matching leather armor. Jonas tossed Henry toward them as he said callously, "Here. Get him off my hands." One of the men held out a hand and stopped Henry from crashing into him as he chuckled, "Haha, clearly there''s a story here." The man reached behind him and produced a Cuff that he snapped onto Henry''s left wrist. ''Another one?'' Henry asked with a mental groan. "Jonas, take this one off him, will you?" The man who just strapped Henry with a second Cuff said. Jonas tapped the Command cuff on his wrist and infused it with Mana. *click* With a small sound, the first control cuff on Henry''s wrist loosened and the man pulled it off to toss it at Jonas who caught it and walked away. "What''s your name, boy?" The man asked Henry. "Henry." "Well, Henry, wee to your new life. You''re the Property of Ralph Gribbo until the day you die. Assignments are in the evening and with any luck, you could be part of Tomorrow''s Dungeon raiding party." Henry furrowed his brows but said nothing. He was still wondering just what thoughts he was allowed to have with the new cuff on and didn''t want to set off any jolts to his head just yet. The man turned to the other man standing close by, "Ed, get him settled in." Ed steered Henry into a part of the Estate that had been made into permanent housing for those cuffed just like he was. Bunk beds all over. "Pick your spot," Ed said before he left. No introductions, no orientation course, nothing. Henry''s eyes roamed the room and he found a bed. However, right when he walked toward it, someone stepped in front of him. "Hi," the boy said. He had curly brown hair and thergest pair of electric blue eyes Henry had ever seen. He looked not much older than Henry. In his early twenties at most. His eyes were constantly wide and at first, Henry thought it was him being expressive but when they remained like that he just had to assume, it was permanent. "Hello," Henry said. "You''re new," the boy said. "I am." "What''s your name?" "Henry." "Hello, Henry. I''m Louis." "Nice to meet you, Louis," Henry said to be polite. He made to walk past but Luis blocked his path. "Hey, Henry¡­ You wanna get away from here?" Louis asked. Henry furrowed his brow, "Are you asking if I want to escape¡ª Hnghh!" Just as it had been on the journey over to Alvareen, the new Cuff rewarded all thoughts of escape with jolts of electricity. But Henry did note that it was far more forgiving in its pain. It didn''t send him to the ground spasming at least. "Yeah," Louis said like he hadn''t just seen Henry in pain, "You wanna be free?" "How are you even able to consider it?" Henry asked. "Oh you mean the jolting pain?" Louis asked with his eyes as wide as ever. "Yes," Henry said in a slightly raised voice. Asking how Louis could consider escape had also jolted his brain. Luis twitched a bit and shook his head, "Yeah, I don''t feel that anymore." "What?" Henry asked, incredulous. Louis nodded, "Yeah, I don''t feel it. Felt it constantly for weeks and now I''m just numb. I don''t advise you to try it though. It could drive you mad." "Could it?" Henry asked sarcastically because Louis'' wide eyes made him seem insane enough to prove the statement true. Louis didn''t seem to hear the sarcasm as he nodded, "Yep, yep. You see, I''m a Lightning Mage." "A what?" "A Lightning Mage. Some jolts to my brain are a piece of cake," Louis said, "So do you wanna be free?" "Of course," Henry answered. "Good, good," he said with a crooked smile, "You don''t seem too put down by the jolts yourself. You''re different from the others here. They''ve all given up. A damn, damn shame." "Thanks, I guess," Henry said as he continued to endure jolts of electricity to ask, "So what''s your n?" "Well, it starts simple but somewhat difficult all the same," Louis said, staring Henry down with his wide electric blue eyes, "We have to be part of Tomorrow''s Dungeon Raiding Party." Chapter 127: All We Have To Do "The Dungeons?" Henry asked, "Aren''t those dangerous?" Louis nodded, "Of course they are," he said, "From what I''ve heard, anyone can die in them and that''s what makes them perfect. But I can''t tell you more about my n right now. When they assign us this evening, try to be a part of the Dungeon raiding party. I''ve been getting passed up for weeks so I''m long overdue. You''re new though so you could get lumped up with Mercenary duties or something. If you''re part of the Dungeon raiding party, we''ll talk more." Louis walked away after that mumbling to himself and nodding over and over again. As he watched him go, Henry wondered if Louis could be trusted and then shook his head with a small smile. The boy''s craziness was more cause for worry than some strange ulterior motive. Henry went to sit on the empty bed in the room and cast his eyes about. Just as Louis had said, none of them looked all too eager to get away. Or eager to do anything at all. They just sat down and stared off into space impassively waiting for the moment they would have to do their captor''s bidding. ''Horrible,'' Henry thought and looked down at the Cuff on his wrist to see it as more than a tool to keep him in check and more of a torture device. That was what it was for everyone in the room. It had jolted away their aggression and rendered them aimless sheep to be steered to their various ughter for the benefit of the Fat-cat who he now knew was called Ralph Gribbo. From Maude Aleric and other Wizards and Witches creating Vykers to Angus trying to create a Hive with the Vinculum and now to Ralph Gribbo with his Control brain-frying cuffs¡­ ''The people of this World are obsessed with Control.'' Henry realized and then let out a sigh as he added, ''But I suppose it''s the same for any world.'' He activated and studied everyone in the room. They all had good stats and all had Mana which was clearly a criteria to get captured and brought here in the first ce. ''Hmm, how about I incite a revolution¡ª Arrgh!" Jolts of electricity stopped his thoughts before they could bepleted in his head. ''Ah, yes. Another thing I''m not allowed to think about,'' he thought in annoyance, ''Bastards!'' That Evening¡­ Ed and the other man from before came to the encampment and called everyone out. The other man was the one who spoke. He spoke with an authority that made it clear he was the superior. If that wasn''t already clear from earlier that day when Henry saw him order Ed to lead him to the encampment. "It''s time for your Assignments. Most important will be Tomorrow''s Dungeon raid so we''ll start with those who will be graced withing along. You. You. And you. Also you¡­" Pointing at them one by one, the man began to separate a select few to stand apart from therger bunch. Henry saw Louis waiting patiently and when the finger eventually pointed at him, he mouthed ''Yes!'' before he went on to join the others. "Alright, that''s all," the Man said then and looked away from the six he had chosen to stand apart for the Dungeon raiding. He turned to therger bunch and said, "I''ll move on to other assignments now." Henry caught sight of Louis staring at him with his wide eyes and so with a sigh, he stepped forward. "I''d like to be on the Dungeon Raiding Party," he said. The man looked him over, "You''re new here. You''ll get your turn eventually." "I''m sorry but I''m too impatient for that. I want to get right to work¡­" "There are other things you can do which is why I''ll now get into the other Assignments¡­" the Man interrupted Henry, only to blink when Henry interrupted him in turn. "It''s just, I dare say I can fight better than any of the people you''ve chosen," he said with a head gesture at the raiding party. He wasn''t actually wrong. Thanks to , Henry had gleaned their stats and even when the difference didn''t favor him, it wasn''t to the point of causing a huge disadvantage. So he continued, "If the Dungeons are as dangerous as I''ve heard they are, won''t it be best to have someone like me along?" "Someone like you?" The Man asked andughed, "That''s a lot of confidence for someone whose talent is unknown. Kid, you''re new. You haven''t been properly vetted¡ª" "Then vet me," Henry said, "Let me fight one of them." "Oh?" The man said and looked from Henry to those he had selected to stand aside. Then he smiled and nodded, "Alright," he said. "A spar." He pointed at a member of the raiding Party, "You. Step forward." ''Sly old dog,'' Henry said with a small smile as his eyes fell on the man who had been called forward. The physical stats of the selected man were; [Strength: 62] [Agility: 34] [Stamina: 30] Of all those gathered into the Raiding party, he undoubtedly had the highest strength Stat which made Henry sure the selection was not random. Hence hisment. "We don''t have time for some drawn-out spar," the man said as he directed Henry and his opponent to stand opposite one another, The first person to hit the ground loses." Henry''s brows furrowed but he retained a slight smile. Clearly, the aim was to have this end as fast as possible by having his opponent overpower him quickly. The man stepped back a few steps and watched with a smile. He had no idea what Henry''s Stats were. There were ways to know but he hadn''t bothered because so far, Henry was still new. As such, if Henry lost, he didn''t care. But if Henry won¡­ Well, that would be a development worth noting. "Ready?" The man asked and then, "Fight!" Henry moved immediately. The theme of the fight was speed which was exactly how he liked it. His opponent was stronger so he was always going to charge right in. With his Agility at 50, Henry looked like he blitzed and he was in front of his opponent in a second. He didn''t go right for a direct blow in the form of a punch but took advantage of his eleration to leap and twist in the air to strike at his opponent with a kick to the side of the face. "Hngh!" Henry''s opponent groaned, his face twisted as he felt the impact but he remained on his feet. The opponent swung his head and pushed Henry''s leg away before drawing back a fist to punch him in the side of the face. Henry, forced away by the forceful moving of his leg, had his face turned away so he didn''t quite see the punching for him ¡ªat least not directly. His Perception warned him quickly enough though and he ducked so fast, the blow missed him and went swishing through the air. The strength behind the punch was so powerful, a wind flow followed it but Henry didn''t allow himself to be bothered. Still ducked, he directed punches at his opponent''s midsection. *Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!* Hended three before his opponent, groaning in pain, struck down a double-fisted hit toward his head. But then, toplete his ongoingbo, Henry leaned to the side to avoid the double-fisted blow aimed at his head and as it missed, he rose to his feet with every bit of strength in his body and delivered a blow to his Opponent''s jaw in a powerful upper-cut. "BAM!* The blow rocked the Opponent and with a slight wobble, he fell backward and hit the ground. He was still able to go on and stood back to his feet almost immediately but the requirements had been met. The man who sanctioned the spar nodded, "Those were some fast moves," he said, "You win." "So¡­" Henry said and trailed off suggestively. The man waved him off, "Yeah, yeah, you can join." With a sharp nod, Henry walked over to the rest of the Dungeon raiding Party with his defeated opponent a step behind. Louis weed him with an almost nk stare, "You made it," he said simply. "I did," Henry said, "So will you tell me your n now?" "Sure," Louis said and gestured at the man whose approval Henry just fought to win, "He leads the Dungeon raids and holds a Command Cuff specifically for the Raiding Party. All we have to do is make sure he dies and we''re home free." Chapter 128: I’m Gonna Need A Gun The man handed out other assignments ranging from. Security detail to mercenary work before telling Ed to handle the rest so he could focus his attention on the raiding party. "For those of you who don''t know me," the man said with his eyes specifically on Henry, "My name is Doherty. Throughout our expedition into the Dungeon, you will call me Captain Doherty or simply Captain. You are not to disobey any of my orders or I will make sure you feel the most debilitating pain possible leaving you squealing on the ground to be picked off by whatever horror awaits us. Am I understood?" "Yes." The raiding party chorused mostly in deadpan tones. "Good," Doherty said, "We leave at dawn." They were dismissed then and allowed to return to their encampment. Louis stuck close to Henry, "You did a good job getting into the party. Would have been such a shame to have to do this on my own." "Do what exactly?" Henry asked. Louis looked at him and his already wide eyes seemed even wider to portray how incredulous he found Henry''s question, but there was hardly much difference to note. "I already told you the n," Louis said. "You told me something, sure. But it''s not a n. Not yet, at least," Henry said, "How are you going to make sure Doherty dies?" Even as Henry asked the question, jolts were being fired into his brain but he endured them in silence and kept his eyes, fairly open, on Louis, who shrugged. "I don''t know," he said. "What?" "I don''t know," Louis repeated and then when he noticed Henry''s re, he quickly added, "Yet. I don''t really know, Yet. I''m kinda making this up on a fly." Henry had no real issues with badly formted ns. Sometimes, pushed by circumstance, it wasn''t unusual for someone to throw caution to the wind ande up with a n they already know only has the slimmest chance of sess. Hell, his stunt at the Mountain Path had been precisely an example of this and it would have worked if certain elements had fallen in ce better. Anyway, Henry gave Louis the benefit of the doubt and with his head angled, he urged the wide-eyed young man to get right into it. Louis took the cue and cleared his throat before leading Henry toward a far wall in the room. It had the least poption of people standing close by so clearly Louis chose it so they wouldn''t be overheard. Although Henry doubted the lifeless bunch in the room even cared enough to overhear. "Alright, here''s the thing," Louis said, and when Henry thought he was going to slip into a long detailed exnation of his ''n'', Louis just grinned widely, "I''ve always just thought Dungeons were cool." Henry angled his head as if to tell Louis to continue until he realized there was nothing more. "Wait, that''s it?" He asked. Louis nodded with that smile on his face and a slightly crazed look in his eyes, as he answered, "Yes." Henry clenched his fists and his ck eyes glowered as he inched closer to Louis as though to punch, "You fucker¡ª" Henry said and although he wanted to sound angry, he just sounded more amused that he had agreed to the n of a stranger who apparently was just a crazy person without a n. "Whoa!" Louis recoiled from Henry as he held out his hands, "Rx. I still want to get away from here. If I didn''t, I wouldn''t have approached you. And while I happen to also think it''s cool, Dungeon raiding is as good a way to get away as any. You asked me how I was going to make sure Doherty died and I told you I didn''t know yet. Because I can''t know. It could be by pushing him into a den of monsters to tear him apart or making sure he gets stung by a manticore or roasted by a dragon. I don''t know because I have no idea what is in the Dungeon. What I do know is, if Doherty dies there, his Command cuff is free for the taking and we can be free. So now, I ask you, Henry, how much more details do you want?" Henry glowered for about a second more before he unclenched his fist, took a step back, and ced his palm over his face as he let out a chuckle. The n sounded about the same as what he tried at the Mountain Path except now it would be with the horrors in the Dungeons rather than Bandits. ''The Dungeon horrors are certainly worse and this n could kill me, but Fuck it! I''m getting this cuff off my wrist one way or the other.'' "So how did you get taken?" Louis suddenly asked. "Hmm?" Henry said as he put down his hand to raise a brow at the wide-eyed curly-haired boy. Louis let out a sigh before he started, "Me, I was snatched from my Town. Well, ''snatched'' is making it more violent than it was. Really, I was tricked. Some assholes came over to my Town and told me there was work for me in Alvareen if I wanted. They said someone had use for my talents and all I had to do was put on a cuff and they could get me right on my way." "And you put it on?" Henry asked, incredulous. Louis shrugged, "I was dumb. Once I realized what the cuffs were actually for, I tried ripping them off and got my brain zapped. Kept thinking of escape and kept getting zapped¡­" At this point, Louis grinned with that crazy look returning to his eyes, "What they didn''t know, and still don''t know, is I''ve been zapping myself for years. identally, of course. With no one to teach me how to use my magic, I learned the one spell and kept zapping out lightning that somehow always came back at me. It''s why I''ve built up a tolerance so while this bunch (waves at those in the room) have been rendered sheep, I''m sharp enough to think. To n." "I''m not sure you are," Henry said quietly and Louis chuckled. "So what about you?" He asked. "I was in a fight. Fell unconscious and woke up in a cage," Henry said. Louis nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, yes. That story is verymon. The cuffs snap right on when there''s no resistance." "Of course, the story ismon," Henry said with a smile, "No one is foolish enough to snap one on their wrist themselves. No one except you, of course." Louisughed, "You''d be surprised. I''m not the only one who was tricked." Henry looked all over the room, "Sad how they''ve all be," he mumbled. "You''d be like that too if you were here for a few more weeks. It''s why we have to get away now. Any more zaps to my brain and I think it''d turn to mush." ''It hasn''t already?'' Henry thought and enjoyed a private chuckle. That evening, Henry endured the hard bed he had chosen with his eyes staring at the ugly ceiling. As he slumped off to sleep, with many others snoring close by, he failed to notice something bubble in the darkness that was his shadow. ??? ¡ªMorning¡ª The first light of dawn was barely out when Doherty came to the encampment yelling the Dungeon Raiding Party awake. As he and the others slugged out, Henry saw Ed push a covered cart over. He stopped it a few feet away from the encampment and pulled off the tarp to reveal a collection of weapons ¡ªSwords, Spears, staffs, and even bows with quivers of arrows¡ª as well as leather armors stacked atop each other rather neatly. "Select your preferred weapon and your armor and let''s move out." Everyone slumped off to the cart, picking out weapons to look at in the dimness of dawn. Henry searched and it didn''t take long for him to notice there was a weapon choice missing, "Excuse me, Do¡ª Captain Doherty," He caught himself and corrected before he received an intense re. "Yes, newbie?" Doherty answered with a raised brow. "I don''t see a gun here," Henry said. Doherty looked almost shocked, "A Gun?" He asked. Henry nodded like he hadn''t noticed the shock, "Yes," he said, "I''m gonna need a Gun." Chapter 129: ‘Violent Retort’ Henry had run the math in his head while he slept. Due to the cuff on his wrist, he didn''t currently have ess to Elminster''s Stock and was already running out of ''Hydra''s Tongue'' bullets and while he still had normal bullets for his revolver, he worried those might not be enough. He was also out of Healing Potions. Every injury he had sustained throughout the journey to Alvareen, including the punch from Jonas that had knocked him out, had ducked his Hit Points. He had now learned that he could recover Hit Points naturally through regr or ¡ªas was the case while inside the cage¡ª, sparse feeding mixed with a lot of rest. Even meditative rest. He had recovered a bit of all he had lost and his Hit Points currently stood at 80/170 but without any potion to heal himself with, he could not afford to be reckless and as such, could not just assume normal bullets would be enough for what was toe. Which brings us to his request. As he looked at the swords and spears and even the tips pretty the arrows that had been provided for the Raiding Party, he saw they were all better than normal steel. They gave off enough Mana to show they had been crafted with magic. If there was a gun crafted simrly, why not ask for it? Ed scoffed and thenughed as he said, "A gun? What sort of fighter wields a gun?" "He''s not a fighter," Doherty said and looked Henry over with a smile. Doherty stepped closer to Henry, "He''s a Gunman." ''Gunslinger, actually,'' Henry thought but didn''t say. Doherty was still looking him over, "You can''t cause your Mana to surge, can you?" He asked. Henry shook his head slowly, "No, I can''t." Doherty scoffed and shook his head, "Of course, you can''t. Met one of your kind once. The fucker just kept running about and shooting at me. Cut him up into little pieces eventually though. Relying on a weapon you can''t make into an extension of yourself¡­ Pitiful way to fight. If we can even call it that." Henry frowned. He was starting to get the sense that there was a prejudice against guns in Alvareen. Then again, even at New Freudein and Saint ret where guns were not totally umon, he had received scoffs. He found it even more interesting because he was sure Doherty still had respect for Archers but Gunmen/Gunslingers was where he drew the line. "So can I have a gun?" Henry eventually asked. He had no interest in addressing preconceived notions. He just dreaded the thought that he''d have to pick up a sword to support his finite bullet supply. "There are no guns," Ed said, "Pick up a sword." "No, No," Doherty said while looking at Henry with amusement, "I think I have something for you." Doherty walked away then and into the main buildings of the Estate. He returned minutester with a gun belt slung across his shoulder. He tossed that at Henry. "Here." "Oomph," Henry let out. The belt, backed by Doherty''s tossing strength, was heavier than he expected it to be. Henry looked the belt over. It was the kind to be worn across the shoulder with the gun hooked into a holster that was meant to sit just below the chest. The gun itself looked like a sawed-off double barrel shotgun but the muzzles, as well as the handle, were gilded with bronze to give the gun a more dignified look so it didn''t just look improvised. Henry pulled it out of the holster and lifted it a few times with an appreciative nod. "Nice weight." "The gun belonged to that Gunman I cut into pieces,"Doherty said, "I Kept the belt as a trophy but the sight of it in my personal space sickens me. Use it." "I will," Henry said and while he was looking the gun over, he received a notification from the System for the Gun''s description; [''Violent Retort'': Crafted with magically fortified steel alloy and capable of firing Mana-infused Shotgun Slugs. Attack Power: 70] ''Attack power?'' Henry thought in surprise. That was a description the system had not given about ''The Hydra''s Sting''. He wondered if that was because ''Violent Retort'' didn''t have magical attacks. Speaking of which, Henry realized there was nothing about Mana requirements to fire a shot and the corner of his lips twitched. A bullet/slug pre-infused with mana and did not cost further to be shot. Was that not a godsend for him who currently had limited resources for Mana recovery? ''Add on to just how many Mana Points I have right now and I just might never run out again,'' Henry thought with a smile, ''Shame there aren''t more slugs though." The gun belt had loops and looked capable of holding 24 slugs at a time but was currently depleted, leaving only about 10 behind. Henry popped the gun open and nodded appreciatively that there were still two slugs in the weapon. ''I suppose your owner never got to fire his final shots then,'' he thought because he vehemently doubted Doherty would have reloaded the gun. "What are you standing around for?" Doherty called out, pulling Henry out of his thoughts, "You have a gun. Now grab an Armor" A minuteter, Henry was in Leather Armor (trying his best not to be too focused on how annoying he found it to wear), had the gun belt slung across his chest with ''Violent Retort'' in its holster, and stood side by side with Louis who looked at him and asked, "So you use a gun?" "I do," Henry said. "Wierd," Louis said and trailed off. He had an Armor on like everyone else but was the only one to have selected a staff. Their control cuffs were reced with ones connected specifically to Doherty for hismand of the Party just before he led them out of the Encampment where they joined up with about six other Mercenary Fighters in the employ of Ralph Gribbo. "I thought it''d just be us and him," Henry said with a frown. "Oh, it''s never just us. Mostly we''re meant for support and grunt work," Louis said. "Grunt work?" Henry asked. Louis nodded, "The whole reason they go into Dungeons is for Loot. Someone has to handle carrying them out and gathering them. That''d be us. When we''re not fighting for our lives, of course." Louis was barely done speaking when their party arrived at yet another cart where they were all handed bags to slug over their shoulders for the loot to be gathered. "We don''t have to worry about them though," Louis said as he adjusted the bag across his shoulder, "Doherty is the focus." "No, no, I think we''ll have to worry about them too," Henry said, "We''ll have to make sure they don''t get to the Command cuff before us." "Ah, good point," Louis said. They were loaded into Wagons that pulled out of the Estate proper and they started on their way through the snow-covered street until they were out of Alvareen and headed to one of the hills that surrounded it. The wagons pulled to a stop soon enough and following the lead of Doherty and his six Mercenaryrades, they approached a gathering of many different groups either talking among themselves or adjusting the straps of their equipment. "Others hoping to raid the Dungeon," Louis exined. "I figured," Henry said gently. His attention was not on the gathered groups but rather on a fairly circr portal that oozed with irregr energy and warped the space around it. While Henry was staring at it, he overheard a conversation; "They said it''d be a Third Floor Dungeon." "Really? I heard it''d be Fourth." "Fourth? By the goddess¡ª Well, we can handle that." "Yeah, yeah, we can. A Fifth-floor Dungeon will be a whole other thing entirely though. Had a buddy go into one. Came back out with one arm and half a face. True story." "Whoa, half a face? Scary!" The conversation matched horror stories he had gleaned about Dungeons already but rather than add to his worry, it amused Henry instead and had him cracking a smile even as he watched the portal asionally surge aggressively. Chapter 130: Deplorable Vermin The ones Henry was overhearing talked for a while longer until they suddenly stopped. But it wasn''t only them. Many other groups went silent as well and looked, as one, at a group that was trudging over. Henry saw Doherty nce over at the group like everyone else before he rolled his eyes and groaned. Watching the reaction, Henry found himself smiling slightly as he thought, ''Jealousy, maybe?'' That was mostly a joke but it wasn''t totally unfounded. The newly arriving group had better equipment. They had armor made of metal and their sword handles were gilded with fine metal alloys while sheathed in beautiful sheaths. This was especially the case for the two at the front of the group; A man ¡ªtall with dirty blond hair smoothed back stylishly, with an easy-going smile on his face¡ª, and ady, well above average height with her back straight and her expression fairly neutral and almost inviting despite the unmistakable feel of regality it gave off. Thedy had straight dark hair that seemed to shine and her grey eyes were piercing and appeared to search the gathered crowd of various groups. Those eyes must have fallen on everyone at one point and they eventually fell on Doherty''s group. Thedy frowned at Doherty almost in recognition and then she looked at the others in the riding party one by one until her eyes were on Henry. She stared at him and Henry stared right back until he saw her gaze fall. ''What''s she looking at?'' Henry wondered and followed her gaze. At first, Henry thought it was his gun and his belt of bullets, and although that must have caught her attention, her gaze continued until she was staring at the cuff on his wrist. With a stare that seemed to bore into the cuff, thedy''s frown deepened and her hand moved ever so slightly to the handle of the sword hooked to her side. "Fucking Knights!" Doherty said under his breath. Henry nced at him and saw the leader of the Raiding Party move his hand to his sword. The other Mercenaries shared his unease and their hands moved to their swords as well. "Think they''ll fight?" Louis asked suddenly by Henry''s side. He had clearly been paying as much attention to recent developments as Henry had. Henry shrugged, "If they do, we might not have to enter the Dungeon after all," he said in a ''It''s a win either way'' sort of tone. "But thatdy in Armor is pretty though," Louis said, in the same tone he had used to speak so far and with his eyes as wide as ever. Henry nodded, "Yeah, she is," he said before he added with the corner of his lips twitching, "But, when is she drawing that sword though?" "Sir Aurelius," someone called out from the groups that had been gathered before and a man stepped toward the newly arrived group of Armor wearing people with an enthusiastic smile that only got wider when his eyes fell on thedy in Armor, "Dame Eloise," he said with a bit of reverence on his face and an awed expression, "It''s great to see you but¡ª You''ll be raiding this Dungeon too?" The Male Knight, who was apparently called Sir Aurelius, smiled, "Why? Are we not allowed?" "Oh, no, of course you are," the man said as he looked from Eloise''s pretty face to Aurelius'' "It''s just¡­ The Dungeon has been judged to only be Third-Floor. It''s much beneath your station, is all I meant." "You''re not wrong," Aurelius said and didn''t seem to take offense as he directed attention to the group with him, "But Eloise and I are not here for ourselves. We have with us some talented Squires who wish to take up the Knighthood but have little to no experience in Dungeon Raiding. We''re here for them." "Oh," the man said and nodded like his curiosity had been sated. Henry looked at the group Aurelius had referred to as ''Squires'' and, forget Dungeon Raiding, he doubted any of them had ever been in a fight. They were much too green. And then he felt a shift in the air and looked away from the Squires to see Eloise''s hand tighten around her sword handle. "Eloise¡­!" Aurelius called out to her but she ignored him. "Deplorable vermin," Eloise said in a voice spitting with venom. With the sound of a steel de grating against the inside of its sheath, Eloise drew her sword and had it pointed at Doherty in a second. In a move so fast, Henry had barely been able to catch it. He heard her voice and suddenly, her sword was out and gleaming in the first true rays of dawn. Almost as quickly, Doherty and the other Mercenaries drew their swords as well and pointed them in retaliation. "Careful now, Miss," Doherty said with equal venom, "Annoy me and I''ll be cutting you up before you can spout the words of that pretentious oath you swore!" Eloise nced at Henry and the rest of the Raiding Party who all had control cuffs on and her grey eyes seemed to re as her Mana surged violently, "Have you no honor?" She asked, "How can you dly indulge in vebor?" Henry winced at the term she used. He knew that was what the cuffs had made him but he had avoided thinking of it like that so far and to be faced with it now¡­ ''*Sigh* I really need to get this fucking thing off!'' "Call it whatever you want, it''s legal!" Doherty said and his mana surged as well. "Legal?" Eloise said like she detested the word, "What about morality? To force them with the threat of mental electrocution¡­ I won''t be living up to my oath if I don''t cut you down." "Eloise!" Aurelius said in an even louder voice as he ced a hand on her armored shoulder and pulled her back right as she was about to swing her sword, "That''s enough." "Enough? You see what¡ª" Eloise started but Aurelius interrupted her to repeat, "That''s enough. Leave these men alone." For a second, Henry thought Eloise wouldn''t walk away. He was betting on a fight but of course, his luck as of recent had been dogshit. So with onest re at Doherty and his Mercenary buddies, Eloise sheathed her sword and stepped back. "I apologize for her outburst," Aurelius told Doherty gently. Doherty and the Mercenaries sheathed their swords but his face was still twisted in annoyance, "Just keep that bitch away from me if you want her to keep her head," he said. Aurelius twitched at the threat and for a moment, Henry saw a crack in his polite demeanor but then, he just gave a small head nod and stepped back. "What a wuss," Louis said, "Could have at least let thedy take a swing or two." Henry was about to answer when a loud voice from those closest to the portal cried out, "It''s opening!" All eyes went to the portal as its irregr and violently surging energy began to stabilize until it thrummed with a uniform and somewhat inviting flow. "Sir Aurelius?" Said the man who had addressed Aurelius and Eloise earlier. Aurelius nodded, "Yes, we''ll go in first," he said and with a cautioning nce at Eloise, he said, "Come on." Eloise let out a sigh and followed him as they led their squad of Squires through the Portal and quickly vanished. The groups began to enter next and soon, Doherty led his Raiding Party in. The Portal felt like water, or at least that was how its flow felt. Not at all difficult to walk through and then, on the other side, he was smacked in the face by powerful energy backed with the distinct scent of¡­ "Decay," Doherty said, "There''s a lot of Death here." Almost immediately, Henry received an alert from the System; [Title ''Death''s Bane'' is now active.] Chapter 131: Undead Woes [Title ''Death''s Bane'' is now active.] As he eyed the screen that was now projected in front of him, Henry waited for System to go into detail about what the activation of the Title meant but it didn''t. Meanwhile, the groups all looked around at where they were. It looked like some kind of underground chamber with walls built with inteid bricks. Attached to the walls weremp brackets that glowed with an eerie violet light. The light from themps provided a view ahead. There were multiple openings leading deeper into the Dungeon and so, without so much as an attempt to convene and decide on the best path forward, the various groups began picking paths and treading forward into the gloom only barely illuminated by the eeriemps. "We''ll go this way," Doherty said as he picked a path and led the party through it. No two groups selected the same path which was just evidence of just how many paths the Dungeon had provided. "You can feel it, can''t you?" Louis said by Henry''s side when the Party had taken a few steps into their selected path. "Feel what?" Henry asked, "The Violent energy that''s smacking me in the face?" "Violent? Well, I suppose it''s a bit violent. But it''s mostly soothing. Makes you feel like you can be stronger by just taking more of it in," Louis said and took a moment to close his eyes and revel in the feeling. Henry''s brows furrowed. He didn''t feel that. He felt threatened. "How can you not feel it?" Louis asked when he saw Henry was still confused, "There''s a reason people enter Dungeons. Everyone knows if you survive a battle within a Dungeon, you exit feeling even stronger. Don''t worry, you''ll see." "Sure," Henry said simply before he returned his eyes forward. Of course, he didn''t doubt he was going to get out of here stronger. But he knew it wasn''t going to be because of some strange energy but rather because of the System and its Exp rewards. "Quiet!" Doherty suddenly said from up ahead and then he keened his ear before saying in a low voice, "I hear something. Get ready!" Those who had swords pulled them out of their sheaths. Those who had Spears pointed them ahead and those with Bows notched arrows. Henry pulled ''Violent Retort'' out of its holster and cocked it with his finger stroking the gun''s double triggers ready to fire any of the bullets in its barrels. Henry looked to the side and saw Louis close his eyes as he gripped his Staff tight while mumbling under his breath. When he caught a strange word, Henry realized Louis was chanting a spell. ''Oh yeah, he''s a Mage,'' Henry thought, and then, ''Hang on. A mage. Casting a Spell¡­ ~Arcane Tapestry~!'' With his eyes wide, Henry was reminded of his incredible new skill that he had hardly had the time to test out thus far and it was while he was getting excited at the concept of his first spell Imprint that he heard the sound that had put Doherty on high alert. *ck* *ck* *ck* ''That sounds like¡­ bones?'' The cking sounds became louder and soon, skeletal figures trooped out en-masse, all brandishing thin-ded swords. Doherty was the one who was leaped at first and after a powerful cleave of his sword right through the figure''s skeletal midsection, it ttered to the ground in a heap of disconnected bones. The Mercenaries began to attack but could not hold back the trooping figures as a good bunch of them made it past and struck at Henry and the rest of his cuff-wearing brethren. Henry was ready to shoot when he saw Louis open his eyes and yell thest word of the spell he had been chanting under his breath, "¡­Fulgur!" Louis stamped his staff against the ground then and lightning sparked from it and charged in all manner of directions. Hitting the chest and heads of the approaching Skeletal figure with precision. *Brrrrzztt* *Bang!* They shattered as one with their disconnected bones mming all about. "Wow," Henry said. "Yeah," Louis said, nodding while feeling proud of himself. "Keep that up!" Henry said. "Not that easy," Louis said as he spun the staff in his hand and smacked a skeletal figure aside. Henry had activated right when Louis cast his spell, just before the lightning was discharged, and he waited as it was analyzed only to be disappointed when a red caution sign appeared in front of him with a message; [Spell Analysis failed!] ''Really?'' He asked, ''That was tooplicated for my Insight?'' Henry was going to prepare himself to try again when a skeletal figure leaped at him with a swift thin-ded sword swing. With his Agility as high as it was, the attack came much too slowly and Henry had more than enough time to raise his hand and smack the figure aside. *Bam!* The figure hit the wall that bordered the path with ck sounds but didn''t separate into bits. Henry hadn''t used enough strength in his smack to aplish that. So, with the creaking of its bones, the figure rose and prepared to make another leap. *Bang!* A shot to the chest from ''Violent Retort'' stopped it in its tracks. The shot was so powerful that it sted a massive hole right through the figure''s exposed sternum and the resulting scatter was so incredible, that it smacked into other figures and knocked them at least one step back. But Henry wasn''t able to pay attention to the brilliance of his shot. Somewhere on his body, the mark of Death appeared and linked him to the undead he just ''killed'' before filling his mind with strange memories; He was looking through strange eyes and the one who owned those eyes was cowering on the ground as a powerful figure imposed powerful magic that forced them to their knees. "Please, spare me," the one whose eyes Henry was seeing out through said as she cowered, "Please." The powerful figure addressed her impassively, "In death, you will be greater." And then came pain. Thedy howled and twitched and Henry shared her pain. He felt as her skin decayed leaving nothing more than her skeletal frame that was then fueled by the Powerful figure''s magic until she slowly rose off the ground, with her bones creaking and cking with every move. Thest of her sense of self vanished along with thepletion of whatever horror had been wrought on her. And then, it was over. With a hard blink, Henry was back in the Dungeon path with battles against Skeletal figures waging all around him. [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Undead Woes: 200 Exp] [You have leveled Up] [You are now Level 18] [Hit Point Maximum Increased to 180] [Hit Points: 90/180] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 290] [You now have 6 Unallocated Stat Points] Henry didn''t know how he knew but he was sure he had only been out of it for a second. He could still remember that pain. He could still feel it. His body still shook from it. ''What the fuck was that?'' Henry asked as he kicked a skeletal figure to the ground where it twitched and prepared to get back up. Henry ignored the skeletal figure and focused on the notifications. He noticed one in particr; ''What''s ''Undead Woes''?'' The System promptly rolled out a Description screen; [Title: Death''s Bane ?First Revealed Title Effect: Undead Woes As your atonement for willfully toying with death for personal gain, Death wishes you to understand the Meaning of death and the absence of Life. As such, When you eliminate an undead, you must share in the pain itst felt. You must endure what it endured when it was rendered a husk to perform a Master''s bidding. ''Undead Woes'' will reward you with Exp as deemed fitting by the System.] Chapter 132: Shocking Grip Henry''s eyes were still wide as he read through the description and it was then that the undead he had kicked to the ground earlier creaked closer and thrust its thin-ded sword at his stomach. Reflexively, Henry aimed ''Violent Retort'' and fired a shot that sted the undead''s skull apart in a violent st and as his victim crumbled up into a useless heap of bones, Henry''s mind was pulled again. The experience was simr to thest; Cowering, pleading, and then pain. "Argh!" Henry groaned out loud as he shook his head and brought his vision back to normalcy. [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Undead Woes: 200 Exp] ''Fuck, I hate that!'' Henry let out but with more undeads creaking their way toward him, brandishing their weapons, he knew he had no choice but to eliminate more which meant he would also have to suffer their woes. ''Put my Stat Points into Agility.'' [Are you sure?] ''Yes.'' [Agility: 50 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 56] While his Stat points were being allocated and his body was getting even lighter than before, Henry popped ''Violent Retort'' open and pulled out two slugs from his gun belts to load into the barrels before snapping it back close with a click sound. His Perception warned him of an attacking from behind, and wheeling around, Henry mmed an elbow into a skeletal head but while he was in that motion, he felt a sharp pain in his side. "Ah!" [You have lost 10 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 80/180] Another undead had stabbed its sword into his ribs and with its jaws unhinged and letting out screeches while an eerie violet light glowed from within it like a power source, it pulled out its weapon and made to attack again. Gritting his teeth at the pain, Henry shot the undead that had had his attention before the sneak attack, and with a skillful wheel-around, he shot the one that had sneak attacked him as well. Turning them both into harmless bony heaps at the same time and subjecting himself to twice the woes. "Hngh!" Henry groaned as his entire body shook at the overload of pain it was subjected to. "Fuck!" He let out when he was finally able to blink it away. Somehow, because he had suffered two woes did not cause him to space out for longer. Those around him, even if they had been able to pay attention, would hardly have noticed anything besides his yell but that didn''t matter to Henry because what he was experiencing was very real. [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Undead Woes: 200 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 100 Exp] [Undead Woes: 200 Exp] And so were the rewards. Seeing as he was raking so much Exp from eliminating Undeads that were far weaker than he was physically and not at all capable of magic or Mana surging, Henry could not help but consider it a not-so-bad trade-off. Sure, he hated the pain but it wasn''t like he could avoid eliminating Undead. There was still a bunch of them and a good few of them seemed to have picked him as their targets. ''Ah, screw it!'' Henry thought with determination as he reloaded ''Violent Retort'', "Come at me!" As he spoke, Henry was very aware that he was soon running out of Mana-infused slugs for ''Violent Retort'' so he pulled his normal revolver from his Inventory to run a little experiment. Cocking the revolver''s hammer, he fired several shots into an undead''s skeletal frame and watched as the lead bullets barely did any damage and certainly did not destroy the undead or keep it down for any amount of time. ''Well, that settles it,'' Henry thought with just a smidge of disappointment as he sent the revolver into his Inventory and pointed ''Violent Retort'' so that the magically crafted weapon could seed where the revolver had failed. Louis had gotten pulled away from Henry due to the sheer number of Undead that came at him and now he returned close enough to Henry''s side to catch his attention. Henry had just suffered yet another Undead Woe when he saw Louis quite capably spinning his staff around and knocking Undeads aside sometimes with the tingle of lightning charges. ''Ah, yes,'' Henry thought, ''The Imprint.'' He had tried once already and failed so now he had his eyes keened on the off chance that Louis cast a spell could be able to analyze. So far, he hadn''t had any luck. [Spell Analysis Failed] [Spell Analysis Failed] [Spell Analysis Failed] [Spell Analysis Failed]¡­ Over and over, the message of failure appeared in ring fonts on a screen that now seemed permanently burned into Henry''s pupils. He had eliminated six more undead and the horde was finally starting to thin out when Henry finally caught a glimmer of hope after multiple failed Analyses. "Hng!" With a grunt of effort and a skillful one-handed move, Louis used the end of his Staff to knock aside a sword stab before he mmed the palm of his free hand into an Undead''s bony skull. Louis clenched his hand and yelled, "Lichtnar!" *Brrzzt!* Lighting charged from his palm and into the Undead''s skull in a pulse that hit hard enough to splinter its neck which was followed by the crumpling of bones. Henry watched the entire sequence with his eyes wide as they glowed the faint blue of . [Analyzing Spell¡­] The Undeads were done with now. Doherty and his gang of Mercenaries had gotten rid of the most and didn''t appear to have broken a sweat. As Doherty sheathed his sword, he looked over at Henry. He nced at the gun in his hand and then the loops in the belt and smirked when he could tell the bullets were depleted. "Out already?" Doherty asked with a shortugh, pulling Henry''s eyes away from the analyzing screen that only he could see. "What?" Henry asked. Doherty gestured at the gun belt, "The bullets. You''re out already?" He said. Henry looked down at the loops but he already knew they were empty. Thest two shotgun slugs were currently in ''Violent Retort'' waiting to be fired. Dohertyughed then and when he spoke, it was in a low tone of voice that no one in the Raiding Party had trouble hearing, "Now that you''ve got nothing, don''t expect anyone to watch your back. Get dragged away or butchered up by those skeletal things for all I care. Serves your kind right." Doherty nced over at those holding bows, "Get your arrows from your kills. We''re moving on!" Soon, all retrievable arrows were back in quivers and the group was walking again into the dimly-lit gloom ahead. "What will you do?" Louis asked by Henry''s side. "Hmm?" Henry said as the question caught him slightly by surprise because his eyes were back on the Analyzing Screen. "What will you do with no more bullets?" Louis asked. "I''ll be fine," Henry answered just as a green check appeared on the Analyzing screen; [Spell Analysis Complete] [Spell: Shocking Grip] [Would you like to Imprint ''Shocking Grip'' onto your ~Arcane Tapestry~?] ''Yes. Yes, I would,'' Henry answered with a smile. [Select a spot¡­] On a whim, Henry selected the back of his Right hand and the System took that as confirmation. "Ah!" He let out. It came out louder than he would have liked because he hadn''t expected the pain. The pain was a series of stings, like multiple needles pricking the back of his right hand all at once. Itsted Fifteen seconds. Henry knew this because the System had a timer on the screen. And then it was over. At the back of Henry''s right hand was the magically tattooed image of a clenching hand and around that hand were spikes of Lightning. Even as Henry stared at it, it thrummed with magical power and Arcane Knowledge that his Intelligence-statcking mind could not quiteprehend. Chapter 133: This Is How We Get Free [Shocking Grip: By touch, discharge lightning from your palm in a powerful pulse. Cost: 50 Mana Points.] ''Not bad for my first imprint,'' Henry thought. He had seen Louis cast at least one spell more powerful than this but seeing as his had failed to analyze those, he was rtively content with what he had got. Besides, it was very needed at the moment seeing as he was almostpletely out of Shotgun slugs and should the Dungeon raid persist, he''d be out of ''Hydra''s Tongue'' bullets soon as well. Of course, there was still the issue of depleting Mana Points and no way to recover more¡­ "We''re close," Louis said suddenly. "What?" Henry said, confused but before Louis could make himself clearer ¡ªif he even wanted to¡ª, Doherty and the Mercenaries stopped walking. They had arrived at arge metal door and with everyone else hanging back, Doherty stepped toward the door and ced a hand against it. He drew his hand slowly and cautiously across the surface and smiled as he nodded, "Alright, boys. Get those bags ready for some loot." As he spoke, Doherty rubbed his hand across the door as though searching for a handle to pull the door with or at least some kind of keyhole that could signal a spot of activation. He found none so, like anyone else who possessed Mana would, he infused Mana into the door. *Whuuum!* With a low thrumming, the door reacted to Doherty''s Mana and a violet glow appeared around the door''s edges, and then, with an eerie *click*, it opened an inch. Doherty gave the door a push and when it swung inward, he gestured to be followed as he led the way in. Henry wrinkled his nose when he was a foot from the door and his eyes stung when he walked through it. Whatever scent of death Doherty had perceived when they first stepped into the Dungeon was ten times worse in this room. The room was massive with columns reaching from the floor to the considerably high ceiling. The floor was covered in strange vines that Henry could have sworn he saw move. Besides, the vines, all over the room were bodies that looked to still be in the process of decay. Some had half their faces peeled away, leaving behind a view of their ckened bones. Some had sockets that were missing and the ones that had eyescked eyelids to cover them with. "Fucking Hell¡ª" Henry said. "Incredible," Louis said by his side. Ignoring the wide-eyed boy''s unnatural interests in dungeons ¡ªto the point where this nauseating disy was incredible to him¡ª, Henry looked around for what else the room had to offer. There were three sarcophagus in the room and it was on them that Doherty''s attention was focused. "Come on," he urged, "Let''s open them up." Leading the way as ''Captain'', Doherty stepped toward one of the Sarcophagus but the moment he ced a hand on it and before he even got the chance to push off the lid, the door into the room mmed shut with a *Bang!*. "Not good," one of the Mercenaries said, stating the obvious as he drew his sword out of his sheath only to pause with his eyes wide as a sword stabbed through his back, "Ack!" The Mercenary let out and made to wheel around to decapitate his attacker. Unfortunately for him, vines twisted on the ground and wrapped around his body to hold him down long enough for a sword to swing right through his neck, causing his head to hit the ground and bounce once, twice before rolling to a stop. "Holy Shit!" another Mercenary said and reacted quickly enough to not suffer the same fate. All around the room, the decaying bodies began to rise off the ground with a decaying green glow bright within their chest. "Fight!" Doherty yelled like that was ever in question, "Once they''re dead¡ª well *more* dead, we can loot!" Henry noted that Doherty remained sure that there was loot in the Sarcophagus. He wondered if that was a matter of experience or just guesswork but quickly decided that was not what was important at the moment. Even without , Henry could tell this bunch of decaying undead were on a different level to the skeletal ones they had killed on their way here. The green glow in their chests was Magic just waiting to be unleashed. He pulled ''Violent Retort'' from its holster and retrieved ''The Hydra''s Sting'' from his Inventory, knowing it would be needed, but as the Decaying Undead crept over, Henry heard Louis speak by his side. "This is it," Louis said. "This is what?" Henry asked. "This is how we get free!" Louis said before yelling out a spell and striking out lightning to st three Decaying Undead away. Louis'' attack only sessfullypletely eliminated one of the three he attacked but he didn''t seem to mind. He was far too busy grinning with delight with that crazed look in his eyes. "How?" Henry asked him. The ''n'' had always been crazy and that was especially the case now since Henry felt they were in far more immediate danger at the moment than Doherty. Doherty was striking down Undead or at least keeping them away from him far better than the rest of the Raiding Party. In the second he spent waiting for Louis to answer, Henry aimed ''Violent Retort'' and fired a shot that sted an Undead away. "Ahh!" He yelled as his mind was pulled into the Undead''s woes. This pain was greater. The undead he just eliminated used to be a Fighter and died in battle against a powerful being. The very same Powerful Figure that the other Undead Woes Henry had suffered so far had revealed to him. Stabbed over and over with des conjured with magic and all glowing a sickly violet color, and having his very Mana turned against him and used to manipte him from the inside out¡ª The Undead''sst moments were spent in agony. As usual, Henry was back to normalcy almost the very same second he was pulled in. [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Undead Woes: 400 Exp] Clearly, ording to the System, the more Henry suffered from the woes, the more he was to be rewarded. It was then that Louis yelled back to him in answer to his question, "The Sarcophagus. I need to open it." "Why?" Henry asked. He was getting used to the Undead Woes and found it fairly easy to keep track of the conversation he was having before it happened. "Can''t you feel it?" Louis asked, "There''s powerful Magicing from one of them!" "There is?" Henry asked. "Cover me!" Louis called out and started running toward the Sarcophagus. "Wait¡ª" Henry tried to call out but besides the fact that Louis did not look like he was going to listen, an Undead came at him and he had to lean to the side to avoid a sword sh. As its attack missed, the Undead let loose its sickly mana that carried a strong whiff of death in a surge that smacked at Henry. "Ugh!" Henry let out as he was forced a few feet away and as his back struck into a column, he looked over at Louis. Louis was about two feet away from a Sarcophagus and had just let loose his powerful lightning attack to knock a few attacking Undead away but one remained relentless and came charging at him still. Henry intercepted that Undead with a shot of thest slug in ''Violent Retort'' and with a bang that sted a hole through the Undead''s chest, Louispleted his Journey to the Sarcophagus and ced his arm on its stony lid. Right then, the Undead that had smacked Henry away with its sickly Mana surge stabbed his sword at him. Henry sidestepped the attack, sent ''Violent Retort'' into his Inventory, and mmed a palm into the Undead''s chest. Shocking Grip! Lightning surged from Henry''s palm and struck the glow in the Undead''s decaying chest with a powerful pulse. Chapter 134: Out Of The Sarcophagus The lightning drove into the Undead''s glowing power source at point-nk range and pulsed so powerfully that its sickly magical energy went rampant until the power source exploded in its decaying chest. Henry''s eyes were wide in wonder as he witnessed what the spell was capable of in his hands and he would have said something in testament to that had his mind not been pulled into yet another Undead Woe. [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Undead Woes: 400 Exp] When he was back to normalcy, there were more Undead around him. All unleashing Mana surges and whether or not he was the target, he was smacked by them and had to lock his knees to not get mmed away. It was then that Henry saw the Fighter that Doherty had made him spar against stab a spear through an Undead''s abdomen and then yell out a battle cry of sorts as he pushed and speared about three more before he made a powerful upward cleave that cut through them in a gory disy of strength that was fully backed by his very own Mana Surge. Henry blinked at the powerful disy and his lips twitched at the idea of how much he might have gotten pommeled by that Fighter had their spar given room to a true battering. Of course, as he watched, Henry saw the Fighter fall prey to a sword cut through his thigh. A cut so deep and so painful, it forced him to his knees. "Ahh!" The Fighter yelled out before he used the shaft of his spear to knock the undead aside only to receive a strike across his back because he was too slow to turn around. Strong as the Fighter was, speed was his weakness and he just might have met a sorry end right there if he didn''t have a trick up his sleeve. "RARRR!!!" With a yell, sounding like a roar, the Fighter let loose his mana in a thrumming pulse that flowed from him in waves. Smacking into the Undead creatures attacking him and keeping them away so that he had just enough time to smack one fully away with his Spear shaft and make a sort of cleave that cut the other one open. All this had happened within the space of two minutes or even less before Henry was forced to look away as he dodged a sword swing at him and shot an shot into the Undead''s chest before kicking it far away from him, knowing what was toe. Sure enough, the Undead''s chest swelled with the horrid glow of Acidic Combustion and it exploded into sizzling bits that sttered against Undead and humans alike. Henry had chosen in which direction to kick the Undead with some care. Mercenaries were fighting close by so it was in their direction he sent the Undead and it was on them and their Undead Opponents that the acidic sizzling bits sttered against. "ARRGGHHH!!!" Almost in unison, the Mercenaries all yelled as the acid bore through them. Eating at their flesh with their Mana barely able to numb their pain andpletely incapable of healing or stopping the progression of the acidic wounds. On the other hand, the Undead that had been sshed with the sizzling bits did not suffer the same pain. Dead as they were, they couldn''t quite feel anything so they moved and attacked all the same, stabbing their swords through two Mercenaries who were too busy groaning in pain to defend themselves. The only exception to this were the Undead who were unfortunate enough to have had the acidic bits stter against their glowing power sources. The acid ate away at their sickly magical source with a progression rate that caused their movements to be sluggish which made them easy enough targets for the Mercenaries who had either been lucky enough to not get hit by the acid or had been strong-willed and smart enough to numb their pain and stifle their groans as the acid ate away at their flesh and dug into their bones. [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Undead Woes: 400 Exp] Henry had just suffered another Undead Woe and as he blinked himself back to reality, and swiped off the notification of his Exp rewards, Henry looked over at Louis who was running his hands across the stony lid of the Sarcophagus. Undead Fighters were approaching Louis but he didn''t seem to be paying them any heed as he focused on opening up the Sarcophagus. Of course, the other reason he didn''t pay them any mind was because he had told Henry to cover him specifically so he could give his current task all of his attention. "Shit!" Henry said as he pointed ''The Hydra''s Sting''. With his {Marksmanship} skill as activated as ever, he fired a round of precise shots into the backs of the multiple decaying Undead. Henry picked his spot to shoot at with meaning. He couldn''t use because the resultingbustive explosion would have doused Louis in enough bits to kill him in seconds so he had to use which, while weaker, was still a magical shot that could surely harm the Undead even though normal lead bullets would fail. Now, of course, since had a lower attack powerpared to and Henry also had no idea if the Undead could even be paralyzed, his shot had to be aimed at where their power sources were. Hence the spots he chose on their backs. Sure enough, the bullets tore through the backs of the Undead Fighters, puncturing their glowing power sources so that they were quickly keeling over,pletely immobile. Out of their decaying useless carcasses, the green cloud of began to rise, and realizing there was no way Louis was immune to the paralysis, Henry called out¡­ "Louis, hold your breath!" ¡­ Right before he was gripped by Undead Woes. [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Undead Woes: 400 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Undead Woes: 400 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Undead Woes: 400 Exp] Ignoring the notification and now out of the visions of final woes, Henry started moving forward but he had barely taken five steps toward Louis and the Sarcophagus when he realized the Vines in the floor were twisting around his feet. He didn''t stay in one ce for long enough for them to twist and hold him in ce but they caused him to stumble and also made him slow. In the meantime, Louis didn''t seem to have heard Henry''s yell and with his wide eyes twinkling with a pride of aplishment, he yelled, "I got it!" There were Arcane Symbols all over the edges of the Sarcophagus'' lid and with his knowledge of Arcane symbols limited as they were, it had taken Louis some time to decipher. The symbols made up a pass-phrase required to open the Sarcophagus and with his hand unleashing his Mana and pouring it into the stony lid so that it lit up with an eerie violet glow, Louis recited, "In a Test of Strength, We shall prove our mettle!" *WHUMM!* A powerful pulse originating from the Sarcophagus spread all about the room and with a forceful ejection, the lid shot off with a *Bang!*. The force of the shoot-off as well as the pulse, sent Louis on his ass where he watched ¡ªgulping with that twinkle of awe still in his eyes¡ª, as a mummified hand reached out of the Sarcophagus and gripped its edges as a figure rose out of it. Unlike the decaying undead all over, this Undead looked far more intact. It still had its face even if the skin was dried and stretched across its bones. With barely the sounds of any creaking or shuffling or creeping, it stood out of the Sarcophagus quite gracefully and addressed them all with pitch-ck eyescking pupils. "Ah, more to take the test!" The mummified Undead said in a deep voice thrumming with power and intelligence that had so far been missing from the other Undead Henry and the others had eliminated. The Mummified Undead nodded and with a clench of his hand, a Spear flew out of the Sarcophagus it just rose out of and into its hand as it said in that deep thrumming voice, "Very well. Step forward and I shall decide if you have what it takes to move on!" Chapter 135: An Echo Henry kept an eye on the Undead Creature that just stepped out of the Sarcophagus as he inched closer and grabbed the back of Louis''s shirt to pull him away from the green cloud of . "Henry-" Louis called out with a smile but it slipped when he realized he couldn''t move, "Hey, what''s¡ª What''s this? What''s happening to me?" "That green cloud paralyzes anyone who breathes it in," Henry said. "What?" Louis asked with his eyes ever-wide. "I told you to hold your breath," Henry reminded him. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, you did. So this was why¡­" Louis said and visibly became calmer. "Yeah, this was why," Henry said finding it slightly interesting that Louis was taking paralysis far better than he had ever seen anyone take it. "It''s not permanent, is it?" Louis asked. "No. No, it''s not," Henry told him, "It''ll wear off in a while. Circte your Mana if you can. I hear that helps." "Oh, alright," Louis said and with some level of concentration seeping into his expression, he began to do just that. "In the meantime, we should stay away from that thing," Henry said with a gesture at the Mummified Undead that just exited the Sarcophagus. "Oh, it''s not going toe for us," Louis said calmly. "Wait, really?" Henry asked, surprised. "Yes," Louis said with a nod, "The writing said something about a representative or something like that. It''ll test the Representative by fighting them." Henry furrowed his brows, "Seems a bit vague. It could still pick us." Louis shook his head, "I don''t think it''s a matter of choice," he said in a low voice, "And even if it was, you think Doherty will leave it to us?" Henry opened his mouth to speak but just then, Doherty stabbed his sword through the chest of a Decaying Undead, before following up his stab with a forceful st of Mana that shattered the creature''s chest cavity. "Ah," said the Mummified Undead with its pitch-ck eyes on the disy as its hand clenched and unclenched around its Spear, "A fine challenger." Doherty eyed the creature with a slight frown. ''There''s something off about this one,'' he thought, ''It can talk.'' He gave it some further thought and then shook his head as he took on a fighting stance, "Bah, forget it. I''ll stab through you like the others," he said as his Mana surged. The Mummified figure nodded, "A fine resolve. As befitting of a Fighter. Shall we observe the proper custom and start with an introduction?" It asked. Doherty shrugged, "Fine. I''m Dick Doherty. What the fuck are you?" "I¡ª" the mummified Undead started, "I am no one. In years past ¡ªdo not ask me how long for I do not know¡ª, I might have been great and I might have been ordinary. Again, I do not know. What I am now, is a mere Echo whose duty is only to test the mettle of fine challengers such as yourself to determine if you are worthy of going on ahead." Doherty scoffed, "All that and you can''t give a name?" He asked. "I told you my name. I am an Echo. That is what I am. That is who I am," Echo, the Mummified Undead said. "Alright then. Now that we''ve got that out of the way¡­" Doherty said and his voice trailed off as he dashed forward to strike his sword at Echo''s chest. Doherty had struck many power sources today and while Echo''s chest wasn''t glowing with one, he believed it must still be there. *ng!* Echo swung his Spear and used its shaft to knock Doherty''s sword aside before striking him with an uppercut that sent the Fighter flying back to fall against one of the other Sarcophagus in the room. *Bam!* With the battle now underway, Henry wanted to pay attention to it but he felt vines creeping up on him and wrapping around his and Louis''s bodies. "Henry," Louis called out to him as his wide eyes followed the twisting vines, his body still paralyzed to act. "Yes, I see them," Henry said as he called magical energy to his hand so that it began to spark with lightning. Shocking Grip! Bymon sense, Lightning burns so Henry decided the spell was about the best tool he could use to get rid of the vines all at once. He mmed his palm against a vine and the current of the Lightning he discharged pulsed along the the vines were starting to form, turning them limp and causing them to smolder as they fell off his and Louis''s bodies. Of course, with the vines being so close to their bodies, the two suffered the lightning as well. Henry even lost Hit Points¡­ [You have lost 2 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 78/180] ¡­ it was a small loss but a loss all the same. "Henry?" Louis said slowly having just suffered the lightning and starting to gain feeling in his hands. "Hmm?" Henry asked. "Did you just use magic?" "I did." "Was that Shocking Grip?" Louis asked. "It was," Henry said. Louis seemed to consider Henry''s answer for a bit before he then followed up with a question, "Are you a Mage?" "No, Louis. I''m not," Henry answered. "Then how¡­" "A bitplicated and now''s not the time," Henry said to shut the question down as he returned his attention to the fight that mattered and called Magical energy to his eyes. [Activating ] His eyes glowed with the Analyzing Magic of and after a moment that the skill spent raking over both Doherty and Echo, it delivered two screens side by side for a directparison of Stats. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Dick Doherty] [Race: Human] [ss: Fighter] [Job: Mercenary] [Health: 240] [Mana: 200] [Strength: 85] [Agility: 50] [Stamina: 46] *[Remarks: A Mercenary Fighter who has spent years honing his ability with the sword. Kible but possesses stats so good, caution must be advised.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Echo] [Job: Mettle-Tester.] [Health: 240] [Mana: 200] [Strength: 85] [Agility: 50] [Stamina: 46] *[Remarks: An Echo.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª "Hold on," Henry mumbled, "The stats are the same." "What are you talking about?" Louis asked, confused. The Paralysis was gone now and he could move his body so when Henry didn''t answer him, he followed up with another question, "What do you mean ''stats''?" Henry ignored him because as he stared at Echo''s Stat screen as well as the ''Remarks'', something was starting to dawn on him. ''Echo.'' Everything Doherty was capable of, Echo was capable of as well in a perfect replication that might have been improved on. *ng* *ng* *ng* In the multiple shes they had had with their weapons, Doherty was starting to realize what Henry just discovered with . "This strength," Doherty said with a smirk as his sword and Echo''s spear met in a stalemate, "This is exactly my strength. Are you holding back on me?" Echo''s mummified facecked any emotion as it said, "I am unfamiliar with the concept of ''Holding back''." "You''re telling me this is all you''ve got?" Doherty asked with a wide grin. "Against you, this is ''all I''ve got''." Echo said. Dohertyughed then, "Hahahaha. If matching my strength is all you think you need to beat me, you''re in for a rude awakening!" With that, Doherty unleashed a wave of Mana that surged out of him in powerful arches, and at the center of it, he performed an impressive maneuver to move away from the stalemate with his sword aimed at Echo''s neck. *BANG!* With contact that seemed almost explosive, Echo unleashed a sickly Mana surge that flowed out in arches and smacked into Doherty''s. The two Mana surges canceled each other out and Doherty''s eyes went wide when his sword cut through air and the tip of a Spear stabbed at his face. "Damn¡ª" he said and leaped back a few steps, putting distance between him and Echo only for his eyes to grow even wider in horror as the Spear tip followed him. Relentless aiming to pierce his head. Chapter 136: The Cuffs Come Off Still somewhat in the air following his quick leap back, Doherty was not yet quite settled enough to attempt a dodge but his sword was still in his hand so of course, he made a swipe to knock the spear''s tip away from his face. He managed to change the direction of the stab somewhat but it cut through his cheek all the same, creating arge gash that bled and dyed the side of his face red. Gritting his teeth at the pain, Doherty saw an opportunity; With the slightly muffled tter sound of the Spear falling onto a vine-carpeted floor, the Raiding Party captain realized his opponent no longer had a weapon. So the moment his leg hit the ground, he put as much strength as he could into his knees and used it to propel himself at Echo with his sword pointed for a stab. He was a foot away from Echo when he saw the Undead raise a hand and clench it. At first, Doherty was confused by the move and then his eyes widened when he heard something begin to swish violently through the air behind him. His instincts warned him and he quickly made to sidestep. Unfortunately for Doherty, however, the objecting at him from behind traveled faster than his agility could outrun and with a yell¡­ "Argh!!" ¡­ that turned into a groan, he felt a sharp tip cut through his side and break a rib or two on its way. "Fuck!" Doherty said angrily like his pained yell was not enough to express his pain and annoyance. *bam* The object that cut Doherty was, of course, Echo''s Spear. The Undead had called the Weapon back to his hold and with a skillful spin and an expressionless mummified face, it aimed it at Doherty and moved in for a stab. A stab Doherty deflected with a yell as he said, "Ah, you fucking bastard! I''m going to gut you!" "Your vigor ismendable," Echo said as it pulled its Spear back, twisted, and made another stab at Doherty while adding, "That''s good. After all, the test is far from over." Henry would have liked to continue to give the fight his undivided attention but he had to look away and focus on the multiple decaying Undead that came at him and Louis. Louis twisted his Staff and tried to knock an Undead aside only to have his staff grabbed by the Undead who used it to pull him closer so it could swing its sword at his head. Louis yelled out a spell just in time and Lightning charged from his Staff and through the Undead''s body, causing a momentary stun that allowed him to pull his staff free and then jab it into the Undead''s decaying abdomen as he yelled out a different spell to discharge even more powerful lightning that tore a powerful hole through it. As the Undead keeled backward, Louis huffed as he let out a long spell chant before striking his Staff to the ground to charge out multiple tendrils crackling with electricity, haphazardly aimed at multiple undead. "Oh¡ª" Louis let out after that and slummed to the ground. His Mana was depleted but even more than that was his body not being able to keep up with repeated spell castings. An Undead came at him with its sword raised and before Louis could weakly raise his staff in defense, Henry leaped over and kicked the Undead away before following up with a shot to its chest. Henry managed to call the blue glow to glide across his gun and refill it with bullets before he was pulled into an Undead Woe. [Kill-Reward: 150] [Undead Woes: 400] Once he had blinked it away, Henry raised ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and fired a few shots. Most of his sessful shots had hit the targets because attention was not on him and sometimes because he had done something to stun them beforehand or had just shot at point-nk range. This set of Undead, however, had their eyes ¡ªlifeless as they were¡ª on him, and with a surge of their sickly Mana, they were dodging his bullets and sometimes managing to deflect them as they came close to smack him with the field their Mana was starting to form around their bodies. Henry stood his ground against the surge and when it passed, he agilely avoided a sword stab¡­ Only to put himself in the path of a second one. "Ah!" Henry let out as the de cut through an area in his side that his leather Armor had not been protecting. [You have lost 30 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 48/180] While Henry was enduring that pain, the third Undead attacker made an even more powerful swing with its sword, cutting a diagonal gash across Henry''s chest. The attack cut the gun belt Henry had on into two, cut a long gash through the Leather Armor, cut the strap of the bag he had on to carry loot like the rest of his fellow cuff-wearing brethren and, finally, and of course, most importantly, it cut through his skin. Deeply. "Henry!" Louis called out from behind. Henry barely heard the call. He also barely heard his own scream of pain. [You have lost 40 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 8/180] He saw the System''s notification about his lost Hit Points though and he was sure it would have been worse if he hadn''t had the Leather armor on¡ª Even though it made for ineffective armor. Anyway, the strike had hit Henry with enough force to send him flying many feet away and he would have had he not locked in his knees. Instead of his entire body being sent flying, only Henry''s upper body made a hard lean back as he raised one of his legs. But then, with a steely look in his eyes and a sense of awareness that the Undead were about to make another attack that would surely kill him, Henry put the leg he raised to the ground which snapped his posture upright. He had the three so close there was no way he could miss. Shocking Grip! With his palm charged with lightning, Henry struck it against an Undead''s chest with a pulse that had proven powerful enough to destroy its sickly magical source. At the same time, he aimed ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and fired an shot into the stomach of the second before he kicked it away so it could explode into acidic bits away from him. *Brrzzt* Summoning his energy, Louis shot out a Lightning strike that caught the third Undead off guard and shattered its power source in a single hit. Henry was pulled into the Undead Woes of the two Undead he just eliminated and when he was back, he started to wheeze. Taking multiple breaths as a weariness gripped him all of a sudden. [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Undead Woes: 400 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 150 Exp] [Undead Woes: 400 Exp] [You have Leveled Up] [You are now Level 19] [Hit Point Maximum Increased to 190] [Hit Points: 18/190] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 300] Despite the additional 10 Hit Points he just received from the Level Up, Henry''s vision was still tinged in red. And then, a yell sounded that seemed to rock the entire room. "ARRRRGGGHHH!!!" The eyes of anyone who wasn''t embroiled inbat against an Undead turned to the battle between Doherty and Echo, the Mummified Undead. Echo had driven his Spear through Doherty''s stomach and had him pinned to the wall. Doherty''s swordy on the ground a few feet away from him as he gripped the spear''s shaft as though to push it out of his body. He spat out blood and tried to push but, weak as he now was, he was unable to resist Strength that was the same as his. You see, simr stats were Echo''s advantage, not Doherty''s. As an Undead, Echo could not get tired and its Mana seemed infinite. It could also recall its weapon which was a massive advantage since it wielded a Spear precisely meant to be thrown. "You failed. Your Mettle is sorely Lacking." Echo said in a tone that sounded almost disappointed. "Shut the fuck up¡­" Doherty managed to say in a weak voice. Echo regarded him impassively and with a powerful heave, it lifted its spear and cut Doherty into two so his lifeless carcass fell to the vine-covered floor. Torn apart. Echo flicked the blood and entrails off its Spear before it turned to face the others in the room as it walked away from Doherty''s body, "Who''s next?" It asked while its ck eyes searched the room for a challenger, "Who will step forward and have their Mettle tested?" The three Mercenaries still alive gulped. If Doherty had failed, could they survive? But then, Echo twitched as something came charging in its direction. It unleashed a powerful Mana field ready to face the would-be challenger¡ª only to be ignored. Henry had no idea if he could have shot and ''killed'' Echo right then but that was not his focus. He arrived at Doherty''s torn-up body and grabbed the Command cuff on his wrist. The Command Cuff, nowcking an able body to wield it, reacted to Henry''s touch and glowed with Arcane Symbols. "Release?" Henry said unsure if that was the requiredmand. *Click* The clicks came from multiple cuffs but they sounded all at once that it came out as a single sound. Cuffs snapped open on the wrist of every member of the Raiding Party and fell to the ground with tters that heralded freedom. Louis grinned delightedly as he looked from his now-bare wrist to Henry only to watch him activate some kind of brand on his right palm and open up an oval portal that promptly swallowed him so that he vanished from the room entirely¡­ ¡­ Leaving them to clean up the mess that was Echo. "¡­" Chapter 137: Not To Take Any Chances ??? [Main Quest: Escape] [Quest Completed] [You have Leveled Up] [You have Leveled Up] [You are now Level 21] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 210] [Hit Points: 38/210] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 320] [You have received 12 Stat Points to Allocate] [You now have 18 Stat Points to allocate] *[Nyx has Leveled Up] [Nyx is now Level 8] [Nyx''s Hit Point Maximum increased to 140] [Nyx''s Mana is now 150] [Strength: 65 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 70] [Speed: 120 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 130] [Stamina: 60 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 65] Henryy on the floor of Elminster''s workshop ¡ªsomewhere he had not been able to go due to the Control cuff that used to be on his wrist¡ª, and he was faced up as he watched the notifications arrive one after the other in a long list. Of all of them, it was the ones about Nyx that Henry focused most on. Again, they made him feel connected to her. Wherever she was. He was d the System had rewarded her with the usual 50% of his rewards because he hadn''t seen it on the Quest description screen. Henry had just let out a sigh when he heard a familiar voice that he almost couldn''t believe he had missed hearing as much as he did, "You look like crap," Elminster said even though he didn''t look up from a piece of Armor he was running his hands on. "Yeah, I feel like crap too," Henry said with a chuckle. With two Level Ups, he had gained more Hit Points and his vision was no longer tinged with red, and yet, he still felt tired. Because his weakness had very little to do with low Hit Points. His weakness came from fatigue. Somehow, even though he had not killed nearly as much today as he had done on certain other days since he had been in this world, Henry felt like he had overextended himself. If he was to really give it some thought, Henry knew the fault was on him for neglecting his Stamina Stat. His body''s energy was barely able to keep up with what he was capable of, which was his now very high Agility and his ability to channel Mana to do more than just fire magical shots out of a gun. Henry found that casting *Shocking Grip* seemed to sap his energy far more than shooting magical bullets did. It was like the Mana in his body was far more involved when it came to casting a spell. Or whatever it is one calls it to use Magic through magical tattoos. "Ugh." With a groan of effort, Henry rolled to his front and rose off the ground slowly which took every bit of energy his body had so far recovered. He walked toward Elminster and watched as the old Craftsman ran a tool across the Armor he was attending to. Carving little symbols on the surface and infusing every one of them with Mana so that they glowed and permanently imbued it with Magical effects. What those effects were, Henry had no idea. "You smell like death too," Elminster said. Henry nodded, "I''ve been around it quite a bit." "I suppose you''ll be wanting more Potions then. Even though I''ve told you to stop treating me like a Potion Maker," Elminster said with a bit of a grumble. Henry found a structure to lean against for support as he managed a smile, "Old man, I haven''t been here in a week. You must at least have some Potions for me. And that''s not all I need either." Henry pulled ''Violent Retort'' from his Inventory and held it out to the Craftsman, "I''ll take slugs to this too if you have them." Elminster looked up from the Armor he was tending to and furrowed his brows at ''Violent Retort'' before reaching out to take it from Henry. Elminster held the gun close to his face, scrutinizing it with a smile, "Fine craftsmanship," he said. "Yeah. Been liking it so far," Henry said and while he was genuine, he also spoke with a tone that made it clear he wanted to speed things along. "Did you notice something familiar about it?" Elminster asked. "What?" Henry said confused. Elminster scoffed, "Of course, you wouldn''t," he said dismissively. ''How could I?'' Henry asked in his head, ''I''ve had far more pressing matters to worry about.'' "Did you make it?" He asked out loud. Elminster chuckled, "No. I didn''t." Henry looked taken aback as he asked, "Then why would you ask if I noticed anything familiar?" "Because it was made by someone who learned from me. A disciple of mine from years ago. While I didn''t make the gun and it doesn''t bear my brand, the workmanship should be familiar to you. Considering how long you''ve had ''The Hydra''s Sting''." Elminster sounded usatory and even red at Henry over the gun to which, Henry let out a sigh and said with urgency, "Elminster, I haven''t had the time to makeparisons. Please, do you have the slugs or not? I really hope you do." "I do," Elminster said as he handed ''Violent Retort'' back to Henry and added for further affirmation, "Of course, I do." As usual, Elminster led the way to the back room where he quicklyid out boxes of shotgun slugs. Henry pulled open one of the boxes and he could immediately tell the slugs were better than the ones he had loaded into ''Violent Retort'' before now. "I have better ones, of course," Elminster said. "Better than this?" Henry asked almost in surprise because this alreadyplemented the gun perfectly. Elminster nodded, "Of course, I do. What do you take me for?" He asked andughed with a casual mirth that was rare with him. "Let me see ''em," Henry said excitedly. "Ho ho, Settle down," Elminster said as he stroked his beard before he gestured at ''Violent Retort'' in Henry''s hands, "Get a better gun first. Load any of my better slugs in that thing and it''ll blow up and likely take your hand with it." Henry smiled lightly, "You could just give me a better gun. I''m sure you''ve got one." "Yes, I do. But I don''t make sales anymore, remember?" "It doesn''t have to be a sale," Henry said, "You can just lend it to me." Elminster shook his head, "No. Until I get all my products back, I''m not letting go of anymore." "Oh yeah," Henry said sullenly, "There''s still that." Henry decided to drop the topic. Especially since he remembered the System having said something about Elminster not selling weapons until his grievances were soothed. "The slugs will be 30 gold apiece," Elminster said and eyed Henry like he was expecting him to haggle as usual. Henry didn''t. He just counted the slugs, "There are only 30 here," he said. "What?" Elminster asked, "30 not enough for ya." "Might be. Might not. I''d like not to take any chances. Make it 50." Elminster eyed him for a bit and then brought 20 more which he ced on the b. "Good," Henry said and sent them to his Inventory. "Hey, you haven''t paid yet," Elminster said. "I''ll payter," Henry said and made a ''gimme'' gesture with his hand, "Potions now please." Elminster provided bottles of both Healing and Mana recovery potions. "Here." Henry counted. There were 12 of each. He grabbed one Healing Potion and downed it. [You have recovered 60 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 98/210] "Good stuff," he said as he reveled in the rejuvenation provided by the potion right before he sent the rest of the bottles into his Inventory. "You didn''t pay for those either," Elminster noted with a frown while wondering to himself why he had watched Henry swipe the potions and the slugs out of sight and done nothing. "There''s a pressing matter I have to attend to right now so we''ll talk about payments when next I''m here¡­" Henry said as he activated Elminster''s brand and summoned the oval portal. Before the Portal swallowed him, Henry added with a smile, "¡­ And I''ll have you include the required discounts as well." If Elminster had a response to that, he didn''t get to deliver it because the Portal closed then and Henry was gone. Chapter 138: Prove Your Mettle ??? Henry was dropped at the very spot he had left the room from; Right by the side of Doherty''s split-open carcass and the sounds ofbat greeted him. The three Mercenaries appeared to have been chosen as the next Challengers and together they faced off against Echo, to constant failure that had them mmed into walls and against columns with blood dripping from their mouths and some body parts stuck at odd angles. Henry activated and frowned when he saw Echo''s current Stats were an amalgamation of the Stats of the Three Mercenaries which meant, on average, it was stronger than each of them. From the current scene, Henry could posit that they had tried to be in synch and were quickly out of their depths. "Weak," Echo said in a slow crooning voice as it approached one of the Mercenaries, "You Failed." It said before bringing its Spear down and stabbing it through the Mercenary''s head. Ending the life the Fighter was already barely hanging on to. With still activated, Henry saw Echo''s stats drop but it was unconcerned. And why should it be? It had won. Echo approached a second Mercenary and after attesting to his failure, it killed him just as it had done thest. Again, its Stats dropped. Now mirroring thest of the Mercenaries. Henry had ''Violent Retort'' in one hand and ''The Hydra''s Sting'' in the other as his fingers slid across the triggers wondering if he should shoot Echo right now or see what would be of it when thest person whose Stats it was mirroring met its end. ''So, do its stats just drop to zero without a challenger, or what?'' Henry asked himself just as Echo arrived at the third. "Please¡­ don''t¡­" The Mercenary Fighter struggled to say. Besides the Mercenary''s weak, pained cries and the slight sound of shuffling that Echo made as it approached him, there was silence in the room. The Decaying Undead were all dealt with and the members of the Raiding Party (those who used to wear Control cuffs) just watched with bated breath, knowing that fate would soon be theirs as well. Louis gulped. His n had worked. They were free and now they were about to face the consequences of such a crazy n. With that thought, he gripped his Staff with both hands and held on so tight, his knuckles were turning white. "Unsavory," Echo said to the Mercenary pleading for his life, "You failed to prove your mettle. For that, there is only death." "No!" The Mercenary yelled, "Please No¡ª Ack!" As the Mercenary breathed hisst, Henry raised both his guns then and fired shots from both. Out of ''Violent Retort'' traveled two powerful slugs packing forceful might and from ''The Hydra''s Sting'' traveled an shot. All three fired shots met a protective field that absorbed every bit of kic energy and magic they had so they fell to the ground in useless tters. Henry frowned. The field was magical, that much was clear, but something about itsponents did not seem all that ''normal''. Or as normal as anything in this world ever was. He still had activated and he watched as Echo''s Stats dropped after the death of the third Mercenary and now its Stats looked like this; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Echo] [Job: Mettle-Tester.] [Health: ~] [Mana: ~] [Strength: ~] [Agility: ~] [Stamina: ~] *[Remarks: An Echo.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª The stat screencking any figures worried Henry. If it had dropped to zero, he would have certainly felt more at ease. If it had dropped to some minimum level, it would have at least been understandable. Lacking any figures and looking like it was in flux was absolutely worrying. Now, of course, even before his failed ''assassination'', Henry considered the whole ''Echo'' thing a scam. For one thing, while Echo appeared to replicate the Challenger''s Mana capacity, it didn''t run out of the magical resource as they did. Replicating the Challenger''s Mana just served as Echo''s baseline for what level of magical ability it was limited to even if it could stay on that level of magical ability forever. "Henry!" Louis called out when the sounds of the gunshots announced to him that Henry had returned, "You came back." "Of course, I came back," Henry said, confused that Louis sounded surprised. Even if he had stayed in Elminster''s workshop for hours, he''d still exit here and likely still face Echo all the same so how could he note back and try when there were still people who could fight by his side against the mummified Undead. It was while those thoughts were roaming in his mind that Henry realized how it must have looked to anyone else when he was swallowed by the Portal and he added, "Wait, you didn''t think I left you to die, did you?" Louis nodded with his eyes still as wide as ever because that was exactly what he had thought. Henry shook his head and fought a smile off his face because the situation was far too serious to find that funny. Speaking of which, Echo turned slowly while flicking blood off his Spear, "Foolish to attempt a sneak attack," it said slowly, "You can only hurt me while I test your Mettle. Until your test begins, I shall be impervious to your attacks." "Would have liked to know that before wasting my shots, but okay," Henry said, and with , two Mana-infused shotgun slugs from his Inventory were loaded into ''Violent Retort''. Echo took a step forward with its head cocked to the side. It eyed Henry''s guns and then regarded him with those emotionless ck eyes as it said, "You''re a peculiar one." Because of these?" Henry asked as he raised both guns and aimed them at the Undead''s face. So far, Echo''s stats were still in flux and had not replicated his own. The test had not yet begun. Echo nodded, "Yes," it said, "But it''s also you. I can feel it, you are worthy of being my challenger but¡ª" "What makes me worthy?" Henry asked and shut Echo up as it regarded his question before answering in a tone that made it sound like the reason should have been obvious, "You''re the strongest one here." "I am?" Henry asked, surprised. ording to Henry''s , with Doherty and the Mercenaries now dead, the current ''strongest'' in the room was the Opponent Doherty had made him spar against to qualify for the Raiding Party. Henry''s highest stat, Agility (56) was still lower than that Fighter''s highest stat, Strength (62) so how could he be the strongest in the room? "Hold on," Henry said and his eyes widened slightly in realization, "It''s the total of our Stats!" No one who could hear Henry''s mumbles understood him but he didn''t care. He was taking a quick nce around, piling multiple Status screens, and doing some rough Maths in his head that always saw him stay ahead because he had more stats (Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Perception) to add uppared to theirs (Strength, Agility, and Stamina). The only exception was Louis who had the ''Intelligence'' stat as a Mage to make up Four but because of hiscking Physical Stats, Henry still came ahead. Echo was unbothered by Henry''s mumblings as well as his surprise at being crowned strongest in the room. "Are you ready to test your Mettle?" It asked. "Would it matter if I said I wasn''t?" Henry asked. "It wouldn''t," Echo answered calmly and its stats began to morph to echo Henry''s. At the same time, Henry received an Alert from the System; [Grand Quest Updated! Main Quest: Prove Your Mettle. - Defeat Echo. Reward: 2000 Exp] Chapter 139: You Struck A Powerful Blow Henry skimmed through the Quest details and remembered he had 18 Stat Points to allocate. ''11 Stat Points to Stamina. 7 to Agility.'' [Are you sure?] ''Yes.'' [Stamina: 19 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 30] [Agility: 56 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 63] As his Stats ticked up and increased, Henry could see Echo mimic them but he didn''t care. Simr Stamina was another scam by the mummified Undead. Unlike Henry, it couldn''t actually feel fatigue. The only practical use Echo could have for the Stamina Stat was for it to act as a cap to how much ''energy'' it could draw on to facilitate whatever magical Might it mimicked from Henry. On the other hand, Henry could get tired. He had gotten so tapped out recently and drinking a Healing Potion had done very little to help with that so he needed as much of a boost as he could get. With his Stamina increase, Henry could already feel a boost in his internal energy and it had him fired up and rearing to go. "Curious," Echo said slowly, "You''ve gotten even stronger." Echo regarded Henry with those empty ck eyes and added in a mumble, "What is it about you that¡ª?" Whatever it was Echo was about to say and whatever tangent it was about to fall into was interrupted when Henry pointed his guns and fired two shots. All aimed at the creature''s chest. Just as Doherty had thought, Henry believed Echo''s core was in its chest as well and he saw destroying that to be the quickest way to end this. With the start of the Test, Echo was no longer impervious to attacks and the bullets met no resistance. They did however miss their targets. When it was regarding Henry with its eyes and even as it was speaking, Echo had studied Henry. It knew enough about weapons to know when the trigger was about to be pulled and, blessed with Henry''s agility and the pre-knowledge of when its opponent would attack, it could lean to the side and have the bullets merely graze its dried mummified skin as they went on to strike the wall. The two Mana-infused slugs packed quite a punch and where any other bullet would have merely made a small cut, they both made sizable gash. But the worst had been avoided and even a human Fighter would have survived such a wound so Echo was able to shrug it off. The shot was different, however. At least Henry expected it to be different. A graze was all that was required and the wound was already sizzling with sizzling acid but Echo didn''t seem to mind. Henry didn''t allow himself to look or act shocked for long and with a click sound, he reloaded ''Violent Retort'' and was ready to fire another shot when Echo was suddenly no longer there. In a second, the Undead was an inch away from Henry stabbing its spear toward his chest. Henry''s perception warned him and he used ''Violent Retort'' to m against the Spear''s de, knocking it aside. Echo was unbothered by the improvised parry. It simply followed the direction Henry had mmed its Spearhead into and struck him with the Weapon''s shaft instead. *Bam!* [You have lost 20 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 78/210] "Ahh!" Henry let out in pain and he heard the crack of fractured bone just as he was sent sliding away. While in motion and with barely any control of his body enough to stop moving, Henry was still able to point ''Violent Retort'' and fire a shot. As it had done once before, Echo dodged. It dodged even better now and avoided getting hit at all while also changing the direction it came at Henry from. The goal was clear; It was going to strike before Henry could regain his standing. The sudden change in where the attack woulde from was meant to disorient Henry who could not possibly anticipate it. Or so Echo thought. s, right when it arrived with its Spear raised, Echo''s nk face gained a curious expression as the double barrels of Henry''s ''Violent Retort''y in wait. The muzzles shed and with a powerful uniform *bang!* that packed a recoil that sent Henry''s arm flying back to the point of being sprained, the gun shot out two Mana-infused Slugs that struck Echo in the chest and sent the Undead flying many feet away¡­ *BANG!* ¡­ where he mmed into a wall. *BAM!* While the mummified Undead slid to the ground, Henry locked in his knees and regained control of his standing and movements while looking considerably pleased with himself. Anticipating where attacks woulde from was Henry''s strong suit and with activated to give him five seconds of time-stopped serenity during which, his ''sight'' was widespread thanks to his Perception, he knew just where to point his gun and ce it in wait for the enemy. "Most curious," Echo said, knocked prone as Henry pointed ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and fired an shot into its dried chest. Echo couldn''t dodge and the bullet hit its target with a *bang!*. The wound caused festered as always before it exploded, creating a gaping hole in Echo''s chest but unlike many other creatures (all of them) that Henry had shot with such an attack so far, Echo did not ''die''. Itughed. "Haha," it said in its usual slow crooning voice, "Impressive." Henry blinked in shock and realization of yet another scam. ''There''s no way I''d have survived that,'' he knew for certain and was so riled up, that he yelled his next words out loud, "If you mirrored everything about me, why are you still ''alive'', you damned fraud!" As he yelled, Henry was already clenching the trigger of ''The Hydra''s Sting''. Aiming for Echo''s head this time. Surely, it couldn''t possibly survive ¡ªmove without a head, right? s, right when Henry clenched the trigger, Echo tossed its Spear at him. The Spear traveled fast but, backed with strength simr to Henry''s, it wascking in speedpared to his Agility and with Perception to guide his movements, Henry was able to move out of its way in time. The dodge he was forced to make caused Henry''s shot with ''The Hydra''s Sting'' to go awry but he recovered by firing a shot from ''Violent Retort'' the very next second. Again aimed at Echo''s head. Echo didn''t even try to move out of the way entirely. It just rose off the ground and positioned the gaping hole in its chest for the Mana-infused slug to pass right through. Henry heard Echo cackle and was about to fire another shot when he saw the Undead clench its hand before a swishing sound came from behind. Henry tried to dodge but it was toote. He had realized what wasing toote. The Spear, on its way to reunite with its wielder''s hand, spun but right before contact with Henry''s body, it straightened just enough to puncture his side, break through his ribs, puncture an organ or two, before piercing out of the other side as it continued on its journey into Echo''s tight grip. "Ack!" Henry let out with wide eyes. [You have lost 60 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 18/210] *Gasps* Everyone in the room who had been silent so far let out gasps with their eyes wide. They had seen this before. This sort of injury had preceded the end for all who had fallen victim to Echo thus far. Henry didn''t hear the gasps though. His body went weak and he went down until his knees hit the ground with a thud. Vines that had been unable to get a good grip on him so far, started to wrap around him but Henry paid them no mind. Echo rose smoothly, too smooth for a creature with a gaping hole in its chest. It flicked Henry''s blood off its Spear and stepped forward. Assessing him. "You should be proud," it said when it was a foot away from Henry who had his head bowed with his guns on the ground, "You struck a powerful blow." Echo raised his Spear and made to stab it down when its eyes twitched as it watched Henry''s hand move faster than a man bleeding out ¡ªand quickly inching towards death¡ª should move. Henry gripped one of Echo''s legs and charged lightning into his palm, Shocking Grip! As the lightning drove from its legs all over its withered mummified body, Echo realized it had been drawn into a false sense of security. It made to continue its stab with its spear but was stunned by the electricity coursing through its body and found it difficult to move. The stun could onlyst a few seconds at best. But those seconds were enough. Henry scooped up ''Violent Retort'' and fired two Mana-infused slugs into Echo''s head in a forceful shot that sted the Undead''s head apart¡­ ¡­ With a *BANG!* Chapter 140: Alone The force of the head-splitting shot forced Echo to take a step back with its hand, held aloft and gripping its Spear, shaking ever so slightly from the impact. Henry winced at the pain in his side. Ever since he had been in this world, this was the worst injury he had ever sustained, and had it not been for the way the System calcted his wounds by Hit Points, he was sure he would have lost far too much blood to make the moves he just made. He picked up ''The Hydra''s Sting'', used to put two Mana-infused slugs into the now-empty ''Violent Retort'', and stood up slowly with his eyes keen on the mummified Undead in front of him. Echo''s head ¡ªwhat remained of it¡ª held for a few seconds and then, with a wobble, it fell and hit the ground to shatter into many bits while leaving behind a dried, thin almost skeletal neck. "Haha," Echoughed. The sound came from the skeletal stump that was its neck and came out in an eerie-sounding echo. At the sound of theugh, Henry raised his guns to shoot but before he could, Echo''s grip on its Spear loosened and it fell to the ground with a slightly muffled tter. Henry nced at the weapon but refused to feel rxed. He had seen Echo recall the weapon at a moment''s notice and did not see this as a mark of the end to this fight as he probably should have. And could he be med? For all he knew, Echo was about to take a page out of his book and y ''dead'' to gut him. "You''re a curious thing," Echo said slowly, "I''ve just felt what it''s like to be you, and yet, I''m sure I''ve not quite understood what it is to be you¡­ You can tell, can''t you?" Henry''s brows furrowed. Of course, he could tell. Although he had been far more focused on surviving, it was impossible for Henry not to notice that Echo fought him like a Fighter rather than a Gunslinger. Echo replicated Henry''s Stats and used them as a Fighter would which put it at a disadvantage because then, it had no Mana surge to boost its physical abilities, and couldn''t use its Spear the same way Henry used his Guns. Also, it couldn''t replicate the magic Henry had imprinted on ~Arcane Tapestry~. Hell, Henry was willing to bet Echo hadn''t known how to use his Perception because it had never encountered an opponent who had that Stat. It was why the Mummified undead had kept noting Henry with curiosity. Anyway, had Echo been able to replicate Henry''s skills as well as it had replicated his Stats, or had it been able to use the replicated Stats as well as Henry could, this fight would have gone very differently. A gaping hole through his side would likely have been the least of Henry''s worries. s, that was not the case. "You pass. You have what it takes to move on¡­" Echo said finally in a voice that trailed off right before its knees hit the floor and it slumped to the side gently. Never to move again. *click* The door on the other end of the room ¡ªnot the one the Raiding Party hade in through¡ª let out an unlocking sound before it opened an inch. The battle against Echo was to gain ess to that door and be allowed to move forward in Exploring the Dungeon. In all the excitement and with his focus shifting from escape to winning a battle, the fact that they were in a Dungeon had been pushed to the back of Henry''s mind. [Main Quest: Prove Your Mettle.] [Quest Completed!] [You have received 2000 Exp] *[Nyx has received 1000 Exp] Once again, Henry was wrenched from the room to experience Undead Woe. "What¡ª what is this?" he asked in a confused mumble. As usual, he was looking through strange eyes ¡ªthe eyes of Echo¡ª, but rather than facing the powerful figure that had turned the other Undead he had faced and eliminated thus far, Henry found he was looking around at a daunting emptiness. "There''s nothing here," he said. "No, there isn''t," Echo said. Henry''s eyes widened in surprise, "You know I''m here?" He asked, "You know I''m in your head?" Echo gave no indication it had heard Henry''s question but Henry felt its lips turn into a sad smile. "There''s nothing here because I have no past. I have no one. I have no goals. No aspirations. No desires. No wants. No Needs. I have only one purpose; To guard a door and test Challengers for a being whose existence or meaning to me I don''t even understand. I know not what I was, and what I became no longer has a purpose in this barren wastnd. I am alone. Forever." Henry felt his own eyes get wet and he was blinking droplets out of his eyes before he realized he was out of Echo''s woes. Or more urately, he was out of the vision but the Woe continued. "Ah!" Henry yelled as he raised a hand to his chest. His heart tightened as it was gripped by a profound sadness. Henry had felt heartbreak before as he had lost people in his life more times than he cared to count but not once had the sadness he felt on those asions hurt this much. He couldn''t remain on his feet. He fell to his knees, looking through blurry eyes at Echo''s carcass mere feet away. He found himself unnaturally tied to Echo''s sadness to the point where he couldn''t quite decide anymore if the pain in his chest was caused by the Undead''s Woes or by the sadness he might have so far repressed. No one in the room registered to him. None of his goals mattered. No one, not Yelena, Triss, Charles, Stefan, or the rest of what used to be the Dionisio Gang, came to view. He felt alone. Completely alone and it broke him. Henry had no idea how long he was on his knees with his face twisted in the pain of a broken heart but he knew this Undead woe hadsted longer than any other he had ever felt. It wasn''t a simple blink-away moment. He was forced to experience it in its entirety and his breakdown was right in front of people. All of whom were strangers. And then it finally began to pass. Henry was able to separate himself from the sadness and the clenching in his chest finally relieved enough for him to breathe better. "Henry¡­" Louis called from behind but Henry thrust his hand back as he said in a fairly normal tone of voice, "I''m fine." Stealthily, Henry wiped the droplets from his eyes and with the memory of the sadness still on his mind, he weed the System''s notifications, [Kill-Reward: 500 Exp] [Undead Woes: 800 Exp] Trying his best to stop the shaking that was starting to creep up on him, Henry grabbed his guns and sent them into his Inventory as he turned around to face the members of the Raiding Party who were still alive. They all watched him with awe mixed with gratitude. Henry especially noticed the opponent Doherty had forced him to fight, staring at him with admiration. It was so intense that he had to look away. His eyes fell on Louis next but the wide-eyed boy had a very simr expression. "Stop looking at me like that," he said. "You looked so cool," Louis said instead and nced at the wound in Henry''s side as he added with a more subdued tone, "That wound though¡ª" Henry waved him off, "It''s fine," he said before looking over at the two unopened Sarcophagus in the room. The ones Doherty had been so sure contained Loot, "I suppose we should open those up now." Chapter 141: Loot And Space Expansion Henry walked up to a Sarcophagus and ced his hands against the stony lid as he pushed as hard as he could. His muscles bulged and his face looked strained but besides an inch or two, the lid was barely reacting to his efforts. He stood up then and looked at the Raiding Party who all had their eyes on him, "Hey you," he called out to the Fighter he had sparred with to join the Raiding Party and decided he might as well have something to call him, so he asked, "What''s your name?" "Andor, Sir," the Fighter said. "Sir?" Henry said, looking taken aback, "You''re older than me." "I don''t think that matters?" Andor said slowly. "Are you being serious?" Henry asked. Andor said nothing and just looked confused as to why Henry would reject being called ''Sir''. The way Andor saw it ¡ªand the way many others in the Raiding Party saw it¡ª they had had no chance against Echo since Doherty and the Mercenaries had failed so Henry''s sess put him above them in some hierarchy they had cooked up in their heads. "Just help me move this," Henry said. "Yes, Sir," Andor said and stepped forward with his Spear in hand. Henry had to fight back a smile. He thought the optics of Andor, who looked to be in histe twenties/early thirties regarding him, a Neen-year-old with that much respect was hrious. When Andor arrived at the Sarcophagus, he put his Spear aside and assisted Henry''s effort in pushing off the lid. With Andor''s support, the lid moved and with the grating sound of stone against stone, it fell to the sidepletely opening up the Sarcophagus for a a search. "Wow," Louis said which was the only way Henry knew he had gotten closer. There was a skeleton in the Sarcophagus but it was so weathered and brittle that any bit of force cracked it and reduced wherever contact was made into bone dust. Besides the Skeleton though was quite a bit of loot. All of it was weapons or some assortment of wearables and of them all, the most eye-catching were the following; An Armor that was made of Leather like the ones everyone else in the Party was already wearing but, at first nce, clearly offered better protection. There was a circr polished shield that had clearly been forged with Magical metal. It even had Arcane symbols etched all over it that imbued it with additional effects. There was a robe. A blue/green robe not particrly very adorned but shimmering with Magic Henry did not quite understand. "This will all go for a lot outside," Louis said as he grabbed a sword and looked it over with a twinkle in his eyes. "I don''t assume it''ll be that wanted," Henry said as he picked up one of the weapons as well, "I mean, what makes it different from the weapons you all came in here with?" Louis looked at Henry like he had just said gibberish. Even Andor, despite his admiration looked at Henry like he was surprised by how dumb he was. "What?" Henry asked, confused by the reactions. "How can you suggest they''re the same?" Louis asked, "Can''t you feel how different these are?" Henry shook his head, "No, I can''t," he said and was starting to feel just a bit ashamed. Despite all the talk the System had made about his improving Perception allowing him to detect the elements of the world, there were clearly some things it failed to read. The situation was simr to when Louis had sensed something about Echo''s Sarcophagus and he hadn''t. ''I wonder if it''s some kind of Magical Perception. Something I don''t have because I''m not a Mage. Hmm, but Andor seems to be able to tell the difference too and he''s a Fighter. Maybe my Perception is just not high enough.'' Thatst sentence caused Henry to crack a smile. His Perception beingcking against someone who didn''t even have the stat was funny to him. Anyway, Louis quickly fell into an exnation, "The energy of the Dungeon is all over these. Outside, any Merchant or Weapons dealer will be able to tell. These items being from here will always be higher pricedpared to those forged on the outside with ''simr'' quality or properties. It''s a bit of a business, you see. You enter the Dungeon, gather up loot, and sell it for a profit outside. It''s why we were brought here. To gather things like this out of the Dungeon." "I don''t think those bags can hold these things," Henry said with a chuckle and grabbed a broad sword, "I mean, see how long this is. It''ll just stick out and wear you down. If it doesn''t cut through the bag first, of course." Again, Louis looked at Henry like he just wouldn''t stop spouting gibberish. "Where are you from, really?" He asked. "New Freudein," Henry said. "Where''s that?" Louis asked. "Far from here," Henry answered with a small smile, "But close to the City of Saint ret." "City? That sounds big. So you were close to a big city and you don''t know about Space Expansion?" Louis asked. "What''s Space Expansion?" Henry asked, slightly annoyed at looking and feeling dumb. "This," Louis answered as he took his bag off his back and grabbed a sword from inside the Sarcophagus which he dropped inside it. *Thunk!* The sword made a sound like it hit the bottom and despite its length surpassing that of the bag, itpletely vanished from slight. Louis reached in and pulled the sword out while turning the inside of the bag toward Henry so he could see that it looked wider inside than it should have been. "Whoa," Henry said. The fact that he had an interface that only he could see to store any number of objects did not stop this piece of magic from amazing him. "This is Space Expansion," Louis said, "Only reallymon in big Cities Like Alvareen. They use Magic to increase the inner dimension of bags and sometimes pouches. You would have noticed it if you ever looked in your bag." Henry nced at where his bag had fallen on the ground after its strap was cut off his body by the attack of a decaying undead and smiled lightly. He never nned to use the bag. Not when he had Inventory. "Can I have this?" Andor asked suddenly and Henry looked over to see him holding the improved Leather Amor in one hand and the Shield in the other. "Yes, of course," Henry said, "You opened up the thing. Take it." "What about me?" Louis asked while casting a look at the robe. "Take it," Henry said as he walked over to the third Sarcophagus in the room. The only one still unopened. "Andor," he called and the Fighter was by his side in a second, wearing the Armor he just got. "We''ll open this one up too," Henry said, and together, with Andor providing most of the effort, the Sarcophagus'' lid slid off and hit the ground with a heavy *Thud*. Within it was a brittle skeleton ¡ªas was also the case with thest Sarcophagus¡ª, surrounded by weapons and other pieces of equipment but those were easily ignored by Henry whose eyes fell on an object the skeleton had between its hands. It was a bright orange sphere that Henry reached out and grabbed to lift out of the Sarcophagus. Unlike whatever energy Louis and Andor could feel from the weapons in the Sarcophagus, the magical property of this Sphere was not elusive. Henry could feel it pulsing almost with life and sometimes with the rhythm of a heartbeat. A rhythm he recognized from the most magical item he had ever held in his hands ¡ªbesides his guns¡ª; The Vinculum. Chapter 142: It’s Not Proper Following his experience with the Vinculum, Henry had good reason to look at the orange sphere in his hand with caution but it didn''t seem to possess a mind of its own. It didn''t try to tempt him with thoughts or visions of grandeur and power of control. It just pulsed with energy. A lot of energy. "I''ll take this," Henry mumbled and with a slight sleight of hand, he sent the sphere into his Inventory with ns to inquire about its uses or properties from someone who could exin it. At the moment, the only person that came to Henry''s mind who would be capable of that was Elminster and he certainly considered it as he put the matter aside for now. "What was that?" Louis asked and Henry looked back at him with a raised brow, "What was what?" He asked. "That sphere¡­ It was in your hand just now and it vanished," Louis said. "Oh," Henry said in the realization that his sleight of hand had not been smooth enough to avoid detection. "Hold on," Louis said almost studiously as he raised his hand, tapped a finger against his lips, and added, "I''ve just realized I haven''t seen your guns either. Where are you keeping them?" Andor was no longer looking through the loot inside the Sarcophagus and was now looking at Henry with as much curiosity as Louis. Henry looked between the two. He came up with a few lies and even decided he didn''t have to exin himself to either of them to assuage any suspicion and could simply have decided not to say a word. Eventually, he just let out a sigh as he raised and twisted his right hand to smoothly pull ''Violent Retort'' out of his Inventory and into his grip to the gasps of everyone in the room who was paying attention. Another twist and Henry reced ''Violent Retort'' with ''The Hydra''s Sting'' before he raised his left hand, and twisted it to pull out the Orange sphere to the ''oohs and ahhs'' of the admiring crowd. "How¡­" Louis started to ask. "Trade secret," Henry said with a smile as he sent the gun and the sphere into his Inventory and started picking out items from the Sarcophagus to eye them better. Louis kept watching him. He looked at Henry''s fingers searching for a ring and then at his wrists for a bracelet. All in all, he was simply looking for an object, any object, that could have exined the storage and how quickly Henry could retrieve anything he stored. He saw no object. Henry''s fingers were bare and now that he no longer had a Control-cuff, so were his wrists. But Louis did notice something at the back of Henry''s right hand though; ''Is that a tattoo?'' He wondered. Louis scratched his head wondering if the Tattoo had always been there but the magical energy it gave off and the minute Arcane knowledge that seemed to have been etched right into the skin assured him the tattoo was rtively new. Plus, a clenching hand with spikes of lightning around it¡­ "Shocking Grip?" Louis mumbled as he was reminded he had seen Henry cast the spell a couple of times and the one time he asked how Henry had been able to cast the spell, he hadn''t gotten a clear answer. ''What exactly is he?'' Meanwhile, the loot within the second Sarcophagus was divided with Henry securing most of it to be stored up inside his Inventory. "Alright, that''s all of it," he said. "What now?" Andor asked. Henry shrugged, "We''re free," he said, "Let''s get the hell out of here." "I don''t think we can," said a member of the raiding party standing in front of the door they had all walked through to enter the room. "Why not?" Henry asked as he approached the door. For an answer, the member of the raiding party tried to pry the door open but it remained sealed up. Andor walked up the door and joined in the effort. Putting his superior strength into action but while it had seeded with Sarcophagi lids, it failed here. "We''re locked in," he eventually announced. Henry frowned and looked over at Louis who looked to be deep in thought, "Louis." "Hmm?" "Can you help open the door?" Henry asked with a thumb pointed at the locked door, "Where strength fails, I assume we should try magic." "Oh," Louis said shaking himself out of his thoughts, "Of course. Let me try." Louis walked up to the door and spent a few minutes running his hands all over it trying to find some trigger or some phrase written in Arcane scripts that was waiting to be decoded. He found none so he infused Mana into the door just as Doherty had done to get it opened. The door did not respond to the Mana and remained as sealed as ever. "I can''t open it," Louis admitted as he stepped away from the door and turned around to nce over at the door on the other side of the room. He pointed at it, "That one is open though." Henry nced over at the door too. It had opened with a click after he defeated Echo. It was one of thest sounds Henry had heard before he was pulled into that Undead Woe of sadness. "I think that''ll lead us deeper into the Dungeon though," Henry said. Louis nodded, "Yes, it will," he said, "And that''s the point. I don''t think this door will open until the Dungeon Boss has been defeated." "Dungeon Boss?" Henry asked. "Every Dungeon has a boss. All that we meet on the way are basically minions. If the boss isn''t defeated, the Dungeon will remain open and in this case, we''ll also remain trapped." Louis exined with a smile. Henry''s brows furrowed. He remembered the powerful figure he had seen in the Undead Woes and also remembered Echo talking about serving an Existence it didn''t even quite understand. He realized that had to be the Boss. Plus, Echo had repeated that it was testing their mettle to know if they had what it takes to move on. Clearly, it had meant ''what it takes to move on and face the Boss''. "But do we have to face the Boss?" Henry asked. "I''m not sure," Louis said, "I suppose we could stay here and wait for others to defeat it. The door will open after that and we can leave." "Oh, alright. Since we don''t have to¡ª" Henry started to say before he was interrupted. "We don''t have to but we should," Louis said with a grin and that familiar crazed twinkle in his eyes, "I mean, we can''t enter a Dungeon and not face the Boss. It''s not proper." "Proper? You got winded facing the Decaying Undead," Henry pointed out. "Oh, but I''ll do better," Louis said and gripped his Staff tighter while nodding over and over, "I promise." "Why are you promising me?" Henry asked, confused. "I''lle with, too," Andor said suddenly. "Why?" Henry asked him. "Well, you freed me and you saved me¡­" Andor said. "Not intentionally," Henry said. "¡­ So I''ll pay you back bying with," Andor continued like he hadn''t been interrupted. "I''m not sure I''m going," Henry said. "Oh, but you have to. Wehave to," Louis said. "I''ll wack anything you ask me to wack," Andor said solemnly like a vow while gripping his Spear tight, "Stab anything that tries to hurt you!" "Stop talking like that," Henry said. "We won''t even have to do much," Louis said. "How do you figure?" Henry asked. Louis looked surprised that Henry didn''t understand, "We didn''te in here alone. Remember the Knight Lady and the Knight Guy. They''re in here too. Also, there are a bunch of other Fighters and Mages. I doubt we even get a crack on the boss. But it would be so fun just to be there and watch it." "I don''t think it''ll be fun¡­" Henry said slowly and cracked a smile. Dangerous as it might be, he was actually a bit curious. And he also didn''t mind the idea of putting a face to the Powerful figure he had seen many times in the Undead Woe visions. Eventually, Henry let out a sigh as he caved in and said, "¡­ But fine. Let''s do it." Chapter 143: Hi Henry pulled two healing potions out of his Inventory and drank them with his back to everyone else in the room. [You have recovered 120 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 138/210] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 21 (1791/6000 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Death''s Bane, Vyker-Killer, Infernal Partner] [Hit Points: 138/210] [Mana Points: 40/320] [Strength: 31] [Agility: 63] [Stamina: 30] [Perception: 31] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 4 } {Taming Lv. 2 } {Insight Lv.2} [~Arcane Tapestry~: Imprinted Spells: Shocking Grip.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry''s attention was especially on his Mana points and while it was recovering, for what was toe, he''d only be caught off guard by it being so little so he pulled two Mana recovery potions and downed them. [You have recovered 120 Mana Points] [Mana Points: 160/320] ''That''ll do for now,'' Henry thought. He swiped his status screen away, looked down and his eyes fell on Echo''s Spear as it shimmered with a dull magical light. He picked it up and while his eyes acknowledged that it was a good weapon, he didn''t feel at allfortable with it in his hands. It was useless to him and while he could have stashed it away as he had done with the other loot he had gotten so far, he decided the Spear was better in the hands of someone who could use it. "Andor," he called out as he tossed the Spear at the Fighter. Andor looked up at the sound of his name and raised his hand to swipe Echo''s spear out of the air the moment it was within his reach. "Use it," Henry said. "Oh," Andor said and he looked the Spear over before he added in a voice thick with conviction, "I will." Andor recognized the Spear. After all, he had seen it kill four men so far. The quality of the Spear''s make and the dull magical glow it gave off set it apart from other weapons Andor had held so far. It was imbued with more magic than any of them. Meanwhile, Louis changed out of the leather Armor he was wearing and into the robe he had looted from the Sarcophagus. "Putting aside the fact that you just picked that thing up from beside a skeleton," Henry said with a small smile as he went on to ask, "How will it protect you more than the Armor?" "Look at your chest. That Armor isn''t protecting anyone," Louis said, "Besides this robe is making me very sensitive to Mana. I''m recovering my reserves slightly faster than normal and that''s a massive plus." "If you say so," Henry said. The rest of the raiding party quickly made it known that they were going to stay behind, "We just got free from those cuffs," one said, "Putting ourselves in any more danger seems foolish. No offense." "None taken," Henry said with a smile, "Going ahead in the Dungeon is foolish. You''ll be safe here." They would be safe there. Even the vines that used to writhe on the ground had stopped moving after Echo''s defeat. The only thing the members of the Raiding Party had to worry about was getting forever trapped in the Dungeon if the Boss wasn''t defeated. "Come on," Henry said and led Louis and Andor to the other side of the room where he pulled the door that had been popped open an inch. The door swung open wide and with a purposeful breath, they stepped forward into another dank corridor dimly lit by the violet torches hanging off the wall. "Ah," Louis said and took a deep breath when they had just taken their first steps into the corridor, "Can you feel that?" Henry rolled his eyes. Of course, he couldn''t feel whatever it was. Andor, however, breathed in deeply as he said, "Yes. Yes, I can." "What can you feel?" Henry asked with a sigh. "Better," Louis answered, "I feel better." "I feel stronger," Andor said with an affirming nod. "It''s the Dungeon," Louis said, "It makes us better. Stronger." Henry furrowed his brows then and nced back as he called Magical energy up to his eyes. [Activating ] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Louis] [Race: Human] [ss: Mage] [Health: 150 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 160] [Mana: 180 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 200] [Strength: 13] [Agility: 15] [Stamina: 20 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 22] [Intelligence: 81 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 85] *[Remarks: A young Mage who makes up for what hecks in Magical Training with a lot of enthusiasm and Talent. Has only discovered one Elemental Aptitude (Lightning). Has impressive potential but Kible should you want to.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Andor] [Race: Human] [ss: Fighter] [Health: 200 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 210] [Mana: 150 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 160] [Strength: 62 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 66] [Agility: 34] [Stamina: 30 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 32] *[Remarks: A Fighter who makes up for his limited Martial training with enthusiasm and Impressive strength. Has Impressive Potential but is kible should you want to.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry looked through the Stat screens with his brows furrowed at the increases. ''So this is how the Dungeon works?'' He asked in his head as he faced forward again and kept leading the other two down the corridor, ''Why did they only get stronger when they were out of the room and not the moment Echo was dead? Or better still, after they had killed all the Decaying Undead.'' The way Henry saw it, the Stat increases were simr to how Nyx''s stat increased whenever she leveled up; Random allocation that prioritizes her most-used stats without any input from her. Of course, Henry was sure neither Louis nor Andor had shared in his Exp. At least he believed the System would have informed him if that had been the case. No, this was all because of the Dungeon and while Louis and Andor saw it as being because of some mysterious energy that he couldn''t feel, Henry saw it more as them getting rewarded by a System that did not make itself known to them. ''But would that mean that everyone in this world technically has a System?'' Henry wondered but the more he thought of it, the moreplicated the matter seemed to be so he thrust it aside for now. Also, they had arrived at the end of the corridor and stood at the foot of a stairway that spiraled up into a gloomy and unlit higher floor. Step by step, Henry, Louis, and Andor walked up the stairs and soon, they had left the violet torches of the corridor below behind and were going only by touch, taking every step carefully until Henry''s outstretched hand touched a t surface. "Hold on," he said to caution Louis and Andor to stop but the wait didn''tst long because the surface reacted to his touch a secondter. Violet light glowed around the edges of what looked to be a door and, with a click, it opened inside. Henry pushed it further in and a violet light weed him as he led the others into a massive hall. The Hall was brighter lit than the Corridors Henry and the others had walked through so far. A few feet away from where they stood, the floor became separated into multiple squares and when Henry made to walk, Louis held him back. "Wait, there''s something about this ce," he said. "What is it?" Henry asked but before Louis could answer, a door many feet away from them ¡ªthe only door that led into the hall besides the one Henry and the other two just walked through¡ª popped open with a click. A hand wearing a gauntlet was gripping the door as it pushed it open fully before a head with flowing dark hair popped in. Henry recognized the head. It was the Lady Knight he had met outside the Dungeon. Dame Eloise barely cast her eyes around the hall before she announced in that smooth dutiful voice of hers "It''s clear. But take cautious steps. There''s something about this¡ª" Eloise paused her sentence then as though she only now noticed Henry, Louis, and Andor. She even raised a brow as she raked her eyes all over Henry''s front. Precisely on the cut across his chest. Henry slowly raised a hand as the rest of Eloise''s party ¡ªincluding Sir Aurelius the Knight¡ª walked into the hall. With a small smile ying at the corner of his lips, he greeted, "Hi." Chapter 144: Nyx Returns Eloise raised her hand and almost like a reflex reaction to Henry''s greeting, she smiled and said, "Hello." Louis'' eyes were as wide as usual as he nodded a few times and said Hello as well. Andor did the same. When Eloise put down her hand, her smile became a slight frown as her hand went to the handle of the sword hanging off her waist. "Where''s the ver?" She asked. Aurelius furrowed his brow and said in a voice of caution, "Eloise, don''t." Eloise shook her head, "We''re inside the Dungeon now. What better time to get rid of that piece of shit than now?" Every word Eloise said was back with a forceful righteous vehemency that had her grey eyes ring almost in rage. Henry could have sworn he had seen eyes like those before but he didn''t bother to think too hard on it when there was clearly a misunderstanding. "Oh, hold on¡ª" he started to say but Eloise interrupted, "He''s behind that door, isn''t he? Along with the rest of his disgusting Mercenary buddies. I''ll cut them down right now." "Eloise, that''s enough," Aurelius said, "You''re being silly. The situation of these young men is unfortunate but it''s none of our business. This has nothing to do with keeping your oath." Eloise turned around with her brow raised like she couldn''t believe how much Aurelius just kept trying to stop her from taking action, "Your argument works in the City where I''m outnumbered and many others like you are so adamant on looking away from the horrible treatment those monsters put innocent people through just for cheapbor. But here, where I can do something about it, free some of these ves, you keep trying to stop me¡­" "What about the Squires?!" Aurelius asked with his voice raised as his arm gestured toward the rest of their Party, "Have you thought about them? Have you thought about what would have happened if you started a fight outside the Dungeon? Have you thought of the chaos you would have incited? Have you thought about how these innocent Squires would have had to join the fight? Potentially losing their lives in the process?" Eloise paused and then looked at the Squires, some of them looking worried about a potential battle and others gazing at her with admiration. "You''re training to be Knights. You hope to take on chivalrous and honorable oaths¡­ If you''re not ready to fight and die for what is right, then you might as well give up now." Eloise paused as though to let her words sink in and seemed pleased that a few of the Squires stood even straighter with a look of righteous conviction. Next, she looked at Aurelius again, "Do not try to y on my sympathies just so I close my eyes to the atrocities I witness," she said with every word carefully chosen and in a tone thick with the disappointment she felt about how Aurelius had acted so far. Aurelius pursed his lips but said nothing as Eloise turned her attention back to Henry, and the others who had so far been watching the conversation with interest. Louis in particr found his sense of righteousness rising deep within him and his eyes even teared up a bit. Andor was gripping his Spear with both hands with a look of fervent solemnity on his face as he stood straight and pressed his lips together. Henry found the words nicely sounding enough. After all, her actions would have been of so much help earlier in the day. However, as quite a bit of a cynic that he was, he couldn''t help but think of different ways anyone ¡ªhim included¡ª could take advantage of such pureness. Of such righteousness. Eloise had taken two steps forward when Aurelius seemed to realize something and he called out, "Wait, I don''t think there''s anyone with them." Eloise would not have been stopped but those words did get through and she paused, "What?" "There''s no one with them," Aurelius repeated. "Oh yeah, I tried to tell you that," Henry said, "Doherty and his Mercenary buddies are dead." "They are?" Eloise asked as her grip on her sword loosened. Henry, Louis, and Andor nodded while they held up their wrists to show that they no longer had control cuffs on. "They are. We got free a while ago," Henry said. "Oh, splendid then," Aurelius said but it was clear he didn''t care that Henry and the others had gained their freedoms. He was just d he and the Squires were not going to get pulled into a battle. "The others died too, didn''t they?" Eloise asked when she noticed no one else wasing through the door behind Henry and the others. She had seen more than three cuff-wearers outside the Dungeon and the idea that they had died because she hadn''t acted quickly enough looked to be impacting her mood to rejoice. "The others stayed behind," Henry said, "They didn''t want to continue through the Dungeon." "So they''re alive?" Eloise asked. "They are," Henry said and he couldn''t keep from smiling along when Eloise smiled so brightly that it lit up her beautiful face. "Alright," Aurelius said with a relieved smile on his face, "Now, Eloise, can we get across the hall now?" Eloise nodded and looked away from Henry to return to her party. "We should get across too," Henry said to the others. "There''s something about off about this ce," Louis said, "I can''t quite put my finger on it though." At the same time, Eloise stepped forward until she was a step away from therge square segmented portion of the Hall''s floor. She closed her eyes with her hand stretched in front of her as she cast a spell. A spell circle formed above Eloise''s palm then and it spread a magical wave across the entire floor. Almost all at once, the squares began to light up with Arcane Markings of three different colors; White, Green, and Red. "A magic detection spell," Louis said with his wide eyes twinkling with wonder. "She can use Magic?" Andor mumbled, "I thought she was a Knight." Eloise opened her eyes and studied the symbols as the Spell circle above her palm vanished. Its job was done. "The white symbols are safe to step on. The Green is dangerous. The red is worse." "What''ll happen if we step on the green or red?" One of the Squires asked respectfully. Eloise shrugged, "If I were to guess from what we''ve faced so far, undead Monsters will be summoned. Just only step on the White squares. And step quickly. I imagine the symbols could switch ces soon." Eloise and Aurelius led the way and their Squires followed close behind. "Let''s step on the White squares too." The White steps were fortunately not congregated on only one part of the Hall which meant Henry, Louis, and Andor could keep pace with Eloise''s party by picking their path many feet away. They were making it across well enough. Carefully picking white squares to ce their feet on. It was then that one of the Squires nced over at Henry, Louis, and Andor and saw something that raised rm. "Holy¡ª What the fuck is that?" The Squire asked in a loud voice while pointing at Henry. Everyone paused walking and all eyes fell on Henry and others who were quite confused. "What?" Henry asked. *Gasp* Andor and Louis gasped then before the Mage mumbled with a bit of fear in his eyes, "Henry, look at your shadow." Still confused, Henry looked down and his eyes widened when he saw his Shadow was getting thicker and spreading to the point of covering steps that had green symbols on them as well as one step that had a red symbol. Henry''s hand clenched and ''Violent Retort'' appeared in his hand, cocked and ready to shoot when he heard a familiar voice in his head. A voice that had his lips stretch into a smile. "-Boy, that was a good nap!¡ª" the voice said. Out of the shadow, rose a brilliant ck mare whose coat seemed to glisten. As she rose, Henry''s wide-spread shadow became smaller until it was normal and the horse''s entire body was out and stretching gloriously. Andor''s eyes were wide and he gripped his Spear ready to stab it at the creature. Louis'' staff crackled with lightning as he readied himself to attack. Both their faces went nk with confusion, however, when Henry leaped at the horse and wrapped his arms around her neck while yelling, "Nyx!" "-Henry!-" Nyx said and closed her eyes to nuzzle her neck against Henry before she opened it again, looked around and asked, "-Hold on, where are we? What have I missed?-" Chapter 145: -Oops- "Quite a bit," Henry said, "But first¡ª were you just in my shadow?" Now that the excitement of her return was wearing off or at least mellowing out, Henry found how Nyx made her return to be worthy of questioning. However, before Nyx could answer, symbols on the ground glowed even brighter. Henry looked down with widened eyes and only now realized, upon her exit from the Shadow, Nyx had three of her hooves atop three squares with green symbols. "-What''s this?-" Nyx asked with a bit of worry in her voice as she raised her hoof and made to ce it somewhere else. "Don''t move!" Henry called out. Knowing that whatever she had caused was only going to get worse if she identally stepped on more green symbols. Speaking of what she had caused. At the very end of the Hall, on the veryst row of squares, all symbols vanished and were reced by strange spell circles, and out of those spell circles rose Mummies wrapped up in bandages and with their arms crossed against their chest while they held on to various weapons; Spears, Swords, and a good few even dual-wielded sabers and scimitars. All at once, their eyes all lit up in violet glows and they dropped their arms from against their chest, got into stances, and then stepped forward. "Get into Formation!" Aurelius yelled as he drew his sword from its scabbard by his side and produced a brilliant Shield from out of nowhere. "Try to only step on the white squares!" Eloise yelled, "This will only get worse if you don''t." "How will we fight if we can''t move freely," a Squire asked with her sword in hand. "Probably very badly," Eloise admitted in a low voice, and then her eyes widened when she realized the problem was only just beginning. After the summoned mummies began to step forward at a pace not too fast and not too slow, the squares they stepped off regained their symbols only to lose those symbols and rece them with the strange spell circles from before to summon yet another line of Mummies armed with various weapons like the first line. After the second summoned line stepped forward, the process was repeated a third time. Three times for the three squares Nyx had identally stepped on. "-Did I cause that?-" Nyx asked. "Yes, you did," Henry answered. "-Oops-" Nyx said and did look somewhat abashed, "-I''ll help get rid of them.-" "I don''t imagine you''ll find that easy to do," Henry said with the corner of his lips twitching at the mess the situation was quickly bing. "-How so?-"Nyx asked. "You heard the pretty Knight Lady, didn''t you? We can only step on the white squares." Henry said. "-Those things are stepping on them just fine-" Nyx pointed out. Henry looked at the many Mummies shuffling over and saw she was right, "Well, it appears they don''t count and don''t activate the squares which is good. But any more misced steps from you and you''ll bring more of them." He said. "Hey, Henry?" Louis called to him. "Hmm?" Henry answered. "You''re talking to the horse?" Louis asked. "I am," Henry answered. He had slipped into talking to Nyx with words and decided there was no need to be all that bothered. After all that Louis had witnessed and knew, a man talking to an animal should not be all that strange. "This is Nyx," he added in introduction. "Hello," Louis said and raised a hand in a wave. Nyx let out a snort which Henry interpreted with a smile, "She says Hi." "-No, I said his eyes are so wide,-" Nyx said in Henry''s head with another snort and when Henry didn''t answer and just kept on smiling, she looked over at the Mummies whose first line of attack was now mere feet away, "-I''m gonna go attack now-" "Be careful and avoid-" Henry started to say but his Shadow becamerger right then and Nyx vanished from sight. Henry expected his Shadow to return to normal but it continued to expand until it touched the Shadow that one of the Mummies had cast and then, Nyx leaped out of the shadow and struck her front hooves into the Mummy''s dried chest. *Bam* *Bam* The force of her strikes sent the Mummy to the ground and Nyx followed up with her go-to move of powerful stomps until the Mummy''s chest caved in and it stopped moving. [Nyx has made a Kill] [Nyx has received 250 Exp] While Nyx was in action, a Mummy close by stabbed its Spear toward her but with her incredibly high agility, she slunk her neck out of the way of the spear jab before mming her head into the mummy to send it flying a few feet away. Nyx followed her victim. She leaped out of the Shadow which allowed it to snap back to normal under Henry. Her body was coated with the shadowy mist of and she was upon the Mummy before it hit the ground. She stomped her front hooves against its chest to avoid stepping on a problematic square and activating its symbol. She also avoided touching her hind legs to the ground and kicked them hard against the head of a Mummy close by. Caving its bandaged skull in and sending it flying into the wall where its bones cracked and it promptly stopped moving. [Nyx has made two Kills] [Nyx has received 500 Exp] Four Mummies struck their weapons at Nyx then. Attacking her from all sides and sure to get at least one weapon to stab through her before she could attack them. *ng!* With the sounds of metal against metal, the Mummies shed their weapons together as Nyx vanished into the Shadow they cast before the des cut through her. The Mummies drew their weapons back and looked around searching for their target. The very next second, Nyx thrust half of her body out of the shadow, her mouth opened wide until she closed it around one Mummy''s neck. She clenched hard and cracked the Mummy''s neck bones before tossing it aside so that it went mming into the wall where it met the same fate that three Mummies had met at Nyx''s metaphoric hands so far. [Nyx has made a Kill] [Nyx has received 250 Exp] Henry blinked as he watched Nyx''s disy and watched her vanish into shadow again to avoid getting stabbed. ''?!'' He asked in his head in awe at what Nyx was capable of with it. To idea that a skill that had only been given a single line of description was this versatile was incredible to think about. And then Nyx made another kill. [Nyx has received 250 Exp] [Nyx has Leveled Up] [Nyx is now Level 9] [Nyx''s Hit Point Maximum increased to 155] [Nyx''s Mana is now 165] [Strength: 70 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 75] [Speed: 130 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 140] [Stamina: 65 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 70] As she leveled up, Nyx''s eyes gained a fervency as she let out a long gant whinny while kicking out her two front limbs with an eagerness the Mummies were bound to feel in brutality. Meanwhile, Henry couldn''t just stand by and keep watching. He, Louis, and Andor had to act as the Mummies were shuffling closer to them. "So no moving unless it''s on a white square?" Andor asked. "That''s right," Henry said. Andor nodded and reached into the bag he had on his back to pull out the Shield he had managed to stash in there. He strapped the Shield on one arm and had it pointed toward the approaching horde. If movement was restricted, it was good to have even better defense. Louis began a long chant. He was clearly aiming to use his most powerful spell right from the start. Before the spell waspleted and unleashed lightning upon their enemies, Henry pointed ''Violent Retort'' and shot a Mana-infused Slug that sted the head of a Mummy apart. Stopping its movements immediately. Henry steeled himself for the Undead Woe¡­ [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] ¡­ But it never came. Chapter 146: Thunderous Stomp Confused, Henry had barely any time to think on it as a saber came swinging at his face the next second. He dodged the swing and parried the Mummy''s attacking arm aside just before Andor stabbed his Spear through the Mummy''s head. Andor wrenched his spear free with a powerful tug that broke the Mummy''s head off its bandaged neck so that it fell off and hit the ground. "I''ve got your back," Andor told Henry who gave him a sharp nod before he turned ''Violent Retort'' at a Mummy and sted a shot that tore through its chest while also sting it a good feet away. [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] Again, Henry found he didn''t suffer an Undead Woe which ascertained what he had guessed already; These Mummies were not Undead. If one were to get technical, they were creations built from various parts and powered by Magic but with no attachment to an actual departed or long-suffering soul like the Skeletal Undead, the Decaying Undead, or Echo. On one hand, this was wee. Henry hated the pain that always came with Undead Woes and even if he was starting to get used to it, thest one he experienced with Echo was horrible and would have had him useless for seconds that were far too precious when this many enemies were attacking. On the other hand, however, Henry also liked the Extra Exp that Undead Woes always came with and was sorely going to miss the absence. Anyway, he had to thrust all that aside. He epted that there would be no extra Exp and also acknowledged the silver lining that he could go about ughtering the Mummies without having to worry about getting pulled into woes. Louis ended his long chanting then with a yell as he raised his Staff into the sky. A spell circle appeared glowing a violent blue light and the very next second lightning streaks began to appear across the ceiling and then¡­ *Kraka- BANG!* ¡­ With Violent sound, Lightning streaked down. It struck down mostly without focus and while a few streaks just hit the ground and cracked it, the majority struck the Mummies. Turning seven of them to dust. "Nice," Henry said right before he Reloaded ''Violent Retort'' and sted holes in two Mummies in subsequent order. [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] As he wracked up points, reloaded ''Violent Retort'' again, and readied himself to fire, a phenomenon urred that drew attention. And it came from the Party of Knights a few feet away. - A few minutes earlier, the Party of Knights was farther ahead and faced the oing line of Mummy attackers first; Eloise had her sword in her right hand and with it, she cut through a Mummy so that its two useless halves fell and hit the ground. While her right hand wielded her sword, Eloise had a spell circle in her left hand and unleashed a magical beam that mmed another Mummy in the chest. It burned a hole through it in a strike that took about half of its torso. The other half, as well as the rest of its bandaged body, crumbled to the ground soon after. The spell circle vanished from Eloise''s hand now that it had done what it was cast to do so she grabbed her Sword''s handle with both her hands and in a two-handed swing, she cut through two Mummies in a single move. It would have been three had the third not leaped away just in time. Aurelius had his Shield raised to parry a sword attack before retaliating with a diagonal sh that ended the attacker. The very next second, he positioned his body so an attack could graze harmlessly off his shiny armor and then he delivered a shoulder bash that was followed up with a stab to the head before the Mummy could stagger too far away. Aurelius did all this while casting an annoyed look over at Henry and the others who were, at the time, still standing beside the horse that arrived and caused all this. Even worse, Aurelius saw Henry smile at the creature before it vanished into shadow to go to gods knows where. "Bastards," he said not just at Henry and the others but at the Mummies whose Martial aptitude and strength were far beneath his own. The only thing the Mummies had in their favor were numbers. Ordinarily, the numbers would mean very little to Aurelius. He should have been confident. However, being stuck in ce was making it difficult to fight as well as he could have. Swinging his sword was also a tad difficult because when they were walking toward the end of the hall ¡ªbefore the Mummies were summoned¡ª, their party had not put as much distance between themselves as would have been needed in this situation. There was also another looming issue; Inexperienced as the Squires were, it was only a matter of time before they made the error of stepping on more green symbols. Or even worse, a red one. Even now, as the Mummies began to gather and strike at the Squires from various sides, their training in fighting and the stances those training required were already moving their foot where it ought not to go. Sure enough and soon enough¡­ "Ugh!" ¡­ In a bid to avoid getting run through by a Spear, a Squire made a wide swing with his sword and although it parried the Spear''s de, it spun the shaft of the weapon which in turn mmed into the armored arm of arade standing close by. The Comrade''s stance was already shaky and the hit of the shaft against her arm was the final straw that sent her falling back into another Squire who toppled into another and all three of them hit the ground almost at once to the nking of the Armor they had on. Contacts were made with squares bearing green symbols that glowed brightly before summoning lines of more Mummies to join an already packed battlefield. s, it didn''t stop there. An awkwardly raised foot finally hit the ground and it fell on a square bearing none other than the ''dreaded'' red symbol. "Shit!" The Squire said in a loud voice of rm that no one in the Hall could ignore. Eyes widened when they saw the Red symbol begin to glow and even as they continued to fend off and destroy Mummies, they all gulped at what they feared was toe. And then every symbol on every square vanished. At first, some wondered if Eloise''s Magic detection had simply run out and she would have to recast it to show where the symbols were on the squares again. This was quickly put to the test by a few wrong-footed Squires and even Andor who could not quite avoid stepping on multiple squares as they sought to avoid attacks. Theck of any activation of any symbol or further summoning of Mummies proved the symbols were now inactive. "Oh," said the Squire whose foot had lit the red square. He smiled uncertainly with some relief, "That''s good¡ª" *RARRRRRR* Behind the final line of recently summoned Mummies appeared a massive strange magic circle that covered more than five Squares and it was out of the circle that the roar had sounded. Following the roar, multiple bones, allrge and yet all disproportionate to one another, rose out of the circle and came together in an unholy fusion that was followed by dirty bandages that wrapped around the unnatural creation. "RARRRRRRR!!!" The roar sounded again. This timeing from the chest of the monstrosity who raised its massive bandaged leg and brought it down in a thunderous stomp that unleashed a forceful wave that spared none in the Hall. Human or Mummy¡­ *BAM!!!* *WHUMMM!!!* ¡­ All fell. Chapter 147: The Monstrosity (1) The pressure of the forceful wave sent everyone in the hall to the ground with those unable to properly ground themselves rolling a few steps back. Henry was one of those who rolled. With his guns in his hands, he had nothing to anchor himself with. Louis rolled too but Andor stabbed his Spear into the ground and used it as an Anchor. When the wave passed, the Mummies returned to their feet almost mechanically without any actual concept of struggle. The Mummies all held weapons and despite their obvious limited thinking ability, they knew to use those weapons to Anchor themselves and once they were back on their feet, they were quick to start striking down at the fallen humans. With a grunt of effort, Andor rolled away just as a sword came stabbing down at him still on the ground. He got on his feet and used his Shield to deflect an Attack before stabbing his Spear through a Mummy. "Ahhh!" Yelling out in a battle cry of sorts, Andor dug in his heels and pushed his Spear against his Mummy victim until it stabbed a second. With two Mummies skewered on the shaft of his Spear, Andor turned and stabbed into a third before letting his Mana surge out violently. The Spear reacted to the surge. It drew in his released Mana and it became infused and let out what it absorbed in a violent discharge that ripped all three Mummies apart from the inside. "Whoa!" Andor said with his eyes wide. He had known Echo''s Spear was special ever since he first held it but had had no idea it was capable of this. "Ah!" Arching his back, Andor yelled out in pain as a mummy stabbed its sword through his back. The strike hurt and he bled, but gritting his teeth at the pain, he wheeled around and stabbed through what would have been the Mummy''s jaw if its head was not so bandaged up and misshapen. To further test what he just learned about Echo''s Spear, Andor let his Mana surge once again and the weapon absorbed his Mana and discharged it violently to blow the Mummy''s head up. With his lips stretched into a grin, Andor gripped the Spear with excitement and took on a stance while stretching his Shield out in front of him for the Mummies toe. While Andor was getting locked in a battle with multiple Mummies and discovering more dynamism in his fighting, Henry and Louis rose off the ground and, having been separated from the attacking Mummies, they were able to survey the Hall even better. They were able to focus on the actual problem in the situation they now faced; The recently summoned Monstrosity. It stood at over Nine Meters with a width to match its height. An absolute giant created by a fusion of all sorts of bones and looked to be preparing itself for another powerful stomp. Nyx had avoided getting mmed away by the forceful wave as she had been hiding within the Shadow of a Mummy before the Monstrosity stomped the ground. Now she leaped out, discovered the Mummy whose shadow she had hidden in was down following the forceful wave and she proceeded to stomp the shit out of it until it stopped moving¡­ [Nyx has received 250 Exp] ¡­ Bringing the total of kills she had made since she leveled up, to 8. She made to rear her head and whinny as she always did at every sessful kill when her ears perked and she turned around and discovered The Monstrosity had its eyes on her as its closest target. It took one step toward her and the impact of its giant bandaged foot against the ground released a wave focused precisely on Nyx. *Neigh!* Nyx made to vanish into shadow but let out a scared Neigh when the wave struck her faster than she could use . The skill was canceled and she was sent mming into the wall. [Nyx has lost 50 Hit Points] [Nyx''s Hit Points: 105/155] "RARRRRR!!!" Raising its head, the Monstrosity let out a powerful roar as it raised its foot and brought it down with a Thunderous stomp. *BANG!!!* Unlike thest one that simply unleashed a forceful wave, this stomp was backed with the release of Mana which had a sickly, deathly scent that Henry and everyone in the hall knew quite well already. The scent had been prevalent everywhere they had been within the Dungeon so far. The forceful wave spread in arches in a far moreposed attack than thest. "Hngh!!" Henry let out as the forceful wave mmed into him and although he was forced to side back a few feet, he remained on his feet with his heels dug in. When the wave passed, he saw that Monstrosity had taken multiple steps toward the Knight Party. It cared not for the Mummies it met on the way and crushed a few of them underneath its gigantic feet and moved so fast, despite itsrge size, that it was soon in front of Eloise and swinging itsrge arm at her. "Fall back!" Aurelius yelled as he stepped between Eloise and the Monstrosity with his Shield raised to defend against the enemy''s strike. In his eagerness to protect her, Aurelius knocked Eloise down and she watched with wide eyes as the Monstrosity''s monstrouslyrge hand connected with his shield in a hit that sent him mming into the wall with no resistance. Eloise stood to her feet and managed to get many steps away while ushering the Squires to step back for their safety as she chanted a spell and unleashed a Magical beam into the Monstrosity''s chest only to watch as it slightly singed its bandages but otherwise had no effect. Besides pissing it off, of course. "RARRRR!!!" Letting out a roar, the Monstrosity brought its gigantic hand down with the clear intent of crushing Eloise to paste. She leaped away and avoided the arm by a foot only to still be smacked by the wave that was unleashed by the hand''s contact with the ground. With a groan that sounded from deep within the Monstrosity''s chest, it raised its hand off the ground about an inch, leaned forward, and swung in a wide arch that connected with Eloise and sent her flying feet away. "Ugh!" She let out as she rolled to a stop and with her sword stabbed into the ground, she got on one knee with her brows furrowed and a focused look in her grey eyes. That focused look became a wide-eyed stare of horror when she saw a massive shadow looming above her. In the seconds Eloise had spent rolling, the Monstrosity had taken a powerful leap that put into perspective just how high-ceilinged the Hall was. "What¡ª?" Eloise let out in disbelief but reacted fast enough to not get stomped on. *BAM!* s, when the the Monstrositynded after its leap; it created a powerful updraft of pressure that lifted Eloise a few feet off the ground and then it followed up by mming arge fist against her to send her flying away. Probably with a few broken bones. - After the second attack of forceful waves backed by sickly, deathly mana, Louis stepped forward to assist Andor with the Mummies. Casting spells and striking out streaks of lightning. Henry joined in. He stood right where he was and fired shots from ''Violent Retort'' to eliminate the Mummies standing at the fringe so both Louis and Andor were not overwhelmed. He heard the sounds of the battle happening feet away. He heard the sound of Aurelius getting mmed into the wall and still he didn''t take his eyes off the Mummies attacking Louis and Andor. He had eliminated 9 of them and was starting to draw their attention when he felt somethinging at him. He couldn''t possibly ignore it and he looked toward it only to have Eloise m into him following the m she received from the Monstrosity. Armor mming into his body hurt Henry and he even lost a few Hit points but even as he winced, he cradled her against his body, bncing her weight, armor and all, in his arms as he was sent sliding many feet away. Chapter 148: The Monstrosity (2) Eloise stirred in Henry''s arms. She raised a gauntlet-wearing hand and pressed it against her temple while wincing at the pain she was still feeling from the Monstrosity''s attack. "Are you alright?" Henry asked gently. "What?" Eloise said and only now realized she was being cradled. The side of her face that she wasn''t pressing her hand against was so close to his chest. Her grey eyes widened slightly and despite herself, her cheeks turned a slight red as she pulled free, "Yes," she said as she got to her feet, "Yes, I''m fine." "Are you sure?" Henry asked her. Eloise nodded with a solemn expression on her face, "Will take more than that to take me down," she said. Henry smiled, "I''m sure," he said and Eloise nced at him and held his gaze for a second before she looked away and at what was happening a few feet away. The Monstrosity had turned its attention from Eloise after smacking her away and now it took heavy steps toward the Squires whose eyes were all widened in fear as most tried to run out of its attacking range while the braver few raised their weapons in a futile attempt to parry the heavy fisted attacks toe. "Those poor kids," Eloise said and clenched her hand to only now realize it was not in her grasp. She looked around and saw it lying on the ground where she had stood before the Monstrosity smacked her away. "You''re going to try and help them?" Henry asked unaware of Eloise''s realization that she was weaponless. "Of course," Eloise said as she nced at him and gave him a look like she was surprised that was even up for question. Henry nodded at that expected response only for his eyes to widen when he heard some nking slightly muffled by dirty bandages right before a Mummy leaped at him. He dodged the attack and struck a blow into the side of its head, knocking it aside before he put an end to any further movement with a Mana-infused shot to the chest. [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] The Mummy hadn''te alone. It hade with a mob that had been called over by Henry''s repeated Elimination of their fringe numbers before they could get close enough to Andor and Louis to strike both men down. "Hngh!" Henry groaned at a sword strike to the back¡­ [You have lost 22 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 114/210] ¡­ But even as he arched his back, he took a few steps forward, grabbed a Mummy''s weapon-wielding hand, wrenched it, and turned the Mummy around to receive the follow-up strike that had been meant for him. As the Mummy in his hold fell to friendly fire, Henry fired a shot that sted the Mummy that attacked him away. [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] The horde of Mummies surrounded Eloise as well and in a flurry of blows and parries, she knocked them aside before any of their weapons could graze her armor. To end her sequence of attacks, Eloise yelled a single spell, and a suction force extended from her, and pulled her sword off the ground and into her grip just in time for her to go on her knees, spin, and make a wide swinging strike that cut six Mummies in two in a single hit. Henry had just shot and eliminated two more Mummies when he witnessed this disy and his eyes widened and a single word on his lips, "Wow!" Eloise stood to her feet and in a light-footed move that seemed to blur her movement, she made a running dash through the Mummies, spinning her sword faster than Henry''s eyes could follow. It was also faster than the Mummies could follow because they all got cut and fell before they could raise their weapons to parry. By the time Eloise''s body was no longer blurred, the Mummies were all dealt with and the corner of Henry''s lips could not help but twitch at the Exp he just lost because of that. "Well done," he told her with a good bit of sportsmanship. "You fight well. The guns are an interesting choice, of course, but don''t seem to be a bad one. Nowe on." Eloise said as she took a few steps forward toward the distressed Squires. "What?" Henry asked confused. Eloise seemed confused by his question, "We need to help them," she said, "You''re not just going to stand aside and watch me ¡ªus¡ª struggle, will you?" "You seem very capable as is," Henry said with a gesture at the Mummies she just eliminated and then he pointed at the end of the Hall where arge closed door awaited, "Besides, since the Symbols are gone, shouldn''t we be trying to get to that?" Eloise wrinkled her nose at his selfishness, "Ignoring how terrible it was for you to suggest that when there are lives at stake, why do you think that door will be open?" "ARRRGGHHHHH!!!" Yells of agony cut across the Hall then and Eloise looked away from Henry while clicking her tongue, "Actually, do whatever you want," she said and then released a surge of Mana as she backed her gait with every bit of strength and agility she had. Eloise bounded over in seconds and put herself between The Monstrosity and the Squire it was about to clobber with its massive fist. She yelled out a spell and a magic circle appeared in front of her as she conjured a Mana shield to intercept the blow. *BAM!* *Crack!* The shield cracked on impact and shattered almost immediately as the massive fist continued on its way to Eloise whose eyes were already closed in concentration for another spell. Her sword glowed with a strange light. It was very clearly magical but had another quality that spread a wave of serenity all over the room. The light congealed around the de of Eloise''s sword and became an energy de of sorts that burned as well as cut. "AHHHHHH!!!" Yelling out in a battle cry, Eloise put every bit of strength she possessed in that attack and even as therge fist pushed her back and caused her feet to slide against the ground, her de cut into it¡­ "RARRRRR!!!" The Monstrosity roared. ¡­. And with one final push and a twist that turned her attack from straight to diagonal, Eloise cut a chunk out of therge fist right before she became unable to further resist the force and was sent mming her back into the wall. "Ack!" She let out and spat out blood just as she fell from the wall and to the ground. Wiping the blood stain off the corner of her lips, Eloise turned her grey eyes at the Monstrosity, her dark hair fanning by the sides of her beautiful face. She had cut through it and was far more confident. Now she believed she just had to pick a fatal spot to cut through and this would all be over. Henry watched this just as he heard a whinny from feet away as Nyx galloped closer, stomping on Mummies and reaping more Exp until she was by Henry''s side. "How are you feeling?" Henry asked her. "-Not too great-" Nyx answered with her eyes on the Monstrosity which caused her to shiver ever so slightly, "-I don''t like that thing.-" "Would be strange if you did," Henry said and Nyx harrumphed. She was quite aware that she had set into motion the events that led to the summoning of the Monstrosity and Henry could feel how much she wanted to make things right. [Grand Quest Updated! Main Quest: Advance within the Dungeon. - Defeat the Monstrosity. Reward: 3000 Exp and Additional rewarded Exp based on your participation in felling the creature. *Nyx will receive 50% of the Reward and be further rewarded based on her participation in felling the creature. Good luck.] Chapter 149: The Monstrosity (3) "Participation huh?" Henry mumbled with a smile, "In other words, I have no shot of defeating that thing myself." Henry looked from the screen with the quest details to The Monstrosity as he stretched his hand to the side and grabbed Nyx''s reins. "Come on," he said as he hoisted himself into her saddle. Nyx let out a few delighted whinnies as she pranced from side to side, "-What are we doing?-" she asked not because what Henry was about to do wasn''t clear already but because she wondered how it was going to be done. "Probably the only thing we can do," Henry answered as he spiked the reins and yelled, "Hya!" Nyx took off in an excited gallop. Now that she had regained the Monstrosity''s attention, it began taking heavy steps toward her and every contact its foot made against the ground mmed Eloise with a focused st of pressure that consistently smacked her back into the wall. When she managed to cast a shield, a wave of pressure cracked it and the next was sure to destroy it. Then she heard the clip-clop sound of horse hooves and looked to the side to see Henry galloping over on the back of the ck horse that started this whole mess. Henry took his hand off Nyx''s reins and with a twist, he retrieved ''The Hydra''s Sting'' from his Inventory and pointed it at the Monstrosity along with ''Violent Retort'', firing shots from both. The Mana-infused slugs of ''Violent Retort'' struck with a *Bang* and punctured a hole through the Monstrosity''srge bandaged leg but with not nearly enough of an impact as it had had on the many enemies Henry had struck down so far. However, the shot from ''The Hydra''s Sting'' was fired with the activation of and into that single bullet. It was abination Henry had never made. The only time he had seen it used was back when the gun was wielded by Mr. Grant. Thebination shot was what killed Kirk on the Train Job and whether Mr. Grant had fired thebination because he didn''t know the magical shots could be separated or because he wanted to cause Kirk the most possible agony, Henry just knew thebined Magical shots would made for a greater effect. He was right. The bullet made contact and the green veins of the attacks spread with a greater concentration than Henry had ever seen or managed to do individually. Green paralytic mist rose from the bullet hole and when the veins had extended all around the width of the foot and connected in a sicklywork of acidic horror¡­ *BANG!* ¡­ There was a destructive st sound that increased the Concentration of the green mist. "RAARRRRR!!!* As though it could feel pain, the Monstrosity paused its attack on Eloise as it turned its violent eyes on Henry whose attention was on the damage he had caused. When the Green mist dissipated, it revealed shredded bandages that exposed the unholy mashup of bones that made up the creature''s legs and while there was some sign of cracking on those bones, they gave off the look of sound structure all the same. Certainly not enough to break the leg free of the construct that was the Monstrosity. ''To destroy that leg, I''ll have to fire morebined Magical shots. Probably tens and tens of them. My Mana and my Mana Recovery Potions might not keep up, I fear. Plus¡­'' Henry thought as the Monstrosity raised its leg in readiness for a powerful stomp against the ground, ''¡­ Will I even get the chance to make the shots?'' "Nyx, get ready!" Henry yelled as the horse drifted. Throughout the shots Henry had fired and the results of those shots, Nyx had never stopped galloping and now, in ordance with a n Henry had only briefly filled her in on, she made aplete turn around to gallop away from the Monstrosity. When the creature brought its leg down to unleash a forceful wave as it had done many times before, Nyx was already riding away and that momentum boosted her leap. "You have to time it right," Henry had told her when they were riding over for him to shoot. Henry had witnessed the forceful wave the Monstrosity could create enough times to know that, like any wave, it was stronger and faster the closer one was to the epicenter. Closer to the epicenter that was the Monstrosity, the forceful wave spread like a wall and the farther away from the epicenter it spread, the lower the wall became. Despite that, Henry knew hecked the jump force to get clean over the wall no matter how low it became. That was just how powerful the Monstrosity''s wave attack was. Nyx, however, could do it. Beyond the fact that she was stronger than Henry, she was also faster. She got as far away as she could and with a patience Henry cautioned her with, she picked just the time to leap. She picked just when the wave had managed to travel to where she was. *Neigh!!!* Letting out a proud sound, the Shadow Mare got clean over the wave and the moment her hooves hit the ground again, she was turning around for Henry to target the Monstrosity''s leg and fire anotherbined Magical shot. *BANG!!!* "RARRRRRR!!!" As its leg suffered yet another blow that cracked the bones and tinged them with Acidic sizzles, the Monstrosity yelled and charged at Henry and Nyx. Every step unleashed a wave targeted at them. Nyx had to remain constantly on the run. Every step the Monstrosity took was covering multiple of hers. She also had to make well-timed leaps to keep from getting mmed by the focused waves. All the while, Henry fired two shots at the Monstrosity. He was unable to aim at its legs because those were the epicenters of the focused waves that chased him and Nyx down so he targeted the creature''s torso instead. Damaging the bandages and exposing gory bonybinations thaty underneath. Henry was disappointed that he couldn''t continue what he had started with the Monstrosity''s leg but he was able to shrug that away. After all, this was going to be a team effort. All that he and Nyx had done so far was fairly calcted by him just to draw the Monstrosity''s attention to himself and alleviate Eloise''s burden. Henry nced at where she had been against the wall and he smiled lightly when he saw she was no longer there. Clearly, although he had not been able to tell her he was simply providing a service, she knew what she was meant to do. Sure enough, a de glowing with Mana and the inexplicable energy backed by that strange serenity from earlier pierced through the Monstrosity''s leg from behind. With her brows furrowed in her focus, Eloise had directed her attack at the same leg Henry had shot a few times already, and with every bit of strength she could muster, she managed a swing that cut through the gorybination of bones in an attack that caused the Monstrosity to roar¡­ "RARRRRR!!!" ¡­ and turn its attention from Henry and Nyx to her. Eloise leaped back and as the Monstrosity made to strike down at her with its fist, Henry fired two shots ofbined magical attacks with ''The Hydra''s Sting'', targeted at the gap that Eloise had made with her sword. The shots hit their targets. They spread veins ofbined acidic might before exploding in a magnificent st of acidic spittle and numbing gas. The Monstrosity buckled and fell on what could best be described as its knee and when the green gas dissipated, its foot was revealed to have been detached from its leg. Leaving behind a bony stump sizzling with the magical acid of ''The Hydra''s Sting''. Chapter 150: Sub-Skill: Guiding Shot *BAM!* To avoid toppling over and falling t on its front, the Monstrosity mmed a fist against the ground while a deep angry roar continued to sound deep in its chest. However, despite the sounds of pain(?) it made, one thing was clear, "It''s not yet down." Along with this realization, Henry pulled two Mana recovery potions from his inventory and downed them. [You have recovered 120 Mana Points] [Mana Points: 122/320] As he tossed the empty potion bottles aside, he spiked Nyx''s reins and had her ride closer to the downed Monstrosity. When the massive fist hit the ground, it erupted a forceful wave and with Eloise being in front of the creature, she had been forced to slide away many steps but now she turned around with both her hands gripping her sword while the Monstrosity''s violent eyes remained locked on her. "RARRRRRR!!!!" With a massive roar, the creature raised both its arms and brought them down in a powerful double-fisted m that cracked the ground and destroyed many squares while rocking the very foundation of the hall and probably the very structure of the Dungeon. The forceful wave that was created was akin to a massive wall oozing with the sickly deadly mana that was prevalent in multiple creatures within the Dungeon. The wall never got lower no matter how far it traveled from the epicenter. In fact, it seemed to get increasingly higher and mmed into everyone in the Hall. Those who had the foresight to stab their weapons into the ground to avoid getting were not spared. The wave forced their weapons out of the ground and mmed them as far away as possible. Striking into surfaces and getting knocked out due to the impact. Nyx let out a distressed whinny as the wave lifted her off her legs and tossed her aside to m into the wall. The jerkiness of the throw forced Henry off her saddle and of course, he wasn''t spared from the wave either. Henry''s head mmed the wall harder than any other part of his body and as he felt a painful throb from the impactful hit, he also lost all his senses and cked out. For how long, he wasn''t sure. When he opened his eyes, lying on the ground, notifications from the System weed him; [You have lost 55 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 59/210] [Nyx has lost 45 Hit Points] Read first at m-v le-mpyr [Nyx''s Hit Points: 60/155] Henry looked away from the notifications and to the side where he found Nyx lying down on the ground. Her breath came out raspy and slow and her eyes were closed but she seemed alright besides that. About five feet away from him, Henry saw Louis and Andor with their backs against the wall. Blood streamed down the side of Andor''s head and by the blood stain against the wall, Henry guessed the injury was caused by the recent m that everyone in the Hall just suffered. There were Mummies still around but they had all suffered the ms of the forceful waves like the humans. However, since they allcked any sentience or concept of pain, they were not kept down for as long as any human would. The odd angles that some of their body parts got stuck in due to the forceful m were the only things that were keeping the Mummies down and with a few bandage-muffled creaks, they stood up, shuffled to where their weapons had dropped when they got mmed away. The Mummies picked up their weapons and now turned toward Andor and Louis who they had been battling against before the Wave interrupted. "Ugh," Henry groaned as he rose off the ground and pressed a hand to his head, only then realizing he wasn''t holding his guns. His eyes widened and he cast them around in search only to find both guns lying on the ground many feet away and even more feet apart. The Mummies were getting closer to Andor and Louis who were both still unconscious when Henry kicked off the ground and charged toward ''Violent Retort''. The only one of his guns that did not require Mana to fire despite being capable of magical shots. He ran for a few feet and then turned it into a slide as he scooped his gun off the ground and turned around to aim the weapon at his first victim. *Bang* The shot hit and not only sted a hole through the Mummy but mmed it into the wall right beside Andor''s unconscious self where it promptly slid to the ground as it was rendered a useless bandaged bag of bones. In the second the Mummy took to hit the ground, Henry fired the second Mana-infused Slug in ''Violent Retort'' and eliminated another Mummy. [Kill-Reward: 400 Exp] The Systembining his Kill-Rewards into a single notification was bound to be a trend because the moment Henry used on ''Violent Retort'', he was already pointing the weapon, and in a flow of shots, sted holes through two more Mummies. [Kill-Reward: 400 Exp] The Mummies seemed to have finally taken notice of Henry''s presence but even as a bunch of them paused their attacks on Louis and Andor, Henry shot and eliminated two more. [Kill-Reward: 400] [You have Leveled Up] [You are now Level 22] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 220] [Hit Points: 69/220] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 330] [You now have 6 Stat Points to Allocate] Henry swiped the notifications off the front of his face as he ran toward where ''The Hydra''s Sting'' was lying on the ground. He swooped it up and sent it into his Inventory with the bulk of his attention still on the Mummies. Whether or not they had the sense to delegate roles was a bit unclear but the Mummies that were not yet eliminated separated into two groups. Three stayed behind to continue their so-far-foiled attempts to run Andor and Louis through with their weapons and aimed to try again while four charged toward Henry. Henry constantly kept moving to avoid their attacks with his attention on the three trying to attack Louis and Andor. He made to shoot but one of the Mummies charging at him leaped into the line of fire, taking the attack instead. [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] "Fuck!" Henry said through gritted teeth as even the others started to block his sight as well. "-NYX!-" he yelled out to her through their telepathic connection. The horse''s ears perked despite the call sounding in her head. She rose off the ground just as Henry yelled to her again through their telepathic connection, "-HELP THEM!-" Nyx''s head turned toward Andor and Louis and even as she answered¡­ "-Right!-" ¡­ Her body was already letting out the dark shadowy mist of and she moved. She galloped faster than the Mummies could attack with their weapons and went right through them like a battering ram. When she had knocked them away from Louis and Andor, Nyx made sure to stomp on them until she was absolutely certain they would not move again. Which was almost immediately after just two of her stomps. [Nyx has made three kills] [Nyx has received 750 Exp] While Nyx was stomping away on the Mummies, Henry used the second shot in ''Violent Retort'' to st away one of the now-three Mummies charging at him. [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] Somehow the remaining two Mummies managed to get close enough for the one wielding a Spear to extend the weapon as far as its long shaft could allow and stab into Henry''s shoulder. [You have lost 10 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 59/220] The attack was not too deep but Henry still gritted his teeth at the sting. Right before he reloaded ''Violent Retort'' and sted shots into the heads of the two Mummies, of course. [Kill-Reward: 400 Exp] [Skill Level-Up!] [Marksmanship is now Lv.5] [You have attained Marksmanship ''Synergy''] [You have acquired a Marksmanship Active Sub-Skill: Guiding Shot] Chapter 151: A Requested Boost [You have attained Marksmanship ''Synergy'': You have now truly be one with your gun-toting arts. As such; - The Skill''s active Effect of +15% uracy is now a Passive effect. I.e Every shot you make henceforth will have this increased uracy tagged on automatically. - Every shot you make, as long as they hit their target, will reward you with Skill Exp regardless of active activation of the {Marksmanship} Skill. In other words, The {Marksmanship Skill} will always be active for any shot you make henceforth, and the more shots you make, the more chances you have of leveling up the Skill. - Skill Exp requirements to take your {Marksmanship} Skill to the next level have been increased and you will not be privy to the value of the increase just as you have so far not been privy to the value of the Skill Exp you gain. May ''Synergy'' serve you well in the journey toe.] [Sub-Skill: Guiding Shot. Description: Infuse your shot with a homing signal that will mark your target. The next shot you make after ''Guiding Shot'' will home in on the marker ced by ''Guiding Shot'' like a missile that cannot be shaken through speed or maneuverability. Note: The homing shot can still be blocked by shields should the target be quick and aware enough to raise one. Cost: 10 Mana Points. *Whenever your {Marksmanship} Skill levels up, the Mana Point cost for ''Guiding Shot'' will increase as well. Good luck.] Having made sure to activate his {Marksmanship} skill whenever he had to make a shot precisely for this, Henry weed the Skill Level up but his brows still furrowed as he read through the descriptions on the two screens the System projected out in front of him. He mostly skimmed through them as there was still a matter of importance to worry about. ''Synergy'' seemed to mostly just take away the responsibility of him activating the Marksmanship Skill whenever he had to shoot and while that was wee, Henry didn''t find it all that groundbreaking. If he had taken his time with the description page, he might have thought differently but he was quickly turning his attention to his new Sub-Skill. His lips turned in a slight smile that this Skill Level Up did not increase an ambiguous quality like added uracy bonus as thest Skill Level Up had done, and as Henry read through the description of ''Guiding Shot'', it certainly seemed like a skill he could make use of. "Ah," Andor let out as he pulled away from the wall and raised a hand to his head to dab his fingers in the wetness of the gash he had sustained from the m against the wall. Andor had kept a hold of his shield as the strap was quite tight around his arm but he had not been able to keep a hold on his Spear. He sighted it lying a couple of feet away; glinting with the magic that separated it from the Mummy weapons all over the ground. Andor nudged Louis and once the Mage was starting to stir, he finally walked over to his Spear and picked it off the ground. "Good, you''re awake," Henry said and Louis looked up at him standing beside Nyx who had trotted closer. "How are you feeling?" Henry asked when Louis kept looking at him with a nk expression for a few seconds. "Stunned but fine¡­ I think," Louis said. Henry looked at Andor who nodded and said, "Same." Henry nodded then with a small smile, "Good," he said before he gestured at the Monstrosity, "We need to take care of that thing. If you''re up for a fight, that is." While the two shared a look, Henry pulled himself into Nyx''s saddle and steered her around so they were facing the Monstrosity. The creature had risen off the ground after its double-fisted m against the ground and stood slightly lopsided since it was missing a foot. It dragged its one-legged self toward Eloise who was lying against the wall unconscious. "Oh, no you don''t," Henry said and spiked Nyx''s reins as he yelled, "Hya!" Nyx set off in a powerful gallop that was heightened by her skill. She traveled faster than the Monstrosity could drag itself across the ground. When they were within a foot of Eloise''s unconscious self, Henry sent his guns into his Inventory and leaned off the Nyx as much as he could to get a grip on Eloise''s armor. Because of how fast Nyx was riding, Henry had very little agency on where his hand grabbed and he had already taken a grip and yanked Eloise off the ground before he realized his hand cement had him very close to her breasts. Despite the metal ting of the armor proving a hardyer, there was a way the armor wrapped around Eloise''s well-developed chest that made Henry''s hand cement look and feel indecent. Also, Eloise picked that moment to stir. It seemed getting jostled due to the hard yank that pulled her off the ground had pulled Eloise out of her unconsciousness and she was wincing with a hand stretched to the back of her head. "Ah," Eloise let out just as Nyx outrun a focused wave that the Monstrosity struck out. Henry took his hand off her chest then but Eloise had noted the hand cement already. Either because acknowledging it would only call more attention to it or because they had more important things to worry about, Eloise made no mention of it. Instead, she adjusted herself in Nyx''s saddle right in front of Henry as she cast a look at the Monstrosity that was getting ready for a rampage. "I need to get high up," Eloise said, "If we want to bring it down, I need to stab somewhere higher. " "We can just take out another leg," Henry said, "That could bring it down closer so we can attack the torso better." ''Plus, I have guns so I don''t need to go high,'' Henry added in his mind. Eloise shook her head, "That could take too long," she said, "And we''ll still be at the mercy of those horrid waves. How strong is your horse?" "Quite strong. Why do you ask?" Henry asked with his brows slightly furrowed in confusion. The confusion only increased when Eloise wrapped an arm around his neck and pressed her body close to his as she then transitioned into standing atop Nyx''s back. "Get close," she said. Henry, who now understood what the Lady Knight was nning, simply nodded as he said, "Nyx." The horse knew already what to do. Having followed the conversation with her ears attentively perked. When Nyx was about five feet away from the Monstrosity, Eloise moved around until she was standing on Nyx''s hind quarters. "I''ll need a boost," she said gently like she wasn''t about to attempt something insane. To provide the requested boost, Nyx came to a dead stop and ''leaned'' forward as she tossed her hindquarters upward as though to toss Eloise off. Eloise leaped at the same time the boost came and got higher than Eight meters where she managed to get a grip on the Monstrosity''s shoulder. "Hng!" Eloise let out with an expression of struggle on her beautiful face as she then hoisted herself until she was on her knees and far more stable ''ground'' atop the creature''s shoulder. The Monstrosity moved and jostled her position on its shoulder but Eloise held on, stretched her hand at the ground in the direction of her sword, and yelled out a spell that summoned the weapon into her grip. Eloise let her Mana surge and her sword''s de glowed with the inexplicable energy of serenity that she had made use of a few times already. She created arge energy de that coated her sword and she stabbed it into the Monstrosity''s neck, erupting a roar from it. "RARRRRRRRRRRR!!!" A roar that rocked the entire Hall. Chapter 152: Felling The Monstrosity The Monstrosity began to move jerkily. Each move happened slowly but with such force that Eloise found it difficult to stay on. However, she did manage with her grip on her sword ever so tight as she began to move it so that the energy de that had formed around the magical steel de could cut through the unholy connection of bones that made up the creature''s neck. Down below, the Monstrosity''s distress didn''t spare those on the ground. As it tried to throw Eloise off, it kept stomping its foot and footless stump against the ground, unleashing forceful waves that targeted specific directions. However, the targeted directions changed randomly with every wave. Making them difficult to predict. A few minutes earlier, Aurelius the Knight awoke. Or more urately, he awoke again. You see, after he had gotten smacked aside by the Monstrosity while trying to defend Eloise, Aurelius had been knocked out for a few minutes and when he did manage to stir, he witnessed the end of the sequence that caused the creature to lose its foot right before it unleashed the double-fisted m that unleashed the wave that hit everyone in the hall. Aurelius had ''seen'' the waveing and was probably the only one to raise a shield in defense. Of course, the shield didn''t stop him from getting mmed into the wall for the second time that day but it had to have reduced some of the impact because Aurelius woke up before anyone else in the hall besides Henry. Awake, Aurelius saw the Monstrosity take steps toward Eloise and felt buoyed to help her only for such thoughts to be interrupted when a Mummy picked up its Spear and ran at him to run him through with it. The Mummies that had been summoned before the arrival of the Monstrosity and the disappearance of the symbols were not all dealt with and while Henry was gunning down some on the other side, Aurelius had to temporarily abandon his thoughts of helping Eloise to remain alive. He shifted out of the way of an oing spearhead and leaned forward to retaliate by mming his shield into the Mummy''s midsection. *Bam* The force was so great that the Mummy was sure to be sent flying many feet away but Aurelius grabbed the shaft of its spear and used it to pull the creature closer before wrenching the spear out of its hold and stabbing it through the Mummy''s head. More Mummies came close and Aurelius used the Spear to attack, eliminating some of them and bashing others aside whilementing the ''feel'' of the Spear in his hand. As a Knight, Aurelius had trained in various weapons and was capable with a Spear but the sword was his Weapon of choice and his sword was perfect for him so he cast his eyes around in search because, like everyone else ¡ªHumans and Mummy alike¡ª, he also lost his weapon due to the forceful wave''s m. "Ah!" Aurelius yelled and stomped a heavy armored foot against the ground as his Mana surged and he used the wave to force his way through the crowd of Mummies attacking him. He ran toward his sword then, threw the spear in his hand so that it stabbed through the head of a Mummy and eliminated it, right before he bent low, grabbed his sword, and did a spin to sh through the first five Mummies to surround him after the recovery of his weapon. As the five fell, all cut in half, Aurelius saw Henry with Eloise on his horse and his expression twisted in annoyance. Whether Aurelius'' expression was because he still saw Henry and the horse as the reason all this was happening or because he felt he should have been the one to pull Eloise away from the path of the Monstrosity''s attack, was unclear. It could also have been both. In fact, it was very likely both. Either way, Aurelius used that anger to bolster his Mana surge in a wave of righteous conviction that had his body slightly illumined by some honorable sanctity that had him cutting through the Mummies in a whirlwind that would have had them all in a whish had they had enough sentience toprehend what was happening. Aurelius was so locked in that the faces of the Mummies sometimes morphed into Henry''s and he just cut through them all the same. In fact, in those cases, he cut with even more vigor. Meanwhile, Nyx, with Henry in her saddle, was avoiding every sporadic wave that the Monstrosity let loose as it stomped around on its foot and stump while in distress by Eloise''s sword in its neck. "It''s not going down," Henry mumbled, "It''s not even slowing down." The way Henry saw it; If losing its head was enough to stop the Monstrosity, then it should not be as energetic as it was when Eloise had sawed through about half off its neck already. "If it''s not its neck, then it must be its chest," Henry mumbled and then nced over at Louis standing a few feet away. "Louis, can you cast?" He asked. Louis had been watching the developments with his ever-wide eyes while avoiding getting mmed by the sporadic forceful waves and now looked at Henry before he nodded while gripping his staff tight. "Good," Henry said and pointed to the Monstrosity which, in all its distress had been so turned around it was now facing Louis at enough of a direct angle to aid him in aiming. "Shoot it down." "Alright," Louis said and held out his staff in front of him as he closed his eyes and chanted a spell Henry had heard him chant a few times since they had been in the Dungeon but it felt different this time. This time Louis was infusing the spell with every bit of Mana he still had. After all, preserving some of his reserves seemed pointless in the current climate. As lightning began to spark around Louis'' body and a spell circle began to take form in front of the staff he held out, Eloise''s sword was forced out of the Monstrosity''s neck. She left the creature only an inch of bony connection and although its head now wobbled, she also came to the same conclusion Henry did and realized this would not take it down. And then she heard Henry yell at her from below, "Hold on!" "What?" Eloise asked in confusion and then her eyes widened when she saw the lightning congealing in front of Louis. A secondter, he fired. *BRRZZZZZTTTTT* *KRAKA-BANG!!!* The lightning struck with an almost deafening bang. The bandages were shredded and ayer of the unholybination of bones was broken through to reveal another below. The Monstrosity let out a deep roar as it was forced to lean back on an already shaky foundation because itcked a foot. Eloise was shaken and almost toppled but stabbed her sword into the Monstrosity to slow her fall. Her sword stabbed into the creature''s front. It broke past the secondyer and as she slid lower, she cut a long gash that opened up a glow within; The source of the Monstrosity''s many roars and its ability to move and ravage. Eloise''s sword got shaken loose finally and she fell¡­ "Ahh¡­ Umph!" ¡­ into Henry''s arms as he sat her into Nyx''s saddle while charging Mana into ''The Hydra''s Sting'' toplete what the others had started. Henry fired three shots that allbined and to explode in a sequence of impactful explosions¡­ *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* ¡­ That broke past the finalyers of unholy bonybinations and shattered the far more fragile power source beneath. The glow in the Monstrosity''s ''eyes'' on its nearly severed head mellowed instantly and it immediately fell to the ground with a massive *THUD*¡­ ¡­ Defeated. Chapter 153: ‘Abominable Ribcage’ [Quest Completed!] [You have received 3000 Exp] *[Nyx has received 1500 Exp] [Nyx has Leveled Up] [Nyx is now Level 10] [Nyx''s Hit Point Maximum increased to 170] [Nyx''s Mana is now 180] [Strength: 75 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 80] [Speed: 140 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 150] [Stamina: 70 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 75] [For your contribution, and for getting the killing shot, you have received a bonus of 1500 Exp] *[For her contributions which include ferrying you around and aiding your killing shots, Nyx has received a bonus of 1000 Exp] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 22 (5691/6250 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Death''s Bane, Vyker-Killer, Infernal Partner] [Hit Points: 59/220] [Mana Points: 44/330] [Strength: 31] [Agility: 63] [Stamina: 30] [Perception: 31] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 5 } {Taming Lv. 2 } {Insight Lv.2} [~Arcane Tapestry~: Imprinted Spells: Shocking Grip.] [You have 6 Unallocated Stat Points] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Nyx] [Creature: Shadow Mare] [Breed: Veren Night-Mare] [Level 10 (2140/4250 Exp)]* [Hit Points: 60/170] [Mana: 180] [Strength: 80] [Speed: 150] [Stamina: 75] [Skills: {Shadow Dash Lv.1} {}]* ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª "Is that it?" Louis asked and pulled Henry out of whatever thoughts he was about to delve into. Henry looked over at Louis and saw the young mage was so tired after expending all his Mana ¡ªalong with a bit of extra power that his stamina could manage¡ª, that he slumped to the ground for a rest. "I do believe it is," Eloise said and her voice reminded Henry that he had an arm around her waist. He pulled his arm away and Eloise slid off Nyx''s back to walk toward the Monstrosity that had fallen so hard it cracked and created a deep dent in the floor. Henry got off Nyx and followed Eloise as they both observed the downed creature with a lot of attention especially on its sted open chest where a destroyed power source sat broken into pieces. "That thing''s useless as loot now," Eloise said. "Disappointed?" Henry asked. Eloise shook her head with a smile, "Considering what it would have done to us had we not destroyed that thing? No, I''m not. I''d be foolish to be," she said, "Life over loot any day." Eloise looked to the side at Henry, "Are you disappointed?" She asked him in turn. Henry was about to answer and tell hey Mr he wasn''t sure how he felt about it and was okay enough to let it go when he saw therge ''LOOT'' button rotating above the Monstrosity''s bone-gore carcass. The appearance of the button did two things to Henry; First, it reminded him that, like the forgetful idiot he sometimes was, he had forgotten about the ''Loot'' feature and had not used it on Doherty and the Mercenaries. He wondered if the loot they had on their bodies would be preserved until he could track back but found himself doubting that the rest of the Raiding party that he, Louis, and Andor left behind would not have gotten to it before he could. ''Fuck my brain!'' Second, the button told Henry there was something to be gained from the creature''s bone carcass. The button would not appear otherwise. This was further proven when he looked around the Hall and none of the eliminated Mummies ¡ªwhose remains littered the floor all over¡ª, had the button above them. Henry clicked the button the System presented to him in a screened interface and heard a dull sound effect before he was updated; [You have Looted an Abominable Ribcage.] ''Abominable what?'' Henry wondered as he called up his Inventory Interface. In one of the squares was the ''Abominable Ribcage''. It looked like a ribcage that was tinged with a sickly green sludge which gave it an almost cursed feel that Henry could detect even through the holographic screen interface. With a thought, an image of the ''Abominable Ribcage'' was pulled into a different description screen that read thus; [''Abominable Ribcage'' Description: A horrid and ''cursed'' product of a being''s ingenuity, madness, and cruelty. Every piece of bone that makes up this structure was created from multiple carcasses that were fused to provide the required girth and strength. The ''Abominable Ribcage'' served as a core framework that the Monstrosity''s massive structure was built around. It used to encase the creature''s core and has been preserved despite your explosive killing shots. It can serve as Valuable Crafting Material in the hands of a Craftsman talented and powerful enough to temper the grievances that coat and have cursed its very creation.] Henry''s eyes were wide and his mouth was gaping as he read through the description. Every line he read only seemed to expose him to more of the Ribcage''s cursed energy and yet, he was unable to ignore a detail at the end; Valuable Crafting Material. Henry decided he could, at the very least, sell the Ribcage for Gold which was a resource he was continually in need of. "Hello?" Eloise said and she nudged Henry slightly in the side with her elbow. "Hmm?" Henry said and blinked the Inventory interface away, "You nked out just now," Eloise said with a small smile, "Stared off into nothing." "Oh," Henry said and chuckled a bit when he remembered she had asked him a question before he got lost in the prospect of looting the Monstrosity, "I tend to do that sometimes. Sorry." "Don''t apologize," Eloise said and brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear while a smile spread across her beautiful face, "You must have been having an interesting thought." "In a sense," Henry told her with a few nods. "I just realized, I don''t know your name," Eloise said with her grey eyes focused slightly intently on Henry''s face. "Henry Morgan," Henry said. "Morgan? You''re not from around here, are you?" Eloise asked, not in a mean-spirited tone but rather a curious one as she had never heard anyone, even amongmoners in Alvareen or nearby regions who had ''Morgan'' as a Last name. "No, No. Not from around here," Henry said, "Got brought here because¡­ Well, you know." "Ah yes," Eloise said, and for a second, her expression clouded over like she found the memory of the cuffs very unpleasant. As quickly as the cloudy expression arrived, it was gone and Eloise held out a gloved hand as she introduced herself, "Eloise de Vurgen," she said, "Thank you for pulling and catching me, Mr. Morgan." "My pleasure," Henry said with a smile as he took the hand and shook it gently once. Eloise chuckled at his choice of words. "I''m sure it was," she said as their hands separated, "You were very instrumental in bringing that thing down." "Just doing my part seeing as Nyx did kinda set this all off," Henry said with a gesture at the horse who had trotted over with her head bowed slightly low. "I don''t think she meant any harm," Eloise said and stretched a hand out to pat Nyx''s head, "Thanks for that boost earlier." Nyx snorted and nudged harder into Eloise''s touch before pulling away. Henry continued, "Also, being called selfish struck me hard," he said, "I couldn''t let that be yourst impression of me, now could I?" Eloiseughed, "I''m afraid I still sense you''re not all that selfless¡­" "Shame," Henry said quietly. "¡­ But, I''m d you stuck around," Eloise ended with a smile having heard what Henry said in his short interruption. With one final look at Henry, during which they exchanged bobbing nods, Eloise turned around and walked over to where her party was gathered with most of the Squires still unconscious. As he watched her go, his eyes asionally drawn to the slight sway in her hips, Henry decided not to stifle his curiosity any longer as he called Magical energy to his eyes. [Activating ] Chapter 154: The Sprint ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Eloise de Vurgen] [Race: Human] [ss: Mage-Knight] [Job: Squad Captain] [Health: 440] [Mana: 560] [Faith: 200] [Strength: 102] [Agility: 60] [Stamina: 65] [Intelligence: 80] *[Remarks: Hmm¡­ Ady with a curious set of Stats. They tell the story of trials and a long journey of improvement. Aptitude in Spell-Casting and Martial abilities make her seem like a jack of two trades trying to master all. She is technically Kible but should you try, my bet is on her to win.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry''s eyes were wide at thergest collection of physical and Magical stats he had ever seen since he acquired . "Quite a bit to unpack here," Henry mumbled, "Let''s get into it." Henry clicked on the first tab to attract his attention; [ss: Mage-Knight Description: There are a few ways to achieve such a ss and they all have something to do with ignoring a natural affinity with a Magic ss and attempting to reinvent oneself. All in all, the ss ''Mage-Knight''bines the Spell casting aptitude of a Magical ss with the Martial prowess of a Knight through strict Martial Training and staunch obedience to the oath and statutes of Knighthood. This Combination can also be done with other Martial sses besides a ''Knight'' but those are just as rare as this one as very few ever stray from their naturally attuned sses. *Note: while the term ''Mage'' is used, the natural Magic Casting ss of the ''Mage-Knight'' might not necessarily be a Mage. The Mage in ''Mage-Knight'' is merely an amalgamated word used to represent all magical sses that can be used in thisbination which are; Wizards/Witches, Sorcerers/Sorceresses, Warlocks, and Mages.] ''Okay, I think I get it,'' Henry thought when he was done reading through the ss description page screen, ''She could have naturally been a Witch or Sorceress or Mage or Warlock but decided to be a Knight probably to bust a few more heads in closebat. I can respect that. Moving in¡­'' Henry clicked on the next tab he wanted to see exined, [Faith Description: Mana is a powerful resource that separates the special from the normal. However, beyond Mana is ''Faith''; A resource even more elusive. ''Faith'' is the calction of one''s connection to a Divinity and the higher it is, the more capable they are in channeling that Divinity''s divine energy to perform feats that their Mana would be incapable of performing on its own. ''Faith'' is an essential resource of Clerics who profess the word of their god or goddess, as well as Pdins (Holy Knights) who wish to take on the Holy Mission of their god or goddess and smite evil in its name.] As he read through the description of ''Faith'', not once did Henry think the reason Eloise had it was to be a Cleric. Clearly, her goal was to be a Pdin. ''A Holy Knight. I suppose ''Faith'' exins that energy of serenity she kept using to coat her sword. But since there''s nothing like ''Pdin'' in her actual stat screen, I wonder if she is not quite there yet.'' "Hmm¡­" Henry let out and stroked his jaw as his eyes moved to a collection of Physical, Mental, and Magical stats whose figures wowed him. Those stats told Henry he would not have survived a direct attack from the Monstrosity as Eloise had managed to do during their fight against the creature. He would not have jumped as high as she did even with a Nyx boost. Also, a sword in his hand would not have cut through the creature''s bony self as Eloise had managed to do. Eloise was back with her party now and she walked to each one of the unconscious Squires to gently pat them awake. The Squires'' eyes all widened in fear that always mellowed out when they saw the Monstrosity''s defeated carcassid on the ground. Henry saw Aurelius standing with his sword in hand surrounded by defeated Mummies. While Henry, Eloise, and Louis brought down the Minstrosity, Aurelius was busy with the rest of the Mummies and now he looked from Eloise to re at Henry. Henry''s lips twitched in a smile and he raised a hand in a wave while he turned his at the Knight and brought up his Stat screen; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Aurelius] [Race: Human] [ss: Knight] [Job: Squad Captain] [Health: 450] [Mana: 400] [Strength: 106] [Agility: 65] [Stamina: 70] *[Remarks: A Knight capably trained to carry out the righteous convictions of his oath to fuel his Physical Might which is already quite impressive. Certainly Kible but is a force to be reckoned with and would currently make a difficult opponent.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [ss: Knight Description: A Martial ss that''s arguably at the top ofbat sses. Knights are empowered by the oaths they carry and can use those oaths to empower themselves. Especially when facing against creatures that would harm the weak. A Knight is first and foremost charged with helping the weak and striking down evildoers wherever they may stand.] ''Would you look at that,'' Henry thought with a chuckle as his eyes moved from the description screen to Aurelius'' face, ''Asshole would not help the cuffed despite his ''oath'' and won''t stop ring at me when he was unconscious for most of the fight¡­ Aurelius, Aurelius, I don''t think you quite deserve to be a knight.'' What Henry found especially peculiar about this was that, now that he''d seen Eloise''s Stats, he could tell she would have found it very easy to defeat Doherty outside the Dungeon. Screw themotion it would cause, as long as the bearer of the Command cuff was down, Eloise would have achieved what she wanted to achieve. Yet, Aurelius had stopped her. He had stopped her even though his stats were more than impressive enough to provide her support and ensure things went smoothly. Of course, this was not the first time Henry had had this thought. When Aurelius had defended his decision to stop Eloise, Henry had seen something in the Knight''s eyes that went beyond wanting to spare the Squires: He seemed to look at Henry, Louis, and Andor like they had deserved to be in cuffs. Like it was simply normal for ves to exist and he had no desire to see them freed. "Ah, maybe I''m thinking too much of it," Henry mumbled but he knew he wasn''t. Henry looked over and saw Andor and Louis seated on the ground resting. Andor looked alright already but Louis looked like he was wheezing, "You look spent," Henry said gently. "I''m¡­ good," Louis said with a pause between the two words. A pause he spent breathing slightly heavily through his mouth. Henry gave him a nod and then looked at Andor, "Why not gather some of the weapons the Mummies dropped?" Henry said and after the Fighter cast his eyes around, he agreed and started moving about. The weapons were about as good in quality as the ones they had gotten from the Sarcophagi earlier in the day and Andor''s bag could still hold some. Henry went about as well and picked a few weapons, sending them into his Inventory as stealthily as he could. That was when he received an Alert from the System; [You have triggered a Time-sensitive Quest] [Quest: The Sprint Description: You have 30 Seconds to get across the hall and through the door that has now been unlocked. After thirty seconds, every spot on the floor you sit or stand on will be lit up with symbols that will summon Monstrosities. - Reward 1: You receive 250 Exp - Reward 2: For every member of your party (3) that survives, you''ll receive a bonus of 250 Exp. - Reward 3: You Live. Your time starts now! Good Luck.] Chapter 155: Reward Contradiction Monstrosities. Plural. With his eyes wide in horror, Henry nced at the carcass of the one that had taken so much effort to defeat, ''More of that thing?'' Fucking Hell!'' Henry looked back at the doors they had walked through to enter this Hall and they just then mmed shut. Trapping them in with the only path to escape being therge door at the end of the Hall. The seconds ticked then and Henry looked at Louis who was still breathing deeply and whose legs appeared too weak for him to move with. "Come on," Henry said and bent low to grab Louis and pull him off the ground. "What- what''s happening?" Louis asked. He was too tired and too magically drained for his ability to detect magical offsets in his environment to work as well as it should. "We need to get the hell away from here," Henry told him as he hoisted him onto Nyx''s saddle. "WE NEED TO GET AWAY FROM HERE!" Henry yelled in a voice that spread all about the Hall and drew the eyes of everyone to him. Andor paused his Weapon gathering and looked back at Henry, reacting not to the volume of the yell but rather to the edge of panic it carried. "Run!!!" Henry yelled at him, "Head for the door¡­ Actually, get over here." Henry gestured frantically and after shoving thest of the weapons he had gathered into his bag, Andor walked over to Henry who then gestured at Nyx''s saddle behind Louis, "Get on!" Andor obeyed immediately and sat and hoisted himself into Nyx''s saddle. At the time, Eloise, Aurelius, and their Party of Squires reacted to Henry''s yell by ncing at him and wondering what was cause for panic. Aurelius was about to yell out and question Henry for not speaking inly when Eloise held out a hand to tell him to stop. She sensed something. An ominous aura oozed from every single part of the Hall''s floor. Including the part of the ground that wasn''t segmented into squares. At that moment, she understood Henry''s panic and she shared it. She didn''t cast her magic detection spell. There was no need to when the ominous energy was not being at all elusive. "Run!" She yelled. Luckily for their party, she had managed to awaken all unconscious Squires and while they were all suffering from some level of fatigue, they were capable of still running for their lives. Aurelius and Eloise led the run but then¡­ *RUMBLE* ¡­ A deep sound came from the very ground on which they ran and it began to shake violently. Like it was a tform that was being shaken giant hands. Like whatever wasing was getting impatient. Henry saw the timer tick down more seconds as he got onto Nyx''s back behind Andor and the horse took off toward the end of the Hall. The ground shook and threw off her gait because, although Nyx''s body became shrouded in the dark mist of , she was not exempt from the effects. However, with some whinnies, she got across the Hall with time to spare. Henry got down from her saddle immediately and approached therge door. Unlike the other doors he had seen since his entry into the Dungeon, this one had a handle which he wasted no time gripping to pull the door open and reveal arge doorway that Nyx quickly moved through. Louis and Andor got out of her saddle then and took even more steps away from the doorway because, while they had not seen or sensed what Henry had apparently seen/sensed. The rumblings could not possibly have been a good omen. Henry expected the System to alert him for thepletion of the Time-Sensitive Quest. After all, he had secured the safety of his three Party members (Louis, Andor, and Nyx). "Is it¡ª Is it not over yet?" Henry asked when the System still did not update him. [You have made it through the door but the danger is not over yet.] ''The Quest detail was to get through the door. We are through the door,'' Henry pointed out. [The System has determined the Quest is still iplete. There are others at risk of triggering the symbols and should the Monstrosities still get summoned, you will die even though you have gotten past the door. Your death will contradict the Quest''s Third Reward so again; The Danger is not over yet and the Quest is still iplete.] ''You Fuck¡ª'' Henry thought but then realized it was silly to get worked up about Exp. All that Exp and another Level-Up would not help him survive against multiple Monstrosities anyway. He looked at the corridor sprawling behind him and wondered if running would help and then he looked back through the open door at the Knight Party struggling to move. The ground rumbling and shaking was making it difficult for them to cross the Hall. Eloise and Aurelius looked like they were well on their way to adapting. The problem was the Squires who, due to their inexperience andparatively low Stats, were stumbling and looked likely to get left behind. But neither Eloise nor Aurelius could let that happen; Whether due to a virtuous desire to save lives or a reluctance to have a blemish as huge as a Squire''s death ¡ªduring a training exercise that should not have resulted in Casualties¡ª on their record. Either way, the Party was slowed down. There was also the fact that, unlike Henry, they had no idea they were on a Timer. Eloise suspected but her senses were far from urate enough to inform her they only had a few more seconds to get across. "Nyx," Henry called out with an urgency the Knight Party wascking. "-On it!-" Nyx answered like she had already been considering making a move. She dashed into the hall, moving so fast that she was barely swayed by the violent ground shakes. "Thank you," Eloise told her and waved for the Squires to get on first. Nyx had four of them on her back and would have carried more had there been room. As quickly as she had galloped into the Hall, Nyx was back galloping through the door where the Squires got off and allowed her to go back and rescue more. The second trip saw Nyx rescue the rest of the Squires off the Hall''s floor. Without being bored down by the Squires they practically had to drag along, both Eloise and Aurelius moved faster than they had before and pulled so close to the doorway that Nyx riding out to ferry them to safety no longer seemed needed. "Get in!" Henry yelled when he saw the two ck off in their journey to safety when they were now two feet away from the doorway. Eloise wasn''t sure why but she was spurred on by Henry''s yell and made the next two steps with a leap through the doorway. Aurelius followed after and his feet had just left the ground when therge timer presented to Henry by the System counted down to ''0''. At that very moment, red symbols glowed on every single part of the Hall floor, dyeing it in glowing red that gave off an ominous feel. The Violent rumble and shake of the ground didn''t lessen. If anything, it became more intense like the Monstrosities were upset they hadn''t gotten anyone to activate their summoning. It was a curious thing that, now that they were all safe and away from any idental summoning, they just watched the Hall''s floor shake and it didn''t affect the corridor they were all in. It was like the Hall was an entire section of the Dungeon that was independent of the rest of it. [Quest Completed!] [You have received 250 Exp] [All three Party Members survived] [You have received a bonus of 750 Exp] [You Live.] [You have Leveled Up!] [You are now Level 23] Chapter 156: Without Service, Victory Is Void [Hit Point Maximum increased to 230] [Hit Points: 69/230] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 340] [You have received 6 Stat Points to Allocate] [You now have 12 Stat Points to Allocate] "It''s all red," Eloise said and pulled Henry''s attention from the notifications he was receiving, "So then, there were more of that thing to be summoned?" Eloise went on to ask before she nced at Aurelius and shook her head, "I''m starting to think this is not quite a Third-Floor Dungeon." Aurelius opened his mouth and looked like he was about to say something in response but Henry interrupted him with a question for Eloise, "What does ''Third-Floor'' mean exactly?" He asked, "I mean, I''m pretty sure we went up a floor when we climbed the steps to enter that Hall." Aurelius scoffed at the question, likely thinking it ignorant. Eloise chuckled at it, finding the question cute. She pulled further away from the open doorway to give him her attention as she said, "''Floors'' are how we calcte the danger of a Dungeon. It refers to the strength of the creatures within it¡ª Most especially the Boss." As she spoke, Eloise had her arms folded on her Armored chest and had her head angled at Henry like she expected him to have a question about what she just said. Henry did. "But why ''Floors''? Why not ranks or tiers or levels and such?" "You want the long or the short version?" Eloise asked with a gentle smile. "Short version, please," Henry said equally with a smile. "Very well," Eloise said before then got started, "A long time ago, a group of experts wished to understand the Dungeons better. They explored them and recorded what they felt, and in their report, they imed that although Dungeons are usually quite different in content, they possess a simrity in their core energy. In their ''feel''. The Experts believed that, for there to be this simrity, there had to be something that pulled the Dungeons together so they decided that every Dungeon was within a singr structure. A ''Tower'' if you will. The higher the Dungeon is within this metaphoric Tower, the stronger the energy within and the stronger the creatures within. And so, they devised the ''Floors'' system as a way of determining the difficulty of Dungeons. The higher the Floor, the stronger its energy and the creatures within. And I fear this one might not have been inurately judged." "How many Floors are there?" Henry asked next. Eloise shrugged, "Not quite known yet," Eloise said, "The Dungeons keep appearing and they keep getting stronger. There was a Party formed quite recently to clear a Twentieth Floor Dungeon and I''ve heard there are even stronger ones." "I see," Henry said, "Thanks for exining." "You''re wee," Eloise told him with a smile before Aurelius imed her attention, "I think we should get going," he said with a gesture down at the sprawling corridor. Eloise shook her head and gestured at the Squires all leaning against the wall to rest, "They need to catch their breath," she said, "Besides, is it responsible to bring them even further into the Dungeon? You can tell what we''re going to face soon, can''t you?" "The Dungeon Boss?" Aurelius asked with a raised brow. Eloise nodded and then let out a sigh, "Aurelius, we struggled. We were in as much danger as they were and we''re supposed to keep them safe. This isn''t a Third Floor Dungeon. I refuse to believe it is¡­ They won''t stand a chance." That was thest bit of the conversation Henry caught but he did notice Aurelius start to run through arguments to change Eloise''s mind. "So," Henry asked Louis who was on the ground by his side, "How much ''fun'' have you had so far?" Louis looked to the side at Henry and rolled his wide eyes when he realized that the question was meant to be mocking him since he had stated his reason for exploring the Dungeon further was partly for ''Fun''. "Quite a bit, actually," he said, "I mean you can''t tell me you didn''t feel thrilled to see thatrge Monstrosity hit the ground with finality." "I don''t think ''thrilled'' is the word I''ll use for how I felt," Henry said with his nose wrinkled and a smile ying at his lips, "I felt relief more than anything." This was of course not entirely true. Henry always felt pleasure from seeing anything fall to his gunshots and that had been the case here but he saw no reason to admit that because, for all the fun it was to shoot and kill things, he still had the good sense to seek self-preservation. Nyx was lying on the ground by his side with her head against the corridor floor. Subconsciously, Henry stretched his hand out and stroked her head to which she let out a delighted puff of air from her nose as she rxed even further. "Either way, we all got something from it," Louis said and when Henry was about to raise a brow at that statement, he saw the Mage close his eyes and revel in some feeling of improvement. "Oh, it''s happening again?" Henry asked. He recognized the look on Louis''s face from when they had gotten past the room with the Sarcophagi. Louis said nothing and simply nodded. Andor was also reveling in the sensation of improvement and Henry called magical energy to his eyes. Activating to observe the increments; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Louis] [Race: Human] [ss: Mage] [Health: 160 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 170] [Mana: 200 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 230] [Strength: 13 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 14] [Agility: 15 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 17] [Stamina: 22 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 26] [Intelligence: 85 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 90] *[Remarks: A young Mage who makes up for what hecks in Magical Training with a lot of enthusiasm and Talent. Has only discovered one Elemental Aptitude (Lightning). Has impressive potential but Kible should you want to.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Andor] [Race: Human] [ss: Fighter] [Health: 210 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 220] [Mana: 160 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 170] [Strength: 66 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 70] [Agility: 34] [Stamina: 32 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 34] *[Remarks: A Fighter who makes up for his limited Martial training with enthusiasm and Impressive strength. Has Impressive Potential but is kible should you want to.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Louis had the most amount of Stat increases. Henry counted an additional 12 Stat Points tagged onto his Stat screen ¡ªwhich was equivalent to two level-ups for him¡ªpared to the 6 Stat point addition on Andor''s screen. If Henry were to guess the reason for the disparity, he''d have said it was because Louis had been vital in felling the Monstrosity and he would have been right. Curious, Henry looked at the Knight Party. The Squires had simr expressions as Louis and Andor which was enough of an indicator that they were also undergoing Stat increases. He ignored them and his eyes fell on Eloise and Aurelius who were done with their conversation now and had their arms folded with nothing in their expressions to betray a delight in Stat increases. Henry turned on them and called up their Stat screens to observe any possible change; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Eloise de Vurgen] [Race: Human] [ss: Mage-Knight] [Job: Squad Captain] [Health: 440 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 460] [Mana: 560 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 580] [Faith: 200 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 202]* [Strength: 102 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 105] [Agility: 60 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 64] [Stamina: 65 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 68] [Intelligence: 80 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 82] *[Remarks: Hmm¡­ Ady with a curious set of Stats. They tell the story of trials and a long journey of improvement. Aptitude in Spell-Casting and Martial abilities make her seem like a jack of two trades trying to master all. She is technically Kible but should you try, my bet is on her to win.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Aurelius] [Race: Human] [ss: Knight] [Job: Squad Captain] [Health: 450 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 470] [Mana: 400 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 410] [Strength: 106 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 110] [Agility: 65 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 67] [Stamina: 70] *[Remarks: A Knight capably trained to carry out the righteous convictions of his oath to fuel his Physical Might which is already quite impressive. Certainly Kible but is a force to be reckoned with and would currently make a difficult opponent.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry was quite wowed by the increases to an already stacked Stat screen but his eyes were drawn to the asterisk tagged into the corner of the ''Faith'' tab. He clicked on it and opened an additional window; [Faith is unaffected by mundane victory and can only be increased through acts that please its bearer''s Divine Patron. The Divine Patron who Eloise de Vurgen seeks to serve promotes goodwill above all else and, as such, her ''Faith'' will only increase when her victory is in the service of others. For without service, Victory is void.] Chapter 157: I Hear Fighting Reading through the description of ''Faith'' and how it could be increased, Henry wondered if Eloise''s conviction to offer help to the downtrodden ¡ªlike he and the other cuff-wearers¡ª was born out of a natural desire or was just because she wanted to please some god. All in all, Henry didn''t care either way. She had a right to do things for whatever reasons she wanted to do them and as long as it was in his favor, he saw no real reason to question it. That said, it still made for an interesting thought. Henry had no idea how long he sat on the ground with his back against the wall. It could have been an hour, it could have been two. Without an actual conference of vocal decision-making, the two Parties present (Henry''s and Eloise''s) came to a silent agreement to take as much rest as was required to have everyone back in top condition. At some point, with his hand on Nyx''s head, Henry realized there was something he wanted to know. Something he had started to ask before the cmity of summoned Mummies interrupted and shut the conversation down. "-So how is it you came to be in my shadow?-" he asked her through their Telepathic connection to keep it from the others in the corridor. Nyx made a move that Henry decided to have been a shrug. As much of a shrug as she could manage. "-That day, something pulled you. I could feel it¡ª Your soul was gone from your body. The absence, as well as what happened before that, made me weak. came to mind and your Shadow expanded to swallow me.-" she said in a candid matter-of-fact tone. "-And how was it?-" Henry asked, "-In my Shadow, I mean.-" "-Not bad-" Nyx answered, "-I mean, I took a nap for heavens knows how long¡­-" "-Nine days-" Henry interjected then, "¡ªIt''s been about Nine days since the incident at the Hadron Mansion.-" "-Wow-" Nyx said, "That long huh¡­-" ''Long?'' Henry thought to himself, ''I wonder¡­'' He had spent four days of the Nine days that had passed since the Hadron Mansion incident, asleep, and considering he had spent the rest of the days actively in captivity and then fighting for his life and his freedom, it did seem a bit long. ''Whates after this?'' He wondered, ''Do I go back to New Freudein? Seems redundant but What about Yelena? If Maude sold me, he must have her too. Maybe he sold her¡­ Either way, to save her, I''d have to confront him. Can I win as I am?'' Henry gave it some thought and then shook his head with a self-deprecating smile, ''Nah, I can''t,'' he decided. His current stats wereckingpared to what Angus had had during the ck Manor job and the Gang Leader/Hive-King had still failed. Hell, Angus had had to sacrifice the integrity of a powerful artifact so they could get away and it hadn''t killed Maude Aleric. No, no, returning to Saint ret to confront Maude Aleric seemed foolish at the moment. Going anywhere close to that city was probably unwise too. Henry''s mind was still busy when he noticed the shuffling of movements. Eloise, Aurelius, and their Party of Squires were gathering. "We''re going on ahead," Eloise told Henry when she saw him looking over at their party. "So you''ve decided to take them along?" Henry said with a gesture at the Squirre whose expressions ranged from worry to determination with most being a mix of both. "We''ll protect them," Aurelius jumped in to say before Eloise could speak, "They''ll be fine." ''A bit overconfident, but alright,'' Henry thought. It was extra muscle after all, so why would he care? He did look at Eloise though and the look in her eyes as well as the sigh she let out made it clear she had lost the argument she had been having with Aurelius earlier. Which led to this oue. Louis and Andor stood up, both well rested with Andor''s face screwed up with a strange focus like he was determined to make up for some inadequacy. Anyway, they all moved through the corridor, leaving the still-shaking hall behind as they headed deeper into the gloom ahead. Henry had Nyx trotting by his side. The ceiling of the Corridor kept getting lower the further they walked and it would have been ufortable to attempt to ride in her saddle. Besides, it would also have been awkward with everyone else on foot. Henry brought his Stat Points to mind and decided on how he wanted them allocated; ''7 Points into Agility. 5 into Stamina.'' [Are you sure?] ''I am.'' [Agility: 63 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 70] [Stamina: 30 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 35] "We''re close," Louis said just as Henry swiped away the tab screens that were in front of his face. "I can sense it," Louis continued and despite his enthusiastic tone, there was an edge to it. Caution for what other horror awaited. A few more steps and Aurelius who walked at the front of the Party paused with his ears keen. Eloise''s posture was simr and then she frowned as she said, "I hear Fighting." Almost like her words opened up his senses, Henry found he could also hear what had warranted the pause. Bangs, ms, sts, strikes, groans, grunts, crunches, and overall sounds of pain wereing from up ahead. Whatever the next ordeal of the Dungeon was, it had been engaged with before them. "Come on!" Eloise said like she couldn''t stand the sounds of pain. She edged past Aurelius and sprinted the rest of the way through the Corridor. "Wait," Aurelius called out but she was already gone. Both ''Violent Retort'' and ''The Hydra''s Sting'' appeared in Henry''s hands as he followed after Eloise with Nyx, Andor, and Louis following after. They reached the end of the corridor soon. It ended in an archway that opened up into arger area. Eloise stood at the archway with her eyes wide and her hand on the handle of her sword which was still in its scabbard by her waist. Therger area the Archway led into was a Hall at least three times wider than the Hall they left behind but half as long. If they wanted to sprint across and were on a time crunch, Henry was sure he would make it across in maybe 10 seconds even without Nyx. This, of course, was assuming the ground didn''t start to shake. Anyway, the floor of this hall wasn''t segmented into squares and Henry doubted there were any summoning symbols to be wary of. However, that didn''t mean it was safe¡­ Quite the contrary, in fact. "Get away from me!" A man in a robe yelled out as he tried to outrun an attack and give himself the chance to cast a spell. He never got that chance and with his eyes widened in horror, he had to attempt to use his Staff to parry therge de of a massive sword. The sword cut his staff in two and went on to cut arge gash across the robed man''s chest in a forceful strike that sent him to the ground, at the mercy of his attacker. The attacker in question was d in ck Armorplete with a Helmet. The Helmet had more than enough opening, however, to reveal a decaying face with most of its flesh already gone and exposing a ckened and horrid bone structure lying underneath. An Undead Knight. With its eyes glowing a malicious Violet color, the Undead Knight brought its massive sword down on the robed man but Eloise was suddenly there. She braced herself as well as she could and swung her sword to intercept the enemy''s de. *CLANG!* "Hng!" Eloise groaned as though she had not expected the force behind the strike. Henry watched her in a stalemate with the Undead Knight and then looked all over the Hall. There were multiple Undead Knights. Henry counted at least 10 already and they were all in battle against Fighters and Mages. Some of whom Henry recognized; They were the other groups that had entered the Dungeon besides his group and Eloise''s. He saw the man who had approached Eloise and Aurelius outside the Dungeon and addressed them with some familiarity, and he was not doing well. Chapter 158: Undead Knights (1) The Man was not battling an Undead Knight on his own. Six other fighters were with him and even then, they were all at a massive disadvantage of the Knight''s might. Every contact their des made with the Knight''s weapon reverberated intensely across their arms and other entire bodies, causing them to weaken and their senses to dull. The Man had just been forced to his knees where he was promptly kicked away by the Undead Knight and as he tried to not be knocked on his back, he noticed Eloise holding back an Undead Knight. He looked from her to the entrance into the hall closest to where she was and saw Aurelius burst onto the scene with his sword in hand. The Man''s lips spread into a smile, "Sir Aurelius, you made it!" He said in a voice that carried, "Thank heavens, we need all the help we can get." "Norbert¡­" Aurelius said to acknowledge the man''s greeting and if he wanted to say more, he never got a chance as an Undead Knight came barreling at him right then with a shield raised to bash into him. With his eyes wide and his senses sharp in reaction, Aurelius pulled out his shield, again seemingly from out of nowhere, and held it out to receive and resist the bash. *BANG!* The sound both metal equipment made after contact was loud and impactful. "Ugh!" Aurelius let out as he locked in his knees and kept his position. Only getting pushed back a step or two. "What are you waiting for?" Aurelius cried out suddenly and he looked over at the Archway with such intensity that Henry thought he was talking to him but then the Squires began to charge past him, all yelling cries of determination as they broke into groups. One group went to aid Aurelius. They stabbed their swords at the Knight''s unprotected back. Deftly aiming for gaps in its armor. They stabbed through the gaps but with hardly any actual flesh on their target, the result was not nearly as satisfying. Plus, more often than not, the sword simply went through the gaps in the Undead''s bones with only a little twist required to wrench the weapons from the grip of the Squires. The Undead Knight reacted to their pointless stabs and with the slightest pullback from its current shield bash against Aurelius, it swung its spear in a violent arch that caught one of the Squires in the head in a m that sent her flying many feet away. The others ducked just in time to avoid the Spear''s shaft and Aurelius used that moment to make a sudden sidestep. He rolled to the Knight''s side and swung a sword at its neck only to find the de of his sword promptly bashed aside by the Undead''s Shield. It still had its spear in motion and could not pull it back to stab Aurelius. Or maybe it just didn''t want to. Either way, the Undead Knight unleashed its sickly deathly mana in a violent surge that sted the Squires that had managed to duck its Spear attack and knocked them all away. The Mana surge also struck against Aurelius with a force that aimed to m him away like the Squires but he held his ground, unleashed a Mana surge of his own, and the two were quickly locked in battle. Meanwhile, the second group of Squires made their way to Eloise in hopes of providing her assistance but then a massive axe descended in the space between them and Eloise. Another Undead Knight had taken action and picked them as its opponent. The axe that had struck the ground was specked the blood that had barely been shaken off despite the swings it must have made because the kill was recent. The killy on the ground just a few feet away. Just recently split open. With their eyes widened, the Squires raised their weapons and prepared to take a stance but before the stance could take the form of defense or maybe even attack, they received a forceful wave of Mana surge interrupting their attempts before the axe came swinging at their heads next. Its massive double-sided de looked more than enough to split them in two at once. The Squires generally had enough sense to take advantage of the m of the Mana surge and slid a few steps back but they were also incapable of remaining on their feet and fell back with groans of effort. The Squire at the front of the group had his sword raised horizontally in front of him, almost instinctively ¡ªlike how you would throw your hand out after falling¡ª and with a sh of its heavy steel, the axe that had just swung horizontal and cut through the air, swung down vertically and cut clean through an arm. The Squire''s eyes were first wide in horror. His shock seemed to dy his pain and then he yelled out not only at the pain of losing an arm but at the idea of losing it at all. "ARRGG¡­!!!" The pained/horrified yell was very loud and earsplitting to those close to it but it was hardly new in the current climate. It was quickly lost amid the other pained yells all over the Hall. Plus, it was shut up quickly enough as the Undead Knight pulled its weapon back and then brought it down to cleave the Squire in two. An instantaneous end that shut up the yell and reced it with the sounds of blood and the squelching sound of spilling innards. Horrified by what they just witnessed, the other Squires had taken the opportunity that theirrade getting cleaved in two, presented and aimed to put as much distance between the Undead Knight and themselves. The Squires couldn''t even get to their feet. Their legs seemed to fail them and they had barely crawled three feet when the Knight turned its horrid hollow but glowing eyes on them and took a step with its axe pulled back in preparation for a swing. But then, its head twitched and it raised its axe in front of its face just in time to intercept two Mana-infused Slugs fired at the same time from the weapon whose muzzles were now smoking in Henry''s hand. *BANG!* The resulting sound was a bang of the two slugs hitting at the same time with the same level of impact. The Undead Knight, while acting quickly enough to use its axe like a shield, was still caught fairly by surprise and had not expected the impact the Slugs would make so he was forced to slide back a step after which it brought the axe down and red at Henry who still had the weapon raised. Blue light glowed across ''Violent Retort'', reloading it with bullets just as a dark circle spread from Henry. It had started spreading since Henry had fired the Mana-infused Slugs and now it touched the Shadow the Undead Knight cast. Before the Undead had the chance to re at Henry some more, Nyx leaped out of the shadow with her head in the position to barrel into the enemy. *Bam!* Nyx made contact with the Undead and it slid back even more steps but still had its attention on Henry so when Henry pulled the triggers of ''Violent Retort'', it was ready, and leaned in a dodge to avoid the projectiles that were naturally expected to travel in a straight line. But they didn''t. The Mana-infused Slugs changed direction with the Undead Knight. Or more urately, they changed direction with the Undead Knight''s axe and followed itsrge de until they struck against the very spot thest two Mana-infused slugs had made contact with. *BANG!!* Somehow, this impact seemed even greater than thest and spun the Axe in a violent spin. At first, the Undead tried to retain its hold on the weapon and it was forced to move a few steps away before eventually, the axe was wrenched from its already weakened grip, spinning away and leaving it without a Weapon. Chapter 159: Undead Knights (2) Watching as the Mana-infused slugs he fired followed the marks that he had used his new Sub-skill to ce on the Undead Knight''s weapon, caused Henry''s lips to curl in a little smile. He would have obviously preferred for his first two shots ¡ªthe ones that had carried the marking of the Sub-skill¡ª to have struck the Undead''s Knight''s decaying and near skeletal armor-wearing body instead of its weapon, but this was quite literally the next best thing. The moment the Undead Knight was weaponless, Nyx was charging at it and reared on her hind legs just in time to kick out with her front legs against the enemy''s armored chest. *Bam!* *Bam!* Nyx''s hits struck as she took advantage of the Undead Knight''s unstable stance to send it sprawling on its back. But as Nyx raised her legs and made to bring them down for more hard stomps, the Undead Knight stretched out its hands and gripped her legs. *NEIGH!* Nyx let out a sound of distress as she tried to push back against the Undead''s grip and stomp her hooves on its chest but she found she was barely able to move and certainly not able to gather the required momentum to make Impactful hits. Although Nyx had incredible speed that the Undead Knight could probably not match up to, it possessed far more strength and now that it had managed to get a grip, it would not be easy to shake free. This realization dawned on Nyx as she continued to struggle. The Undead Knight pulled Nyx and brought her legs down until her knees hit the ground hard causing her to let out an anguished whinny. The Undead, of course, did not care. It took one hand off Nyx''s leg and before she could make a move, it rose halfway off the ground and mmed the hand it had taken off her leg against the side of her head in a punch that stunned her. [Nyx has lost 30 Hit Points] [Nyx''s Hit Points: 30/155] "-This Fucker!-" She yelled out her annoyance through the channel only Henry could hear. Speaking of which, Henry''s view of the Undead Knight had gotten obstructed by Nyx and he had also decided not to shoot to give her a chance to get in her strikes. But now, seeing as Nyx had been subdued and the Knight was exposed, Henry reloaded ''Violent Retort'' and prepared to fire. Again, just like thest two times Henry had shot at the Undead Knight, it reacted before Henry could even pull the trigger. With a secret groan, Henry knew ¡ªeven without yet using ¡ª that the enemy''s stats were probably staggering. The Undead Knight reacted to Henry''s attempt to shoot at it and with one of its hands still around one of Nyx''s legs, it yanked her off the ground and swung her toward Henry with quite a bit of effort. Henry''s eyes widened when Nyx''srge body was suddenly in the way of his aim. He was shocked as well as horrified that the Undead Knight had had enough sense to try to goad him intomitting friendly fire. Worse yet, with her Hit Points low as they were, there was no way Nyx would survive Henry''s shot. Had she even had her Hit Points at the maximum, it might have still been a deadly attack depending on what part of the horse''s body was struck. Henry might have fallen for this if he had already been squeezing his gun''s triggers but fortunately, the Undead Knight had acted preemptively which meant that when Nyx came sailing over, Henry still had time to take his finger off the triggers of ''Violent Retort''. He went a step further by raising the gun and pointing its muzzle toward the ceiling and because his mind had been so focused on this and sparing his horse a deadly fate, Henry only realized there was another issue when Nyx was now skidding across the ground and was a foot away from colliding with him in an impactful m. Henry''s brain had the time to wonder just how much he would suffer from the m and he was just about consoling himself that he could survive it when his Shadow expanded and Nyx vanished into it just an inch away from making contact with him. As his shadow went back to normal then, sealing up Nyx''s exit route, Henry wondered if she''d be gone long again but shook himself out of those thoughts to look at the Undead Knight. And his eyes, which had already returned to normal after surviving a potentially disastrous contact with his horse, became wide again in horror. The Undead Knight was in front of Henry and it struck out its gloved ¡ªdecaying/skeletal¡ª hand to punch Henry in the face. Henry hadn''t even sensed the punching. There were a few factors that influenced this, of course; First, He had been distracted. Second, while the Undead Knight''s speed wasckingpared to Nyx, it was probably well within range of Henry''s. Third, His Perception might just require a few more increases to keep up with the ever-increasing demands of the enemies he encountered. All these reasons established, Henry''s reaction to theing punch waspletely instinctive and he made to escape and get out of the enemy''s range of attack. Despite how close the fist was to his face, Henry still got about a foot back thanks to his impressive agility but the Undead Knight''s outstretched arm made it across the slightly increased distance just fine. *Bam!* The punch connected in a strike whose damage would have probably been far worse had Henry not managed to take that step back. [You have lost 35 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 24/230] The pain was stunning and the sprinkle of lights that dotted Henry''s sights spun as he was sent off his feet and rolled away. Even as his head rang, Henry locked in and stopped his roll as quickly as possible. He had his Perception spread now and was taking note of the Undead Knight''s position in preparation to shoot. But suddenly, Louis was there. In the minute or more that Henry had spent involved in fighting the Undead Knight, Louis had been chanting and lying in wait. When he leaped out of the archway where he had been ducking just out of sight of any Undead Knight and not quite a target yet, he hadpleted the spell chant and gave the Undead Knight no time to react. *Brrrrzzzztttt* As usual, it started with tingles and instantly became multiple streaks of Lightning that moved with far more impactful sounds and charged the very air with electricity. The Undead Knight, caught by surprise, managed to dodge a tendril but with there being many more, it still got struck and as the electricity coursed through its decaying body, Andor showed himself, Spear in hand. He ran at the Knight and yelled out a battle cry. The Undead Knight would have reacted quite easily to such an obvious, straightforward attack and it would have ovee Andor''s weaker strength¡­ Had its body not been stunned and locked in ce by Louis'' lightning attack. The Undead Knight managed to raise a hand but it was too little toote because, just then, Andor stabbed his Spear through a gap in its armor, just around its midsection. "AH!" Andor yelled as he channeled his Mana-Surge through his Spear which resulted in a st¡­ *BANG!* ¡­ that blew off a sizeable bit of the Undead Knight''s torso. Its arms dropped uselessly by its sides and it keeled over backward away from Andor to hit the ground with a Thud. One of the first Undead Knights to be vanquished in the Hall. It could also have been the very first but Henry couldn''t pay that detail enough attention to get it right. He watched it all end, not sure if to smile or grimace because he was damn sure, he just got robbed of the sweet extra reward of ''Undead Woes''. Chapter 160: Undead Knights (3) ??? Eloise had the Undead Knight in a stalemate and even as the strength behind the enemy''s attack made her knees buckle ever so slightly, she managed to retain her ground while yelling behind her at the robed man she had spared by stepping in, now "Go! Get away from here!" The robed man''s eyes were widened. He had just seen his life sh before his eyes and the fact that he had only barely gotten spared shocked him so much that his reaction was dyed. But then his brain became active again. The pain from the gash the Undead Knight had cut across his chest began to ache again and, wincing at it, he nodded to Eloise while gritting his teeth as he crawled away. The Undead Knight''s hollow glowing eyes shed as it saw its kill getting away. With a massive surge of sickly deathly mana, it pushed Eloise away to take a singlerge step toward the escaping robed man and bring its sword down toplete the kill. The forceful push knocked Eloise back and she was forced to raise a leg off the ground which destabilized her stance but she narrowed her eyes still and with a quick spellcast, she took one hand off her sword handle and pointed it at the little space still between the Undead Knight and its target. A magic circle appeared in front of Eloise''s outstretched hand and out of it, a beam fired powerfully to strike against the Knight''s sword just as it came an inch from making contact with its target. *Whum!* The beam struck with just enough force to change the trajectory of the sword strike so that it cut a gash into the ground an inch away from the robed man instead of through his neck. Eloise regained her bnce, clenched her outstretched hand into a fist, and recast her magical beam to strike it against the Undead Knight in hopes of knocking it even more steps away from its would-be victim. "Rarr!!!" It sounded close to a roar but more like a guttural grunt and it rose from the Undead Knight''s decaying/skeletal neck as it was struck with the beam. It moved about a step to the side in the direction the beam pushed it toward but held its ground, resisting the beam until it swung its sword through it. The sword was coated with the Knight''s sickly deathly undead Mana but served as good enough of a counter against the beam. Shattering its continuous force and causing the spell circle to fizzle out from in front of Eloise''s fist. Eloise didn''t care. By the time the beam waspletely gone, she had taken a powerful leap upward and came down with a powerful cleave of her sword from above. Despite its decaying face covered by the ck Helmet it had on, it appeared the Undead Knight was still capable of showing off emotion. It looked at Eloise with surprise which only got more noticeable when Eloise''s mana surged and her sword became coated with an energy de that oozed an aura of serenity. Rather than raise its weapon to intercept Eloise''s strike, the Undead Knight leaped back and her attack struck the ground instead, cutting a long gash on the ground and erupting quite a bit of dust from the sheer force. Eloise frowned but she was already lifting her sword off the ground and hefting it to go after the Undead Knight who was barely two feet away from her. And then she heard augh. "Hahaha. A Knightly oath, Magic, and even a connection to Divinity¡­ Impressive." Eloise wasn''t even sure why she paused her nned attack. There was something about the voice that just gripped her attention. Like the words of a learned senior seeking to teach. The fact that the voice wasing from the Undead Knight was the least important thing and the least surprising. "Tell me, Child, why did you abandon your natural path?" The Undead Knight asked in a voice that was undoubtedly feminine. "Natural path?" Eloise asked with a frown as she sought to return to the stance she had straightened out of, "I don''t know what you''re talking about." The Undead Knight chortled, "What were you supposed to be?" It asked, "A Witch? A Mage? A Warlock?" Eloise''s eyes clouded and her lips parted like she was about to speak and then suddenly, she was gone from the spot she had been standing in. She propelled herself forward with her agility pushed to the absolute limit and with every bit of a boost she could get with her Strength and ended her move with a spin that increased the momentum of her nned strike. *CLANG!* The sound of a sword de hitting a sword de rang around them and it was followed by a slight shockwave just based on their contact. The Undead Knight who had lifted its sword off the ground just in time to intercept Eloise''s attack let out augh, "Fine!" it said, "Don''t tell me. Rar!" Ending its words with a roaring yell, it struck at Eloise with its Mana surge but she unleashed hers in return and the resulting stalemate caused the Undead Knight''s expression to go from mocking to surprise once again. And then it grinned. It was a horrible grin made worse by the decaying flesh around the ckened teeth, "Of course. Greater Mana reserves because you''re a natural-born caster. But having more to waste doesn''t make you better." It was true. Mana Surge scales off of Martial ability and the primary deciding factor for this is Physical stats. Or ''physical might'' for those who did not have ess to observing Stat screens as Henry did. Anyway, although Eloise had more Mana reserves than even the Undead Knight she was facing off against and could keep up her Mana surge for even longer, she could not quite overpower the enemy because hers was the weaker surge. Eloise''s sword zed with the energy de she had ess to through her connection with her Divine Patron but even then, she remained on the losing end. "Pitiful¡­" the Undead Knight said and it did sound genuine about its pity. "Shut Up!" Eloise said with her face screwed up in focus. The Undead Knight chortled, "Struck a nerve, did I?" It asked, "Well, how about I show you how a Knight fights? A Knight with just their oath and nothing more¡­" From the Undead Knight''s body exploded a sense of conviction so powerful, that Eloise''s entire body ¡ªall of her senses¡ª, was getting permeated with it. She knew what this was. It was Oath-Channeling that even she was capable. It was a Skill a Knight could use to empower themselves with the convictions of the oaths they had sworn during their induction. The Undead Knight already had the upper hand in the current sh of weapons and with Oath-Channeling to take it further, Eloise was itching toward the end of her rope and she certainly looked like it. Even if she included her Oath-Channeling in turn, she couldn''t win a contest of strength. Not directly, at least. And then, as the Undead Knight''s decaying face gained a gloating expression, Eloise said silently, "¡­ Nyet." Instantly, a Magic circle waspleted underneath the Undead Knight. It had a stifling energy that reached deep into its decaying Armor-d body and shut off all major functions. It stopped the Undead''s Mana surge and even Oath-channeling in ce. Eloise''s surge continued and she finally disarmed her opponent and sent the sword ttering to the ground. "What¡ª?" The Undead Knight said in shock trying to resist the magic of the circle. Eloise drew her sword back, still coated with the divine energy de of serenity. "Trickery and Distractions. Learned those along with this spell from my Father," she said and then clicked her tongue, "Tsk! And now you have me thinking of him¡­ Fuck You!" Eloise stabbed and her sword cut through the enemy''s Armor-d decaying body before she swung diagonally to cut it in two so that both halves hit the ground with simultaneous Thuds. Chapter 161: Undead Knights (4) Eloise kept her eyes on the Undead Knight as its two halves hit the ground and then her eyes fell on the Spell circle she had stealthily cast while drawing her opponent into a false sense of security. A memory came to mind¡­ Early years when she was still interested in having a rtionship with her father. The years when she had not yet seen him as the power-hungry control freak that he was¡­ As the spell circle fizzled out, Eloise''s eyes continued to drop until she was looking at her face reflected in the magical steel of her sword. Almost subconsciously, she raised the sword and held it at a horizontal angle to look into it. Her grey eyes stared back at her in the reflection. The eyes were the only things she had gotten from her Father¡­ Besides her magical talent, of course. Eloise let out a sigh and shook her head as though to get rid of annoying thoughts before she once again looked at the Undead she just cut in two to deliver one final cuss, "Burn in hell, you talkative asshole." "Ah!" A cry of pain pulled Eloise out of her mncholy and she was quickly reminded that she was in a massive hall with battles happening all over. The cry that had particrly drawn her attention came from much closer. Both in distance and familiarity; It was Aurelius who had just gotten bashed away by an Undead Knight. Aurelius slid a bit before stabbing his sword into the ground to stop as he looked up at his Undead opponent who had its shield raised and its Spear pointed menacingly. The Undead Knight charged at Aurelius but suddenly, Eloise was there, parrying the Spear away before mming her hand against the shield the Undead didn''t let shift in its defense. The spell cast was quick and the magical beam was unleashed at point nk range where it pushed the Undead Knight a few steps back even though it swung its shield as though the defect the force of the beam aside. Eloise made to charge in and follow up but Aurelius ran past her to strike his sword at the Undead Knight who reacted in time to raise its Shield in defense. "I have this, Eloise," Aurelius said through gritted teeth. Whether the gritting was due to effort or annoyance was unclear. Eloise must have thought it was thetter or both because she grinned tauntingly. "You looked like you needed help," She said as she stabbed at the Undead Knight hoping to take advantage of the fact that Aurelius had its attention. "I was handling it," Aurelius said as he hooked his shield against the Undead Knight''s shield just to get behind the defense and strike more directly against its body. "Sure you were," Eloise said with a smile before she grimaced as the Undead Knight mmed the shaft of its Spear in such a way that it came at her and knocked her sword stab to the side. In the same move, the Shaft also created a bar to intercept Aurelius and in a single surge of sickly deathly Mana, it unleashed a wave that mmed into the two attacking Knights to knock them away. As Eloise and Aurelius tried to resist the force and stand their ground, the Undead Knight struck its feet against the ground and began to ooze the convictive aura of Oath-channeling. Eloise and Aurelius shared a look and as one, they channeled their Oaths as well. In a moment, thendscape seemed to change in a way it hadn''t even when Eloise had fought an Undead Knight just minutes ago; The Oaths to protect the weak and fight for the downtrodden faced off against the Undead''s Oath to stand guard within this Hall and make sure no one moved on and faced its Lord. The Undead Knight''s grip on its Spear tightened just as Eloise and Aurelius shared a look. Eloise said nothing but she raised a brow as though to ask, "Still want me to stand aside?" Aurelius rolled his eyes at her but he spoke instead, "Provide support. Only support!" "As you wish," Eloise said and they were off. Eloise seemed to vanish from the Undead Knight''s senses and while it considered sensing her out, Aurelius was there striking his sword against its Shield. The attack was parried but he refused to be moved even a foot and was quickly back to strike again. When the shield came to knock his sword aside again, Aurelius was ready and found the self-control to stop his swing and hook his shield against his opponent''s just so he could open up a path to attack. "You''ve tried this before," The Undead knight said. Speaking for the first time, it sounded exasperated that Aurelius would be foolish to retry a move that had failed once already. The Undead Knight swung its Spear to use it as a bar to intercept Aurelius''s attack with then its glowing hollow eyes widened when a beam was fired and struck it in the chest. *BAM!* The impact was heavy and most of all unexpected. It knocked the Undead back and Aurelius took that time to sh at its body. His sword struck the enemy''s Armor-protected chest and was able to cut a gash through it. Also, the mere force of the attack caused the Undead Knight to stumble even more. It regained its stance quickly when its senses warned of an attacking from behind. Eloise was aware her magical beam could do very little more than push the enemy. Her Intelligence, while impressive wasckingpared to her strength so, besides trickery, a full frontal attack with physical might was most assured a good result over a magical attack. Which was why she was now stabbing her sword at the Undead Knight''s back. It turned its torso and swung its Spear toward her. The attack moved fast. Faster than Eloise could react to, so, of course, she slowed down the attack by conjuring three magical shields preemptively. The Spear broke through them all in turn but the critical reduction in its speed gave Eloise the precious seconds she needed to duck low and avoid it. Just as the shaft of the Undead Knight''s Spear was sailing clear above Eloise''s head, Aurelius arrived and stabbed his sword through the enemy''s back. At the same time, Eloise raised her sword-wielding hand and stabbed her weapon into the enemy''s midsection. The de of her sword got stuck within bone but with a heave, she cut through it in an attack that waspleted by Aurelius wrenching his sword through the undead and shattering its sternum. The Undead Knight began a Mana surge and tried to resist the attacks with its physical abilities improved through Oath-Channeling. s, with important pieces of body-holding bone formations cut through, the glow in its eyes began to lessen. Eloise took note of the lessening glow and she didn''t care to let the process continue or end as she rose off the ground and decapitated it so the head hit the ground hard only protected from shattering due to the ck helmet it had on. The Armored body fell soon after. "Teamwork," Eloise said with an easy smile. Just barely mocking. Aurelius rolled his eyes as though to reiterate how she had not been needed. He looked around for the Squires that had joined to assist in his fight against the Undead Knight. They had all gotten mmed aside by repeated Mana surges and Spear-shaft ms but they were alive. The same, however, could not be said for the halved-up body Aurelius''s eyes fell on next. He felt Eloise stiffen by his side as they both realized that while they had been busy and had their attention gripped by Undead Opponents, one of their charges had met a horrible end. Chapter 162: Undead Knights (5) ??? Besides missing out on the ''Undead Woes'' extra reward, Henry had also lost out on the Kill Reward but he came to terms with it quickly enough. While the extra reward was all well and good, he had a reward already waiting courtesy of a Quest the System had delivered the moment his eyes fell on the Undead Knights and he witnessed their brutality through sheer martial might. [Grand Quest Updated! Main Quest: Secure an Audience. - Survive the onught of the Undead Knights Guarding the doorway and secure an Audience with the Dungeon Boss once they''ve been vanquished. Reward: 2000 Exp] Along with this Quest, Henry had taken a wide look around the Hall and observed a circr door made of thick metal. Like the door of a vault and it even had so many designs emzoned on it that it might as well have been hiding riches. Henry knew, behind that door was the Boss and based on every such checkpoint he had seen since being in this Dungeon, he was sure the door was locked until the Undead Knights were all defeated. Besides that, what good would it even do to head for the door when enemies still roamed in the hall? Now of course, even if Henry wished to stay out of all fights entirely, whether or not he got to receive this reward would still be conditional on if those in the Hall could defeat the Undead Knights. All in all, Henry was proud to see Louis and Andor excel at ying to each other''s strengths andbining for the win. Speaking of which, both Andor and Louis had wide grins on their faces as they turned around to face Henry who was still on the ground. Henry smiled back at them and stood off the ground when he felt a pressure bearing down on him from behind. Time seemed to slow down then and Henry wasn''t even using . He just happened to observe his surroundings better even if his body did not yet react to those observations. He saw the looks on Andor and Louis'' faces go from proud to scared as they began to move almost as one. Andor began to run. Louis began to cast but Henry knew they wouldn''t make it. Hell, he couldn''t make it. He had Violent Retort in hand but didn''t think he''d get enough time to turn and fire it. He also highly doubted he had enough time to run far enough away to avoid theing strike. He was just about to actually activate and give himself time to think when he heard Nyx''s voice in his head. "-Grab on!-" Her head was already peeking out of the dark circle she had made out of Henry''s shadow and without thinking, Henry gripped her reins and was instantly wrenched away from the spot he had been standing. Leaving his attacker to m its weapon against the ground. "Thank you," Henry told Nyx solemnly and as he pulled himself into her saddle he pulled two Healing Potions from his Inventory. As he downed the contents of the potion bottles, Henry realized grimly that had Nyx not leaped out of his shadow to ferry him to safety, any hit he sustained would killed him instantly. [You have Recovered 120 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 144/230] Nyx had slowed down now. Riding about the Hall and catching the attention of another Undead Knight might just make things worse. And besides, as she saw it, they were safe. "Here," Henry said and ced a Potion bottle at her lips remembering she was in need of Hit Points herself. Nyx grabbed the bottle between her teeth and throwing back her head, the potion flowed down her throat. [Nyx has Recovered 60 Hit Points] [Nyx''s Hit Points: 90/155] As the notification shed in front of his eyes, Henry considered handing Nyx another potion when she let out a distressed sound as her body became shrouded with the dark mist of . Just as Nyx took action, Henry''s perception picked up theing attack but it was only because Nyx was so fast and moved out of the way of the attack that Henry was able to sense the attack. Otherwise, he''d likely have been cut in two already. His Perception had reacted much too slowly to save his life. *BANG!* Once again, the missed attack struck the ground and as Henry considered the distance Nyx had covered to take him to safety, he was damn sure the only way the Undead Knight ¡ªnow rising off the ground¡ª could have gotten to them so fast, was if it flew. But it had jumped. It just had such a powerful leap ability that it might just match Nyx''s speed by sheer jump power. Of course, Henry only allowed these thoughts for a second as he pointed ''Violent Retort'' and fired before groaning when the Mana-infused slugs struck the ground wasted. The Undead Knight had gotten away just in time and when it was visible again, its body exuded an aura so clear it gave off the sickly glow of the Mana that empowered every damn creature within this Dungeon. And then, it swung its¡­ weapons? Only now did Henry catch good enough of a glimpse of the Undead Knight and he saw it was wielding two Scimitars. But more importantly, when the weapons were swung ¡ªso fast that they blurred in Henry''s sight¡ª, they unleashed arches of energy focused on Henry and Nyx but covering such a wide distance Henry knew Nyx couldn''t outrun it. The arches had been fired too close to them and moved too fast for the horse to outrun. Henry confirmed this with and in the time-stopped state, he had five precious seconds to think, and he decided what best to do. When time resumed, he yelled at Nyx through their telepathy, "-Nyx, !" Whether due to overconfidence or an instinctive reaction, Nyx had been about to attempt to outrun the arches which would have doomed her to likely have her legs sliced up but when she heard Henry''s yell in her head, she didn''t think, she just acted. There was of course an alternative. Nyx could have jumped. She might have made it but Henry had a feeling the Arches woulde again and in the air, Nyx would have lesser control of her body and be at risk of suffering what she had barely survived. Thus, thanks to his five seconds of calm thinking through , Henry decided was the way to go. It was a fast skill to activate. Henry had seen this when Nyx used it to avoid mming into him after she was tossed at him and sure enough, by the time the arches arrived, the shadow had swallowed Nyx up. As for Henry, he was unsure if he could follow Nyx into the shadow, and really, he had never nned to. Although he''d decided jumping won''t be good for Nyx, he''d also decided it would be good for him. Henry kicked off Nyx''s back at the same time she sunk into the Shadow and he yelled at her just as the arches sailed through the space they had created between them, "-Extend the Shadow!-" Again, Nyx obeyed but this time, she had more understanding of what Henry had nned. The dark circle of extended until it connected with the Shadow the Undead Knight cast. When Henry fell back to the ground, he had his normal revolver in one hand and ''The Hydra''s Sting'' in the other. The Undead Knight already had its scimitars charged and was about to fire more arches to slice Henry up when Nyx let out a whinny and rose out of the Shadow right behind it. Nyx kicked out her front legs at the Undead Knight and it turned away from Henry to deal with the immediate threat she presented by striking its arches at her instead. But Nyx had only been the distraction and promptly vanished back into the Shadow just as Henry cocked the hammer and fired six shots. Emptying the Revolver''s cylinder on his enemy. The Undead Knight realized the rouse a bitte but reacted well enough that only one of the six fired bullets struck its arm. The bullet, made of normal lead, didn''t even make a dent in the Undead Knight''s Magical steel armor, and its decaying mouth turned into a smirk. Henry was unbothered and fired a shot from ''The Hydra''s Sting'' next. The Undead Knight dodged as it had done for the other bullets but the magical Acidic-green bullet followed and struck the very spot the normal lead bullet had struck barely a second before and exploded in a cloud of green mist and acidic sizzle while sting the Undead many feet away¡­ ¡­ With an explosiveBang! Chapter 163 : Insightful Vision Seeing two Mana-infused slugs strike the ground rather than into his target had filled Henry with an intense feeling of loss and thus, to mitigate any more such losses ¡ªwhich were likely considering his opponent''s speed¡ª, he needed a cheaper option. It had cost Henry 60 Mana points to use on every single one of the bullets he fired from his normal revolver but he was satisfied with the cost. Missing shot after shot with ''The Hydra''s Sting'' would have cost even more Mana Points than that and missing with ''Violent Retort'' would have cost him Mana-infused Slugs of which his supply was currently limited. ''The Hydra''s Sting'' being a magical weapon was capable of shooting faster than the normal average revolver but even that faster firing speed did not fill Henry with confidence. Which was the reason for this experiment of sorts with bullets he knew could do nothing against the Undead Knight. And of course, the experiment was a sess and now Henry knew he could save on his more magical bullets and magical shots by using his normal Revolver to mark an enemy with which would then ensure the sess of the next shot. The strategy was sound and he filed it away as Nyx rose out of the shadow and now stood by his side. In a second, Henry was in her saddle and in the next, she had galloped to where the Undead Knight had been sted. The explosion of had taken off the Undead Knight''s arm and a chunk of its torso with it. The Armor pieces worn on the affected side of its body were now mangled messes of magical steel. Dive into the story on m|vl em pyr The Undead Knight grunted and made a sound like an attempt to speak and it tried to rise off the ground despite the impactful explosion that had struck it down in the first ce. Henry put a quick end to such attempts by exchanging his normal revolver for Violent Retort and with precise aim, he fired the slugs through the gaps in the Undead Knight''s helmet so they struck its head and knocked it back in a kickback while exploding its decaying skull to pieces. And then, as the Undead Knight slumped never to move again, it came; Henry hadn''t even yet thought to put down his gun-wielding hand, that his mind was wrenched from his body and supnted into a strange one. He was supnted into the body of the Undead Knight he just killed. Except the Knight was not yet Undead. Henry couldn''t see the Knight''s face as he was looking through her eyes. Yes, she was a ''she''. Her delicate hands and the unmistakable swell of her breast were impossible to miss. The Knight was bowed as she said slowly and confidently, "My Lord. Do as you wish. My Oath is to serve you until the end of my days." A skeletal hand stretched toward her as though to beckon her over. Except it didn''t call for her. When the owner of the skeletal hand spoke, the voice was silky and packed with such authority that Henry found himself starting to believe he should be serving the figure. The voice stirred up loyalty in him even though this was the first time he had ever heard it. "The end of your days may nevere," the figure said in that silky authoritative voice and then it clenched its outstretched skeletal hand. Strings of powerful violet Mana wove into existence and created awork that eventually became a spell circle. The Female Knight felt gripped by a powerful energy that drove deep into her body. It snuffed out the essence of her humanity and reced it with something dead¡ª Beyond living. Her skin began to decay and it dried up so that any feature that marked her as female was gone and she became quite generic. It was a painful process. It felt like acid was eating away at her flesh and that, in turn, felt like Acid was eating away at Henry''s flesh. He groaned in pain. Strained against it and renounced any part of himself ¡ªpast and future¡ª that ever missed this sensation just for the greed of some extra Exp. ''Fuck!'' Henry cussed but even as he strained, he knew the pain would only end when the Undead Woe was over. The transformed Knight, now Undead, looked up and for the first time, Henry got the clearest view of the powerful figure that had gued the woes of every Undead he had eliminated since he entered this Dungeon. The face was skeletal and ck but it was clean. Unlike the Undead it had created, who all possessed varying degrees of decay, this powerful figure carried a hint of elegance despitecking any skin. It was even d in a luxurious purple robe. "Rise, Knight," the powerful skeletal figure said, and as the Undead ¡ªwhose glowing hollow eyes Henry was looking through¡ª stood off the ground and straightened from its bow, the powerful skeletal figure produced something pulsing with energy but it glowed so bright that Henry couldn''t quite clearly see its shape. The glowing whatever-it-was began to rise toward the ceiling. Gripped by curiosity, Henry tried to follow it but his point of view was locked into that of the Undead whose Woe he was experiencing. Speaking of which, it was not quite a woe. Everything was consensual and even now ¡ªturned into an Undead decaying thing¡ª, the Knight had only gratitude for its Lord and stood ready for instructions. The glowing thing was gone from view now but even as it moved, the powerful skeletal figure never took its eyes, horrible and tragic as they were, off its Undead subject, "Go now," it said in a gentle tone that carried every bit of authority it had proven itself capable of already, "Guard my door and let none step into this Chamber." "As you wish, My Lord," The Undead Knight said and as it turned toward the metal door that was opened inward, Henry saw ¡ªsurprised¡ª that there had been others. The other Undead Knights had also been kneeling and had received the same painful and in-depth Undead transformation as well as the same directive to guard the door. And then the vision was over and Henry was back in his body. He had no idea how long he spent in the ''Undead Woe'' and he didn''t care. [Kill-Reward: 800 Exp] [Undead Woes: 1000 Exp] [Nyx has received 400 Exp for her contributions to the kill.] Again, Henry didn''t care. As he swiped the notification away, the recent Undead Woe remained on his mind and he could not shake the curiosity he felt for the glowing pulsing thing the skeletal creature had hidden away. He also couldn''t stop thinking about the skeletal figure itself. All about the Hall, multiple fights were nearing conclusion. Spurred on by their anger at having lost a Charge, Eloise and Aurelius seemed to have gained a renewed vigor, and, working together, they had cut up another Undead Knight and were on their third victim with victory almost certainly assured. Louis and Andor were there as well. The Undead Knight Eloise and Aurelius were currently battling hade after the Mage and Fighter first and was the reason they had not been able to assist Henry. Fortunately, he hadn''t quite needed it. The Groups that Henry and the others had met in the Hall ¡ªwho were already engaged in battles with the Undead Knights¡ª had lost many members and some had lost body parts. But Norbert was still alive and he rallied them all together to fight a second Knight just after they had managed to defeat their first. Solemnly, Henry picked their Undead Knight opponent as his mark. They had the thing cornered and all through their pain, they prepared to go in for the killing strike. s, they had held the creature down just right in ce for Henry to shoot through the gaps in its helmet with Mana-infused Slugs. The group rounded on him with eyes wide at his audacity. Henry didn''t care. He hadn''t done it for the reward, even if more Exp never sounded bad to him. He had done it so he could maybe get another angle on what the skeletal figure had hidden away which was why he embraced the Undead Woe and allowed his mind to be pulled into hopefully, another insightful vision. Chapter 164: Signet Spokes The Undead Woe of the second Undead Knight Henry killed was much like the first. Because it was from the perspective of the Knight ¡ªa male this time¡ª it was as though the powerful skeletal figure was facing him. Speaking to him directly but Henry knew that was not entirely urate. The words spoken were exactly the same as those the skeletal figure had spoken in the previous Undead Woe and the things it did were also the same. Henry decided this event had to have been a massive conference with all the Knights during which they had all been transformed but because of their devotion, the Knights all remembered it differently. They all remembered it as their Lord paying them particr attention when they were just one of many. Anyway, Henry was d this Knight looked up more than thest. Maybe out of curiosity or maybe because he was so awed by his Lord that he wanted to look even further up and not further into the Skeletal figure''s face. Either way, Henry saw the glowing pulsing thing rise toward the high ceiling where a contraption awaited it. It touched the center of the contraption and with grating sounds and Arcane symbols glowing all over its widely opened parts, the Contraption sealed up. Covering the glow of the pulsing thingpletely and, Henry assumed, keeping it safe. The Undead Woe ended and Henry was back in his body. [Kill-Reward: 800 Exp] [Undead Woes: 1000 Exp] With a thud, thest Undead Knight in the hall met its end and it met that end by Eloise''s sword strike. With that, the predicament they had walked in on was at an end. While the others around him couldn''t take their eyes off Henry ¡ªwho they still couldn''t believe had the audacity to steal their kill¡ª, Norbert found his attention drawn to Eloise who was now putting her sword into her scabbard. "Incredible," Norbert mouthed. Unlike he and everyone else who had started the fight with the Undead Knights and were now sporting injuries of varying levels of seriousness and fatality, both Eloise and Aurelius looked as well as they had when they first stepped into the Hall. He contemted, with a shiver, that the fate of him and the others would have been horrible had there not been more numbers to divide the attention of the Undead Knights. At this thought, Norbert''s eyes roamed the Hall even further as though to observe the others he had to thank for their intervention besides Eloise and Aurelius. Norbert recognized the Squires ¡ªthey were dressed in better armor than anyone else in the Hall besides Eloise and Aurelius¡ª but he looked at Andor with curiosity. He recognized his armor. It was the cheap leather type he had seen on the Cuff-wearing ves outside the Dungeon. Norbert''s eyes went to Henry now and he saw the same Armor on him. Now that he was taking care to pay attention, he was sure he had seen Henry wear a cuff. In fact, he was sure he had seen Andor and Louis wear them too even if Louis had changed out of the Leather armor into a Mage robe. "What happened to Doherty?" Norbert wondered with his brows pulled together. Despite theck ofmunication between them outside, Norbert had known Doherty. Or more importantly, he knew Doherty''s employer; Ralph Gribbo. A man whose name and status carried a lot of weight in the city of Alvareen. Now, quite a bit could have happened to Doherty. The Dungeon had proved a very dangerous exploration but to think Doherty would fail and these three would have made it out had Norbert thinking something was fishy. Henry didn''t care or notice the attention on him. [Quest Completed!] [You have received 2000 Exp] Embark on a quest with m,vl_em|p_yr [Nyx has received 1000 Exp] When the notifications arrived, he got down from Nyx''s saddle with his eyes on the metal door and his mind on what was behind it. He noticed someone getting closer to him and he turned to see Eloise about two feet away. "Shall we?" She asked. Henry looked around the Hall. Those who had survived were mending their injuries as best they could and those who did not require too much first aid ¡ªa very few¡ª were now gathering up the weapons of the Undead Knights to serve as Loot. Henry saw Andor stash some weapons away and allowed himself a smile that the Fighter knew what to do without being hinted. "Don''t you want to rest?" Henry asked Eloise in response to her question. "I want this to be over," Eloise said through gritted teeth. She closed her eyes for a second but to her, it seemed longer and dragged on as the image of her halved-up Squire kept shing in her mind, "Let''s end this and get the hell out of here," she said then she walked toward the metal door. Henry watched her walk away. He could feel her mncholy and he knew the reason for it even before he looked toward the Squire''s corpse and saw Aurelius looking it over with his lips pursed. Aurelius seemed to feel Henry''s attention on him because his eyes flicked up and he frowned deeply before looking away to address the Squires whose faces all shared a look of loss and some shame. They had done next to nothing to help in the fight against the Undead Knights and had certainly not done anything to save their now-deadrade. "Head back down the Corridor," Aurelius said in a hard voice, "Stay there, and once all this is over, we''ll leave the Dungeon." "What about you and Dame Eloise," One of them asked. "We''ll be fine," Aurelius said, "Go." A moment of silence passed before more than half turned around and walked down the corridor. The two that stayed looked scared, and worried but all in all, determined. "What are you waiting for?" Aurelius asked, "Go." "I''m sorry, Sir Aurelius, but I want to see this through," The girl said. Henry remembered her. She had gotten mmed in the head and struck against the wall by the Spear shaft wielded by the Undead Knight Aurelius had first fought against. Henry guessed she had probably missed most of what happened next since the hit knocked her unconscious. He wondered if she was embarrassed and this was her way to make up for it. He shook his head and decided that was dumb to assume because the other Squires had not done much better and had walked away still. "Alice¡­" Aurelius said to the girl with a tenderness Henry wouldn''t have thought he was capable of. "I can do it," the Lady Squire named Alice said, as determined as ever. "I can do it too," said the second Squire to hang back. He was male and his lips were hard set on his decision. Aurelius looked like he was about to insist again but then he sighed and smiled lightly, "Very well," he said, "Alice, Darren, Please, try not to die." Alice and Darren nodded solemnly once in response. "Hngh!" Eloise cried out then, "It''s still locked!" She had tried pulling the door open but it had remained solidly sealed and had nottched open as other doors had done within the Dungeon thus far. Henry frowned but then noticed the ''LOOT'' button rotating above one of the defeated Undead Knights. He clicked it and received a notification; [You have Looted 1 Si Spoke] Henry furrowed his brows and clicked the universal button the System presented to him and received the same notification over and over again from every single Undead Knight on the Hall floor. Henry walked up to the metal door and he realized now that while it looked like the door of a Vault, itcked the Spokes that most Vault doors had. Spokes that could be turned in a circr motion to unlock it. Missing Vault Spokes¡­ And Si Spokes looted from Undead Guardian Knights¡­ Surely, that couldn''t be a coincidence. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 165: Impossible Scents A circle ¡ªabout a quarter of the metal door''s overall circumference¡ª, jutted out of the surface of the metal door and as Henry touched it all around, he felt circr grooves that convinced him of his guess about the use of the Si Spokes. Eloise was watching him curiously but she said nothing. With a flick of his wrist, Henry pulled one of the Si Spokes from his Inventory and he looked it all over. It looked like a rod and its surface was grooved with what were undoubtedly arcane symbols that Henry didn''t even bother to read because he knew hecked the Intelligence to understand them. He ced the Si Spoke close to one of the circr grooves and it was attracted like a ma. It snapped in ce and began to glow a dull violet color. Eloise''s curious eyes became widened in surprise, "What''s that?" She asked thinking it just too kismet that Henry had something in hand that could snap onto the metal door as though it naturally belonged there. "From the Knights," Henry told her as he gestured behind him at the Undead Knights strewn all about the Hall floor. "Oh. I didn''t know they had anything on them," Eloise said slightly embarrassed that she hadn''t thought to search. "I''m sure you would have realized eventually," Henry said tofort her as he pulled another Spoke from his Inventory and snapped it onto the jutting circle. As she watched Henry retrieve Spoke after Spoke and attach them to the circle indented against the metal door, Eloise found herself wondering where he had kept them. Due to theck of a bag on his back like with Louis and Andor, Eloise decided it must have been with the use of a more discreet storage item which she assumed he must have gotten from Doherty''s corpse. There was no other way a recent cuff-wearer would have such. Eloise was just about wondering if this was a thought she should be entertaining ¡ªif she was thinking too little of Henry to assume hisck of ability to have anything¡ª when he snapped on thest Si Spoke and the entire circle now glowed subtly as though waiting to be turned. "Aren''t you going to open it?" Eloise asked with a raised brow as she watched Henry take many steps back from the Spoked circle. "In a minute," Henry said and pulled a Mana recovery Potion from his Inventory. "Mind if I do it?" Eloise asked. Henry was already drinking the potion but he waved her along as though to say ''Be my guest''. When Eloise grabbed two of the Spokes and began to turn, Henry had already retrieved Four more bottles of Mana recovery Potions to bolster his low reserves and his Mana Point tab now looked like this; [Mana Points: 340/340] His Mana Points were at the maximum capacity for the first time in a while and even as he discarded the empty potion bottles no one batted an eye. They had all stepped away from whatever they had been busy with and had their eyes entirely on Eloise as she began to turn the Spoked circle. Henry looked to the side and saw Andor and Louis on either side of him looking nervous. "I understand Andor because I worry he just came along for me¡ª" "I did," Andor answered immediately. Henry smiled but continued, "But you, Louis, you wanted this!" "I did¡ª I do!" Louis hurried to correct himself, "Just shaking from excitement is all." "I don''t think that''s true," Henry said with a chuckle. "It is," Louis said defensively in the most unconvincing voice Henry heard from anyone''s lips. Eloise had turned the Spokes as far as they could go and with a hard pull, the metal door pulled off the frame and slowly swung outward to reveal a purple carpet behind the circr doorway. Eloise led the way and stepped onto the purple carpet first. Aurelius followed and he was followed by Alice and Darren, the Squires. Next, Henry entered with Nyx trotting by his side and Andor and Louis a step behind. After them came Norbert leading the groups that had survived the battle against the Undead Knights. All looking wary. Henry wasn''t sure what to make of the scents within this chamber. As the source of the sickly, deathly Mana that permeated the Dungeon and animated the bodies of the Many Undead, Mummies, and that one Monstrosity, he had expected a greater stench here. He had steeled himself in expectation but to his surprise, that wasn''t the case. The disgusting sickly deathly scent was certainly here but was muted somehow. Mixed and mostly ovee by a scent Henry could not quite ce. "Smells like Authority¡­ Like Power," Louis said as he sniffed the scent. "Authority doesn''t have a scent," Aurelius said with a frown from a few feet ahead, "Neither does Power." Henry had to disagree. He would not have made the call himself but now that Louis mentioned it, that was exactly what it smelled like. Which was weird because, as Aurelius said, Authority and Power shouldn''t have a scent. They had walked ten feet now and as one, multiplemps sparked alight along the walls and lit up an otherwise dim hall. It was the brightest lighting Henry had seen provided since he had been in the Dungeon and it revealed every inch of the chamber in its entirety. It looked like a Throne room and while there were so many intricate designs that adorned it all over ¡ªLike the intricate grooves and faintly glowing symbols on the columns that connected to the high ceiling above¡ª only one thing caught the attention of the Dungeon Raiders. In a Throne hewn from bones in the same abominable construction that made up the Monstrosity that had been such a pain to deal with, sat a skeletal figure thatcked any flesh whatsoever. Its bones were ck but gleamed with a luxuriousness. It had in a purple robe and on its skeletal frame, the robe should have looked weird ¡ªsunken in areascking the body mass to fill it¡ª but somehow seemed just right. Within the skeletal figure''s ck skull, the eyeholes were each upied by a tiny violet light and yet, when he looked into them, Henry felt more fear than he had felt when he had stared into the more violently glowing ones on the other Undead he had met outside this Chamber. The impossible scent of Authority and Power was prevalent now and was so clearly wafting off the Skeletal figure that had not yet acknowledged their presence in the Chamber. Its ck bony hands were gripping armrests made up of a collection of tiny skulls and as Henry stared at those skulls, his stomach churned because he knew the creatures the skulls must have been harvested from. Or at least he guessed and the guess was far too horrific to consider. "So, you made it here," the Skeletal figure finally spoke in a voice Henry remembered clearly from the most recent Undead Woes he just went through, "How disappointing." "Shit!" Eloise said and Henry looked into her face to see her eyes widened in an expression of fear he had not seen her make against anything else he had seen her face. She had not even had that expression against the Monstrosity. Henry frowned and although the look on Eloise''s face worried him, it also spurred him on to act. He edged past those in front of him with both his Normal revolver and ''The Hydra''s Sting'' in his hands. "Henry wait!" Eloise cried out but Henry was already aiming. He fired a shot from his revolver first and infused it with . The strategy was to make the first ordinary shot to ensure to sess of the magical one. Henry expected the Skeletal figure to react and was prepared to fire as many shots from his Revolver as possible but the first hit because the figure did nothing but stare at him. The stare unsettled Henry but he pushed past it, pointed ''The Hydra''s Sting'', and fired an shot. Again, the figure did nothing to avoid or intercept the shot. The bullet struck powerfully and the green veins of the magical shot spread until an entire half of the figure''s skeletal body was gone in an explosiveBang! But then, as the acidic explosive gas that resulted from thebustion fizzled away, the Skeletal figure remained seated in its bony Throne asfortably as before. As though losing part of its body was not even an inconvenience. "That''s why I told you to wait," Eloise said with a sigh. She didn''t sound disappointed. Just wary like a thought she had had and hoped was wrong had been proven right. "What are you talking ¡ª" Henry was about to ask Eloise without looking at her when he saw the part he had destroyed on the Skeletal figure''s body begin to mend itself. The bones regrew and in barely a minute, the creature was whole again. Skulls can''t smile but Henry was sure the expression it had was a mocking one. "So eager," the Skeletal figure said and then nced at the one thing on its body that had been destroyed by Henry''s shot but had not mended. "You ruined my robe." It sounded upset but like it was just an annoyance it didn''t even care enough to be animated about. At least not yet. "What is this?" Henry asked, tempted to shoot again. "Henry it''s a Lich," Eloise told him gravely and she must have seen Henry''s confusion at the term because next, she said, "It''s immortal and can''t die." Chapter 166: The Search (1) "It. Can''t. Die?" Henry asked with a pause between each word like he was finding it difficult toe to terms with them. "Well, actually, it can," Eloise said and although Henry brightened up, he felt a gloom from behind and realized no one else shared his optimism at this new piece of information. He furrowed his brows but returned his eyes to Eloise to ask, "How?" "We need to find it" she said with her voice as grave as ever and her hand on the handle of her sword. "What''s it?" Henry asked. "A Phctery," Eloise said, and before Henry could ask her to exin because the word meant nothing to him, the voice of the Lich sounded again. "It''s rude to discuss me like I''m not right here," it said and then let out a harsh sound that took Henry a while to realize was a chuckle, "Then again you pointed your weapon at me and fired already without so much as an introduction so clearly courtesy is not your strong suit." No one said a word. They all just stared at the Lich like their minds were working fast. Nyx had her ck eyes trained on the Lich as well and let out a few snorts while her tail swished back and forth in agitation. The faces of the groups being led by Norbert were shifty as they stole nces at the door they had walked through into the Hall and tried to decide if they should make a run for it. And then they were off. They all turned tail and ran. At first, the action caught Norbert by surprise, and looked like he was about to yell at them and use them of being cowards but he quickly gave up and joined them to run. The Lich clenched its bony fist and the door into the Chamber mmed shut with a deafening sound that seemed to echo and intensify the feeling of gloom that spurred the groups to even attempt escape in the first ce. "Disappointing," the Lich said, "You''ve all worked hard. Lostrades just to be here and you''ll just run? No, no, no. Come on now. Stay a while." Eloise let out a breath and took a step forward. Her brows were furrowed and while her hand remained tight around the handle of her sword, she didn''t pull it out. "Henry," she said quietly. She seemed to be trying to keep her words from hitting the ears of the Lich but Henry doubted it was an effective tactic. "Hmm?" He answered. "We need to find the Phctery," Eloise said gravely still in a whisper. "I still don''t know what that is," Henry said. "It''s a box, an item, a jar¡­ I don''t really know what it is. It could be any number of shapes. But it''s an Anchor. It ties the soul of a Lich to the Mortal ne and makes it impossible for them to pass on." "So¡ª" Henry started as understanding dawned on him. "Yes," Eloise said with a nod, "It''s the source of the Lich''s immortality. We have to find it and destroy it or the Lich can never die." "Where is it?" Henry asked. "Don''t know," Eloise said with a shrug, "It can''t be too far. From what I''ve learned about their kind, a Liches is never too far away from their Phalectery but they always keep it well hidden. But that''s an all theory of course. I''ve never actually faced one before." Eloise drew her sword now and she nced over at Aurelius who had found his way to her other side before looking back at Henry, "We''ll distract it," she said, "You have to find it." Henry blinked, "Wait," he said and held out an arm. Beyond the fact that Eloise was being sacrificial about a role she had decided for herself, Henry wondered why he was the one on search duty. He felt he could distract the Lich as well as anyone else and even though he hadn''t yet said this out loud, Aurelius smirked like he could tell. "Leave no stone unturned," he said with smugness as he drew his sword too, "Don''t let our efforts be in vain." And then he charged. Eloise hadn''t even called for the fight to start but clearly, Aurelius wasn''t the slightest bit interested in waiting for a go-ahead because he was already swinging his sword at the Lich''s neck. "Hm," the Lich let out but unlike with Henry when it had simply allowed the attack to strike it, this time, it acted. With a snap of its bony fingers, a spell circle appeared, and out of it charged a fist conjured thickly of Mana. *Bam!* The fist struck Aurelius and mmed him into a far wall in the chamber where he slid to the ground and used his sword to keep himself rtively upright as he shook off the impact of the hit. He had his shield on one arm but hadn''t raised it in time to intercept the blow so his body had suffered the brunt of the force. "If I let that sword go through me, I lose even more of my robe," The Lich said calmly without any indication that it just cast a spell. It didn''t even look at Aurelius who looked to be gearing to try again. "Henry, remember to search!" Eloise said and in a few seconds, shepleted her spell chant, cast a spell circle, and fired a magical beam at the Lich. A Magic circle, Violet and thrumming with even more Arcane might, appeared in front of the Lich''s chest and out of it fired a purple beam that mmed into Eloise''s beam, pushing it back until it obliterated the spell circle it had charged out of before striking into a shield Eloise had managed to conjure. Once her shield had blocked the beam and managed to reduce its force to the point where it only forced her back a step, Eloise vanished from the spot she stood and brought her sword down in a vertical cleave onto the Lich''s head. The Lich acted as unbothered by her charge as it had acted to Aurelius'' and with a wave of its bony hand, a spell circle appeared that mmed her with a fist conjured with Mana. Eloise had expected the attack. She would have been foolish not to expect it after Aurelius only just suffered a simr attack. She Channeled her Oath, let her Mana surge, and with an incredible presence of mind, she interrupted her ongoing attempt to cleave the Lich and turned it into a spin that had her sword cutting through the conjured fist. The fist shattered into tiny Mana flecks and Eloise''s feet hit the ground about two feet from the Lich. There was no change in its expression and with a snap of its fingers ¡ªand in thepletion of a Spell cast it had already started from the moment Eloise was cutting through the conjured fist¡ª multiple Spell circles appeared and out of them all charged des of Mana that spun and boasted powerful piercing might. Eloise frowned and deployed Magical shields but when the des barraged the shields and destroyed them she was forced to deflect them while still making her way toward the seated Lich. She arrived within a foot of the Lich and stabbed her sword at its chest in an attack she knew wouldn''t kill it only to be mmed by a forceful invisible shield that sent her right back to where she had first started her charge. She fell into Henry''s arms and he caught her. "Why aren''t you searching?" Eloise asked Henry with wide eyes because she believed he had barely taken a step from the spot she had left him. "I am," Henry answered earnestly and before Eloise could tell him to search harder, the Lich spoke. "Your insistent and pointless attempts to attack me bore me. Even if I don''t act, you will still fail. But, if it''s opponents you can defeat that you want, I will provide." At the end of the Lich''s deration, Spell circles began to appear all over the chamber. Henry recognized the circles. So did Eloise, Louis, Andor, Aurelius, and the Squires. They knew what wasing from the circles and the bandaged half of a summoned Mummy rising out of each of the circles wasn''t even needed to confirm their guesses. Chapter 167: The Search (2) When Eloise leaped at the Lich to attack, Henry would have made a move and started to search as she had asked of him but he became slightly distracted by an alert from the System. [Grand Quest Updated! Main Quest: Defeat The Lich Reward: 10,000 Exp] Besides the fact that the reward was massive, Henry furrowed his brows at theck of a description for the Quest but then, his expression became normal as he realized there was no need for more details. The Quest was pretty straightforward and he needed to get started on how toplete it. It was then that Eloise was sent into his arms and used him of not searching which was not entirely inurate even though Henrypletely denied it. But now, there was something else to consider. All over the Chamber, Mummies rose out of Spell circles that appeared all around with no rhyme or reason. Back in the hall whose floor had been segregated into small squares, there was a symmetry to the arrival of the Mummies. Now, they were just mixed into their numbers. NEIGH! With a powerful whinny, Nyx was the first to act as she reared on her hind legs and struck at the head of a Mummy, eliminating it before it got the chance to act. [Nyx has received 250 Exp] The first killing so quickly did not make the situation any less bleak but everyone was spurred into action. Andor was armed with his Shield and his Spear and with a little twirl, he mmed three Mummies away to give himself enough room to move. He charged at one of the Mummies he had knocked away and stabbed his Spear into its chest. "Ah!" He yelled as he used Mana surged and channeled violent mana into the creature''s chest, destroying it at once. There was no time to rejoice at the kill because a sword came swinging at him next and, with a hard lean back and his Shield to m away an attack from a second Mummy, Andor quickly stabbed his Spear through the head of one of the creatures that attacked him. A st followed and the victim, now headless, hit the ground with a Thud. Louis was close and he twirled his Staff for even longer like he was using it to keep attacks away while giving himself the time required toplete his spell chant. The moment it wasplete, his Staff crackled with Lightning that moved in tendrils. The Lightning stayed on the Staff long enough to be channeled against the chest of five Mummies. They weren''t downed but they were knocked back a few steps for Louis to intensify the spell and strike more powerful Lightning streaks into the chest of Three of the five. Eliminating them while the other two staggered within range of Andor whose Spear was ever ready to do away with them. After Eloise pulled herself out of his arms, Henry sent his normal Revolver into his Inventory and reced ''The Hydra''s Sting'' with ''Violent Retort''. The first two Mummies heid his eyes on fell to precise Mana-infused Slug shots and the kills happened almost simultaneously that their rewards arrived together in a bundle. [Kill-Reward: 400 Exp] This reward as well as the ones the System had alerted him Nyx received told Henry these Mummies were not stronger or better than the ones they had had to fight within the Hall which was a relief. The outlook still didn''t look all that bright if the Lich could just summon more and more of them but at least, as long as he could maintain a distance, he was confident about surviving. The issue though was that, while he resisted being designated as the Searcher, he knew just how important it was to find the ¡ªhe found it difficult to remember the name Eloise had called it so he just called it a term that was familiar to him¡ª Anchor. ''Anchor''¡­ It brought a memory of something simr to Henry''s mind but he never could forget. Even as he shot two more Mummies and reaped 400 Exp while putting distance between himself and the attacks of another few, Henry remember Yelena and her connection to the Hadron Mansion. How it had been her Anchor and had not just saved her from a curse but also unnaturally extended her life. Shocking Grip! A Mummy got close to Henry and since his gun was pointed somewhere else at the time, he extended his free hand at the creature''s chest, channeling the crackling energy of the Lightning spell into its chest before a weapon could make contact with his body. *Brrrzzzzztttt* Henry felt a thrill as he watched the energy of the spell pulse powerfully into the Mummy''s chest in a strike that mmed it away where it slid to the ground never to move again. Twirling ''Violent Retort'' expertly, Henry turned it to a Mummy and sted a hole through its head as notifications ¡ªspaced apart by a second or so¡ª, rang in his head. [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] As Henry made to turn his weapon toward his next victim, he heard Nyx let out a victorious whinny at the same time he received an alert from the System to exin why she was making a sound of delight. [Nyx has Leveled Up!] [Nyx is now Level 11] [Nyx''s Hit Point Maximum increased to 185] [Nyx''s Mana is now 195] [Strength: 80 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 85] [Speed: 150 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 160] [Stamina: 75 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 80] [Nyx''s Skill is now Lv.2] [ effect: 30% ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 35%] Henry delighted in Nyx''s Skill-Level Up most of all because her actual Level-Up was fairlymon while this was incredibly rare. This was the first time it ever happened. Despite his delight though, Henry''s lips couldn''t help but pull at the corners as he thought Nyx was already so speedy that any further increase just seemed like cheating but he didn''tin. He didn''t evenin when Nyx coated herself in shadowy mist and began to blitz all over the Chamber colliding into Mummies. Sometimes with enough force to eliminate them. And within the first few minutes of her Skill Level-up, she had already eliminated five. Two through collision and three through relentless stomping. Henry didn''t allow Nyx''s victories to distract him from the number of Mummies around him and he had just shot and eliminated another one when he picked up his thoughts from where he had stopped after getting interrupted. Yelena and the Lich¡­ Henry winced at the thought that Yelena, sweet, beautiful, and lovely in her slight innocence, could have anything inmon with the Skeletal monster seated in its throne of bones. And as he shook away the simrities, his mind fell on something else. His mind fell on the Undead Woes of the two Undead Knights that provided him his first real view of the Lich''s face. As he brought the two visions to mind, Henry became very aware of everything the Lich had done. Every activity it had made¡­ And soon, only the pulsing violet thing ¡ªwhose shape he had been unable to decipher¡ª was on his mind. This was expected because it was his curiosity for where that thing had gone that inspired him to experience the second Undead Woe by stealing the Kill of an Undead Knight from Norbert''s group. And then Henry froze. He didn''t even see the Mummy right in front of him because he remembered very clearly that the instruction of the Lich had been for the Knights to keep anyone from this Chamber and it had given that instruction while hiding that pulsing thing away in a contraption¡­ Henry looked up right as Eloise arrived and in a flow of shes cut through the Mummy in front of him and turned around to fire a magical beam into the chest of another close by. "Henry!" She called with urgency. "I know where itis," Henry said in a low voice and he pointed at somewhere on the ceiling with certainty, "It''s there." Chapter 168: The Contraption (1) Eloise found where Henry was pointing easily and she frowned as she nced back at Henry, "Are you sure?" She asked. Henry paused. The spot he was pointing at jutted away from the ceiling by about one foot and the structure was lined with lines that Henry remembered were the ''seams'' of the Contraption. "They open," He said with conviction, "It''s there. I''m sure of it." Eloise nodded, "Alright," she said. She had her senses spread already and could detect nothing from the spot Henry was pointing out which made her wonder how he could be so certain. Then again, a quick search with her senses and there was nothing else around that revealed the location of Phctery so this was as good a lead as any. Eloise conjured a spell circle and Henry could feel a change in the current of her magic because he was sure he had yet to see her put so much power into her spell. She pointed it at the ceiling, took careful aim, and fired a shot that struck that part of the ceiling with a *Bang!* The sound was resounding and Henry was sure it would have destroyed the Ceiling but it was fine. The Contraption appeared to be smoking slightly but otherwise was intact. Eloise frowned and then her eyes widened as she stretched her hand to push Henry aside while also yelling out a spell to conjure a Magical shield. The very next second, a beam stronger andrger than the one the Lich had conjured to cancel out the Beam she had shot at it earlier, mmed into the conjured shield, shattering it until it mmed into Eloise and sent her mming into a Column. *Bam!* Henry had fallen to the ground from Eloise''s push. Besides the fact that he had not expected it, the Mage Knight was also far stronger than he was which was probably why he went flying even farther than he would have liked. When he stood up, Henry looked over for what had caused Eloise''s reaction and he saw the Lich gritting its teeth with the tiny violet lights that counted as its eyes glowering at her with an intensity. This was not just a random attack¡­ It was clear to Henry that something had set the Lich off and with a nce at the ceiling and the contraption still sealed shut, he knew what that ''something'' was. Henry didn''t need a confirmation because he was already so sure of his ''guess'' but the reaction of the Lich sealed it all. The arrival of the Mummiescked all rhyme and reason but they had quickly congregated around Dungeon raiders in the Chamber which was why the area Eloise had pushed Henry to was still rtively devoid of Mummies because there had been Dungeon raiders there until now. Henry was immediately aware that he only had a few minutes before some of the Mummies broke free of the herd to stagger over to him brandishing their weapons. So with ''Violent Retort'' still in his grip, he grabbed ''The Hydra''s Sting'' from his Inventory and pointed both weapons at the contraption on the ceiling. He fired two shots from both weapons. As Henry activated with ''The Hydra''s Sting'', he was very aware that he had run out of ''Hydra''s Tongue'' bullets. He had no real idea when he ran out. It could have been many fights ago or just now. What mattered was that he had to be even more mindful of his Mana use now because the activation of magical shots with ''The Hydra''s Sting'' was sure to cost more Mana Points without magical bullets to half the costs. The Mana-infused slugs fired from ''Violent Retort'' struck the contraption with bangs of impact and the effects of the shots from ''The Hydra''s Sting'' were simr. Just powerful shots that caused the points they struck to sizzle with Acidity. Henry had expected this. While was powerful even against magical defenses, it worked best against actual living beings that it could turn into a cauldron of bubbling acidic wonders. That said, the shot had not just ricocheted against the Contraption. They had struck and left some dents that told Henry it could be worn down by more attacks. And then, he felt a gaze nailing him and his eyes turned unwilling to the Lich whose jaw was clenched tight, "You¡ª" it said and while it sounded like it wanted to say more, it didn''t. Only now did Henry note that the tone of delightful mockery and casualness the Lich had before was gone now and he could tell why. The creature had not expected the spot where it had hidden its source of immortality to be so quickly discovered. Plus, Henry''s precise shots at that spot just after Eloise had made a simrly precise attack made it clear it was not a lucky guess. The Lich wondered how they could have known and suddenly, the want to riff and joke was gone. Reced by a frantic desire to squash these pests before they caused damage it would not recover from. Henry was so locked in ce by the Lich''s gaze that it took him a moment to realize Spell circles were appearing around the seated creature. The next second, des of Mana charged out seeking to pierce through him. Henry leaped to the side and he heard as tens of Mana des struck against the wall. He allowed himself a breath of relief that the des didn''t seem to follow him. They could be dodged, and with his Agility as it currently was, that was what he was best at. And then more des came charging at where he stood and Henry dove even further away and hit the ground to slide a bit as the des continued to crash into the ground at the very spots hey only a split-seconds before he slid away. Henry''s slide was starting to slow and before he could get a good footing to propel himself away again, he felt multiple stabs along his leg with a particrly painful one in his thigh. "Ah!" He yelled before the System notified him of how much damage he had sustained; [You have lost 40 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 82/230] The pain remained for a while and Henry gritted his teeth as he made sure it didn''t keep him down. After all, the blood loss would not. "Get him!" Henry heard the Lichmand then just after he avoided what sounded like thest barrage of Mana des. At first, Henry thought the Order was to call some of the attacking Mummies in the Chamber over to him but it was even worse. Spell circles appeared around where Henry was and Mummies ¡ªTen, Twelve, Twenty, maybe more¡ª rose out of them to surround him. They had eyes ¡ªglowing lifeless eyes that they were¡ª only on him. Gritting his teeth at a personal army summoned just for his demise, Henry took the initiative and sted shots into the heads of the two right in front of him. Reaping 400 Exp while also clearing a path for him to exploit and escape the encirclement that was tightening and getting more deadly by the second. He moved and then his Perception warned him of aing attack that he tried to dodge before getting intercepted by a Stab to his back. [You have lost 20 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 62/122] "Ack!" Henry yelled out and arched his back. He was only just enduring the pain of that stab when a Spear came jabbing at him. He grabbed the Spear and with his brows furrowed with intensity he called on a spell ¡ªthe only spell he knew so far¡ª that was proving quite trusty. Shocking Grip! Lightning crackled around the Spear and the magical metal conducted the electricity in a utility of the spell Henry had only just thought to try out. He first touched the shaft to the chest of the Mummy wielding the Spear against him and after the electricity struck it with a pulse so powerful that it was sent flying (leaving its Weapon in Henry''s grip), Henry did the same to two more Mummies. At the same time, he shot the two Mana-infused slugs within ''Violent Retort'' at two separate victims. Eliminating five Mummies all at once. [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 400 Exp] [Level Up!] [You are now Level 24] Chapter 169: The Contraption (2) [Hit Point Maximum increased to 240] [Hit Points: 72/240] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 350] [You have received 6 Stat Points to Allocate] With his most recent experience in mind and his current need so clear, Henry allocated his Stat points instantly and put it all in Agility. [Agility: 70 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 76] His increased movement speed and his maneuverability would have taken the Mummies by surprise if they had been capable of feeling surprise. Either way, attacks missed more than they would have just a second ago and Henry nted two shots into the chests of two Mummies. [Kill-Reward: 400 Exp] s as those two fell, Henry found that more Spell circles appeared and summoned even more Mummies to bolster a force he had not even started out thinning. They formed such a tight circle around him that he had to constantly remain on alert and even an attempt at jumping out would have rewarded him with deadly skewers that would have pulled him to the ground to be stabbed some more. If the first skewers had not already done away with his Hit Points, that is. Just after a brief second of contemtion, Henry was cut and stabbed, losing him a total of 32 Hit Points. [Hit Points: 40/240] Of course, through it all, Henry still managed to take down a couple of them. He took down two with Mana-infused slugs fired from ''Violent Retort'' as well as a powerful pulse of Lightning to the chest of a third Mummy, courtesy ofShocking Grip! [Kill-Reward: 400 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 200 Exp] "-Nyx!-" Henry yelled out suddenly when he started to feel overwhelmed. His recent sessful eliminations did not put him at ease and he knew it was only a matter of time before he lost the rest of his Hit Points. He didn''t even have the opportunity to pull out a Healing Potion. Any attempt at such could distract him long enough to suffer multiple deadly strikes seeing as he was barely holding on as is. It was as though the horse had already been alerted to his distress because she was there before the call was evenpleted and used her speed to shatter the formation forming around Henry. "-How dare you!- Nyx yelled in a furious voice as she went on to stomp on a few of the Mummies, eliminating some of them while yelling, "-Get some! Yeah, fall to my mighty hooves!-" Henry could tell that Nyx had meant to sound menacing and despite how dire the situation might look to him, he could not help but allow himself a moment of levity to chuckle at the fact that he was the only one who could hear her chants and that didn''t stop her one bit. Henry gripped Nyx''s reins and pulled himself into her saddle to escape the encirclement. The Mummies Nyx had not eliminated ¡ªthe majority¡ª charged after them but were all far too slow to catch up. They were also too slow to dodge or run when Nyx arrived and began providing more stomps. The rewards for her kills kept ticking up in Henry''s head. She was up to ten eliminations now since her Level-Up and seemed to be enjoying using her improved skill while still being smart enough to manage her Mana reserves. Henry didn''t get off her saddle. It would be foolish to. Instead, he took advantage of being out of the reach of the enemies to fire shots with ''Violent Retort'', reaping Exp and ticking up the count toward another Level-Up. He had just eliminated the fifth Mummy since he pulled himself into Nyx''s saddle that ''Violent Retort'' let out the clickof an empty barrel. Henry called on the Sub-skill and although the blue glow shone across his weapon, no Slugs were loaded. The Fifty Mana-infused Slugs he had bought from Elminster were all used up. ''Bought'' being used liberally seeing as he was yet to pay for them. But that''s beside the point. Henry gritted his teeth and sent ''Violent Retort'' into his Inventory while drawing ''The Hydra''s Sting'' but before he could turn the weapon on another Mummy and make it his next victim, he was reminded the Mummies were merely a distraction. And the reminder came in the form of more Mana des sent by the Lich who was determined to pierce him enough that he''d not shake off. Nyx was dodging the des quite well and Henry pulled out two Healing Potions and drank them just in case he got hit. [You have recovered 120 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 160/240] Meanwhile, the battles all over the Dungeon had not slowed down and somehow, everyone had broken into groups. Aurelius stood to one side nked by the two Squires, Alice and Darren, who were determined to pull their weight and prove the mettle they had already shown by volunteering toe along. When Aurelius slid to the ground after getting mmed away by the Lich''s fist spell, he shook off the stunned effect but before he could try again and continue his role as the distraction, the Mummies were summoned. Armed with a rapier and a sword respectively, Alice and Darren had broken free from the encirclement before it could tighten all so they could fight by Aurelius'' side. Eloise was also an option but at the time, she had been preupied with spurring Henry on to search. The second notable group was one of two; Louis and Andor had pulled close together. Mindful of his Mana reserves, Louis didn''t want to be too indiscriminate with his Spell-cast so as not to wear himself out too fast in a battle that looked to be setting itself up to be a marathon. He focused mostly on stunning the Mummies. He released minimal (inparison to what he could do if he went all out) streaks of electricity that short-circuited whatever made the Mummies tick, stopping them in ce for Andor to lop off their heads or shatter their chests. The third ground were the ones under the leadership of Norbert although he was barely leading them at the moment. There was some synergy between those who belonged to the same group before they all got lumped together by necessity. All in all, though, it was every man/woman for him/herself. It was against a column close to the third group that Eloise mmed into because of the beam fired at her by the Lich. She wasn''t knocked out of course and shended on her feet ready to swing her sword. Which was fortunate because she was quickly crowded by Mummies. Grunting with effort, Eloise spent a few minutes cutting herself a path out of the encirclement. Despite her incredible Martial ability and her ability to blitz through the enemies, shing them to ribbons, she found it difficult enough a task. She could have sworn more Mummies had been summoned specifically for her. But the moment she got the chance, she yelled. "If you can spare any attention and can attack from range, AIM FOR THAT CONTRAPTION ON THE CEILING!!!" The second part of her yell was even louder and seemed to roll with sound waves that hit all ears calling the attention of anyone who could afford to spare it. To further mark the point of interest, Eloise cast her magical beam attack and fired it at the Contraption. Leaving it smoking and, at the very least, softened up for further blows. Nyx had just dodged another barrage of Mana des when Eloise''s yell rang out so of course, Henry affirmed it. "She''s right!" He said and fired shots from ''The Hydra''s Sting'' into the Contraption. Merely causing a few dents. Henry''s affirmation seemed to spur Louis on and the moment he could afford space from the Mummies surrounding him and Andor, he fired a powerful streak of Lightning at the Contraption. *Brrrtttttzzzzz* *Kraka-Bang!* The streak of lightning struck the Contraption and it continued to crackle for a whole minute after. Henry watched, with narrowed eyes that quickly widened in discovery as the ''seams'' of the Contraption seemed to pull apart by a fraction of an inch. "Holy shit," he mumbled, "Lightning is the Key!" Chapter 170: Boss Action Just as Henry had his epiphany, worry clouded the Lich''s expression which was strange to see because there were no muscles or skin to contort and change shape, and yet, there was a darkness over the Lich''s ck skull and its re was intently on Louis. Eloise had cut through her encirclement and she had also seen the little gap in the ''seams'' of the contraption. Her eyes glowed with realization simr to Henry''s as she looked over at Louis hoping to egg him on to try again. And then she saw the Mana des the Lich had conjured and sent to Louis. "No!" Henry yelled when he saw this too but there was nothing he could do. Worse, he knew there was nothing Louis could do either because he had never seen the Mage cast a defensive spell. Andor was busy as well and would not react quickly enough to intercept the des on Louis'' behalf. Eloise had her eyes screwed up and she began spellcasting at a speed Henry had never seen which admittedly wasn''t saying much since he had not known her for long. Anyway, driven by the urgency to save a life, Eloise tossed Shield Spell after Shield spell to the space between Louis and theing Mana des. The des struck the shields Eloise cast and by sheer numbers and relentless barrage, they shattered them one after the other. Luckily, Eloise had cast enough that the protectionsted long enough for Louis to dodge and avoid the rest. Andor was also alerted and he raised his shield so the Mana des that came at him struck against his defense and shattered while still managing to push him back a step. Andor didn''t just remain in ce though. He forced a hard dash to the side and the des, focused on a single trajectory, sailed past and struck unsuspecting Mummies, eliminating them. The ordeal was only starting though and Eloise soon joined the group of two as a third that helped them fight against the barrage from the Lich while fending off attacks from Mummies. The goal was to fend off attacks long enough to give Louis enough space to cast more of his Lightning attacks. They never quite got that space. As the main focus of the barrage of attacks, Louis was in constant danger, and for as long as they were in the Chamber, there was no way to avoid the gaze and authoritative attention of the Lich who had his eyes on them and only them. There were a few mages among the group being led by Norbert but they were no help. Partly because they were too focused on themselves and immediate survival against the Mummies they were battling and partly because they did not quite recognize Eloise''s authority to direct their efforts. Aurelius and the Squires were hardly any help either. While Alice and Darren were holding their own against the Mummies and had both eliminated more than five each already, they didn''t have range attacks to strike at the contraption and even if they did, the attempt would surely have repercussions in the fights they were already engaged in. Henry scanned the Hall and concluded that no one could spare the attention to strike at the contraption which was ironic because since was actually the most important thing they had to do if they wanted to survive. With the Lich''s magical abilities and what was looking like an unlimited Mana reserve and unlimited summons (seriously just how many of the things did the evil bastard create and just how many people had been sacrificed for theponents), things were not in their favor. The only bright side at the moment, Henry noted, was that the Lich''s attention was not currently focused on him. Despite how much authority it wielded within this Chamber, it couldn''t focus on every aspect. It was why Henry could try ande up with a n. ''Lightning is the key,'' he repeated to himself, ''If I can just free Louis. Nyx could probably manage it¡­'' Henry stopped his thoughts then. Because, in its bony throne, the Lich clenched the armrests of its throne hard and there was an instant change in the atmosphere of the Chamber. It became¡­ Charged. Charged with authority¡­ With power. Spell circles began to form on the ground where Louis, Andor, and Eloise stood. The circles became more detailed with Arcane symbols; The preamble for a spell cast¡ª In case the spell circles were not enough indications. Before the spell circles wereplete with the Arcane Symbols, before they were active, Eloise, Louis, and Andor had the good sense to attempt to escape but something bore down on their shoulders. "Ah¡ª" Eloise let out as her legs began to tremble and her knees were being forced to buckle. To hit the ground and show respect to an Authority. Everyone in the chamber felt this authoritative wave but no one was more affected than the three who were its focus. Especially Louis whose Lightning Spell had provoked the Lich to unleash this power. In that instant, Aurelius knew he had been wrong. Authority did have a smell¡­ This particr authority was a mix of sweet and rotten. It shouldn''t have worked and it didn''t really work. The unnatural mix only served to intensify the Authority. Henry blinked as the System shed the name of the Lich''s move in front of his eyes. The system had only ever done this once before against Rena the Vyker who, at the time, had used as a Feral Meister. Just like back then, Henry was confused as to why the System would volunteer the information but his confusion only intensified when the supplied information became broader. It wasn''t projected on a screen for him to read. He just knew it. was the sort of move the System called a ''Boss Action''. As the Lords of Dungeons that are destined to have raiders storm within them, Dungeon Bosses such as the Lich had abilities they could use. Abilities beyond spells. Abilities that did not sap Mana or any real physical parameters but could simply be enacted by and at will. The ''Boss Action'' often varies from Boss to Boss and their ability to use it might also vary. For example, for the Lich, judging by the way it clenched the Armrests of its throne, there was some effort. Anyway, even as Henry blinked with a newfound understanding of the move, it didn''t change how much trouble Eloise, Louis, and Andor were in. The spell circles werepleted. Eloise''s eyes widened even further than they already had because she knew the Authority holding her and the other two down had merely been to hold them in ce and now came the real attack. Despite the pressure bearing down on her and attempting to force her to her knees, or maybe because of it, Eloise channeled her Oath, let her Mana surge, and called forth the amount of Divine serenity she was currently afforded by her Divine Patron. Her physical abilities swelled and her sword became coated in an energy de that burned with a desire to cut and save. When Spears began to rise out of the ground to skewer, she directed her sword into the ground. It cut through it as easily as a hot knife through butter and she caused all the energy within her to rupture. Mana, Oath-channel, and Serene Divinity. All exploded with every bit of their destructive force directed at the Spell circles, causing cracks to form all over before they shatteredpletely. Taking the conjured Spears with them and stopping the Lich''s attacks before they could truly reach fruition. Chapter 171: Lightning Is Key The explosive shatter of the spell circles proved to be good enough of a counter against the pressure of the Lich''s Authority. Albeit a temporary counter. Without its grip on its throne''s armrests lessening even by a fraction, the LIch was quick to reenact its Authoritative pressure and while it prepared to recast therge spell circles that would summon more spears to skewer Andor, Louis, and Eloise from below, it also granted its Mummies some reprieve from the Pressure of its dominance. Allowing them to attack the Dungeon raiders without restrictions. "Move only when you have to," Eloise told the other two under her breath, "It''ll be hard enough to resist the pressure. Unnecessary movements will weaken you faster." Andor gritted his teeth with his grip on his Spear clenching and unclenching as he obediently listened and waited. He let the Mummies get close which didn''t take long and by mustering every bit of Physical might he could manage, all backed by a prompt Mana Surge, he was swinging and taking them down. With the restrictions to movement, he did suffer a few stabs but they were not life-threatening yet and he could still endure. At least for now. Louis, the one with the weakest stamina in the group of three, had been unable to avoid falling to his knees. The pressure had weakened him so much that he hadn''t gotten back to his feet when it passed. Now that it had returned, any attempt to draw on his magical energy and cast a spell was rewarding him with further fatigue. He managed to get his Spear crackling with the Lightning of a spell but he couldn''t even properly raise his head to aim at the contraption in the ceiling and was instead forced to face the immediate enemies. Henry had ''The Hydra''s Sting'' in hand with Nyx patrolling across the Chamber and avoiding the area where Eloise, Louis, and Andor were because the Pressure of the Lich''s Authority was most dense there. Henry had the hammer of his gun cocked and was considering firing a few shots from the distance to lessen the burden of the three when his eyes fell on the back of his hand, at the representation of the only spell he knew; Shocking Grip. Henry paused and maybe Nyx sensed his mind working or maybe she just needed a break from constant gallops as well as taking care to not get too close to be forced on her knees by the Lich''s authority. Either way, she stopped. The stability helped Henry think but there wasn''t much need for it. In fact, he almost smacked himself that this had not urred to him earlier. If the contraption was weakest against Lightning attacks, Louis was absolutely the best man for the job but Louis was now under the unshaken focus of the Lich while Henry, at the moment, was not. Henry looked up at the contraption and his eyes steeled with determination. His idea was set. Now he needed a way to get there because Shocking Grip worked by touch. The ceiling within the Chamber was fairly high but not too high. It was certainly not as high as the Hall where they had identally summoned the Monstrosity. If Henry was to guess, it was about Nine Meters, give or take one Meter. Just about the height of the Monstrosity. ''Hmm,'' Henry thought as he nced over the Lich, ''Maybe that''s why it hasn''t summoned a Monstrosity. I doubt that thing could move freely in here.'' Henry only allowed this thought for a second before his focus returned entirely to the jump he had to attempt. "-Nyx, you''re going to need a running start-" Henry said. "-What do you n to do?-" Nyx asked in a suspicious tone. Henry smiled wryly and when he gave her a mental representation of his n, the horse flinched before she shook her head back and forth. "-That''s insane,-" she said. "So insane that it just might work," Henry mumbled mostly to himself with the wry smile still on his lips. "-No, just insane.-" Nyx reiterated but she didn''t argue Time was running out and the Lich''s attention on Eloise, Louis, and Andor wasn''t doing any of them any favors. Already, Louis'' shoulder had been stabbed through and Eloise looked to be nearing her limit on just how many unending streams of enemies she could keep eliminating. Andor was even worse off than she was. Nyx raised her head with her eyes on Henry''s target and then she dropped her head down with her body exuding a feel of seriousness that had Henry steel up as well. This was his n but this part of it was all Nyx. She had to determine her timing. Nyx moved quickly toward the very end of the Hall, striking and knocking some Mummies away but uncaring for whether or not they were eliminated. They were not. She then turned around, and with her body oozing the dark mist of , she took off at the highest speed she was capable of with Henry standing in her saddle with his knees locked in for his part. Nyx reached the point she needed to reach in about a second and then she jumped. Like taking a running leap, she got high off the ground, taking the burden of most of the jump distance from Henry who then kicked off her saddle (she could handle the force as she bolstered more strength than he could muster) and leaped off her back with his hands directed at the ceiling. When Henry hade up with this n, he had looked at more than the Contraption. He had looked around it and he saw constructs ¡ªhooks¡ª that were indented into the ceiling and could provide him with something to hang on to. Henry had sent ''The Hydra''s Sting'' into his Inventory just to ensure that both his hands were free to reach out and grab a hook. His right hand missed it but fortunately, before he could let out a sound of despair and revert his focus tonding safely on the ground, three fingers of his left hand touched and curled around a hook. With every bit of strength he had, Henry grabbed onto the hook with his three fingers and the way his body swung seemed to wrench them away and struck him with a straining pain but he held on. "Hng!" He groaned as he wrapped all of his fingers around the hook and stabilized his swinging body. As Henry reached out with his right hand to grab a second hook, his eyes were focused on the contraption that was about three feet away from him. Nyx had done so well to get him this close that he just had to express his gratitude, "-Thank you!-" he told her. "-Please don''t fall!-" Nyx told him in return. Henry would have chuckled but he didn''t think it would bode well for his efforts at holding on to the hooks. Speaking of which, carefully, he began to move toward the Contraption. It took some groans but he was there in seconds and with his right hand ¡ªhis dominant hand¡ª retaining a grip on a hook, he stretched out his left hand and touched it against the Contraption. It felt like solid metal but of course, the magical kind. Even without pulling at it, Henry could feel that it was sturdy. He found himself believing with certainty that no amount of strength, not even triple of Eloise''s would be able to break it. ''Fortunately, there''s a way,'' Henry thought and a smile yed at his lips, ''Lightning is Key.'' Shocking Grip! The Lightning of the spell crackled around his hand and charged into the Contraption in a continuous pulsing steam of electricity that seemed to drive into its very core to short-circuit whatever magical engineering held it close. Below, the Lich''s hollow eyes appeared to widen and its jaw pulled apart as it yelled in a loud voice that resounded across the Chamber and thrummed with such authority and magical might, that the very ground shook, "NO!!!" Chapter 172: The Phylactery Henry heard the Lich''s yell as well as felt it. He also knew what woulde after. "Nyx!" He yelled. The urgency of the situation helped him get the words out despite the effort it was taking him to hang on to the hook while his body dangled off the ceiling. Why he didn''t just yell it through telepathy, he had no idea. Nyx was already on the move and as the Lich prepared to cast attacking spells to knock Henry off the ceiling or even better, skewer him to death, she was quickly within range to strike her legs at it. "Get back!" The Lich yelled and before Nyx''s hooves could touch it, it conjured a fist of Mana that punched her aside. [Nyx has lost 40 Hit Points] [Nyx''s Hit Points: 50/185] Nyx hit the ground hard and even as she let out sounds of pain, a dark shadow spread underneath her and she vanished from sight. The Lich thought to return its attention to Henry and focus on getting him down from the contraption when it realized the dark shadow Nyx had vanished into had spread to surround its throne. The shadow was so dark that it appeared to be creeping up the bony throne like it was aiming to grip the Lich''s skeletal form. And then Nyx leaped out and attacked faster than the Lich could react to. *BAM!* *BAM!* Two powerful kicks to the Lich''s skull and it shattered. The Skull began to repair itself while pulling together fragments that had been knocked away by the forceful kicks. Still, temporarilycking a head had not stopped the Lich from raising a hand to cast a spell. s, it never got toplete its spell cast because when its attention had gotten pulled to Henry and his antics with the contraption, certain oppressive actions the Lich was already involved in had to take a back seat in importance. Eloise felt the pressure of the Lich''s Authority lessen around her. She saw Henry keep striking the contraption with pulse after pulse of electricity charging from his hands and knew what the priority was. Like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders ¡ªwhich technically, it had¡ª her body surged with Mana, empowerment of her Oath-channeling, and Serene Divinity, and in a powerful spin of sorts, she was cutting Minmies left and right all so she could get through and continue where Nyx had left off. Which brings us to now: The Lich raised a hand to cast a spell and Eloise sliced her sword ¡ªglowing with an energy de formed out of divine serenity¡ª, through the arm, cutting it in two. She did the same for the other arm as well just as the Lich made to lift it to do what the other had failed to do. As the Lich''s body parts hit the ground, Eloise spared them no look and simply continued with her attack as she lopped the Lich''s skull off the bony frame it called a neck. Eloise didn''t stop there. She stabbed her sword into its chest, where its heart would be if it had organs, and twisted until she was pulling upward and cutting its torso in two. But then, as the two halves fell apart, they glowed a sickly violet that pulled them together, mending them instantly as though they had never been cut. Eloise frowned but wasn''t deterred. She knew she was only the distraction to keep the Lich busy and give Henry the time he needed toplete his destruction of the Contraption. She pulled her sword back and tried for another attack when strange snapping sounds rang out. She realized suddenly that the Lich''s arms had been reassembled. Somehow she had not paid close enough attention to see this. Or maybe it had just happened so fast/instantaneously that her mind had not been able to follow. Either way, the ''snap'' sounds were of the Lichpleting the silent cast of a spell with the snap of its fingers on both its reformed hands. Eloise leaped to safety but a new circle, an unfamiliar circle, appeared in front of the Lich''s mended chest, and out of it charged a chainposed of Mana that wrapped around her waist and pulled her back. Eloise''s eyes widened and she swung her sword at the chain but then arched her back when one of the Lich''s conjured spears stabbed her back, broke through her armor, and out her front. "Ack!" She let out as blood pooled in her mouth. The spear fizzled into Mana specks. Eloise''s wound bled profusely and as her legs went weak, she slumped toward the ground at the foot of the Lich''s bony throne. The Lich cast its magical beam then and as Eloise tried to resist the darkness that was pulling at her consciousness, she was mmed by the beam, with no conjured shields to defend her, and was sent flying many feet away. The Lich''s head was reconstructed now and it made to turn its sights to Henry hanging on to the hook in the ceiling and his hand still on the Contraption, "As for you¡­" it said in a seething ominous tone as it began to ooze mighty magical energy in preparation to cast its most powerful spell yet. But then it felt something crackle a few feet away and it called its attention. The Lich had no hair on any part of its skeletal body but if it had, they would have all stood on end at the detection of this energy. Louis had taken advantage of theck of Authoritative pressure just as Eloise did. He put everything he had into a singr spell. When all the streaks of lightning he was capable of conjuring crackled out of his casted spell circle, he pushed his Intelligence to the limit and pulled them together in a singr st that boasted a level of might he had never even thought himself capable of. He knew this was it. After this, he''d be at the mercy of the Mummies but more importantly, if this attack missed or was blocked, there''d be nothing more he could do to help. But Louis wasn''t worried. Nothing about what he had seen from the Lich so far made him worried about sess. And sure enough, when the congealed streaks of lightning were fired, the Lich turned its head in time to see them but it still didn''t move from its Throne. Nor did it cast a defensive spell. It was a wonder if it could. *KRAKA-BANG!!!* The st struck explosively. It destroyed the Lich''s entire torso and broke through three levels of theyers of bones that made up its Throne. But that was only the initial effect. Residual Electricity from the attack crackled all over the part of the Lich''s body that had survived the attack. Cracking open the bones and lining the cracks with tingles. Henry winced at the st but continued with the task at hand knowing those below were trying to allow him the time toplete it. Shocking Grip! The spell could only thrum continuously for a few seconds after being cast so Henry had to be ready to recast to continue with the effort. "Come on!" Henry yelled urgently at the contraption as though it were sentient enough to respond to his plea. Below, the tingles all over the Lich''s body fizzled out and the half that had been destroyed had reformed so it could turn its eyes to Henry and keep it on him alone. Nyx had sunk into the shadow to avoid the Spears the Lich had conjured and now she rose out of it with the obvious intent to distract the Lich before it could attack her bond. s, before she could, a fist formed out of Mana punched at her. It appeared so close and traveled so fast that sinking right back into the shadow she just rose out of was the best she could do to avoid it. Without sparing her a nce, the Lich channeled its at Henry while casting multiple spell circles that conjured Mana des and were all targeted at him. Henry refused to pay attention and as the electric tingles of began to fizzle from around his hand and as he thought to recast the spell, the Contraption let out a grating sound and finally fell open. It was like a flower and folded out to reveal a secondyer. At first, Henry''s heart sunk at the thought of having to restart the process for the secondyer, especially with his grip on the hook starting to weaken. But then, with grating sounds, it flowered and opened as well¡­ revealing a violet object pulsing at the center. "NO!!!" For the second time that day, the Lich yelled but this time, itunched the des. As they came charging at Henry and the pressure of the Lich''s tried to force him to the ground, Henry kept his eyes on the Phctery. Without theyers to protect and keep it in ce, it dislodged and fell toward the ground. Henry reached for it with his left hand and snagged it out of the air. At the same time, the des of Mana arrived and stabbed into his body all over, forcing him to finally let go of the hook and fall to the ground. Chapter 173: The End Time seemed to slow. Henry was aware of the des stabbing into him. He was aware of his Hit Points dropping fast and he was very aware of the grounding fast. But all this was by the way. His focus was especially on the object in his hand. For something wrapped in the sickly deathly mana of the Lich, and was the source of such a deplorable creature''s immortality, the Phctery pulsed with a strange innocence. For an agonizing second, Henry was struck with a strange sense ofpassion. As though he were questioning the morality of destroying something so¡­ gentle? And then he felt a force pulling at it. He could tell immediately who the force wasing from; The Lich was trying to pull the Phctery from his grip. The realization shook Henry out of the misguided thoughts ofpassion and he clenched his fist, crushing and destroying the Phctery. The Lich screeched in a tone of pain that caused everyone in the chamber to shudder but then it froze with its jaw unhinged and then began to turn to dust. Without itsPhctery to keep it living, not even its skeletal frame could remain whole. The glowing eyes of the Mummies dulled and they all fell to the ground as one. Some even hit the ground so hard that their bones disjointed within their bandages. Henry heard the Lich''s screeches but he was unable to focus on it because once he had destroyed the Phctery, time seemed to have resumed and he was now even more aware of the ground. He was going to m into the ground hard and he only hoped he still had enough Hit Points to handle the impact. But then, the fall suddenly became unimportant as Henry''s mind was pulled from his body. Having experienced this many times already since he had entered the Dungeon, he knew what wasing. He was about to experience the Lich''s Undead Woe. The person Henry was possessing knelt on the ground in the middle of an etched Arcane Circle. Henry didn''t understand the Arcane symbols but knowing whose memories he was looking through, he knew what was about to happen. The circle soon began to glow and the scent was horrific. Like it was the amalgamation of thousands of decays and it only took a while before Henry realized that this might not have been too off-based. Sacrifices were made for the Lich to achieve its morbid immortality but Henry could feel that it made those sacrifices with joy. It would sacrifice millions if necessary as long it was able to extend its existence and forever improve itself. The process began and it was as though the man''s heart were pulled from his chest. Only the pain was a thousand times worse. Henry would have yelled but he didn''t have a voice here and the man epted the pain with delight. A masochist through and through. When it was over, the violet pulsing link to what once made it human floated in front of the Lich and it treated it with care. Not because it cared for the attachment to its vulnerable past but because this was the key to its invulnerable future. Henry could see into its thoughts. The horrible experiments it had nned; The constructs it could create with the bones and remains of its victims. The service of dutiful knights to whom it would grant Immortality so they could eternally serve it. The ones whose individuality and sense of self it would rip away just so they would be gatekeepers to evaluate those who could venture deeper into its abode. Only the very best should make it through because only they would make the best ingredients. Yes, the Lich had goals and its ''eyes'' sparkled in excitement at aplishing those goals. And then the Woe was over and Henry was back in his body. He found that he was lying on Nyx''s back. The horse must have galloped over to break his fall. Henry smiled lightly at the fact that even though her back was certainly softer than the cold hard floor of the Chamber, he would still have lost Hit Points. Of course, seeing as he was still breathing, it must have been a manageable loss. [Kill-Reward: 2000 Exp] [Undead Woes: 2500 Exp] [Quest Completed!] [You have received 10,000 Exp] *[Nyx has received 5000 Exp] [Level Up!] [Level Up!] [You are now Level 26] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 260] [Hit Points: 22/260] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 370] [You have received 12 Stat Points to Allocate] [Nyx has Leveled Up!] [Nyx is now Level 12] [Nyx''s Hit Point Maximum increased to 200] [Nyx''s Mana is now 210] [Strength: 85 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 90] [Speed: 160 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 170] [Stamina: 80 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 85] Henry was barely aware that Nyx was trotting but he was soon made aware when the voices of the others in the Chamber were getting closer. "Henry, you did it!" Louis said, and being ecstatic seemed to be the limit of what he could manage physically. His Stamina was so depleted that his legs shook even though he was seated on the ground. Andor, ever the silent type, simply smiled. Not by choice, Henry''s eyes fell on Aurelius who was nked by the Squires Alice and Darren who both looked worn out but were delighted they hade along. Aurelius'' lips were pursed as he and Henry exchanged a look and then he gave a sharp nod before turning his face away. That was clearly the only bit of acknowledgment he was going to afford Henry. Henry rolled his eyes and looked away. He was searching for someone. He slid off Nyx''s back as though that''d help the search. He hadn''t paid all that much attention to the ground below while he was working on the Contraption but he knew Eloise had been working to keep the Lich busy and give him time toplete the task. Not seeing her had him fearing for the worse. "Well done." When he heard her voiceing from behind him, Henry allowed himself a sigh of relief but when he turned around to face her, his eyes bugged. Eloise had a hand over a hole in her abdomen. How it wasn''t bleeding even more than it already was, was a mystery. Eloise smiled lightly at his reaction, "It looks worse than it is," she said easily. "How can you say that?" Henry asked, his eyes still bugged. "It''ll heal," Eloise said in a nonchnt voice, and as skeptical as Henry was, he noticed the sides of the hole squirming as though trying to pull together to mend it. "That''ll be ufortable for anyone to look at," Eloise said quietly with her voice as nonchnt as ever. She pulled bandages from out of nowhere and wrapped them around her wound. Henry was sure he could still see the squirming so he looked away. He looked at the others within the Chamber. Norbert''s group looked exhausted but even as they leaned against the wall, the columns, or the now-unlocked Chamber door, their eyes darted all over the Chamber. Now that Henry was not so focused on the Lich and could afford to nce around, he saw there was a good selection of loot within the Chamber. They''d sure to sell well outside whether for their uses or just to satisfy vain desires. Everyone in Norbert''s group seemed to be biding their time to start scampering away with Loot and asionally, Henry saw their eyes dart to him like they knew he should have first pick for eliminating the Lich but wondered if he was capable enough to defend that right. They were sizing him up. That caused Henry''s lips to curl in the corner into a smirk but he put it out of his mind for the moment and directed his attention at the allocation of his Stat Points. He knew exactly where he wanted to put it all. ''Put all my Stat Points into Perception.'' [Are you sure?] ''I am.'' [Perception: 31 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 43] [Perception has surpassed 40] [Conditions have been fulfilled] [Skill Level Up!] [Insight is now Lv.3] [You have acquired active effect; Weakness Assessment.] Henry smiled lightly because he had somewhat expected this. ''So it levels up every 20 Stat points then,'' he thought with a hand now stroking his jaw before he unrolled the description page for ; [ ?Weakness Assessment (Active): With thebination of your magical energy and your Perception, you can scan a target and pinpoint parts of their bodies that will result in the most damage. I.e Their Weaknesses. Costs: 20 Mana Points.] Henry frowned lightly and just to test it out, he activated the skill and turned it on Aurelius who was still facing away from him. [Activating Weakness Assessment¡­] Explore more at m,v l''e-NovelBin In a second, parts of Aurelius'' body became highlighted. The brightest highlights were at the center of his forehead and over his heart. "20 Mana Points to find out what I already know?" Henry mumbled seeing the new skill as either useless or a ripoff. And then he remembered enemies they had battled in the Dungeon. Most especially, the Monstrosity. He realized how useful this Skill would have been in that fight and saved them from doing things as useless as cutting off its foot or slicing at its neck. "Okay," he agreed to himself with a chuckle, "Maybe not too useless." Chapter 174: Hidden Treasure (1) By the time Henry was done observing his New Skill and testing it out, he realized a shift in the atmosphere of the Chamber and he saw Norbert had walked close to Aurelius and was whispering in his ear. Aurelius frowned at whatever he was being told and spoke equally in a whisper to which Norbert argued in a voice that carried enough for Henry to hear what was being said, "¡­ You, Sir Aurelius, and Lady Eloise outrank everyone here. You certainly outrank a bunch of ves who appear to have lost their cuffs. If anyone gets first pick of the loot, it should be you." Aurelius seemed to have realized how loud Norbert had been because his eyes roamed until they were looking at Henry. And then his eyes moved until they were on Eloise who was frowning with distaste that was mostly focused on Norbert. Norbert seemed to realize the carrying tone he had used as well because he looked at Eloise sheepishly as he said, "Dame Eloise, what he did was certainly vital to end this. But he destroyed one little thing. And wouldn''t have even been able to destroy it had you not kept the Lich busy¡­" "So let me get this straight," Eloise started slowly, "You knew I was distracting the Lich, paid enough attention to know how important it was but didn''t lend a hand?" "Well¡ªwell, you can''t just put it like that. I was busy too," Norbert said before gesturing at the rest of his mismatched group of raiders, "We were all busy." "And what good would it have done you to eliminate mummies if the Lich wasn''t eliminated? If HE didn''t eliminate it?" Eloise asked with her eyes glowering. Norbert opened his mouth but seemed to find it difficult to form the words. He took a while and then seemed to have decided what to say but before he could speak, Henry''s voice sounded from the very end of the hall. "Thank you, Eloise, but I''ll just take the Throne. And everything around it, of course," he said. Henry was standing beside the Lich''s throne with a hand on its horrible armrest. He managed to keep from cringing at the sacrifices that the Lich had made to create the Throne and simply looked serene and resigned to his choice. "Henry, you can pick better," Eloise said. "No, it''s fine," he said. Norbert pped once, "Fabulous," he said and then looked at Eloise tentatively, "So you''ll select first, Dame Eloise." "I want none of it," Eloise said immediately. Aurelius said the same though he didn''t stop the Squires from picking things. If there was some code of ethics that held him and Eloise back from looting, it apparently did not apply to the two Squires. Norbert nodded looking even more delighted before he announced, "Let the looting begin!" Immediately, one of the members of his mismatched group pulled a metallic shining te off the wall. It was gilded with Arcane Symbols and he held it up to say, "How much do you think this would go for?" "Probably thousands of Gold," said someone close to him who was aiming for something else on the wall. "How many thousands?" Asked the Raider still excited. "30¡­ Maybe more," the second raider answered after sessfully prying loot off the wall. "Whoa," the first Raider said with his eyes gleaming. This might have been his first Dungeon raid. Andor watched the looting Raiders with a disapproving frown and then he looked over at Henry still standing beside the Lich''s throne and raised a brow when Henry gestured that hee closer. Andor obeyed immediately and as Louis watched him walk away and join Henry by the throne, he mustered the energy he had recovered since the depletion of his Stamina to stand and walk over as well. "Andor, I''m gonna need you to push this Throne aside," Henry said. It took a few seconds for Andor to realize what that request meant and his eyes widened, "You think there''s something behind it?" He asked. Before Henry could answer, Louis spoke from just a few steps away, "There is something behind it. How did anyone miss that?" Louis asked with wide eyes and a gesture at a destroyed part of the Throne. He had it destroyed himself with his Lightning spell. The very spell that sapped him of his stamina. The spell he had cast to keep the Lich busy for as long as he could. Henry nodded, "The Lich never left this Throne. I thought it was either a power y or there was something it was subconsciously protecting. Andor move the throne." Henry stepped aside and Andor seized the Throne and pulled it off the wall. The effort required looked significant but eventually, with the barest sound of the bones scraping against the cold Dungeon floor, it pulled away from the wall slowly. The farther the throne became to the wall, the clearer the panel behind became. It was a rectangr panel about the same width and length as the Throne''s high back. Henry tapped on the panel as Andor stopped pulling the throne so he and Louis came over to join him. He roamed his hand over the surface and he nodded eventually, "Arcane symbols," he said in a low voice, "We''ll need magic." "I''ve got it," Louis said. "Sure you''re up for it?" Henry asked when the Mage still looked weak. Louis managed a smile and then shook his body as though to draw attention to the robe he had on, "I''m good. With this robe on, I''ve recovered some Mana. As long as this doesn''t take too long and sap too much energy, I should be fine." Seemed like a lot of caveats but Henry stepped aside and let the mage step toward the Panel. Louis charged Mana into the panel and half a minuteter, it jutted off the wall by an inch before falling out. Louis leaped to the side before it could hit him and Henry thought the panel would hit the floor until he realized there were chains attached to it that kept it off the ground and stretched out forward on an even ne. Like a drawbridge. There were more chains on the surface of the panel ¡ªthe panels that had been blocked from sight when it was still in the wall¡ª and secured by those chains were all manner of books. Thick books whose covers ranged from aged but dignified to horrible skin-like materials that were contorted to form faces. The books bounded in the skin-like materials had disgusting scents but Louis'' eyes glowed as he eyed them all, "Grimoires!" He said and reached for one of the books to pull off the chains. They fell away at his touch and he was able to lift the book and flip through the pages with that glow still in his eyes. "So, magic books," Henry said with a frown. Not entirely disappointed but not particrly enthusiastic either. Louis rolled his eyes and the sight of the Grimoires seemed to have revitalized him far more than rest ever could, "If you''re being simple, then sure ''Magic books'' but if you''re being broader, these are Grimoires containing the most umon of magical knowledge. Possibly even more umon seeing as the Dungeon is technically another dimension." "How much will they sell for?" Andor asked suddenly. It was the question Henry was just about to ask so he actually smiled when he heard it leave the Fighter''s mouth. Louis'' eyes still glowed, "Hundreds of thousands of Gold. You''d have to find the right market for it, I assume. Never knew much about Trade though but they''re worth a LOT! Definitely more than anything else in this Dungeon put together." Henry doubted Louis''s words were all that loud despite the intensity of his tone but he noticed the eyes of everyone in the Chamber were suddenly on them with quite a few gleaming with greed for their find. Chapter 175: Hidden Treasure (2) Henry was a novice in the Dungeon raiding game but if everyone was so convinced it was a money-making venture, he had wondered how just the shy things in the wall could possibly be what the entire ordeal had been about. It just seemed¡­ iplete. And then, while Eloise was reproaching Norbert for greedily seeking the best loot for himself, Henry had looked at the Throne. The seat the Lich never left. Not even when Henry had opened the contraption and gotten his hand around the Phctery. With a closer look at the Throne and his perception to guide him, he noticed the part that had been damaged by Louis'' spell revealed something behind and he had a moment of inspiration that the Lich had another hiding spot almost as important to it as the Contraption on the ceiling. And now that it had been opened, he understood why the Lich would treasure it. Lying here, bound by chains, was what it treasured the most. Its knowledge. Some were probably written by its own hands. Considering how easily overlooked the throne was and how the Lich had been reluctant to stand, Henry found himself entertaining a wonder as to why the Lich had not kept his Phctery there. And then, he realized the contraption was not at all a bad hiding spot. Had he not had the visions he received with Undead Woes to guide him, Henry knew it would have taken too long to make the guess. Which exined the smugness of the Lich when first they entered the Chamber; What they sought was not at all far and yet, it was unseekable. The Phctery''s energy had beenpletely sealed off and the contraption had not even looked all that out of ce. Death would have likelye faster than discovery. Anyway, Louis'' words seemed to speak aloud the thought that had just entered into Henry''s head; These magic books ¡ªGrimoires¡ª were the biggest treasure here and not just because of how much they were worth outside the Dungeon even though that was certainly arge part of it. It was because the wealth of the Lich''s experience, its morbid practices to secure eternal life and also create abominations and monstrosities, were recorded in those pages. In fact, one of these books most likely inspired him to step onto the morbid path. Anyway, now that the words left Louis''s lips, the others in the Chamber realized why Henry had chosen the Throne and the area around it. At the time he chose, they had thought he was after the wall-mounted antiquities over there as well and were delighted that he was getting the lesser share. It was apparent now that they''d been wrong. The panel with the Grimoires was the prize they should have sought. Andor tensed and reached into his bag to grip his Spear, ready to pull it out. Louis was too engrossed in what he was reading, and trying to decipher, to realize the looks they were getting. "Let''s take them all," Henry said, sounding quite calm despite all the attention, "Louis, close the book. You can read it when you''re out." Louis looked disgruntled but he snapped the book shut. It was as though closing the book brought him back to his senses and he finally noticed the attention they were garnering. Instinctively, Louis started the motion to toss the book into the bag he still had on his back when a hand gripped his wrist before it could get close enough. "Drop it," Aurelius said in a low urgent voice while Louis'' eyes widened in surprise. He hadn''t even sensed the Knight getting closer. Henry frowned and with a flex of his hand, he drew ''The Hydra''s Sting'' from his Inventory and held it tight as he asked, "What are you doing?" While Henry didn''t like Aurelius, he believed the Knight had at least more nuance than the other greedy bastards in the Chamber. At the very least, he hadn''t been expecting him to try to seize their loot. Aurelius nced at Henry and then at the gun in his hand. He pursed his lips and then looked at the book in Louis'' hand as well as the ones still on the panel, "That book is evil. They all are." "How so?" Henry asked casually as though he wasn''t nning how best to make sure his bullet went through the Knight''s forehead. Aurelius was fast but not as fast as him. While the Knight''s higher Strength stat could help if they were to take off in a race, Henry doubted it would help in terms of reflexes so he was a bit confident. And then he heard as well as felt Nyx trot closer. She had been so quiet so far that he might have wondered if she had sunk back into the shadows but she was still on the surface and her eyes were on Aurelius who didn''t seem to notice. "They are thest testament of a Lich¡­ An undead monster with a desire for creating abominations," Aurelius said through gritted teeth. "Your point?" Henry asked. "My point?" Aurelius asked like Henry''s response surprised him. Andor had pulled his Spear out now ready for a fight that looked so sure to happen. "Yes, what''s your point? Nothing you''ve said tells me why I ¡ªwe¡ª should let any of this go. Who cares if it belonged to a Lich, I care how much it''ll make me." Aurelius'' eyes shed and he grabbed the book in Louis'' hand as though to hold it up to prove his point, "What good could the knowledge of such abominable works do for the people outside? It would only sow chaos and create trouble. Imagine thinking to facilitate the creation of more Liches or even worse, the sacrifice of innocents all because you want to make money?" Henry flinched at that. To be fair, more sacrifices like the Lich had made were not the sort of thing he''d like to see. He could desensitize himself by deciding not to care about what happened to strangers but that was much much easier said than done. That said, clearly Aurelius'' n was to confiscate the books and Henry couldn''t have that. All that righteous zeal meant nothing to him and he knew Aurelius'' thoughts could be just as insidious as those evil strangers he imed he didn''t want to see getting their hands on the books. "You make apelling case," Henry said with a small smile, "I''ll think about it while I hold on to them." Aurelius clutched the book he had seized from Louis to his chest and drew his sword, "I can''t let you do that," he said as he pointed his sword at Henry who already had ''The Hydra''s Sting'' pointed at his forehead. The gun glowed green as Henry powered it up to fire any of the two magical shots it was capable of. Maybe even activate the two at the same time. Andor had his Spear tight in hand too but he was forced to only partially pay attention to Aurelius and Henry because the other groups were also sharing greedy looks and appeared very interested in seizing hold of the loot. Find exclusive stories on m_v l|e-NovelBin "Oh,e on, Again?" Eloise''s voice said, cutting through the tense atmosphere. It seemed like she had not been close by before because, had she been, Henry was sure she''d have stepped in the moment Aurelius grabbed Louis'' wrist. Or maybe she just hadn''t been paying attention. Either way, her voice did not make either of the two drop their weapons. Eloise''s face came into view and she sighed while shaking her head, "Surely, there''s apromise." Chapter 176: Compromise "There''s nopromise," Aurelius said through gritted teeth and though he was speaking to Eloise, his eyes did not leave Henry''s face. Or his gun. "Aurelius," Eloise said in a tone half cating and half chiding. "We need to burn them!" Aurelius yelled as he shook the book hard in Eloise''s face while his sword remained steadily pointed at Henry, "Every bit of evil knowledge here should not be allowed to spread." "And who the hell are you to decide what spreads? This is ours. It''s our choice what we decide to do with it, not yours," Henry said and ck eyes shed a cold glint as he continued, "Try and spark a me or leave with any of these books and my bullet will go through your skull. I guarantee it." For a few seconds, neither of the two said any more as they remained locked in a standoff while the groups in the Chamber with their eyes on the loot seemed to hold their breath and hope the fight began. The ensuing chaos would make it far easier to scamper away with some of the books. Eloise sighed, "I say again, there''s apromise," she said and turned to face Aurelius, "Let them keep the books." Henry''s lips twitched in a smile. He was surprised Eloise was taking his side and wasn''t sure why she would but he was d she had. Aurelius was of course, irate, "What?" He asked in a sharp tone, "Of course, you''ll side with him, a stranger, over me¡­" "Aurelius!" Eloise said sharply in a tone that carried and the look they shared next was loaded with information that Henry was not quite interested in deciphering. Aurelius'' stance cked then even though his face was still contorted in anger. Eloise cleared her throat, "As I was saying, let them keep the books. It was their find and they do have the right to decide what to do with it." "Thank you!" Louis said and took advantage of Aurelius'' weakened stance and pose to rip the book out of the Knight''s grip before he could tighten his hold. "But," Eloise said with a hand directed at Louis as though to make sure she had his attention. It was as though she knew the moment he opened that book, the conversation would be lost to him, "But, you donate them to the Alvareen Museum of Magical Antiquities." Louis'' ever-wide eyed glowed again but he said nothing. Henry guessed that was because he knew little of this museum. Or maybe the name just made him too awestruck to speak. A novel concept considering the Mage never really quite knew how to shut up about anything that excited him. "You want me -us- to give this up to a Museum?" Henry asked in a slow voice like he wasn''t sure he had heard right. But of course, he had. Eloise smiled, "Not just any Museum," she said, "The Museum of Magical Antiquities is thergest collection of Magical knowledge in any one ce. There are branches in every major city and the branch at Alvareen will be more than happy to relieve you of these books." Aurelius'' stance rxed even more as he saw sense in Eloise''s suggestion even though Henry was still not clear on all the details. "Wait¡ª" he started to say. "The Museum will pay you market price for them of course," Eloise said as though she had anticipated what he was about to ask, "I''ll personally introduce you to a friend who will attend and appraise the books. You''ll get what is fair for finding them and the books will be safe away with those who can best decide what to do with it." Henry furrowed his brows and then nced at Aurelius, "You''re okay with this?" He asked. The Knight frowned, not at the suggestion but rather at Henry''s casual tone. He pursed his lips before he said, "The Museum would be a good ce for the books. I''d still prefer to have them destroyed." "Compromise," Eloise said in a singing voice. "And you think the people in the Museum won''t use the books to perform all the evil you fear?" Aurelius'' eyes tightened. Eloise seemed at ease, "Like I said, we''ll be visiting a friend. I trust her." "Alright," Henry said with a shrug but of course, Eloise trusting her mysterious friend meant very little to him. Just as he had no intentions of holding up his side of thepromise. He didn''t even think he''d get to since he was not returning to Alvareen. Aurelius dropped his sword and Henry dropped his gun. Eloise smiled, content with her peace-keeping but when she nced at the books, it was clear she agreed with Aurelius'' sentiments. She wanted no part of it. That could also have been because she wanted Henry, Louis, and Andor to have it all so they''d have all im to the profits. The groups in the Chamber had all rxed from their battle/loot-robbing stances. Clearly, there''d be nomotion to take advantage of and if they were to start one, they shuddered to think how many of them the Knight duo of Eloise and Aurelius could cut down while the ''ves'' picked off the rest. Also, there was that ck horse to worry about. "Better to seize it outside," Norbert said like a voice of reason and, nodding in agreement, the others turned back to the Loot they had been grabbing off the walls. There were Thirty books, allrge with their varying differences in covers. Henry, Louis, and Andor had separated in three but as the others made to stow them away, Henry tapped them stealthily, "Hand them here," he said. He thought he''d have to exin his reasons but they just gave him their share of the books. Even then though, Henry gave a short exnation, "They have their eyes on you. Bags make an obvious hiding spot. If theye for you, they''lle for the bags." And so, with the smoothest passing wave of his hand over the stacks, he had them all in his Inventory in a second. It had happened so fast that even if anyone had paid attention they''d have assumed the books had been stowed into Louis and Andor''s bags. And then, looting continued normally. Andor seized wall-mounted treasures on the section that Henry hadid im to and put it all in his bag. Louis did the same and soon, when the entire Chamber had been stripped clean, it was clear the Dungeon raid was over. "Are you done?" Eloise asked Henry gently but it sounded like she had been waiting for him. "Yes," he said, "Yes, I think we are." "Then we should get out of here," Eloise said, "Dungeons don''t remain stable for long after the Boss has been defeated." "Oh," Henry said and he nced at Aurelius who was making a point not to look at him. nked by Squires who were eyeing him curiously like the recent standoff had piqued their interest. "Why haven''t you left yet then?" Henry asked Eloise. Eloise smiled a beautiful smile and her grey eyes seemed to twinkle, "I was waiting for you," she said, "I have a proposition and I''d like you alive to hear it." ''Uh oh.'' "What proposition?" Henry asked with trepidation. "I''m not going to tell you here, Henry," Eloise said and rolled her eyes. His name rolled off her tongue so easily it was as though she had been saying it for weeks rather than a few hours at most, "I''ll tell you outside. Let''s go." Chapter 177: New Title, New Quest Henry watched Eloise lead the way to the Chamber door. He watched as she was quickly joined by Aurelius and the Squires and automatically, his feet moved and he followed with Nyx trotting on one side and Louis and Andor, walking on his other side. The other groups towed behind them with eyes greedily on the bags but Henry hoped they wouldn''t try their thievery just yet. His mind was at the moment upied with what the proposition could be. He gave it a few thoughts as they crossed the Hall of Undead Knights and entered the corridor they had followed here. The other groups separated from them here. There were many corridors that led into the Hall of Undead Knights and they all seemed morefortable going through paths they had journeyed already. Even if the Dungeon Boss was defeated, it would be foolish to becent. Had Henry been paying attention, he would have seen the conflicted expressions those raiders had as they considered ditchingfort for closeness to the loot they still had their eyes on. Eventually, they left. Anyway, as they entered through the Corridor and met with the Squires who had been too worried to continue, Henry realized it didn''t matter what the proposition was because one sure thing was that it would involve staying at Alvareen. They arrived at the Hall where they had battled the Monstrosity. The ground no longer shook and the glowing red symbols were gone. With the Lich defeated, there was nothing to power the Monstrosities that had sought to be unleashed onto the Hall. Henry, Louis, and Andor walked toward the door that had led them into the hall and they were about to walk through it and descend the spiral stairs when Henry realized they were being followed. He looked back and raised a brow but Eloise smiled, "Lead on," she said, "I''m seeing you outside safely." And so, with Eloise and her Knight Party following, they descended the stairs. Uninterested in the hassle of hoof cement, Nyx vanished into Henry''s shadow. Back within the room of Sarcophagi, Henry took note that the Squires did not appear familiar with the room or even the carcass of Echo on the ground. It made him realize they must have faced a different challenge. He was curious about what it was but not enough to ask. The other previous cuff-wearers were gone and the door that led into the room and toward the far exit of the Dungeon was opened wide. ''They must have been very eager to get out,'' Henry thought with a smile. The way out was obvious and after a few minutes of trudging through the dimly lit corridor, they were at therge space that preceded the various channels that led deeper into the Dungeon and right there was the oval portal with its energy far less stable than Henry remembered it being when they first walked through it. Others arrived through their chosen channels as well and slowed their pace when they saw Eloise observing the portal. "It''s still safe," she eventually said, "We still have time." And so they all walked out and were greeted with the brilliant sky. It felt like so long that Henry had seen itst. Even Louis, with his stated interests in Dungeons and Dungeon-raiding, grinned and looked up as though to wee the sun''s rays on his face. Henry chuckled and then he heard the familiar alert in his head; [You raided a Dungeon and Survived] [You have gained the Title ''Dungeon Raider''] [Title: Dungeon Raider Description:You ventured through an inter-dimensional portal and faced the creatures behind. That is a feat worth rewarding. The Title rank is at the moment but will improve the more Dungeons with increasing floor difficulty you are involved in clearing. The ''Dungeon Raider'' Title grants you the ''Raider''s Intent'' skill.] [Skill: Raider''s Intent Description: You are shrouded in an Aura that creatures native to Dungeons can sense. It induces caution within them and should you wish, could also induce fear for a maximum of 10 seconds. ? The duration and effectiveness of this Skill will vary depending on the physical and especially mental strength of the target/targets. To ovee this, you must improve the ''Dungeon Raider'' Title which in turn improves ''Raider''s Intent''. ? This Skill only works within Dungeons. ? This Skill does not require Mana to activate.] Henry felt like he was reading through the descriptions against his will and the farther he got in reading the descriptions on both the Title and the Skill, the more his brows seemed to furrow and the tighter he pressed his lips together. First, the ''Dungeon Raider'' Title just seemed like an incentive to have him start finding portals to jump in and he was not at all sure that was what he wanted to do. Second, The ''Raider''s Intent'' Skill seemed nice to have but only worked inside Dungeons and on the creatures inside them so again, another incentive for Dungeon Raiding. Another Incentive he was not quite interested in. [Grand Quest Updated! Main Quest: The Gunslinger''s Revenge Description: You have broken your bounds and had to endure a grueling ordeal through a Lich''s Dungeon, enduring Undead Woes all the way while navigating your thoughts to avoid or at least keep the electric jolts to your brain minimal. Put simply, you''ve been through a lot. Will you just let that go? The System says No, which is why you have been charged with Ruining Ralph Gribbo the ve Master. Quest Conditions; - Ralph Gribbo''s life must be thest to go. - Bring down his ve enterprise which has trickled into his other businesses. - Break down his support system and leave him alone and desperate and only then, can you im his life. And only then will the Quest be consideredplete. Quest Reward: Level +6 *Nyx will receive 50% of the Quest Reward. Good Luck!] Henry wasn''t sure why but he was smiling by the time he was done with the Quest description. This was something he felt he could get into. This, judging by the Quest Conditions, was the most return to his past life ¡ªto something familiar¡ª, as he could get. Now, of course, there were differences. Ralph Gribbo was surely more defended and powerful than the marks Henry had gone after in his past life but Henry remained convinced the fundamentals were the same. And then Henry remembered Yelena and he felt an ache in his chest as he wondered how she was while also feeling so sure he would not have an easy time if he attempted to go near Saint ret at the moment. And there was a chance she wasn''t even there. Eventually, he let out a sigh. The connection he shared with Yelena through the System had him informed that she was alive and well. For now, that would have to be enough. Find more chapters on m_v l|e-NovelBin "I''ll do it," he said in a low but intense voice. [It wasn''t in question. This Quest is not optional.] Henry rolled his eyes at the system and his eyes found the Quest title again as his lips twitched at the word ''Revenge''. ''My Revenge?'' Henry asked himself. Had he liked the jolts of electricity into his brain? No, not at all. But he had thought very little of Ralph Gribbo through it all. Although, to be fair, his attention had been far more focused on escape at the time and that left little room for much else. Anyway, if it was ''Revenge'', why was there no mention of Maude Aleric who sold him into very? ''Step by step maybe? After Ralph Gribbo, Maude Aleric''s next?'' Henry asked but the System gave no insights so he shut the question aside. When he pulled himself out of the attention he had been giving the screens the System had provided him with, he was able to talk with Louis and Andor who looked to be in no hurry. They just sat on the snow-covered ground and enjoyed being out and the danger and very behind them. Henry smiled at them and asked, "So whates next for you?" Chapter 178: Proposition Louis didn''t lose his grin but he also didn''t open his eyes as he answered, "I''m going to Alvareen," he said, "It''s always been my dream to explore the City and now I can do that since I''m no longer strapped with a cuff." "I suppose the city is beautiful," Andor said nodding but with less conviction. Henry paused and then he asked, "Andor, where are you from? Where''s home for you?" Andor looked ufortable for a bit and scratched at his arm for a bit before he eventually answered, "I¡ª I don''t really have a home. I used to fight in the Pits." "The what?" Henry asked. "The Pits. It''s like an Arena for Brutal fights. Sometimes to the death," Andor exined, "One day, I fought, I won and one man was in the audience watching. He bought me and I was taken away and brought to Alvareen where I stayed ever since." "Where was the Pit?" Henry asked. "I don''t really know," Andor said after a minute of screwing up his eyes as though trying hard to recall, "I try not to think about it. It wasn''t a happy time for me." "I''m sorry," Henry said. "Don''t be," Andor said, shaking his head. A few seconds of silence passed before Henry said quietly, "I''m going to Alvareen too," he said. Andor''s expression brightened a bit, "Good, I''ll stay close to you then." "You shouldn''t do that," Henry said with a sigh, "It was fine while we were in the Dungeon but we''re out now. You should go your way. Do your thing." "I don''t really have a thing," Andor said with a small sad smile. Again, Henry sighed and shook his head as though to emphasize just how bad a decision it would be to follow him, "I''m nning to do some pretty dangerous stuff," he said. This time, it wasn''t only Andor who was paying attention. Louis opened his eyes and eyed Henry with his ever-wide eyes like ''dangerous stuff'' had piqued his interest. "Like what?" Andor asked. Henry nced around. No group was close enough to them for him to be worried about getting overheard. "I''m going after Ralph Gribbo," he eventually said with his voice dropped to a very low whisper that only those two had a real chance to hear. Andor and Louis'' eyes widened although for Louis, it was barely noticeable. "How?" Louis asked. "I don''t quite know yet but it''s not going to be the sort of thing you''ll want to get involved in," Henry said. "Who said?" Louis asked, "This sounds like exactly what I need to do." Andor nodded, "I''ll help you, Henry," he said looking even more convinced that he was supposed toe with Henry than he looked a minute ago. Henry looked between them and then shrugged. The task would be a lot for him so why turn away eager help. "Do you know anything about Ralph Gribbo?" Henry asked them. Andor shook his head, "Never met him," he said. "Yeah, we only ever dealt with Mercenaries like Doherty," Louis agreed before adding eagerly, "But we can find out. He''s so well known all over Alvareen, that gathering information will be easy." "I suppose so," Henry said with a nod. "How about talking to the pretty Lady Knight about it?" Louis asked with a gesture at Eloise, "She doesn''t seem to like very much." "We can ask," Henry said with a nod, "But how about not telling her what I ¡ªwe¡ª n to do? At least for now." "That''s fine." And that was the end of it. The two had offered their help and Henry had decided it would be dumb to reject it so now they had to refrain from speaking of it within earshot of possible eavesdroppers. And then, Eloise came at Henry from behind and touched his shoulder lightly, "Hey," she said and Henry turned slowly to face her returning the smile she was shing at him. She really was beautiful. It was even easier to appreciate it now that they were out of the Dungeon and no longer surrounded by the horrid scents and danger. Even though her face had some blood smear from the trauma she had suffered from attacks, it did nothing to mar her looks. And those eyes. Henry could have sworn he had seen simr grey eyes before but he could not, for the life of him, remember where and when. "Hi," He answered her in a normal tone that revealed nothing of the thoughts within. "Where are you headed?" Eloise asked. "Alvareen," Henry told her. She looked surprised. "Oh, really?" She asked, "Well, that''s one part of my proposition handled." "Your proposition was for me to go to Alvareen?" Henry asked. "Part of it, yes. Maybe the most important part. Especially considering thepromise we agreed to about the books. Also, You mentioned you were brought here from far away because of¡­ the cuffs," she said ''the cuffs'' with her eyes shing before she continued in a more normal tone, "I was hoping I could convince you to not return just yet. Give Alvareen a chance and let me lend your talents." "How?" Henry asked. "Dungeon Raiding," Eloise said and gestured at the Dungeon gate they just walked out of that was starting to copse into itself. "Oh," Henry said not quite sure what to say. "I''ve seen you act, Henry, you have talent. You fight strangely, wielding those unconventional weapons¡­" "You mean guns," Henry offered with a smile. Eloise returned the smile, "Yes, them. You wield them well and can use magic too. I think Alvareen could use your talents to tackle the Dungeons." Henry chuckled then and gestured at the groups still around the gate and had not moved on yet, "I think there are more than enough eager people to raid the Dungeons. I don''t think you need me." Eloise shook her head, "They''re just in it for the money. Dungeon Raiding is more than that." "If I do it, I''ll be doing it for the money too. I think the whole thing with the books proves that so really, I''m just like them," Henry said with a shrug. "But I''m not offering it to them though," Eloise said, "I''m offering it to you." "But why?" "What does the ''Why'' matter?" Eloise asked and a bit of red was in her cheeks now, "I just am." "Oh," Henry said taken aback by the sharpness in her tone but that also allowed him to observe her mannerisms. How she seemed to shift from foot to foot and how she had her eyes on his as the red in her cheeks seemed to get brighter by the second. He wasn''t sure he understood it. Or maybe he did and wasn''t sure what to do with it. An exnation would be that there was an almost irrational desire on Eloise''s part to keep him close but Henry believed letting himself go down that line of thought would stoke his ego to dangerous levels so he suppressed it. Eventually, he chuckled and nodded, "I''ll think about it," he said. "It''s all I ask," Eloise said, delighted before she asked, "So you''re headed for Alvareen?" "We all are," Henry said with a gesture at Louis and Andor who looked to be trying to only look as invested in the conversation as was enough to not appear to have been eavesdropping. They both nodded in agreement to Henry''s words. "I assume you don''t have where to stay," Eloise said. She assumed right. The only ce any of the three had ever been within Alvareen was in Ralph Gribbo''s Estate and even then, they had been isted to the ve quarters. Eloise smiled generously, "Well,e on then," she said, "I know just where you can stay." Chapter 179: Wave Of Comfort ??? Eloise and her Knight Party came to the Dungeon gate with Carriages and she was quick to offer Henry, Louis, and Andor a ride which they epted because none of them wished to get on Doherty''s Wagon. The Squires upied one carriage while Eloise, Aurelius, Henry, Louis, and Andor upied the other. The ride back to Alvareen passed in silence mostly because of Aurelius who had his eyes glowering at the three and only looked away and out the window when Eloise gave him a look. Henry passed the time by calling Magical energy to his eyes to activate and observe the improvements they had all gone through since the defeat of the Lich; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Louis] [Race: Human] [ss: Mage] [Health: 170 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 190] [Mana: 230 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 260] [Strength: 14 ] [Agility: 17 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 19] [Stamina: 26 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 30] [Intelligence: 90 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 96] *[Remarks: A young Mage who makes up for what hecks in Magical Training with a lot of enthusiasm and Talent. Has only discovered one Elemental Aptitude (Lightning). Has impressive potential but Kible should you want to.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Andor] [Race: Human] [ss: Fighter] [Health: 220 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 250] [Mana: 170 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 190] [Strength: 70 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 80] [Agility: 34] [Stamina: 34 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 36] *[Remarks: A Fighter who makes up for his limited Martial training with enthusiasm and Impressive strength. Has Impressive Potential but is kible should you want to.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Eloise de Vurgen] [Race: Human] [ss: Mage-Knight] [Job: Squad Captain] [Health: 460 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 490] [Mana: 580 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 610] [Faith: 202 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 205]* [Strength: 105 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 111] [Agility: 64 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 66] [Stamina: 68 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 70] [Intelligence: 82 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 84] *[Remarks: Hmm¡­ Ady with a curious set of Stats. They tell the story of trials and a long journey of improvement. Aptitude in Spell-Casting and Martial abilities make her seem like a jack of two trades trying to master all. She is technically Kible but should you try, my bet is on her to win.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Aurelius] [Race: Human] [ss: Knight] [Job: Squad Captain] [Health: 470 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 490] [Mana: 410 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 420] [Strength: 110 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 116] [Agility: 67 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 70] [Stamina: 70 ¡ª¡ª> 73] *[Remarks: A Knight capably trained to carry out the righteous convictions of his oath to fuel his Physical Might which is already quite impressive. Certainly Kible but is a force to be reckoned with and would currently make a difficult opponent.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Two things Henry considered worth noting in the stat screens he observed; First, Louis and Andor had gotten 12 additional Stat Points each with Andor now stronger than ever which was good. Second, Aurelius enjoyed the same 12 Stat Points addition and he believed the Knight did not deserve it so that was bad. With a sigh, he looked out the window to his side and called out his Stat screen, if for nothing more than to view where he was in his Exp requirement for his next Level-Up; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 26 (1791/7750 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Death''s Bane, Vyker-Killer, Infernal Partner, Dungeon Raider ] [Hit Points: 22/260] [Mana Points: 110/330] [Strength: 31] [Agility: 76] [Stamina: 35] [Perception: 43] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 5 } {Taming Lv. 2 } {Insight Lv.3} {Raider''s Intent} [~Arcane Tapestry~: Imprinted Spells: Shocking Grip.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Nyx] [Creature: Shadow Mare] [Breed: Veren Night-Mare] [Level 12 (3540/4750 Exp)]* [Hit Points: 60/200] [Mana: 210] [Strength: 90] Explore stories at m,v l''e-NovelBin [Speed: 170] [Stamina: 85] [Skills: {Shadow Dash Lv.2} {}]* ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Henry pulled his eyes off his and Nyx''s stat screens as the Carriage neared Alvareen and soon, it was pulling through its streets. The Carriage dragged on across the finelyid cobble-stone streets and stopped in front of a massive ten-story building. Eloise stepped out and led Henry, Louis, and Andor through itsrge doors with Aurelius ring after them. The Lotus Inn¡­ Even if Henry had missed therge neon sign that hung off the beautiful building''s wall on the outside, he certainly couldn''t miss it when he was on the wall right in front of him in the massive waiting hall that awaited them behind the doors. Everywhere he looked, there was a sign of Luxury and he even saw well-dressed men and women stroll by or walk up and down the stairs. None of them spared him, Louis, or Andor a nce. Eloise approached the front desk and Henry could tell by the professional smile on the Clerk''s face that she was about to be dismissive. But that was when she was looking at him. When she saw Eloise, her expression changed. The smile became much more genuine. "Lady Eloise," she said. "Hello," Eloise said simply in a tone that was neither friendly nor hostile. The rest of her words were whispered so low that Henry didn''t hear. If he edged closer he might have but she was done before he even decided. The clerk nodded many times, "Of course, of course," she said before handing Eloise three cards. Eloise brought the cards to Henry, Louis, and Andor and as they all picked one each, Henry had his eyes on her. "She knew you," he said. It wasn''t an usation, he was just curious. "Don''t worry about it," Eloise said nonchntly and pointed at a sealed door at the other end of the room and especially at the man standing close to it, "Talk to him, he''ll direct you on how to use the Elevator to get to your floor. I have to go now. I must hand in my report but I''ll be back and I hope you''ll have an answer to my Proposition by then." Eloise turned around after that and walked out of the Hall. Outside, she entered the Carriage and it pulled her and Aurelius away. Henry had listened to her words confused and shared a look with Louis and Andor who didn''t seem to have understood her any better. After a second of staring at the card in their hands, they walked toward the uniformed man. "You can help?" Henry asked him and held up his card. The man nodded with a smile but there was an edge to it that made Henry sure he was calling them ''country bumpkins'' in his head. The process turned out easy enough. Inside the Elevator, there was an enchanted Panel they only needed to touch any of the three cards to and they were lifted to the tenth floor of the Lotus Inn. Henry knew it was the Tenth floor because his card indicated that was where his room was and also, there was a disy that showed how high they had gone and it didn''t stop until it showed ''10''. The Elevator opened and the three stepped onto amon area from where they separated to stand in front of the three doors their cards had each indicated. As guided by the uniformed man down in the waiting Hall, Henry, and the others touched their card against the door and it opened with a click. The room was massive and the greatest bit of luxury Henry had ever experienced in all his two lives. He didn''t have enough of an eye/delight for interior designs to be absorbed by them but he felt a wave offort wrap around him already. Almost subconsciously, he stripped off his damaged leather armor, took off the pants that had been damaged by multiple Mana de attacks he had suffered in the Dungeon, and found his way to a part of the room where he could take a bath. He had been without one for far too long and was in desperate need of it. Chapter 180: Virtutis ??? Henry could have spent an hour in the bath. He could have spent more. Really, he just did not care. After days of sleeping in a cage and navigating the minefield that was the control cuffs, he was just d to be able to rx. He let his eyes close and tried not to be too bothered by thoughts of the future and the things he now had to do. When he stepped out of the bath eventually, it was thick with the steam of the warm, almost hot, water that had been renewing itself every few minutes for his benefit. Everything he needed was already provided and as he dabbed his head with a towel, he seemed to realize for the first time that his hair was getting longer. It was getting close to his shoulder now and he still didn''t quite consider a haircut. Dressed in one of the many bathrobes he had found in the bath, he turned toward therge mirror in the room and gave himself a critical review. It seemed like so long ago that he came into this body. This familiar yet strange body. Long gone were the almost-childish innocence that had been evidenced in his face and somewhat cute cheeks. He looked more manly now and that was besides the abs that were very indented into his abdomen. His ck eyes looked aged like he had grown a lot in a short amount of time which was true. His cheeks were a bit sunken but not in the malnourished kind of way, not really; More in the matured sort of way. His skin seemed more in contact with the bones underneath now. He was handsome. "Ugh, get over yourself," He mumbled with first a mockingly disgusted expression and then a small smile, just as he made the assessment and shook his head. Of course, even if he wanted to deny it, he really couldn''t. He was handsome just as he was always going to be. Just as he had been in his past life even if he had done very little with it. And that seemed to be a trend he was going to continue here. Unless something changed soon, of course. When Henry turned away from the Mirror, he found a wardrobe in the room stocked with clothes. Complimentary with the room, he assumed, and he wasted no time putting on a shirt and a pair of fresh pants because he certainly wasn''t going to wear his discarded ruined leather armor stained with blood or the pants with all the holes in it that were also stained with blood. Dressed, he stood in ce in front of the mirror again to see just how the clothes looked on him. They were fine. Not quite the perfect size but close enough to be manageable. "Alright then," he said, "Time to go." Elminster''s brand glowed in his palm and the oval portal arrived to whisk him into the Grumpy Old''s Man''s workshop. "You owe me 3660 Gold," Elminster said immediately as though he had been waiting for Henry with his debt calcted and ready to be demanded. Henry paused at first and blinked and then, with a smile ying at the corner of his lips, he stepped forward, "Hello to you too." Elminster scoffed, but looked at Henry more critically before he said with just a bit of concern, "You look well." "I feel well," Henry said. "Seemed like you were in a bit of trouble before," Elminster pressed. "You know how it is with dangerous adventures," Henry said and waved him off. Elminster grunted, "Yes. Yes, I suppose I do. So do you have my gold?" "I''m hoping for a trade," Henry said and passed his hand over the b to unleash all the weapons and equipment he had made away with within the Dungeon. There was quite a bit of them enough for Elminster''s eyes to widen a bit. And then, his eyes returned to their normal size as he picked one of the weapons up and studied it more closely. He scoffed a few times mumbling ''Shoddy work'' over and over in his head. "You want to trade with this?" Elminster asked, now eyeing Henry over one of the weapons. "You can''t?" Henry asked, noticing the reluctance. Elminster searched his eyes for a while and then sighed as he dropped the weapon he had been studying back onto the pile, "Listen, Kid, these are not up to a standard I''d even disy as prototypes. The best use I could think of is to use them as materials to tinker with and create mediocre prototypes to be used as bases for far better creations. And since I don''t value them even as materials, I won''t value them enough to satisfy your needs. Take them outside and find somewhere to sell them off. Those on the outside are used to mediocrity so they''ll want to use them. They''ll value them more and pay you more. Return here with the gold you get and pay your debt." Henry was not disheartened. If anything, he wondered why he had thought to batter and not thought to sell the weapons and equipment from the Dungeon for a profit. A profit he really needed. "Alright," he said, and in a second, he had it all back in his Inventory. "You''ll have to wait till I can pay you back though," He pointed out to the craftsman who rolled his eyes. "What else is new?" Henry grinned at that and then he became thoughtful, "Alright then. What about this?" With a wave of his hand, Henry retrieved the orange orb he had gotten from the Sarcophagus in the Dungeon. It still pulsed with energy and did so at a regr rhythm like a heartbeat. Again, Henry noted its simrity with the Vinculum. "I''m not sure what it is," he said slowly. He wanted to sell the orb but his instinct told him not to say that out loud just yet. This was so clearly different from the weapons he had brought out earlier and he would be foolish to jump the gun by showing his intentions of sale. "Hmm," Elminster let out and lifted the Orb to peer harder into it, "Okay, this is a good find. This is a ''Virtutis''. It''s a Power Source created through a stringent andboring process and can be worked to power all manner of items. It can also be imbued with varying enchantments. It''s quite valuable for crafting. Your next read is at m v|l-e''-NovelBin You see, because they''re too time-consuming to create, craftsmen have made workarounds. Some workarounds better than others but working with a Virtutis, a ready-made masterpiece ¡ªif done well, I mean¡ª is far better." Henry thought about that. The purple gem on the Vinculum must have been a Virtutis, he realized. "Is it possible for a Virtutis to have sentience?" He asked as he could still remember the Vinculum trying to influence his decisions. Elminster nodded, "Of course," he said, "The best ones do. It''s caused by their creators. They give more of themselves into the creation and end up giving it an ego. Egos can be good but they can also be pushy. It''s all about bnce." That confirmed Henry''s thoughts about the Vinculum so he pressed on. "Does this one have a sentience?" He asked. He had not sensed it when he held it but who knew if it had been hiding it. Anything was possible when dealing with magic like this. Elminster shook his head, "No. It''s a good Virtutis but not that good," he said and then his expression changed as he said in a slower voice, "So, how much do you want for it?" Chapter 181: Beauty Nonetheless Henry looked surprised at the question and then he realized the look in Elminster''s eyes was the gleam of a man looking to make a steal. A trading steal, of course. He smiled secretly and gathered himself to say calmly, "I was actually nning on using it to craft something for myself." As he spoke, Henry stretched a hand out to indicate to the Craftsman that he wanted it back but was surprised when the gleam in Elminster''s eyes seemed to grow brighter. "Oh, even better," the old man said with a small Laugh. "Better?" Henry asked. Elminster nodded, "Well, I''ll get to work with it still," he said and then seemed to notice Henry''s surprise as he added, "Were you nning on handing it to someone else to work on?" Henry just blinked looking like he was not sure what to say. He had said he wanted to use the orb for himself because one of the best ways to hike up a price is to mention personal interest which in turn showed a reluctance to sell. Probably the only way better was to mention a mystery second buyer bidding higher. Of course, all ways of getting higher pay for an object hunger on interest in the buyer. Interest that Henry had been trying to gauge and now seemed to have turned into something else. "Like anyone could do a better job," Elminster said with a scoff and when Henry was still silent, he added with furrowed brows, "You know, I''m almost offended you would even think of it." "I''m not thinking of anything. You can do it," Henry said. "Good," Elminster said with a nod. He set the orb down and with a flick of his wrist, a rectangr pad appeared floating in mid-air. He was now gripping a feathered pen that he started to drag across the pad while he stroked his beard with his free hand, "So how about a subtle cement? The center of a Helmet perhaps¡­" "I don''t do helmets," Henry said, "How about a weapon? A gun would be nice." A gun was the only thing he''d want. Elminster frowned, "Won''t work," he said after a moment of scrutinizing the orb, "There''s more to do with gun-making than just slotting in a Virtutis. And this one is not quite good enough for that. Something else." Henry furrowed his brows at that, not sure he quite believed and then he sighed, "Still not a helmet. How about a Hat?" "A hat?" Elminster said and then cocked his head to the side, "I''m hardly a Milliner but I think I''ll manage. A Hat it is then!" Elminster scratched off the diagram of the Helmet that he had already started and his pen-holding hand moved across the rectangr pad for about a quarter of a minute more before he turned it toward to show to Henry. "I like it," Henry said immediately. For a drawing that had been created in seconds, Elminster''s ''sketch'' was quite detailed with different angles drawn to show how it would lookpletely. As Henry''s eyes roamed the designs, his eyes fell on a small circle at the very center of the Hat. The circle couldn''t have been more than two inches wide and Henry doubted it would be too much bigger than that when the Hat was actually made. "Is that meant to be the orb?" He asked as he pointed at the small circle that was a bright orange. Elminster nodded, Continue your adventure at m|v-l''e -NovelBin "Yes. The Virtutis should be front and center. It''s where it would be if I were making a Helmet instead." "Will you break it?" Henry asked. Elminster shook his head, "Breaking it could damage it, so no." "Then how will get it that little," Henry asked. "Don''t worry about that," Elminster said as he snagged the orb off his b and sent it away before peering hard into Henry, face, "Let''s discuss my fee." And now Henry understood why Elminster had really said ''even better'' about working on the Orb rather than buying it. If Elminster had bought the Orb, he''d have observed it, used it to craft something, and maybe sold it off in the future but seeing as the old man was currently taking a ''limited sale'' stance, and would also involve conditions on the sale, that could take years. This, however, was better for Elminster because he''d get to study the orb and create something with it and still get paid a good bit of gold while likely also still cing conditions on the trade. Henry frowned. He felt yed. Elminster noticed the expression and rolled his eyes, "Oh, don''t give me that look," he said, "Did you think it''d be free?" "Fine," Henry said with a shrug. He''d just push his payment as far back as he possibly could. Elminster went off into discussing the price of his workmanship. He priced high, of course, and even after much negotiations, Henry was only able to shave off a few hundred Gold. He was filled with trepidation when he pulled out the next piece of crafting material he had gotten in the Dungeon; The Abominable Ribcage. Elminster''s eyes bugged slightly at the sight of it and his nose wrinkled but it didn''t exactly have a scent¡­ It had an aura. A terrible aura. "Abominable¡­" Elminster said like that was just the only word he could use to describe what he was sensing. "Can it be used to craft?" Henry asked tentatively. "Of course," Elminster answered, "It''s magical. If I can tap into its magic, it could make a good material. What would you like to make with it?" "Oh," Henry said, staring at the Ribcage. Because illustrations in the Inventory interface were not always to scale and this was the first time he was seeing the Ribcage in person, he was surprised it was so small. To have supported the frame of the Monstrosity, Henry expected something more giant. The system''s description had even alluded to this. The only exnation Henry had was that the system had reduced it to a more manageable size just so he could use it. "I''m not sure I want to use it," Henry eventually said. "Why?" Elminster asked. "It looks cursed," Henry answered. "That''s because it is," Elminster answered and when Henry looked up at him wondering why he would, in his right senses, use such a thing, the old man continued, "The magic here is offensive but it doesn''t have to be against you. When crafted well, it can be a curse on your opponents, and who better to craft it than yours truly." "You''re just fishing for more work and sinking me into more debt," Henry said wrinkling his nose. Elminsterughed then and his flowing white beard trembled, "Guilty. But everything I said is truth." Henry considered it. A curse on his enemies. He couldn''t bring himself to reach out and touch the ribcage and as he watched it, his lips pressed into a hard line at the sacrifices that made it possible. Was it right to turn around and use them for his own gain? Eventually, he shook his head and said solemnly, "Do it." "Oh really?" Elminster said with a bit of surprise, "When you shook your head, I thought your decision would go the other way." "No. Do it." Henry repeated. Elminster nodded, "Alright," he said and then became thoughtful, "You wanted a Hat instead of a Helmet so I suppose you wouldn''t want Armor then." "Armor would wear me down," Henry admitted. "I can make it very light," Elminster said offhandedly while he scribbled on his rectangr pad. Henry shook his head, "Nah, don''t want it." "Alright," Elminster said in that same offhand tone and then he turned the rectangr pad around for Henry to look at. It was a Vest with emzoned designs that stood out brilliantly. The ribs of the ribcage came around to hug it in the sides and despite the macabre manner the Abominable ribcage came to be, Henry could not deny the Vest had a beauty about it. Horrid beauty, but beauty nheless. Chapter 182: Piece Of Junk *** ¡ªOne Week Later¡ª "Incredible," Louis said with wide eyes as he did a little twirl around as though to better take in the sights. Henry rolled his eyes and looked to the side to share an uninterested look with Andor only to see the Fighter''s expression was quite simr to the Mage''s. He let out a sigh. Thisment by Louis was not the first he had made since they had been on a walk through the Alvareen City streets. It didn''t matter how many times Louis saw the structures, he made it clear how impressed he was every time. Henry didn''t ¡ªcouldn''t¡ª deny that Alvareen was beautiful. The massive buildings with varying districts and bustling streets reminded him of Saint ret except for the light sheen of snow all over the buildings with the snow always getting thicker as the day went on. Alvareen had a wintry beauty about it. It was certainly different from the far warmer Saint ret and its environs. Anyway, it had been days since they had been in the City but this was the first time Henry was actually walking through the streets. The Lotus Inn had been very weing with all of their needs catered for. They had learned in the past week that the cards they had been given were keys to so much more than doors and essing Elevators. They could even be used tomunicate their needs and wants. They were fed as many times as they cared to be fed and Henry knew paying for it was going to be on Eloise which was why he tried not to abuse the hospitality. He, however, did ask specifically for meals for Nyx. He was very aware that the horse had technically not fed for days and while she had spent most of those days asleep, she was awake now. The clerk who responded to Henry''s request didn''t seem to find it out of ce at all. In fact, she was all too eager toply so now Nyx could fold her feet just a foot from Henry''s bed, munching on a pte of feed that was just right for her. There was no need to worry about waste because she handled that business within her ShadowScape. Henry wondered how that worked. Was the shadow just another dimension that had unlimited space for waste or maybe the shadow was intolerant of waste and disintegrated every bit of it before it could fester and pile. Henry asked Nyx but she gave her equivalent of a shrug either not sure of the answer or not interested in giving a detailed exnation of her poop. Anyway, life had been good for Henry in the Lotus Inn and the other two seemed to be enjoying their time there as well but, unlike Henry, they had ventured into the city. They had seen the sights all on their way to find where to sell off the Loot from the Dungeons. They seemed savvy enough at it because all the weapons and equipment were all sold off now and the price for them all came back to many tens of thousands of Gold. From the news Louis and Andor brought back with every sessful sale (they sold each at a time so they could get as much profit as they could for each piece of loot), Elminster had been right about those on the outside. The eyes of all buyers glowed with desire for the loot once they realized they were from Dungeons. It was generally known that Dungeon equipment was just better than the ones on the outside even if the overall build looked simr and, the desires made sales easy for Louis and Andor. The Antiquities gotten from the Lich''s Chamber had sold for the most Gold and ording to Louis, that put even more into perspective just how much more they stood to gain from the Lich''s books. But they were holding off on ns to sell them mostly because Eloise had yet to visit them and, at least for now ¡ªespecially since they were still at Alvareen¡ª, Henry wanted to honor thepromise she had brokered. In the meantime, Louis read the books and announced they were not all nefarious. There was dark magic certainly but some were more ''elemental'' dark magic as opposed to the morally ''dark'' magic. Of course, the line seemed to so easily blur so Henry told him to be careful. Anyway, Henry thought this walk through the street was long overdue. While he didn''t awe at the structures like the two with him, he did have needs that he hoped the City could soothe; For instance, he had sighted at least four Potion Shops where he could refill his supply of Healing and Mana Potions since Elminster''s supply of those was quickly dwindling. As he walked, Henry''s mind was on his Quest. The one that the duo of Louis and Andor had offered assistance with. While they went about selling the loot from the Dungeon, they had sourced information about Ralph Gribbo but they quickly found that they had been wrong about how easy it would be. People did have a lot to say but it was what they knew already; Ralph Gribbo was important in Alvareen,manding a lot of wealth and influence. They learned he used to be an aplished Fighter before focusing more on his businesses but learned nothing about how those businesses ran. To go after him, they needed more than what was generally known and they had so little resources, that getting it would be difficult. And then, Henry suddenly stopped walking. In his right palm, Elminster''s brand was burning as it was promised to do whenever Henry was close to any of the old man''s creations. Henry knew where the brand was directing him and almost automatically, he turned on the spot and was now facing the door into what appeared to be an Antiquity shop. That was at the very least what had been alluded to by the illustrations on the door and walls. Without speaking, he turned toward the door and pushed it open. Louis and Andor shared a look but followed. There was a lot on disy but Henry''s eyes were only on the one thing and it hung on the wall behind the thirty-something-year-old-looking man standing behind the clerk b. Even without the brand pulsing and indicating it as the target, Henry was sure the weapon would still have caught his eye had he just happened to enter the shop. Why? Well, because it was a gun and looked quite different from all else on disy. It looked like a Repeater with a ck and bronze scheme and just a bit of gold that gilded it all around in just the right ces. There were designs etched into it as well¡­ A certain level of detail and attention that reminded Henry of ''The Hydra''s Sting'' currently in his Inventory. Even without the brand in his palm, it was so clear that this was that Old man''s creation. It had to be. "Hello," said the store clerk with a bright weing smile, "How may I help you?" The voice pulled Henry out of his gun-focused thoughts as he looked at the clerk and returned the smile before pointing at the gun, "That gun?" he asked. The clerk raised a brow and then looked back even though it was already obvious what Henry was referring to. He eyed the gun and then looked back at Henry with an ufortable smile, Find exclusive stories on m_v l|e-NovelBin "I''m sorry, it''s not really for sale," he said, and then as though to be more amodating, he added, "I don''t think you''d even want it. Damn Chapter 183: ‘Cudgel’ "How so?" Henry asked gently and held out a hand toward the gun, "And can I get a closer look." The clerk observed Henry''s expression for a while and then lifted the gun off the wall and he looked to be straining with the effort it took. That caused Henry''s brow to furrow. Surely the gun could not have been that heavy. The clerk ced the gun in his hands and he understood the strain. The gun was certainly weighty. Far more weighty than a Repeater should have been and that was taking into ount Henry''s current strength stat. Now that he had the gun in his hands, Elminster''s brand no longer burned but Henry remembered what the Old man had said about his weapons and the measures he had put in ce to ensure he was sought out for regr tune-ups. Increased weight had been one of those measures. Of course, Henry didn''t struggle as much as the Clerk had and was able to lift the gun to look it over all sides. The material used to make it was certainly a magical metal just like the sort that had been used to make ''The Hydra''s Sting'' but most of the weight seemed toe from the gold that gilded the weapon. "Is the weight the reason you think it''s junk?" Henry eventually asked, looking away from the gun at the clerk. "It''s part of it, I suppose," he said and let out a sigh, Your journey continues at m v|l-e''-NovelBin "I''ve had that gun for years and my father for even more years before me. He told me he only bought it because it was an ''Original Elminster''. My father seemed to think that was a big deal. Apparently, there''s not much of the man''s works around and they are the best of the best." The clerk scoffed now before he continued, "A bunch of bullshit of course. Damn thing has been rusted shut for decades. Can''t be refilled, can''t be fired. Can''t do nothing. Only use anyone could find for it is as a club because of its weight." The Clerkughed then and Henry looked confused. The Clerk must have noticed his confusion because he pointed at the gun''s tail end to show where a word had been etched into it. It appeared like the gun''s name and was every bit a part of the gun as the ck and bronze ting; ''Cudgel''. "Ironic isn''t it?" The Clerk said as though the name exined hisugh, "Almost like that''s all it was ever going to be good for." Henry frowned. Whenever he had touched magical guns thus far, the System gave him a description of what magical shots they were capable of but with this one, there was only silence. But then, he understood and decided this was to be expected. How many decades had the gun been inactive? Elminster''s measures must have piled and piled and in a world saturated with swords and other ''crude'' weapons, there was probably no one who cared enough to want to wield it that they''d even attempt to give it a tune-up. "Henry, you want that?" Louis asked as he and Andor stepped closer after they had watched Henry observe and almost adore the useless weapon for a few minutes now. Henry nodded almost absentmindedly, "How much for it?" He asked. "It''s not really for sale," the Clerk said, ufortable. Henry had to bite his tongue to keep from saying ''Everything is for sale'' because he had a feeling that''d be too pompous and also promised that he could surrender far more gold than he could. Instead, he said, "I''m sure we cane to an agreement. I have no intention of leaving here without this." The Clerk shifted from feet to feet with the look on his face only getting worse. Henry barely noticed. He was thinking if there were any more shops he would pass and have the brand burn. And then he pulled himself from his thoughts to see the Clerk was still indecisive so he raised a brow impatiently, "You just said it was a useless piece of junk and you still don''t want to let it go," Henry hefted the gun and managed the weight quite well as he raised it to firing length. He aimed it at the Clerk yfully but when the man looked pale he realized how threatening that would look even if the gun was ''useless'' so he pointed it to a wall on the side of the shop and pulled the trigger for a *click* sound followed by nothing. "It''ll just hang and waste away on the wall," He said gently, "I, on the other hand, have use for it." As Henry was speaking he looked back at the Clerk and noticed an expression that told him that was exactly what he was worried about. Part of it anyway. Sure enough, the Clerk''s lips separated and he made that worry known, "Alright then. How about I charge you what I think it''d be worth when it''s in working condition then? Just so I''m not at a loss." Henry frowned and dropped the gun''s muzzle, "It''s not working now, is it?" He asked. "But it could?" The Clerk pointed out and while there was still an ufortable look on his face, his lips curled into the sly businesslike look Henry had seen many times on other shop owners in his past life. "But it won''t if left with you," Henry pointed out. "We don t know that," the Clerk retorted and then shook his head, "Besides, what does it matter? It''s mine and I''ll sell it for whatever I want." "How much do you want for it?" Henry asked and he watched the Clerk''s sly smile get wider right before he called a price so outrageous that Louis hissed behind Henry. Henry just stared like he was stunned and then his brow furrowed. Suddenly, there was an urge to just rob the damn thing and a part of his mind was already working on a n of sorts involving threats and maybe knocking the Clerk out. It was something he''d done many times in his past life and something he missed doing but a part of his mind told him that''d be foolish. This City was too unfamiliar and he wasn''t sure how well it could facilitate an escape if agents of thew began to chase after him. For he knew they were there. He had spied a few patrols during the walk through the City. He let out a secret sigh. "How about reducing the price," he asked, hoping the Clerk could be amodating. The Clerk kept that smile, "If you can''t pay¡­" he said in an almost sing-song voice as he stretched a hand for the gun. As he stared into the Clerk''s face with that sly smile almost permanently etched into it, Henry understood what was happening. The most important thing to note when hiking up the price of a sale is gauging the buyer''s interest and trying to foster it if necessary. When Henry walked in, the Clerk might really not have thought to sell. He probably just liked having the so-called ''Original Elminster'' on disy but as the conversation dragged on, he realized how much Henry wanted it and decided an exorbitant price was in order. If Henry caved, he''d get a lot of Gold or maybe it will be paid in stacks of Vens. If Henry declined, he could keep the weapon mounted on his wall again. "What a pickle," Henry mumbled but he was smiling. The actions he took next were almost instinctive and felt so right. With a flex of his wrist, he had ''The Hydra''s Sting'' in his hold and the weapon glowed an acidic green in response to his readiness to fire. Instantly, the mood in the shop changed. Even Andor and Louis shared puzzled looks with eyes widened (Louis'' were hardly different) as they wondered what Henry was about to do next. It looked obvious what he nned to do. They hoped it wasn''t. Chapter 184: Hostile Negotiations "Andor, mind the door," Henry said gently. Andor looked confused but moved toward the door blocking most of the view into the inside with hisrge body. "What- what is the meaning of this?" The Clerk asked with wide eyes staring at the gun pointed at the ground and glowing a green that sent shivers down his spine. "Okay, so I''ll be honest," Henry said so sweetly as his hand flexed around ''The Hydra''s Sting''. "You''re right. This gun (indicates the Repeater) is probably worth quite a bit. It was made by the same person who made the one I have in my other hand. But it''s not worth much Discover hidden tales at m,v l''e-NovelBin right now . I''ll pay what I think it''s worth right now and not anymore." "I don''t ept," the Clerk said and made a reach toward something under his b. "Hands," Henry said with a roll of his eyes and the Clerk paused, "What?" "I said, ce your hands where I can see them," Henry said with every word stated clearly with an edge that had the Cleek trembling as he slowly withdrew his hands out from under the b and made them visible. "So you''re robbing me?" The Clerk asked and his eyes darted at Louis with his eyes ever-wide eyes and solemnly pursed lips. And then he nced out the door, not really paying attention to Andor standing in front of it but trying to get a view outside. To try and catch the eye of someone who coulde to his aid. "Do you want to hear what my gun does?" Henry asked. The Clerk said nothing and his eyes just got wider. Henry indicated ''The Hydra''s Sting'' he still had pointed at the ground as he said, "It doesn''t matter where I shoot you, sorry I meant to say, It doesn''t matter where I shoot someone," he smiled as he made the correction and then continued in the same beat, "You''ll still die all the same. But there''s a mercy to a headshot, you see. Death is instant and the most I can do is just create a big mess of it. But what about the shoulder? What about the stomach? Or what about the leg? It''ll explode into acidic goop but you''ll live. You''ll be left with a wound that never quite heals with a flesh-eating acid slowly eating away at you and leaving you in a state of constant pain that makes you wish for death. It''s not a happy or easy way to live the rest of your days, I think." The Clerk trembled and then nced at the corner before and back a few times as he tried to steel himself up, "So you are threatening me?" he said. "I haven''t raised my gun." Henry pointed out. "I can see it!" The Clerk said through gritted teeth. "Because I feel veryfortable having it in my hand," Henry said, "We''re simply having a conversation and my gun has very little to do with it." "You can''t just do this, you know," the Clerk said with his hands trembling now, "You can''t just threaten me and steal from me. Especially not in broad daylight." "Oh I''m sure that''s a problem but it''s more of a problem for someone who is deterred by authority," Henry said, "Again, this is just a random conversation but you don''t know who I am. For all you know, I have a great way of making an escape no matter what I do. For all you know, I know all the right people to get me off. For all you know, your life is worth less than mine. For all you know. You were reaching for something before and you''ve nced at the corner a few times so I assume you have prepared ways to defend yourself or maybe avenge your death. But, I assure you, I could shoot you ¡ªI mean, someone¡ª, faster than you could think to activate whatever it is you''re nning to activate. Imagine my shot hits a body part and you''re left in excruciating pain but still alive. If I die when thewes after me, you get nopensation and are left to suffer for the rest of your life, not any richer but a lot more miserable. Is sticking so hard to an exorbitant price for a gun you can''t even use and that no one would care to buy from you, so important that you''ll risk death? Killing you would cause issues for me but those will be my issues¡­ You''ll just be dead. Or at the very least, in constant pain." "I thought you weren''t threatening me?" The Clerk asked gruffly. "I''m not. Like I said, we''re just having a conversation." Henry said in a dismissive voice as he raised the Repeater, "So what do you say?" The Clerk went deep into thought as Louis looked nervously between him and Henry while feeling like an aplice to a crime. And then at Andor who was trying to look steely but could not help the nervousness seeping through. Henry, however, appeared rxed. He had done this many times in his past life. This situation was slightly moreplicated, of course, but Henry felt he could manage it as long as he avoided preemptive shooting. Being persuasive with gentle words mixed with threats was how he got by in the past and really, he was just excited to be able to stretch that robbing muscle again. To scratch that criminal itch. Besides, he hadn''t jumped into the threats without thinking. He had observed. There was magic etched into the shop and the spot the Clerk had nced at a few times had a strange crystal ball that Henry had a feeling was keeping an eye on things. He had held his gun in such a way that, at least for now, he could pass for simply holding it and not yet thinking to use it even if that wasn''t entirely true. Anyway, in a City with Fighters and Magic casters abound, the Clerk had done what many other shop owners/tenders had done; Put in security measures. But Henry had seen the Clerk''s Stat screen. He could still see it and beyond the fact that the stats were hardly a cause for concern, the ''Remarks'' gave even more insight into the Clerk''s personality and allowed him to decide how to nudge him to be sensible. Sure enough, the Clerk was done deliberating. He could have reached for the activation hidden in his b but he didn''t. "100,000," he said. "100,000 what?" Henry asked with narrowed eyes. If it was Gold, then this was not much better than the Clerk''s earlier exorbitant request. "Vens," The Clerk quickly noted and shuddered at Henry''s narrowed eyes. That amounted to 500 Gold and Henry could certainly still afford that but of course, he didn''t want to just leave it at that. "50,000," he said. The Clerk let out a sigh, "Fine," he said, "Give it here and take the piece of junk." "Much obliged," Henry said. After tipping an invisible hat, he sent ''The Hydra''s Sting'' into his Inventory and retrieved 250 Gold to pay for the Gun. They only had to wait a minute or so for the Clerk to count and be sure he got theplete pay before they were ushered out while he mumbled at their retreating backs, "I don''t want any more trouble." Outside, Henry led the walk away from the shop. They were turned around now and were walking back to the Lotus Inn. The walk through the City was clearly at an end. "That was¡­ intense," Louis eventually said many steps away from the shop. "You''re not put off?" Henry asked lightly. "I thought you were going to kill him," Louis admitted. "Nah," Henry said shaking his head, "Too much trouble. Good thing he probably thought I was though. Tsk Imagine asking for that much Gold for something he couldn''t use." "So you just threaten people to get what you want," Louis asked while Andor just walked silently. "Sometimes, it''s the best way," Henry answered. Louis didn''t say anything more and just nodded. Henry had a feeling he was taking that ''lesson'' to heart. Chapter 185: The Reckoning Henry didn''t send the Repeater into his Inventory. He had it over his shoulder whenever he wasn''t observing it as hard as he possibly could. It had not taken long for it to dawn on him that the only one who could bring the gun to working condition was Elminster and he would also want the gun back as one of the products he hadmissioned Henry to retrieve. Henry had just let out another heavy sigh when they arrived at the Lotus Inn''s massive door. They walked through and were greeted by a friendly face that caused them to pause. "Hello," Eloise said. "Hi," Henry answered. Unlike thest time he had seen her, Eloise was not dressed in an Armor. She had a gown on and it clung to her body with a split on the side to reveal her leggings-covered legs. Clearly, while she was not dressing exactly forbat, she was ready for it all the same. Her hair was partially braided and fell beautifully with one part down her front and the rest ¡ªmost of it¡ª, down her back. She had long silver earrings drooping from her earlobes andplementing her grey eyes nicely. Finally, the hand she raised to greet Henry and the others had a bracelet around its wrist and although it caught the light glinted ever so lightly, Henry couldn''t shake the feeling that it did more than just look pretty. Of course, just as Henry observed her, Eloise observed him as well. She was just far more stealthy with her observations. She took in that his clothes fit him well and he had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to reveal well-toned forearms. His handsome face appeared calm and his lips were curled in an easy-going smile that reached his eyes. His brown hair was now tied into a little ponytail behind his head. Henry had decided he''d let it grow out for a while. "Why do you look so surprised," Eloise asked with a chuckle when her observations were done and her smile seemed to get even brighter, "I said I''d be back." "So you did," Henry said with a nod, "It''s just¡ª well, it''s been a week." "Yes, I was busy," Eloise said and her eyes darkened a bit, "We didn''t return with our partyplete. That was not how the expedition was supposed to go." "I hope it wasn''t too much trouble," Henry said but he sounded very passive about it. Not by choice really but he felt very little agency for the issue and just reacted to how it seemed to affect Eloise. Her smile gained a bit of its previous luster as she said to the two standing behind Henry, "Andor, Louis." "Hello," they chorused. Louis blushed because he was so sure he had greeted her but it turned out his mouth had just been open to start the greeting and he never quite got topleting it. "Will you lead the way?" Eloise asked with a gesture at the Elevator. "Of course," Henry said and with the Repeater still across his shoulder, he led the way with Eloise walking by his side and the tip of Louis and Andor close behind. The Elevator ride was passed mostly in a sort of awkward silence only broken once when Eloise gestured at the Repeater over Henry''s shoulder, "Nice gun," she said. "Thanks," Henry answered with a smile, "I just got it." When the Elevator opened out into themon area, they stepped out and took their seats with the three angled toward Eloise with expressions ranging from calm to appreciative, to drooling. Eloise looked from one face to the other but wasted no time getting into why she was there, "Have you given much thought to my proposition?" She asked. "About Dungeon Raiding?" Henry asked even though there was nothing else it could have been about. Eloise nodded slowly, "That''s right," she said, "And like I saidst week, there''s more involved than a money-making scheme as many have taken it to be." She paused here like she had more to say but was weighing how to say it so Henry and others said nothing and just waited. Eventually, Eloise let out a sigh, "Have you perhaps heard of the ''Reckoning''?" She asked. The word brought a memory to Henry''s mind; It was a time when he still had a control cuff around his wrist and was seated around a fire with Jonas, Eli, and Al. Jonas had mentioned something about a ''Reckoning'' but had waved it off as some kind of paranoia among themon people. "I think I''ve heard of it, yes." Henry answered, "Don''t know much about it though." "The ''Reckoning'' hints that the Dungeons are merely a harbinger of something bigger. Something worse down the line. Already, more Gates are appearing and are getting stronger almost too fast for Raiders to keep up with. Knights are quickly bing more than a tight-knit group of select people with honor and more and more about taking in anyone who will take on the oath to fight against the Evil within the Dungeons to either prevent the Reckoning or at least stand between it and themon people when ites." "And you want me to join?" Henry asked. "I want all three of you, if possible," Eloise said, "I believe we''ll need all the help we can get to fight against the Reckoning and you three showed that you have what it takes. A bit unpolished but you''ll get better with experience." Readtest stories on m_v-l''e|-NovelBin "I''m no Knight," Henry said. "Neither am I," Louis said with a slight frown. "I could be," Andor said causing all eyes to fall on him. He looked a bit ufortable at the attention and cleared his throat. "You want to be a Knight?" Henry asked him. Andor shrugged, "I''m considering it," he said. "That''s an honorable thought," Eloise told him encouragingly, "The Citadel will wee you. But you don''t have to be a Knight to venture into Dungeons. And you definitely don''t have to be a Knight to want to help people." Eloise said thest part with her grey eyes burning with a righteous kind of passion. It made Henry feel somewhat selfish to not even consider her proposition. But then he remembered it would have him return to the Dungeons, and he shuddered. "I understand you but I actually have something pressing to attend to," Henry said and instantly felt like a liar. He hadn''t done anything about the pressing issue in a week. To assuage some of the guilt that was creeping up, he pointed out, "But I''m sure there are many Knights you can call on," he said. Eloise shook her head with a dark expression, "Not as many as I''d like. Currently, Aurelius and I have been stuck with Squires to serve as our Squad. It''s the same for others like us. The goal is to build up the ''next generation'' of Knights but while they train and we wait for them to take on their Oaths, we''re a bit useless. Thest expedition leading to the death of a Squire has also tied our hands. We''re not allowed to take them into any more Dungeons until they''re better trained. I.e. until some of them have taken their oaths. I''m optimistic it will happen soon but even then, there''s still a lot of danger and none of them had been primal to clearing thest Dungeon. Certainly not as much as you were. If youe with us, I''ll feel better. I''ll feel Aurelius and I at least have help. Consider it, please?" Henry took a moment but really, he didn''t have much hope of saying no to those burning eyes, "Of course," he said, "I won''t speak for the others but I will consider it." "Me too," Louis and Andor chorused almost immediately. Eloise nodded with a bit more ease, "Thank you," she said. "Alright, then," Henry said and cleared his throat, "Is there anything you can tell me about Ralph Gribbo?" Their ''asking around'' was hardly yielding results so it was about time to ask someone who knew more about the city and could probably tell them more. Eloise wrinkled her nose in distaste, "I know more about him than I care to know," she said and then rearranged her expression to ask with a sigh, "What would you like to know?" Chapter 186: Triggered Sub-Quest It took very little to get Eloise started and she was off; "Much as I hate what he stands for since he''s a pir in Alvareen''s ve Enterprise, so must admit that Ralph Gribbo is a powerful man. Physically, he has been said to be one of the strongest Fighters in the history of Verean''s Northern region and has amassed a sizeable army of Mercenaries. That''s besides all the ves he forces to fight for him. As would have been your fates had you all not gotten free. The ves have no choice but to fight in his Army. From what I''ve seen, they''d wee death as an alternative. But they''re really all dead inside." Henry understood what she meant. He had seen it while he was at the Estate. Theck of drive to even try to get away. Their drive to live independently had beenpletely fried out of their brains. Louis had developed a Tolerance ¡ªor so he''d said at the time¡ª, but Andor had been as much a pseudo-mindless drone as the rest of them and the cuff falling off his Wrist was the bit of stimuli that pulled him back. That pulled all of them back. And then, as Henry looked away from Andor, a part of Eloise''s words caught his attention, "Hold on, you said ''from what you''ve seen''?" Eloise nodded slowly, "I''m ¡ªwe''re¡ª forced to work with them on some affairs in the City. What Ralph Gribbo is doing is doing is not illegal. If anything, it''s encouraged. The ve enterprise is a thriving business in Alvareen. Ralph Gribbo has more of a stake in it but he''s certainly not the only one to dabble in it. Even the Mayor has a bunch of ves that serve his interests. And we¡­" Eloise gripped handfuls of her gown now and spoke through gritted teeth, "¡­ We Knights are supposed to protect the innocent and yet, we must stand aside and watch. Sometimes, we must even legitimize the practice. Yes, I know not everyone that gets a cuff pped onto their wrist is entirely innocent, but¡ª I mean look at you three!" That caused Henry to blink a bit hard at how her tone had quickly pulled from a somber monotone to a more active voice. "What about us?" "You''re innocent," Eloise said with a small smile, "Ripped from your homes against your will and forced to serve. That''s just not right." "Yeah," Louis agreed in a level tone. Henry remembered Louis had told him he had been tricked into putting on a cuff so Eloise''s words about innocence would not be wrong in his case. For Henry, however. Well, he had done quite a bit to deserve some punishment. He had killed, conspired, and attempted to steal from someone and this was what he got in return. Now, of course, Henry was hardly an advocate for him getting what he deserved. He had gotten what he deserved in his past life and it had sucked but considering the alternative could have been death, well¡­ Anyway, his time with the Cuff hadn''t been pleasant and the System had turned his attention toward Ralph Gribbo and Henry was only too ready toply. "Henry?" Eloise called gently and Henry blinked a few times as he realized he had nked out for a few seconds. "Hmm?" Was the best he was able toe up with to catch up with whatever he had missed in the conversation. "So, as I was saying, I have a lot against the practice but my hands are tied. The best I can do is appeal to the moral code of the people involved but no one cares. And sometimes¡ª Well, sometimes I get so passionate about it, and now I''m under watch even within the Citadel. Any more outbursts and attempts to interfere and I could be stripped of my oath." "Is that why Aurelius kept keeping you from attacking Doherty?" Henry asked. Eloise sighed looking at the ground, Continue reading at m|v-l''e -NovelBin "He was trying to protect my Oath. But he also doesn''t believe in my fight ¡ªwell, as much of a fight as I can call it¡ª against the ve Enterprise. He says it''s a way of life or just how things are and I''m just being difficult trying to stop it. He says I can''t. It has been a thing, especially here in the North, for Centuries. And of course, there are other manners of very that precede evenmand/control cuffs." Eloise''s eyes tightened as she said thest part and it was clear that it wasn''t only Henry who caught it because Louis asked, "What other manners are those?" "Wizards and Witches with their ult rituals to bind pure people to them in eternal servitude. It''s just sick. Vyker Awakenings being epted and praised is what started a free fall to the type of vers that exist now. And themon people continue to be used for their selfish ends!" The more Eloise spoke, the tighter she gripped the fabric of her gown and the brighter her grey eyes became. There was something about the way she spoke now¡­ Her tone made the issue almost personal. ''Is that it?'' Henry wondered, ''Is that the root of her hatred for very? Did someone she cared about get turned into a Vyker?'' Although he spected away in his mind, Henry didn''t say anything about it. It seemed personal and he didn''t want to pry. He felt he didn''t know Eloise enough to try and get into that. That said, he also understood that she needed to work through whatever it was that had gotten her riled up and she needed to work on it alone. When Louis tried to speak, he cautioned him with a look and they just let Eloise calm down on her own. "Sorry," She said when the mood passed. "There''s nothing to apologize for," Henry assured her. Eloise nodded and then continued, "So Ralph Gribbo is a powerful man backed by thew as well as friends in powerful ces. Already he hasmissioned assistance to defend a ve caravan of his as he brings in what he calls ''shipment'' of ves." As usual and as it was whenever she spoke of this sort of thing, Eloise looked disgusted. Henry, however, looked inspired, "He''s expecting more ves?" He asked. Eloise hadn''t caught his tone and she nodded, "In two to three days," she said, "The biggest he''s ever gotten. Spoils from a recent vige raid that ''had nothing to do with him''." Eloise said used air quotes to show her disbelief in thatst statement. As far as she was concerned, the raid had been just to give Ralph Gribbo and his cohorts of ve traders their pickings. "Do you know where this caravan will pass through?" Henry asked and this time, Eloise caught his tone. She looked at him and eyed his expression for a while before she furrowed her brows, "It could be through a few channels into Alvareen. They''reing from the east through the Brieme Mountains so they have a few choices of terrain. Why do you ask?" Henry acted like he hadn''t heard her question as he stroked his jaw, "I don''t know Alvareen or its environs very well," he mumbled and then nced at Eloise with a gentle smile, "Do you have a map on you." Eloise''s eyes narrowed even further and with a flick of her wrist, she suddenly had a rolled-up parchment in her hand. She unrolled it on the table in the middle of the chairs in the Common area and began to point to areas. She called their names and Henry looked on attentively. ''It''ll take some preemptive scouting but we can certainlyy an ambush,'' he thought and was already making ns. Eloise noticed his expression and paused pointing out terrains to ask, "Henry, you''re not nning anything dangerous, are you?" Henry smiled then. Not because her question was funny but because an alert had arrived that sealed a n that was only just taking shape in his head; [You have triggered a Sub-Quest in the ongoing Main Quest: The Gunslinger''s Revenge¡­] [Sub-Quest: Intercept the ve Caravan] Chapter 187: Cudgel’s Enchantment [Sub-Quest: Intercept the ve Caravan Reward: 5000 Exp *Nyx will receive 50% of the Quest Reward. Good Luck!] "Henry, you''re not nning something, are you?" Eloise asked with her brows furrowed in suspicion. "Nothing," Henry said quickly as he worked to wipe the smile he had off his face and keep his expression normal. "Henry¡­" Eloise said with an imploring tone. "You have nothing to worry about," Henry answered her while lightly tapping on the Repeater he had over his shoulder. Throughout the rest of Eloise''s stay, her brows never rxed as her suspicion remained but Henry kept assuaging her suspicion while keeping his ns to himself. He had been attentive enough to have heard that her hands were tied so, at least for now, he wasn''t going to involve her in what he nned to do now. He also wasn''t going to give her a chance to try to talk him out of it. When Eloise eventually stood up and said her goodbyes, Henry escorted her to the Elevator where she paused and turned around to give him one final re to coax what he was hiding out of him but Henry kept his expression smooth. "Henry, be careful," she eventually cautioned with a sigh. Henry nodded, "I will," he said and then paused before he added a request, "Could I have the map from earlier." Eloise sighed and with a flick of her wrist, she retrieved it from her bracelet. She had exined before now that the bracelet was a storage item so Henry didn''t bat an eye. She handed Henry the rolled up Map and he received it with an expression of gratitude, "Thank you," he told her earnestly, "And thank you for letting us stay here too." With a nod and her expression colored with her suspicion, the Elevator door closed and Eloise was gone. "We''re going after the Caravan, aren''t we?" Louis asked from behind. They had declined to talk about it when Eloise was around because, even without Henry''s indications, they knew to keep such matters to themselves for now. "I am," Henry said as he turned around to face the two, "But you don''t have to." The two rolled their eyes. "Please," Louis said, "Like we''ll let you do it alone." "So what''s the n, Boss?" Andor asked with an easy-going smile. "I''m not your Boss," Henry said equally with a smile as he stepped forward and unrolled the map onto the table but there was nothing more he could really say that had not been alluded to while Eloise pointed out areas on the map to them earlier. "We have to get ay of thend first," Henry said and he released the Map so that it snapped back into a roll, "We can''t do shit if we are not at least a little bit familiar with the paths. We''ll talk more about itter." He left the map on the table and turned toward his room. "I''ll be back soon," Henry said just before he closed the door behind himself and sealed it shut with his keycard. Next, he activated Elminster''s brand and opened the oval portal that sucked him away into the old man''s workshop. "Wee back," Elminster said, "Your Orders are ready. Hope you have my Gold." Elminster wasn''t working and as Henry walked forward and got closer to him, he noticed the gun across his shoulder. "My word, is that ''Cudgel''?" He asked and thenughed, "Haha, boy, when I start to think you''re useless for the task, you bring one in." Elminster stretched his hand for the gun and Henry paused, "Hold on," he said, "I want it known that I want to keep this gun. Assuming it fires magical shots, of course." Elminster paused and then snorted like Henry''s request was expected. Next, he stroked his beard, "Magical shots? It shoots about the same magical shots as that sawed-off shotgun you have." "Like ''Violent Retort''?" Henry asked with surprise coloring his voice. "Disappointed?" Elminster asked and chuckled, "Thought it''d blow folks up like ''The Hydra''s Sting'', you psychopath?" "I''m not disappointed," Henry said and ced an almost possessive hand across the length of the Repeater. Elminster snorted, "Could have fooled me," he said and then stretched his hand out even further, "Hand it over now." "I still want to keep it," Henry said. "You do?" Elminster asked. "It has range, doesn''t it? I could use that," Henry said, "Plus, I''ve always been a bit partial to Repeaters." Elminster blinked and he seemed to suddenly zone out as he mumbled, "That''s just what she said." "That''s what ''who'' said?" Henry asked. "The woman who had ''Cudgel''missioned. I suggested something heftier. Especially considering the sort of enchantment she wanted it to have but she said she preferred Repeaters. Some hero worshipping for Gunmen or something." Elminster exined with his stretched hand dropped to his side. "So there is something it does," Henry said as that was the only part he had really caught and paid attention to in all that Elminster just said. "Of course it does something," Elminster said and extended his hand again, "And you won''t get to know what it is until you let me give it the tune-up it needs." Henry hesitated, "But I get to keep it afterward?" "We''ll see." Realizing that was as much of a guarantee he would get, Henry held the Repeater out to Elminster who took it as easily as though it weighed nothing. But then, considering the craftsman arms, it probably did weigh nothing to him. Elminster brought out his tools and in a second, he had the gun separated into variousponents that he started to treat with care and mend wherever and whenever needed which turned out to be everywhere and all the time till he was done. As he worked, Elminster didn''t mumble as to how much people on the outside had messed with his creation. He seemed to be able to tell that very few hands had touched the weapon because, unlike at Saint ret and its environs where guns were still fairlymon, Alvareen had no patience for such and Gunsmiths were far rarer. No one just cared enough to try. Henry found a seat and watched Elminster work. He had seen Gunsmiths at work before. He had dabbled in it in his past life too but this was different. As he watched the Craftsman retrace already carved Arcane Symbols and imbue them with magical energy anew, Henry found himself feeling inspired. And then Elminster was done. The Repeater''sponents were snapped back together and the gun became whole again. It had a new-found luster and its gold gilding glinted in a magnificent way that made it almost dazzle. Elminster inspected his work. Pulling back the hammer and pulling the trigger so it clicked back into ce a few times. He closed one eye, looked across the gun''s barrel, and pulled the trigger a few more times before he nodded, satisfied. "Here," he said and handed the gun to Henry. Henry was surprised he was getting the Gun back and hadn''t even had to ask but he gathered himself and received it. This time, the Gun reacted to his touch and thrummed as though excited to serve him. It was also far lighter than it had been before. "Alright then," Elminster said, "Infuse it with your Mana." "There are no bullets in it," Henry pointed out. "There doesn''t have to be," Elminster said with a strange twinkle in his eyes. Henry looked confused at the old man and then looked at the Repeater in his hand. It was already pulling at his Mana so he didn''t have to think hard to wonder how to infuse the weapon with Magical energy. Mana flowed from Henry''s hand into the gun, connecting them, and then suddenly, its weight skyrocketed. The weight reached a height where Henry could not bear to keep the gun lifted. His eyes widened in shock and his arm sprained as the gun fell and hit its muzzle against the ground with a hard Bang! Chapter 188: Vital Accessories "Ngh," Henry let out and with effort, he managed to lift the Repeater off the ground with both his hands now needed to support its weight lest it fall back to the ground. Elminsterughed and the more he watched Henry struggle, the more heughed. "Stop feeding it with Mana, boy," he eventually said. Henry paused his glower to realize he had indeed, subconsciously, kept feeding the weapon with magical energy. The moment he stopped, its weight went back to normal. It took only a second after that for Henry to realize he had just witnessed all it was that made the Repeater special, "That''s it?" He asked, "It just gets heavier?" "There''s a reason it''s called ''Cudgel'' boy. The one whomissioned it wanted it to make a statement. A ''delicate'' looking tool capable of knocking many Fighters unconscious," Elminster said, and then his eyes clouded over, "She was a delicate little thing. I wonder where she is now. I hope she''s still alive. Somewhere." Elminster took a few moments to get lost in reminiscence and Henry said nothing and just let it continue. For the second time today, he was very aware that it was not his ce to shove his words in when someone was having a private moment. It seemed the silence was what pulled Elminster out of his reminiscence the fastest because he looked at Henry soon and cleared his throat, "Anyway, that''s what it does. The weight is supposed to be more manageable for the wielder but not by much. It takes some strength to wield it well but if you want to keep hold of it, for now, I think you''ll manage." Henry looked from the old craftsman''s face to the gun in his hands and this time, the System presented him with a screen that described the weapon and its effect; [''Cudgel'': Created by the Great Craftsman Elminster Eltugard. Crafted with Magical steel and steeped with Enchantment fortifications and capable of firing Mana-infused rounds. Ranged Attack Power: 150 Melee Attack Power: 250] ''A gun more useful as a club than it is for firing shots,'' Henry thought and chuckled to himself before gripping ''Cudgel'' even tighter. He liked the weapon and retained his decision to keep it. At the very least, ''Cudgel''s attack power would surpass the two guns he already had. He''d ask for bulletster. He needed bullets and slugs for his other guns as well but Elminster was already slinking away and returning with a folded garment. There was a hatid on top of the garment. "Your orders," Elminster said gruffly as heid the things on the b. Henry sent ''Cudgel'' into his Inventory as he reached out to lift the Hat. He pulled it closer and rubbed a hand over the etched designs. The stitches. For someone who had imed to not be all that aplished as a Hatmaker, Elminster had done exceeding well. Henry opened his mouth to speak but was forced to temporarily keep quiet when a screen became projected in front of him with descriptions of the Hat he was holding; [Hat of Shielding: Crafted by Elminster Eltugard. Powered by the Virtutis that was sourced from the Lich''s Dungeon. ? Cannot be forced off your head through any attacking force below 400. This includes all forces of nature as well as all forms of Human activity includingbat. ? Can cover you in a protective shield. - Shield Strength: 400. I.e The conjured shield will defend against all attacks below the 400 Attack power threshold. Please Note : Once the shield is deployed, it will remain activated and defend against attacks for 1 Minute. As long as none of the attacks surpass its Defensive strength, it will hold. However, after the 1-minute activation time is over, the Virtutis will require a few minutes to reset and be capable of redeploying the shield. You could be left Vulnerable during the reset so do take care. *None of the ''Hat of Shielding''s'' effects require Mana to activate.] As Henry read through the description page, he had the front of the Hat turned toward him and was touching the orange circle that was the only visible part of the originallyrge Virtutis. "The Hat¡­" Elminster started to say, clearly ready to get into a description of his creation''s effect but was stopped when Henry held out a hand, "No need," he said, "I think I got it." Elminster raised a brow but Henry had already lifted the Hat to his head and put it on. "Perfect fit," he mumbled. Elminster snorted, "Did you really think I''d make something and it wouldn''t fit?" He asked. "Well, you didn''t take any measurements," Henry said and smiled a bit because he was only just realizing it now. At the time he hadn''t even questioned the craftsman''s process. "I don''t need measurements," Elminster said. "Clearly," Henry agreed and was now shaking his head as hard as he possibly could. He shook so hard that his brain seemed to be rattled within his skull and the Hat never shook once. When he lifted his hand and touched the Hat''s rim, it allowed itself to be pulled off his head but the moment he took his hand off, and even though it only sat partially on his head, still no amount of effort knocked it off. "Incredible," he breathed. Elminster looked smug but there was a look in his eyes that made it clear he was wondering if this was just standard practice for Henry whenever he got a new Hat or if he knew the Hat would hold and was specifically testing that effect. Either way, the Old craftsman was pleased with how well his creation held. Next, Henry decided to test the shield. Without the requirement of Mana, all he had to do was ''will'' the shield to deploy. This was easier to do since the System presented him with an option he could simply select. [Activating ] The Shield appeared in a blue haze that surrounded Henry in an oval that protected him from all sides. Elminster observed the shield with pleased nods and then he directed Henry to turn around on the spot which Henry obediently did and by the time he was turned around and facing the Craftsman again, he saw the twinkle of satisfaction had not dwindled. "I thought a Shielding Enchantment was the best to use the Virtutis to power. Armed with two Magical guns, I didn''t think you were want of attack power." "You thought right," Henry said with a few nods of his own, "Thank you." It made it easier for Henry to decide to surrender the Gold that Elminster had requested for the orders when the Craftsman had delivered even better than he had even thought to ask for. A shield was so perfect, and paired with his Agility, could prove very vital in what Henry nned to do next. He did wish Louis and Andor had simr options though. Louis especially since Andor did have a shield. Elminster looked like he appreciated the gratitude. "Nice to see you take to the Hat so well but you should be warned that the Shield doesn''tst forever," he said. As though to punctuate his words, the oval shield around Henry vanished in the same blue haze it had appeared in. Elminster continued, "The Vurtutis is not an infinite source of energy so it will have to reset. Also, there''s only so much power it is capable of so it won''t defend against more powerful attacks. Well, ''powerful attacks'' in reference to how ''strong'' you currently are, at least." The way Elminster spoke, it was clear that the ''400 attack power'' threshold meant very little to him in terms of a threat. Henry nced at the floor and his lips twitched in a smile that there were probably Automatons the Craftsman had built and were stowed away that were capable of more attack power than that. "Try this on next," Elminster said and pushed the folded garment a bit off the b and toward Henry. Henry eyed the vest dubiously. He could see the ribs on it as a design and he was not as enthusiastic to test it out as he had been to test out the ''Hat of Shielding''. Eventually, he raised a tentative hand and touched the fabric hoping the System would present him a description screen that would warn him of a potential curse should he put it on. [Abominable Vest: Crafted by the Great Craftsman Elminster Eltugard with an ''Abominable Ribcage'' as a primary crafting material. ?Can resist and recover from most wear and tear but offers very little protection to the wearer. ?Grants you the ''Abominable Curse'' Skill. - Abominable Curse: Within a 5-meter Range, inflict a Nightmare upon your enemies and torment them mentally for all of 5 Seconds. This mental attack could lead to aplete mental breakdown in those who possess weak mental strength. It could also be resisted by those who are particrly strong mentally or have erected mental defenses to defend their psyche. Note: This Skill does not require Mana to activate but you will only have ess to it while you have the Abominable Vest equipped.] By the time Henry was done with the description, he was already gripping the Vest. His reservations were gone and he was only too ready to put it on. When Elminster asked for Gold he was rightfully deserving, and Henry released it along with what he previously owed. He also wasted no time asking for bullets to restock his empty stock. Elminster was happy to deliver as long as no potions were requested and as long as payment was forting. And it was. At least for today, Henry did not leave Elminster store with a debt although he did leave with his Inventory very much lighter. Chapter 189: Guide My Blade *** ¡ªSaint ret¡ª ¡ªThe ck Manor¡ª Triss stood on the strong concrete floor of an Arena''s stage with her feet spaced apart and her eyes closed as she detected her face toward the sky where the sun shined down its hot rays. Her arms were bare in the undergarment-like shirt she had on. It left most of her back visible but covered her front well even though it molded so tightly to her well-formed shape. But Triss didn''t care. Discover hidden stories at m,v l''e-NovelBin She wasn''t quite sure she had ever cared about that even before the recent changes she had undergone but now that she was especially being watched by wary eyes who were mostly too scared of her to look at her lewdly, she cared even less. She had a hand on the pommel of a sword handle and it was on the de the handle was attached to that any attention that wasn''t on her face was directed to. The de was a foot and a half wide and its blunt edge was inches thick. A hefty weapon that had quickly be her weapon of choice since her transformation because, ording to her, only something this wide pleased her to wield. It soothed her desire to crush as well as cleave. Triss took a deep breath. The wind whistled and caused her ponytail to sway while the locks of her red hair that had notplied to be put in the ponytail swayed even harder in the direction of the wind. And then she opened her eyes. They were her normal brown but as they fell on the three she was about to ''spar'' against, a fire seemed to burn within them. "Guide my de, My Lady," she said in a voice that carried across the Arena. The three frowned. A few of them knew who the ''Lady'' Triss was praying to was and the ones who didn''t know with certainty¡ª as they had not been present during the phenomenon that was still the talk of the Manor¡ª knew enough to shudder at the thought that they were in the presence of a ''Devil-Worshipper''. And that was what Triss was. Before her transformation, she had been apathetic to all kinds of religious faith. It was more of a luxury for the ones who were lucky enough to have ess to the magical resources of the world. But now that an infernal fire burned in her heart and fueled her with might she could only ever have dreamed to possess, Triss heartily said ''Fuck you!'' to whatever Divine god had existed and had watched her toil. Happily surrendering herself to the will of her Devil Mistress even if she had a choice. Which really, she did not. The man in the middle of Triss'' three opponents recovered from his shudder first and cleared his throat while looking at the two by his sides who were averting their eyes from Triss, "That''s enough of that," he said. Triss smiled lightly. It didn''t touch her eyes and there was nopassion in her voice when she said, "Chad, Reon, Gina. Are you sure you want to do this?" She looked at each of them in turn with her attention mostly on the slightest of the bunch; the girl who stood on Reon''s left side and was called Gina. Gina frowned at being stared at so particrly and then she steeled herself and raised her chin as though in defiance. "We should be asking you that, Triss," Reon, the one in the middle, said, "You''re new and haven''t been to many of this but you should know we most encourage one-on-one battles." "Just one of you won''t cut it," Triss said with a smirk and a nonchnt wave and then she paused before she continued, "But you should know that since I''ll be facing three of you at once, I won''t have the time or the presence of mind to pull my strikes. I''m not strong enough to be holding back just yet." "I think we''ll be fine," Reon said calmly. "Pompous bitch," Chad, who stood to Reon''s right side, said in a voice he didn''t even try to lower. A growl rang clear across the Arena then and all eyes went to a red-haired handsome young man who was seated in a spectator''s seat. Stefan had not liked the insult to his sister and his brown eyes glowered with a readiness to defend her honor. Chad frowned at his reaction and twitched strangely. Reon pursed his lips while Gina''s eyes darted to and away from Stefan''s face as though having difficultying to terms with her finding him attractive even though he was on the bad side because of his affiliation with his violent, Devil-Worshipping Sister. Triss didn''t look at Stefan. She did roll her eyes though. "Let''s begin," Reon said and took a step back as Chad took more steps forward. Chad began to twitch and in a second, scales began to appear all over his skin. He immediately gave himself the full protection shift he was capable of as a Feral Meister. He might dislike Triss but he knew he''d be foolish not to take a spar against her as seriously as he possibly could. Gina fell forward and nted her palms against the ground. "Gina, don''t hold back," Chad said and then he was gone. Pushing his charging speed to the max through the incorporation of the strength increase he gained through shifting, the Feral Meister charged forward and came at Triss with a w strike. Triss lifted herrge sword off the ground and made what appeared to be a wide swing with the blunt edge of the sword''s de. With his eyes wide, Chad had to lean as far back as he possibly could to ensure the de passed harmlessly above him. To his credit, he turned the move he was forced to make into an attack aimed at Triss'' legs to knock her off bnce. But Triss moved away and as the kick missed, she brought her sword down and stabbed its de toward the ground in a move that would and should have cut Chad''s extended leg in two had he not quickly ced a hand against the ground and managed to pivot. Backed by her considerable strength, the tip of Triss''rge sword cut through the Arena''s concrete ground and as she made to pull it out, Ice crept over, froze the de, and bonded it to the ground. It wasn''t just the sword that was frozen. It was every part of the side of the Arena Triss was standing at and the culprit was none other than Gina whose face was screwed in concentration as a line of ice formed from where her hands were touching the ground to create the freeze effect. "Well done, Gina!" Chad yelled. He had been ready for this. He had asked for it. Gina was a rarity among Lord Aleric''s Vykers. Where me Mages and Feral-Meisters abound with a few Shadow Vykers here and there, she had be the first to be a mutated Ice Mage. Her ice, coated in Mana wasn''t just the normal sort and could even withstand the mes of her fellow Vykers. Chad was sure it would hold Triss'' sword long enough while also hindering her movement. Of course, Gina had taken care to keep her ice away from where he stood so, with a powerful grip of the concrete with his ws, he propelled himself off the ground and kicked at Triss'' jaw. *Bam!* Triss'' head was forced back and her stance became unstable with one foot off the ground but one hand still on the handle of her sword. Chad didn''t notice or care. He just managed to ce his feet on a part of the ground ¡ªon the part of the Arena that wasn''t covered with ice¡ª, and delivered another kick to Triss'' midsection. This time, Triss didn''t move. It took a second for Chad to realize his foot had not made contact with her body but rather the t side of her sword''s de. It took another second for the Vyker to realize there was a red me around the de and that the heat of the me was now licking at his pants and next at the protective scales that covered his leg. He kicked off the sword de andnded on the patch of ground without ice only to realize everywhere was starting to thaw. Gina sent more of her Ice to freeze the ground but an infernal heat radiating from Triss'' body kept it at bay. The burning mes that had been barely noticeable in her eyes earlier were zing hot now. And then she was gone from where she stood. Chad''s eyes went wide and, with his ws against the ground, he pushed himself away which was fortunate because the massive de of Triss'' swordnded and created a massive crater at that very spot the very next second. Acting like she hadn''t noticed her missed attack, Triss whipped around in a kick that caught Chad in the chest before he could get sufficiently far enough away¡­ *BAM!* ¡­ And sent him flying with a cracked sternum. Chapter 190: Look Into My Eyes "Argh!" Chad yelled as he hit the ground a few times while he was sent flying from Triss. The hit had gotten past the protection of his scales and he could feel an internal injury had been inflicted. He was especially sure of this when his mouth became tainted with the metallic taste of his blood. Meanwhile, Triss paid him very little attention after delivering the kick. The moment her feet hit the ground, she tightened her grip on her sword and leaped into the air to spin twice as though gathering momentum. The red me that had been around her sword''s de zed more furiously and with a powerful heave, Triss tossed it toward Gina in a circr st that rotated violently toward the Ice-Mage Vyker. Gina gasped with her eyes wide and hurried to erect a defense for herself by conjuring an ice wall. The circr me attack struck the wall and although they canceled each other out, the impact of their contact struck Gina and sent her flying almost off the Arena. Reon frowned at this development. The impact had struck him too but he had survived it and was only forced to slide a step away from the spot he had previously been. He kept his attention on Triss though and prepared to make his move. While Triss had been in battle with Chad, Reon had taken the time to prepare a mighty attack whose cast was only evidenced by the individual balls of burning me on his palms. The moment Triss stopped her spin and before she could contemte the start of another attack, Reon brought both his hands together andbined the two burning mes that he had deliberatelypressed. The balls of me reacted violently with each other and became so massive that they blocked Reon from Triss'' sights and then they fired abined beam. *BOOM!!!* Triss had been caught fairly by surprise. While she had known what Reon was nning (she would have been foolish not to know considering she was well aware that he was a me Mage Vyker whose role in this battle was long-distance attacks such as this), she had been caught in a moment just after an attack. Her transition into another move-set was not yetplete and it had now been interrupted. Fortunately, the wide de of her sword could serve well as a shield and she was able to raise the weapon just in time to intercept the st. Unfortunately, the mes of the attack were so wild that they spread far beyond the width that the wide de could cover. They singed Triss'' skin, her undergarment-like shirt, and her red hair. The force was also so powerful that it was forcing her away and trying to send her away from the Arena''s stage entirely. Just as the massive stream of mes blocked Triss'' view of him, it also blocked Reon''s view of her. But he was sure his attack had struck her and now all he had to do was keep his focus and win the physical contest to knock her away, expending every bit of physical energy she had and was trying to use to resist¡­ "Huh?" Reon''s eyes widened as his sharp Vyker senses warned of somethinging at him from the side. He nced over and he saw the blunt end of a sword swinging toward his face and packing heat that surpassed what his massive stream of mes could produce. "Holy¡ª!" Reon yelled. It took a lot of effort to tear his attention and magical energy away from the stream of mes he was already firing but he managed to do it and conjured a me field instead. *Bang!* Therge de made contact with the shield and only then was Triss'' face visible. There were no signs of injury on her body and her lips were stretched in a grin while the zing balls of me in her eyes were now infernos. Those eyes grabbed Reon''s attention the most. He couldn''t look away from them. Even when he felt mes licking at his insides, he couldn''t help but stare. Even when they seemed to pull at his soul and drag it into a Demonic abyss, he couldn''t look away. *crackle* With the sound a twig makes when the mes of a campfire lick at it and start its burning process, Reon''s me field was starting to splinter. The infernal fire that zed around Triss'' de was overpowering the me field''s integrity. The realization helped Reon break free of the hold Triss'' eyes had on him and he hurried to conjure a stream of fire to force Triss away before shepletely broke through his defense. Triss'' grin became a smirk. It was as though she could read Reon''s mind so clearly like it was an Open book. She knew exactly what he was nning to do and, preemptively, she stamped her right foot against the ground. *Bam!* The heat that was radiating from her body got channeled to her foot and a pentagram was burned into the spot she just stamped her foot against and from the pentagram zed magical energy backed by Infernal might. It red and unleashed an arch of Hellish mes that struck Reon''s me field and shattered it. "Fuck¡ª!" Reon started to say but Triss turned her sword right then and mmed the t side against his face. *Bang!* With his nose broken, his face quickly covered in his blood and some parts even burned by the mes that had coated the de, Reon flew right off the stage. He copsed a few feet away andy twitching. Even if he could still fight, it didn''t look like he wanted to. Not right now and certainly not against Triss. The sequence hadsted only a few minutes. In that time, Gina and Chad had recovered from what they had suffered from Triss but Gina was closest and attacked first. A jagged piece of ice formation rising off the ground and stabbing toward her jaw was the first attack toe at Triss who swung her sword and cut the formation clean in two. However, as the two pieces separated, they shattered into multiple icicles that charged at her to try to seed where the jagged formation had failed. With a powerful swing of her sword whose de was still coated with red infernal me, Triss deflected the icicles and the heat she and her weapon radiated turned most of it to mist before they could even get close enough. She appeared to have the upper hand and was starting to roll her eyes at the ineffectiveness of Gina''s attacks when she realized the mists and flecks that she had turned the ice attacks into had not dissipated. They still floated around her body. All were still controlled by Gina whose face was screwed in concentration. And then the temperature began to drop. It dropped fast and the mist of ice appeared to multiply. Triss felt her heat begin to cool. She tried to muster it but it was as though Gina''s ice were inside her body, changing her internal chemistry and blocking her ability to conjure mes or even heat. The temperature continued to drop and Triss realized moving her body was no longer as easy as it should have been while Gina looked to be getting more and morefortable as the seconds ticked by. "I''ve been among me Vykers for months," Gina said with a smirk, "You think I haven''t picked up a trick or two to deal with me bitches like yourself? I call this Move, ''Absolute Zero''. You must be feeling it now. That cold that''s gripping your insides¡­ Gripping your Heart. Despite the freaky Devil-worshiping nonsense that made you, your Heart is still the source of your mutation. I''ll stop it first. You won''t survive this so you might as well give up now. I have no qualms about killing you!" "''Absolute Zero''¡­ Not bad," Triss mumbled and her hand shivered as she raised it to stare at the flecks of ice that seemed to be rising from underneath her skin and freezing over it. And then she sensed aing attack. Chad was hoping to take advantage of Gina''s ongoing move. He now had the advantage of free movement that Triss did not and would be digging his ws through her before she could resist the cold enough to react. Or so he thought. "Rarr!" With a feral growl rising deep within his chest, Chad leaped at Triss. His ws were inches from her when she blurred from his sight. Before his eyes could get wide in shock, an ice-specked palm was suddenly in front of his face. It mmed into it and its fingers, strong and inescapable, tightened around his head. Even with the ice flecks still spreading over her skin, Triss had moved her arm faster than Chad''s eyes could follow and her grip was stronger than his scales could handle. *BAM!* After securing her grip around his head, Triss mmed Chad into the ground so hard that he cracked the concrete floor of the Arena''s stage and sunk into a crater so deep that his head was not visible. Triss'' hand on his face was also not in view. The angle looked so horrible that Chad''s neck might as well have been broken because the rest of his body was still visible on the surface even though his head was out of sight. Gina gasped with her eyes wide and then she heard Triss say, "Hey Gina, look into my eyes." Gina made the mistake ofplying and she saw burning infernos where Triss'' eyes were supposed to be. Suddenly, that was all she could see as her soul was pulled from her body and dragged deep into Hell for eternal torment. Chapter 191: Frightening It was a strange feeling. Gina was sure her body was still on the surface. She could feel her feet nted albeit shakily on the Arena''s concrete floor but none of that mattered. It was as though Triss'' eyes were portals into Hell and as it pulled her soul into a hellish and torturous depth, mes were licking at her. The mes didn''t attack her body. They attacked her very being and as the pain continued to rise, she found she was unable to scream. Her soul didn''t have a voice and at the moment, only her soul mattered. She continued to fall for what felt like an eternity and when she finally stopped, she was in the presence of a figure she recognized and yet did not. It was Triss but she was d in a ck Armor set that was marred with markings that burned with Infernal Heat. Horrible horns protruded from the sides of her head and she had her hands atop the pommel of arge sword, evenrger than the one she wielded in life. ''Triss'' said nothing but the way she stood and the ominous aura that descended upon the scene made it feel like she was about to pass judgment. Gina''s eyes widened as she realized she was the one about to be judged. Again, she tried to make her voice work but this time it was to plead for mercy rather than to let out a scream. Again, her voice failed her. And then it was over. She found that she was back in her body. She was now on her knees and as connected as she had been to her body despite the ordeal, she had no idea when that happened. Her eyes were bugged out in horror and sweat had soaked her clothes. Her eyes were averted from Triss'' now and she dared not raise them to look again. Was all that an illusion? Gina wondered and then realized it didn''t matter because the experience alone, had it continued, would surely have killed her. She was d she had survived it although she had no idea how. Meanwhile, Triss'' attention had been forced away from Gina by the man who now stood between them and red at her while clearly struggling to keep his expression passive. "I think that''s enough," he said in a deadpan tone. Triss rolled her eyes, "I wasn''t going to kill her." ''Liar!'' Gina yelled in her head. Her voice failed her but she wasn''t sure she would have been able to be vocal even if her voice had worked. The neer didn''t believe her either. He gestured at Chad whose scales were gone now with his head still forced into the crater by Triss who refused to let up. "This doesn''t look like holding back," he said, "The purpose of these organized spars is to trade secrets and help each other develop. It also helps us to know each other better so we can strategize when we go out on missions. Especially Dungeon Raiding missions. It''s not to beat our opponents to death." ''Like they would have thought twice about doing that to me,'' Triss thought, and with a sigh, she took her hand off Chad''s head. Chad''s body reacted to theck of pressure forcing his head into a crater and his neck angled out into normalcy. It was certainly sprained but luckily for him, his durability as a Vyker had kept it from snapping. He didn''t move though. It didn''t look like he could. The man raised a brow at that, "Impressive." "Thank you," Triss answered because, even though the man was looking at Chad, the praise was clearly meant for her. The man raised his eyes to look at her, "It''s barely been two weeks," he said in a low voice, "This much improvement in such a short period without Dungeon-Raiding, is incredible." He sounded awed but he wasn''t confused. That was because Triss wasn''t really a Vyker. The process had barely started for her when the ''incident'' urred. Whenever she fought, she channeled Mana but she channeled something else. Something infernal. It backed her development and sped it up. How long that wouldst was unknown and also didn''t matter because it already made her too strong to be considered a rookie. "How about a spar against someone you won''t just steamroll?" The man asked. "Really, Gerald?" Triss asked. Having to live with this bunch had made knowing their names necessary and since most of them had not tried to make their feelings about her and Stefan a secret, she had also learned a bit about their personalities. Gerald had reservations like everyone else. Even more so as he was one of those who had been present when it happened but as one of the strongest Vykers under Maude Aleric''s control, he took on the role ofmander and tried to be fair. It made him easier to deal with than the others. "Of course," Gerald said and nced at Stefan still seated in the Spectator seat, "You can have some help too." Before Gerald was even done, Stefan was already moving and he was by Triss'' side in seconds. Triss didn''t object. Against Gerald, she was sure she would need the help. "Good," Gerald said with a nod now that the two were standing side by side and he took off his shirt to tie it around his waist. The view of hisrge muscles onlysted a second before it was covered by dark fur that covered up its definition but made him physicallyrger. The size increase was strangely only on Gerald''s upper body even though the fur of the transformation spared no parts of his body. It created a sort of imbnce. Gerald''s back also became hunched and his arms,rger and longer now, seemed so close to dragging across the ground. His face was now halfway between a human and a bear and when he grinned,rge and powerful canines shed like steel. Stefan took on a stance and blood began to appear around him. Like they had formed right from nothing and swirled around him, obedient to hismands. Gerald''s wild red eyes narrowed at that. Stefan was different from Triss in the sense that his Vyker mutation had started and had been well on its way before the ''incident'' began. The prepared ingredients had also been used up and yet, there was no way in hell this blood-ability hade from them. It hadn''t. Thebination of infernal energy and the ultic energy that was facilitating the Vyker mutation had mixed to create something not quite one or the other. The aura around Stefan''s body seemed like that of a Vyker ¡ªfar more than his Sister''s¡ª, and yet, there was an infernal connection there that caused it to deviate. While he didn''t develop as fast as his Sister, the bonafide Devil-Worshipper, Stefan''s development still put that of the rookie Vykers to shame. Gerald felt that, if Triss was at least doomed eternally with her soul now belonging to a Devil, Stefan could still be salvaged and molded into a worthy tool for his Lord, Maude Aleric. In the minute or so they spent doing nothing but standing opposite each other, some of the spectating Vykers stepped onto the stage and carried Chad off it lest he get caught up in the battle that was about to begin. They carried Gina away as well as she didn''t seem to have regained control of her body since her hellish ordeal. Triss'' eyes twitched and the moment they were gone, she moved. She dashed as fast as she possibly could just so she could take a running leap ande down at Gerald from above. He sidestepped and delivered a punch to the side of her face. *Bam!* The fist connected and Triss was sent flying. She managed to recover, allowed herself to be guided by the instincts she had gained upon her transformation, and did a spin before breaking her fall only nursing the wound to the side of her face. Just as Gerald delivered the blow, his instincts warned him of a projectile and he leaned to the side just in time to avoid a spear formed of blood. s, the spear shattered right as it was passing harmlessly in front of him. It turned into smaller daggers that stabbed at him in a barrage he couldn''tpletely outrun. "Ngh," He let out almost in surprise when a few stabbed through him and drew blood but his surprise was intensified when a few drops detached from the daggers that had caused his wounds, mixed with his blood, and caused them to congeal into tiny darts that stabbed into his face through his open wounds. "Ahh!" He yelled and his eyes widened at the horror of such maniption. The darts formed from his blood mixed with the blood of Stefan''s attacks had been too weak to dig too deep but imagine if they had been stronger. To be done in by your own blood because you''re facing a horrible mutated Blood Mage such as this¡­ Gerald''s ck-furred lips twitched at such horror and he mumbled, "Frightening!" Read new chapters at m_v-l''e|-NovelBin Chapter 192: Tremor From Within After breaking her fall and pausing her attacks just so she could better coordinate with her brother, Triss was back on the move with herrge sword poised to stab through Gerald who reacted quickly enough to stand his ground and prepare to meet her attacks. "What¡ª?" He yelled out suddenly when Stefan''s blood attack wrapped around him and forced his arms to his side to leave him very open to theing attack. Triss smirked, "Well done, Stefan," she said in a low voice, confident in her attack making contact. "Hmph!" Gerald let out and his upper body seemed to hulk out even further in disparity to his fairly normal lower half. He broke free of the Blood bounds. He hadn''t reacted fast enough to give himself the room to run out of the reach of Triss'' attack so he decided not to sidestep. He simply stood his ground and swung hisrge arm just in time to strike the de of Triss''rge sword with his ws, knocking it off course so he could step in closer and punch at her face with his other hand. Triss'' eyes widened but she reacted fast enough to let her heat swell in a st of infernal fireunched at Gerald whose first instinct was to leap away. The fire burned with a heat was sure he didn''t want to face at point-nk range. Before Triss could breathe a sigh of relief and attempt to use that moment to make another attack or put distance between herself and Gerald, she realized he had not leaped far at all. He just went low and swung his leg to sweep her off her feet. "Ah!" Triss yelled as her back hit the concrete with a bang and even as she winced, Gerald was already above her, and he brought down his massive fist toward her stomach. At the same, a blood spear came at him. The Spear aimed for his head in a stab that would have seen half the weapon puncture out the side of his head in a gory wound, but without even looking, Gerald snatched the Spear out of the air without stopping his move to punch Triss in the stomach. "Ack!" Triss groaned and cringed on the ground. But even as she felt as though her organs had been squished together inside her, she swung her sword with its pommel aimed to strike Gerald in the face. He caught her wrist but was unable to pay it due attention because the Blood spear he had snatched before it could pierce his head had changed shape. It liquified and began to slip around his arm, to his shoulder, and now it was around his neck and tightening. Gerald reached for it. He had a substantial threshold for strangtion, especially in this form but the blood bind was putting that threshold to the test. Just as Gerald managed to break the hold, Triss'' wrist that he was holding red up with infernal heat that quickly blossomed into infernal mes that fired directly at his face. *Boom!* It was almost explosive. The mes packed quite a punch that pushed Gerald back but he moved even further away because he tried to put distance between himself and the mes. He failed. The fire burned his ck fur and charred it to the point where raw, burned skin became visible. "Argh!" Gerald yelled but his pain did not encourage Triss to back off. She saw an opening and she took it. She brought her sword down in a powerful cleave and when Gerald managed to sidestep and dodge, she transitioned her move and struck the pommel of her sword into his stomach as hard as she possibly could. "Ack!" Gerald groaned as he doubled over. Presenting his burned face in the position for Triss to punch at it with her free hand. She showed mercy though. She didn''t coat her fist with infernal mes and thus, did not make the damage she had already caused any more worse. *BAM!* The impact was powerful and knocked Gerald off his feet. s, rather than hit the concrete with his back, he turned around in the air andnded on all fours. His back bunched strangely and his already hunched vertebrae hunched even further as he dug his ws into the ground. Triss knew she couldn''t allow him to move and was already bringing the t side of her sword down to clobber him in the head and possibly knock him out but Gerald was gone. A growl ripped out from deep within his chest and he ran on all fours with an animalistic aggression. His target was Stefan. The Blood Mage had called his magical blood back after the failed strangtion and his eyes widened when he saw Gerald charging at him. Well, ''saw'' is used liberally because he more urately felt the tremors in the ground a split second before arge wed hand was swinging at his face. Stefan congealed his magical blood into a shield that absorbed some of the impact packed by the punch but it was so powerful that it tore a hole through and mmed into his chest. *Bam!* As he was sent sliding away, Stefan spat out blood that didn''t fall to the ground but floated to join the blood that was now floating by his sides. Even as the pain made it difficult to think, Stefan managed to congeal the blood into multiple daggers that barraged Gerald who moved so fast, that they always stabbed into the ground at spots he had been seconds before they struck. The daggers left divots in the concrete floor but left Gerald uninjured and still on the hunt to inflict more pain on Stefan. Of the siblings, Stefan was the weakest physically but his constant interference had impacted Gerald''s decision-making which always let Triss take advantage. He would be easier to take out and once he was out of the fight, Gerald could focus his attention on Triss. "Get away from him!" The yell sounded so clearly that Gerald was sure Triss was right by his ear. But she wasn''t. Triss wasn''t fast enough to follow his movements to do so and before Gerald could think of how she had done it ¡ªtalked to him like she was close when she wasn''t¡ª a wall of infernal fire zed in the two feet of space still between Gerald and Stefan. Triss was indeed not fast enough to follow Gerald''s movements but she could follow Stefan''s so she aimed for his front and erred the attack she knew wasing for him. The wall of infernal fire got so close that it almost singed the hair off Gerald''s arms and as he quickly skidded to a stop, there was a moment when his speed slowed as he tried to change direction. That was when Triss struck. Or at least she wanted to. Her attack was intercepted by Gerald who snarled and wed at her wrists, drawing blood and causing her enough pain that she was forced to drop her sword. "Fuck¡ª!" Triss yelled but she didn''t stop. Her fists became coated by Infernal fire that seared the w wounds on her wrists and stopped the bleeding. She brought them down on Gerald, packing violent heat. Gerald couldn''t run from the fire but he managed to dodge one of the fists so when hended a blow into Triss'' stomach, she alsonded a fire-coated fist on his shoulder. Her fire burned him but the force of his blow sent her to the ground in an impact that caused her to arch her back against the concrete while her punch hadn''t caused him to move a step. Stefan was alert again and his magical blood was starting to take shape in preparation to attack when Gerald raised a hand. "Alright. I think we''ve sparred enough," he said, "Any further and we''ll just get carried away." His back straightened and his ck fur sunk back into his skin. Back in his human form, he still had the burns on his face and shoulder but he looked like he''d survive them. Triss was breathing deeply but raised a hand in a thumbs-up, "If you say so¡­" Her sentence was interrupted when a deep thrumming sounded from deep within the ck Manor. It shook the ground with a tremor and all eyes instinctively searched for the source. They didn''t see the source but they knew the cause. After all, there was only one being in the Manor capable of enough power to shake the Manor''spound. Actually, there were two of them now, and from weeks of simr incidents, this tremor was probably caused by one of their many high-powered shes. Chapter 193: Don’t Die! ¡ªA Hall within the Recess of the ck Manor¡ª The Hall used to be Maude Aleric''s sanctuary within the ck Manor. Where he could be shut off from all distractions and concentrate on furthering his Arcane Knowledge, boosting his magical intelligence and Mana reserves. In recent times ¡ªthest two weeks¡ª, it had be more. It had be the most fortified part of the Manor where he could tutor his Prot¨¦g¨¦e. Maude didn''t bat an eye at the violent thrumming. Or more urately, he didn''t care about what it had disturbed on the outside and was focused on the cause because it hadn''t been him. It had been the grey-white-haired witch who was cross-legged on the ground. "What was that?" He asked with an annoyed tone. Yelena''s beautiful face was twisted in distress. Sweat was now appearing across her forehead and her entire body felt weak. Her stamina waspletely sapped all because she had done what she had been explicitly told not to do; Cast a spell beyond what her Mana reserves could manage. "I just¡ª *wheezes* I just thought I''d try it," she managed to say after a few wheezing breaths. She tried to say more but her voice kept failing. Maude stepped toward her and held out a vial and after she took it from him, he took several steps back to watch her with disapproval from a distance again. Yelena drank the contents of the vial and recovered some of her expended Mana while her stamina recovered entirely which allowed her words to flow better, "Thank you. As I was saying, I had an idea to reduce the Mana cost while keeping some of the spell''s more powerful effects. If I can do that, then we don''t have to hold back. You can teach me all you know right now." Maude allowed himself a chuckle but there was no mirth in his eyes. This was not the first time Yelena would say something like this and this was not the first time he''dugh it off, "I have hoarded knowledge for decades, my dear. You can''t learn them all in weeks." "Can''t know that if we haven''t tried," Yelena said out of the corner of her mouth. Of course, Maude had no difficulty hearing it. He closed his eyes, grabbed the bridge of his nose, and rubbed it while letting out an exasperated sigh. "As I''ve said many times, Magic has rules. They are sometimes flexible but that flexibilityes with experience which you do not have. This impatience of yours¡­" "I won''t be impatient if you hadn''t sold him off," Yelena says, again out of the corner of her mouth but with so much more venom that it stung. Maude opened his grey eyes now and they almost looked sad. "My dear, he and the others tried to rob me," he said and looked almost sheepish, "They killed so many of my Vykers¡­" "I killed your Vykers too," Yelena pointed out. The memory of the lives she had been forced to take seemed to bite at her but she endured and kept her re on Maude who still had that sheepish look on his face. He managed a chuckle or two before he said, "I didn''t know that at the time." "But you know now," Yelena said. "And I know you now too," Maude said. "You mean, you know ''her''," Yelena managed with her lips pursed and her green eyes glowering. Maude flinched at that. The memory of his encounter with Yelena''s Demonic Patron was all too recent in his mind and he knew it always would be. It had been burned permanently into his mind in deterrence against any thought that could harm the Demon''s Spawn. No covenant had been forced at the time. Thuds Demon hadn''t had enough of herself present to even force a vow and yet, Maude Aleric would not dare consider going against her words. He had been charged with caring for her Spawn and that was exactly what he was going to do. Whether he wanted to or not. "She¡ª" Maude paused to shudder and then continued, "She is partly the reason. But even before the incident, I already selected you as my Prot¨¦g¨¦e. Your talent supersedes the wrongs youmitted by thousands." This wasn''t a lie but it wasn''t the entire truth either. Maude cared very little for his Vykers. They were tools after all. However, having a bunch of thieves consistently reduce how many of them he had at his disposal, and the entire ordeal ending with him not getting his property back, certainly infuriated him. Yelena was worth a thousand more to Maude than any Vyker possibly could so she instantly got a pass. Especially since she was malleable. While Vyker transformations were impossible on people who already possessed Mana, Maude had ways to cultivate devotion. After all, he had managed it with his Warlocks who were now dead. So while he was being truthful about her worth and his pardoning her, he wasn''t open about what his ns had been in detail. s, all that was out of the window now. The existence of a Demonic Patron had forcefully changed their dynamic. Even as he instructed her in the Arcane ways, Maude could not help but realize it felt more like he was under Yelena''smand than she was under his. "Listen," Yelena said with her voice more direct, "I have to help him. Who knows what horrors he''s going through while in the possession of this Ralph Gribbo person?" "Impatience won''t help you," Maude said with another sigh. "You could," Yelena said, "Why not just buy him back?" "It doesn''t work that way," Maude said and paused before he continued, "Ralph doesn''t work that way. Once he has a ve, he doesn''t let them go. To him, it''s a matter of principle and he believes there''s no amount of gold you could offer that the ve can''t potentially make him. This is, of course, not quite the case. The ves are likely to die before they can bring that much ie for him. s, men of principle are sometimes not men of Logic. Or sound reasoning." "So I''ll have to go and get him back myself," Yelena said with conviction burning in her emerald green eyes. "And I advise against it," Maude said. "Triss and Stefan wille with me," Yelena said. "Of course they will," Maude said with furrowed brows. While hecked any real connection to both redheaded siblings, Maude was still morefortable with Stefan who at least felt like a Vyker. Somewhat. Triss, however, was different¡­ Strange. She hovered around Yelena constantly except during training within this Hall and that was only because she wasn''t allowed in here. "It will still be dangerous," Maude said after he pulled himself out of his thoughts. "I''m going," Yelena said with a finality that left no room for arguments. Henry had saved her. Not only had he extended a life that had already been unnaturally extended in pseudo-captivity, but he also let her roam free. Yelena fervently believed he hadn''t done all that just so she would be stuck in the ck Manor training while he was getting worked to death. "Fine," Maude said, "But that will have to wait. There is a massive disparity between your Mana reserves and your Intelligence. Intelligence scales your spells so if you''re not careful, spells that should be well within the limits of your Mana will exceed it when you put too much of your Intelligence into them. That was already a risk before you started actively trying it. You need the Arcane Exercises to improve your reserves. You need patience." "Okay, okay," Yelena said but she was clearly being dismissive. Maude decided not to mention it. Her tenacity just might be a good thing and he was here in case things went awry. "Alright then," he said, "Let''s try again." Yelena took a deep breath and a Magic circle appeared beneath her to signal the start of the exercise but before she was sucked into the practice that would restrict all thoughts that did not reinforce her focus, she managed one determined thought, ''I''ming, Henry. Don''t die!'' Chapter 194: Lying In Wait… *** ¡ªThe Brieme Mountains at the Environs of Alvareen City¡ª "Ugh." "Ack!" "Ah!" "Louis?" Henry called calmly with his hat casting a shadow onto his face. "There was a rock that time," Louis said in a mumble and then he saw Andor ring at him and cleared his throat, "Fine. I''ll stopining." Henry chuckled, "You canin," he said, "Just try not to let me hear it. Takes my attention away from where it should be." The three were lying on rocks and hidden behind the rock formations at the top of the many mountains that bordered the Ridge they were looking down into. Into the path that their targets would soon being through. "I just want to point out that the Horses aren''t lying low," Louis said with a bit of a grumble and gesture behind him to where two horses were scratching their hooves against the ground. "The horses are out of sight. I made sure of it. But if we stayed there, we wouldn''t be able to¡­" Henry paused and then nodded, "You know, what, you can stand close to the horses. Make sure you''re about two steps behind them to remainpletely out of sight." "I''ll sit on the floor beside them," Louis said as he stood and walked away bent low. "Even better," Henry said with a nod. There was a reason for all this precaution, of course. They had been like this for the past two days they had spent scouting but today of all days, it was almost too sure the ve Caravan woulde through. It would be a collection of Fighters and even Mages if the intel was correct, and carelessness would blow their cover before they could even start the ambush. Against the potentialrgepany of enemies, the element of surprise was essential. "Sorry about him," Andor said in a low voice but in the otherwise silent location, Louis was sure to hear. "Why are you apologizing for him? You''re not responsible for him," Henry said. Andor pursed his lips with his brows furrowed. "Besides, he''s in his right toin. I hated my first stake out too and I was lying down on grass rather than rocks," Henry paused to chuckle and when he continued, his voice was more somber, "I didn''tin that day though. I''ll have gotten a whack across the side of my face if I did. It''s not like that here. Thest thing I want is to have you all too scared to share opinions orints. Hell, I''m already feeling horrible to be subjecting this dangerous task." "I''m not leaving you¡­" Andor said. Henry sighed, "So you said¡ª" he started to say but Andor wasn''t done, "¡­ and going after Ralph Gribbo is also important to me. You were only in that housing for a day, Henry. I was there for Months. I was already used for odd jobs. Barely survived a few. Saw a bunch of ves die and they''ll just wheel more in at the end of the week. I saw everyone there give up thoughts of escape when the jolts became too much to bear. No one deserves to live like that. It''s why I appreciate what you did¡­" "¡­ I helped," Louis piped from behind. "¡­ And why I want to do the same for any others I can." Andorpleted like he hadn''t heard him. "I''m d to hear that," Henry said with a nod, "You should appreciate Louis more though. We''d not have gotten free without him. He came up with the n and freed Echo. His n could have killed us but it worked. Thankfully." "I know," Andor said and when Louis was about to open his mouth to ask for his praises, Andor continued, "But he mentions it so much that me talking about it would be redundant. If he''s already praised himself, why should I?" "I don''t mention it that much," Louis said quietly and then added with a defeated sigh, "But fair, I suppose. Next time I save your life, I won''t mention it." "If you hold out long enough, I just might throw a praise your way," Andor said with a nod. "I don''t want it," Louis said magnanimously, "A good deed is its own reward." "Good, then shut up," Andor said out of the corner of his mouth. Louis frowned but said nothing more. Henry chuckled but then fell silent as well. This was nice. It brought back memories. Most of them good. It had been a slightly dullst few days. While he wanted to keep Eloise out of the ns as much as he could, he needed her for information and she also kept checking in every day. Whenever she didn''t meet them at the Inn, she''d mention it the next time she saw them, look disapproving of what she guessed they were nning but would still tell them whatever more she had learned. Henry believed she liked being a bit of a spy because her information became more detailed. She learned that the ve Caravan almost had an entourage of Knights from the Citadel but it was eventually decided unnecessary. Apparently, thepany guarding it wasrge enough already. Since they were so close to Alvareen already, any danger was believed to be past as they were now in a region where Ralph Gribbo and his fellow ve-Owners held so much power that only a fool would try to attack the Caravan. Henry was d he was that fool. The Citadel had been filled in on what exact route the Caravan would take while they were considering offering a squad of Knights and Eloise delivered the information even if she did do it in passing and during a conversation. Your next journey awaits at m v|l-e''-NovelBin Next, both Andor and Louis went shopping. Andor was unable to find a Spear that would serve him better than Echo''s. When he had the weapon appraised, he was made to realize he had yet to discover the weapon''s true potential as he was currently too weak for it. The appraiser tried to get it then and even offered a lot of Gold but Andor held on. The Shield from the Dungeon proved the best to keep for the moment as well so he ended up getting himself a storage bracelet to keep the weapons in. Considering they were in a City where people boldly walked around with their weapons strapped to them, Henry thought it might be a tad unnecessary. "They''re just doing it to intimidate or show off but it never really helps when you meet someone stronger than you," Andor said to argue his case, "I''ll just prefer to keep my things hidden." Of course, Henry had no real ground to stand and argue on with his Inventory keeping his weapons away from public view. Louis discovered the Mage robe he had gotten in the Dungeon was the best he could get for the Gold he had so he stuck with it. However, he did get a better staff that could channel his magic better and serve better as a melee weapon than the one he had gotten at Gribbo''s Estate. The thing crackled whenever he touched it. He also purchased a magic scroll for a defensive Lightning spell he had spent hours practicing. Even now, as he sat beside the horses, he practiced the cast while trying not to eject enough lightning to cause them to skitter away. Speaking of the Horses; Those had been the most major purchases they had made as a group. Henry didn''t need one of course but to constantly ferry the other two was bound to be a problem quickly. Especially in the case of coordination. Plus, everyone being capable of getting the hell away from trouble individually was very important. Horses were an expensive purchase in Alvareen. Of all the tamed beasts that could be used for Transportation in the magic-embracing City, horses remained the go-to mode, and even the worst of them that boasted stats slightly better than the average non-improved horse still cost hundreds to a thousand Gold. The ones they settled for were a breed that had been magically bred and improved for Generations. They couldn''t ever get better and would never catch up to Nyx at her slowest running pace but at least were faster than if Andor or Louis tried to make it on foot. Because the horses were one of the worst choices they could have picked, taming was warned to be potentially difficult. Henry settled that with his [Taming] Skill. The horses were barely considered magical so they were easy. He didn''t bond with them but he did nudge them telepathically to listen to Andor and Louis who were both looking at him with just a hint of awe. They had just learned something else Henry was good at. "Oh wait, he has Nyx," Louis had pointed out, "If he got her, these two are nothing." "Oh, yeah. You''re right," Andor agreed with many nods. Henry had ignored them. In preparation, Henry had gotten himself a nice pair of pants and boots to match his new vest and Hat. He also got three Masks for the group. All non-magically of course. His Inventory was rtively stocked with bullets for all his magical guns and with Healing and Mana Potions he had gotten from stores in Alvareen. They were ready. Now, to wait for that Damn Caravan and get the Sub-Quest started¡­ Chapter 195: The Slave Caravan (1) The hours dragged on¡­ The sun began to grow lower and was beginning to cast a reddish-orange glow in the horizon to announce the start of evening and only then did the group of three hear the sounds of wheels turning and dragging across the rocky floor of the path below. "They''re here," Henry said quietly, and ''Cudgel'' was immediately in his hand. "Masks on," he said as he pulled his mask from his Inventory and put it on. The Mask covered the entirety of his face with holes cut in for the eyes. Having tested it already, Henry knew his aiming would not be impacted. Andor pulled his Mask on as well and went even lower in precaution with his hand clenching as though he was itching to pull his weapon out of his storage bracelet. Henry pointed ''Cudgel'' down into the ridge and looked down the barrel to aim just as the caravan pulled even more into view. He had practiced this a few times already in the few days they had spent on a stakeout. He knew the Repeater''s range was more than enough for this task. In fact, its firing capability was so powerful that the damage it caused against the rocky targets was incredibly substantial. He cocked the gun''s hammer just as Louis crawled over to lie down by his other side with his Mask securely over his head but his wide blue eyes staring down at the Caravan. "They sure are slow," he said in a voice barely a whisper. "You kinda have to be for apany of that size," Henry said. The ve caravanprised three carriages and three independent riders. Two of the carriages carried a metal cage each with bars wide enough to show that there was a clear view of just how many Cuff-wearing spaces were within. Each cage held at least ten of them. All packed tight with barely any room to move their arms. Their eyes looked defeated. It wasn''t difficult to imagine what they had faced from the cuffs and the ve-catchers throughout thest few days. The third carriage carried a different cage. It looked simr to the one that had brought Henry to Alvareen. No bars and old metal walls on all sides. So small that its upants could not possibly go beyond three but Henry had a feeling only one person was in there. The cage was a bit different from the one that had brought Henry in though. Or at least, as far as Henry could see so far, there were no openings for the one inside to look outside. Strange but not quite important at the moment. The two carriages holding thergest cages were manned by four men each. All were bearing hard expressions and their leather armor had signs of recentbat. They were quite alert but no matter how they observed, Henry knew they wouldn''t see them. The carriage holding the cage with no openings was manned by three men who asionally cast shifty looks at the cage behind them whenever the carriage so much as twitched. They looked quite on edge. The independent riders were so clearly leading the operation and at the forefront of the formation was a robe wearer whose head was covered by a hood with hands gripping onto the reins of their horse. "A mage," Louis said. "Could be a wizard or a Warlock," Henry pointed out yet to use . "Nah, it''s a Mage. I can tell," Louis insisted. "Can you aim for the shafts attaching the carriages pulling them?" Henry asked. Louis shrugged, "If I toss a bunch of streaks, I should hit more than I miss, I suppose," he said sounding only slightly confident. "The riders won''t run as they have to protect the caravan but if we aim for them first, the caravan can get away and we could get too bored down bybat to chase after. We need to ground the caravan first." "I understand," Louis said with a solemn nod. He gripped his newly-gotten staff and sounded more confident. "Alright, then," Henry said with a nod as he aimed ''Cudgel'', "I''ll aim for the riders then. They''ll pose the most threat and should be taken down now. Also, we need the one wearing the Command cuff to go down first." "When should I attack?" Louis asked. "Hold on," Henry said and took one hand off ''Cudgel'' to raise it in a signal. He wanted the carriage to pull even further into the ridge. The precession was slow but eventually, the caravan was right where Henry wanted them so he gave Louis the signal to cast his spell by dropping his hand. It appeared as though Louis had been chanting the spell in secret already because he justpleted thest few words out loud as a massive spell circle took shape above his head. From the moment Louispleted the spell, Henry saw the head of the robe-wearing rider twitch in reaction. They should not have been able to hear them especially with Louis speaking in a whisper. He had run enough tests to be rtively sure of this fact. Henry noticed no one else had reacted like the robe-wearer so he concluded it wasn''t that Louis''s voice had been heard but rather that his magic had drawn a reaction. And then the massive spell circle stretched sorge, it was gathering all attention from all over but the deed was alreadyplete. *KRAKA¡ª CRACKLE¡ª KRAKA¡ª BANG!!!* The sounds were powerful as the streaks fired down into the ridge and struck the ground between the horses and the carriages they pulled. The caravan moved rtively in a straight line which made aiming a bit easier for Louis. Plus, he just made sure he aimed for the space between so that if the streaks ever erred, the damage would only strike at those manning the carriages or the horses which would force a dead stop anyway. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* The shafts shattered one after the other. Some of the horses got electrocuted but whatever damage it caused them seemed on pause as they skittered away letting out whinnies of pain. The erring of the damage the spell caused struck the fronts of the carriage and even struck a few of the men manning them but besides yelling out in pain and leaping out of their seats to hit the ground hard and nurse their injuries, they appeared like they''d survive. All eyes were already turned in their direction but Henry did as he had said he would and aimed at one of the Individual riders. He pulled the trigger but his shot was blocked by a circr shield. The shield ebbed and flowed and when the Mana-infused bullet from ''Cudgel'', there was a violent ssh from the point of impact but it absorbed the worst of the bullet''s impact and left the target safe. Just as the robe-wearer cast the protective shield to protect their colleague, they cast a look at where Henry, Louis, and Andor were. The direction from which the two recent attacks hade. The hood pulled back as the Mage-wearer eyed them and Henry saw what was undoubtedly a feminine face. It was even pretty despite how hateful it looked as she red at them. This observationsted a second at most because she took one hand off her reins and stretched it toward their direction. Henry took note of her hands, thin, delicate, with long sharp nails extended from each finger and he wondered how he hadn''t seen she was female earlier. He concluded he must have just been too focused on the task ahead to pay attention just as a blue magic circle appeared in front of the nail-tipped fingers and out of it unleashed a powerful stream of water. The water-st was so wide that it blocked the Mage from view and even before it even struck, it packed a forceful wind that blew Henry''s hair back. Had his Hat not been so magically attached to his head, it would have gotten blown off. "Take cover!" Henry had yelled from the moment the spell circle appeared. Andor already had his shield out of his storage bracelet and held it in front of him at the same time that Louis managed to conjure a shield of lightning that crackled to meet theing danger. [Activating ] As he selected the option the System had presented him to activate his Hat''s effect, an oval shield appeared around Henry''s body in a blue haze. All this was done a split second before the water st struck. In the direction it came from, the attack shot upward and ended up mostly hitting nothing in the sky above. However, it did strike against the formation of rocks the Gang was hiding behind so, besides the fact that it packed enough force to m them all away, it also unearthed chunks of rocks that put their varying shields to the test. Chapter 196: The Slave Caravan (2) *BANG!!!* All sounds that the gang of three yelled out as the st sent them flying with their shields barely capable of staving off the impact of the attack, were drowned out by the sound of rushing water that was followed by louder sounds of rocks shattering and mming all over. Henry''s shield held against therge rocks that smashed against it but it didn''t root him to the ground so he was forced back many feet away still encased in the blue oval. The horses reared on their hind legs and let out sounds of distress. They looked quite ready to bolt with all the debris flying at them as well as the powerful sound of water-st impact. "Stay!" Henry ordered them before they could get away. They let out a few snorts and scratched at the ground uneasily but they remained in ce. "Ugh," Andor groaned. His shield had held but its protection had not been wide enough to stop him from getting struck by rocks. Louis stirred on the ground as well. His lightning shield had worked quite well. It shattered any piece of rock before they could make contact with his body. Of course, this only applied to the ones that came at him directly but it was good protection nheless. "Are you alright?" Henry asked them as he stood to his feet. With their cover blown, there was no need to be lying down on the ground. "I''ll live," Louis answered. "I''m fine," Andor grunted as the two stood by Henry''s side and looked down into the ridge with him. The Mage had her eyes narrowed at them and she hadn''t dropped her hand. Mana exuded from her fingers in blue streaks and congealed into a spell circle. "There''s more," Henry said with his grip tightening around ''Cudgel'' which he hadn''t let go of throughout the violet discement by the water st, "Get on your horses!" Both Louis and Andor immediately obeyed and had just gotten their horses to ride away when jets of water arrived. Firing st after st that shattered more rock formations and sent rocks flying about. "-Nyx!-" Henry called in his head. "-I''m here-" Nyx answered and with a powerful *Neigh!*, she leaped out of Henry''s shadow where she had hidden to remain out of sight and close enough to act for moments such as this. Henry grabbed her reins and pulled himself into her saddle barely a second after she was on the surface and then the ground began to shake. *Rumble!* Henry''s eyes widened as he realized the Mage''s n had gone beyond just unleashing rocky debris on them; The jets of water had continued the damage that had started with the water-st attack and the entire top part of the rocky formations the group had made their hiding spot was starting to crumble. It caused andslide that made the ground too shaky for travel. Louis and Andor had already been carried rtively to safety by their horses so Nyx and Henry were the only ones really in danger. With confident huffs, Nyx''s body became shrouded in the shadowy mist of and her movements seemed to get lighter. She practically floated across the cracking ground as she carried Henry past the damaged area and began to climb down into the Ridge to meet the cause of their troubles. She caught up with Louis and Andor''s horses and got past them easily even though she had now deactivated . "I''ll take the lead," Henry said with his eyes narrowed within the eyeholes of his Mask, even though his leadership was never really in question. Experience tales at m v|l e''-NovelBin ??? ¡ªDown in the Ridge¡ª "Is that it, Ka?" Asked a Mercenary fighter who had a hand tight around the reins of his horse with his eyes on thendslide of rocks and sand that had fallen into the ridge and caused an eruption of dust. "They''re not dead, Orson," the Mage called Ka, said, and she sounded exasperated like the answer to the question she was just asked should have been obvious. Orson snorted like he hadn''t quite liked her tone and his voice when he spoke next sounded closer to a grumble. "So what now?" He asked as he looked back at the grounded carriages whose horses had skittered away already. "We wait," Ka said and her eyes dropped to re through the thick cloud of dust a few feet away from them, "We wait and we get ready. They''reing." A few secondster, the sounds of horse hooves could be heard. Ka''s eyes twitched as she stretched out a hand and conjured a shield just in time to intercept a few fired shots. "I was ready to avoid that," Orson said with that grumble still in his tone. This was the second time Ka had protected him from bullets and while thest one would have surely hit some part of his body because he had foolishly let down his guard, he was far more confident about avoiding the ones she just blocked. He believed he was more alert now. And then he saw the horse. Despite the cloud of dust, the ckness of its coat shone through but the most attention was directed to the rider. A Hat-wearing masked man who had a Repeater pointed and promptly fired a few more shots. All of which were blocked by Ka''s shield which stretched wider to cover more ground. Henry wasn''t disappointed. He didn''t have time for that. A magic circle had appeared in front of Ka and she was firing jets of water at him at such high speeds, it was like being barraged by a Gatling gun. Nyx activated and leaped to the side. The jets were mostly fired in a singr direction so avoiding them was rtively easy and by the time Ka was attempting to better her aim at them, Nyx came at the three independent Riders from the side. She put Henry well behind Ka''s shield and he wasted no time raising ''Cudgel'' and pulling its trigger. The shot caught the Fighter unawares and by the time his eyes opened wide in horror, the Mana-infused bullet from the Repeater had torn a hole through his chest and flew out the other end. The Fighter slumped onto the back of his horse just as it took off from the sound of a gunshot so close. The galloping knocked the Fighter out of the Horse''s saddle but by the time he hit the ground, his heart was already no longer beating. [Kill-Reward: 300 Exp] As the familiar alert sounded in his head, Henry was already pointing his gun at the second man in the trio of individual riders of the ve Caravan. Orson was prepared. The sequence of his colleague''s death hadsted a few seconds at most but even without that time to get ready, he was already alert. He had his sword drawn and made a wide arch with it to unleash his Mana surge in a wave that struck toward Henry. Nyx leaped out of the way but Orson had already directed his horse to ride closer. The movement was so fast and smooth that it caught Henry slightly by surprise. His eyes widened when the enemy''s sword de came at his chest in a deadly stab. He leaned to the side to avoid it. He seeded but a fist came at him next. His gun moved faster though and he had it pointed at the Fighter''s face and pulled the trigger before the fist could even get close enough to make contact. *Bang!* The sound of the shot was loud but it had missed. Orson possessed such impressive control of his body that he pulled back from his attempted punch and used his arm to parry the gun aside so the shot went awry. Orson went a step further by expertly twisting his arm around the Repeater until he had a hold on it and was either forcing it out of Henry''s hold or trying to turn the muzzle at him. The Fighter''s intention was not entirely clear but Henry wanted none of it. In an instant, he had ''Violent Retort'' in his other hand, and with a quick cock of its hammers, he pointed and fired the two mana-infused slugs in its barrels. But just as the bright shes appeared on both muzzles, the Fighter was gone. Orson urged his horse to move away at the same he let go of ''Cudgel'' and got out of the range of the enemy''s second weapon fire. "Well done, thief," he said and he did sound impressed, "Crude weaponry but sound techniques hinged heavily on concealed carry. Impressive." It would never not sound wrong to Henry to hear guns get called ''crude'' by people holding swords. It seemed silly but he moved past it as that was hardly a pressing concern. "I''m Orson, by the way," the Fighter said. "I don''t care," Henry answered, already raising both ''Cudgel'' and ''Violent Retort''. The blue glow of hazed over the barrels of the two weapons right before he cocked them both and pulled their triggers. Chapter 197: The Slave Caravan (3) ¡­ Andor and Louis rode in behind Henry. Andor tried to get behind the water shield as Henry had managed to do but his horse was far too slow topletely bypass Ka''s senses so the shield stretched to cover even more ground. Of course, the Mage didn''t just y defense. Andor kept riding around looking for an opening and because he was very likely to find one if he was allowed to continue searching, Ka began to fire jets of water at him. He dodged a bunch but again, the speed of his horse was his downfall. Literally. *Bang!* It took only one jet of water striking against the horse''s front hooves for it to fall to the ground so hard that it was sure to have sprained a good deal of its bones. Andor jumped off the horse just in time to avoid getting crushed underneath its weight. "Ngh!" Grunting as his body hit the ground, Andor realized quickly that he was behind the water shield. He had seeded at his goal. s, eleven fighters awaited. They were the Mercenaries who had been manning the carriages and they had gotten down now. Armed with their weapons, they red at the lone enemy they had to deal with. Andor pressed his lips tightly together behind his mask but hefted his Spear and took on an attacking stance. His stance might as well have been a challenge because the Fighters yelled out battle cries and charged. Somehow, Andor managed a sigh of relief; All the Fighters charged and none stayed behind to notch arrows and attack from range. To a former diator who was quite happy to slum it out and tough things out in a bloody battle, Andor saw this as a good thing. Of course, the daunting numbers and unfavorable odds swept that relief away in a second. He let his Mana surge and channeled it into his Spear to be suffered by the first enemy to get close. And then he heard a familiar sounding from within a familiar distance. He had heard it enough times in simr situations within the Dungeon for it to fill him with a sense of relief and confidence. *KRAKA- BANG!* The lightning streaks fired in a forward trajectory from about two feet to Andor''s side. The streaks struck into Mana surges unleashed for defense, breaking through to either send the victim flying or leave them shuddering due to electrocution but otherwise still on their feet. "Took you long enough," Andor said. "You''re lucky," Louis answered, "I almost didn''t make it." You see, Andor had somewhat distracted the Mage and yet, when Louis got close, a formation extended from her water shield to m into his horse and keep him away. The horse let out a whinny of distress but it avoided the formation or so Louis thought. It wasn''t until he saw that a tendril formed out of water was wrapped around his horse''s front limbs did he realize they had been herded and now were trapped. With a hard yank, the Mage pulled the horse off its hooves and when it hit the ground violently, Louis only managed to roll to safety. At this point, Andor was already behind the Mage''s shield and since she no longer paid him any mind since he was now facing the mob of mercenaries, she was able to direct the whole of her attention on Louis. "¡­Arekyon!" Louis yelled toplete a spell cast. A spell circle appeared in front of his outstretched hand and with the crackle of lightning, a wide circr shield appeared. The jets of water the Mage fired at Louis struck his shield with such force that he was getting moved. His attempts to remain rooted to the spot were causing him to create marks against the ground. ''She''s not going to let up,'' Louis realized. He could that the Mage''s intelligence surpassed his. She didn''t even look as though she was stressing herself to keep him in check. She was certainly still capable of the forceful water st from earlier as well. It was clear that Ka was aware of her superior intelligence as well. Or at the very least, she was interested in coaxing Louis to let it all out. Just to see what he was truly capable of. It was reckless but overconfident people are seldom cautious. ''It''s all about timing,'' Louis thought as he gritted his teeth while resisting the relentless forceful barrages that tried to send him away. His shield was reaching its limit when hepleted his spell cast and shot it in a violent burst towards the very spot on the Water shoot from which Ka was firing her jets of water. *Crackle!* The reason Louis took his time with the cast went beyond timing. The streaks of the lightning created by this spell always went haphazardly in every direction. Separating them was easier than converging them and Louis needed it all to strike on a single spot just to ensure sess. The converged streaks struck the Water shield their converged and slightlypressed energies turned violent and exploded in a burst that caused that part of the Water shield to shatter. With the shield destroyed and the only barrier keeping him from moving forward, gone, Louis ran. As he ran, he recast his Lightning shield so it was at its peak durability in preparation to defend against more water jets. But they didn''te because Ka''s attention had been grabbed by the battle between Henry and the Fighter named Orson. Her intervention was needed. But more on thatter. "Cover me!" Andor said as he and Louis now stood opposite the mob of Mercenary Fighters who were already recovering from the Lightning assault they just suffered from Louis. Andor charged and stabbed his spear at a Fighter at the forefront of the charging mob. The fighter had suffered directly from Louis'' lightning but, having managed to stand his ground, he gritted his teeth against the electrocution and managed to keep his hands from shaking as he raised his sword and swung. Andor parried the strike with his shield and stabbed his spear through the Fighter''s midsection before he discharged the Mana surge he had primed the weapon with. *Bang!* The resulting st created a hole in the Fighter''s midsection and sttered Andor with the entrails. Before the body could flop to the ground, another Fighter had leaped close in a violent attack that was interrupted by a lightning streak. *Crackle¡ª Bang!* Continue your adventure with m|v-l''e -NovelBin The Fighter had his Mana surging and it created a protective field that staved off the worst of the st but even then, he was still sent flying. Andor let the body of his victim hit the ground and just as he pulled his Spear back, he was already swinging to intercept the saber of an enemy''s attack but said enemy proved far more battlepetent as he twisted around, and swung a second saber at Andor''s neck. Andor leaped back to avoid the attack but he had barely gotten settled that the saber des were back and cutting at him. *ng* *ng* Swinging his Spear''s shaft, Andor managed to parry the weapons only for his eyes to widen when a de cut through his side and drew blood despite him sessfully knocking the des aside. "Ahh!" Andor yelled out and he could have sworn his enemy had grown a third arm that was armed with a third weapon but that wasn''t the case. It was still two sabers and he had managed to parry them both. s, the enemy was so fast and so skillful that he was able to re-attack before Andor''s brain could truly take note and attempt to follow the movements. With the shes of steel, the sabers were back again and Andor had to raise his shield. *ng!* "Ah!" At the same time, the sound of the magical steels of saber and shield connecting rang out, Andor yelled out in pain as the second weapon stabbed through his thigh; A part of his body his shield was unable to block from enemy attack. Slightly hobbled by the pain that he was trying to numb with Mana cirction, Andor retreated many steps. The Fighter followed and Andor made a wide swing with his Spear. He missed. The enemy was so agile that his dodge blurred him from Andor''s sight. Andor let his Mana surge. The fighter let his Mana surge as well so whatever protection that would have provided was rendered void due to the Fighter''s surge being the better one by sheer Mana capacity. But Andor hadn''t surged his Mana for defense. The Fighter did not notice Andor''s Spearhead light up in reaction to the Mana surge it was siphoning from its wielder. As usual, the Fighter stabbed with both its sabers. Andor was only going to be able to parry one and the other was sure to be a deadly stab. Fortunately, Andor only needed one parry. *ng!* *BANG!* The discharge from Andor''s Spearhead was so violent and unexpected that it wrenched a saber from the Fighter''s grip and eliminated his bnce. As the Fighter iled and tried to put down his raised leg to regain some stability, Andor stepped closer and stabbed his spear through his jaw and didn''t stop thrusting until he had stabbed through the enemy''s brain. The Fighter''s second saber hit the ground soon after as his lifeless hand could not keep a hold of it. Chapter 198: Petty Nyx ¡­ After her water shield was shattered by the lightning spell, Ka''s attention was pulled to the fight between Henry and Orson. The two were still on horseback locked in abat of sword against guns. Henry''s advantage came from being at a distance because, in closebat, Orson''s superior martial prowess proved a vital difference-maker that made victory difficult. Every shot Henry had fired when they were close together had gotten deflected or dodged while he was consistently on the receiving end of Mana-surge-imbued attacks. While they fought, Orson''s movements made it difficult for him to keep his wrists hidden and that was when Henry saw it; The Command Cuff used to keep the Captured ves bound and docile. Had he not already made Orson a prime target, he certainly did now. They had only been at it for a minute or two but, of course, Henry turned to the most recent addition to his list of attacks and one that did not require aiming beyond selecting a target. [Activating ¡­] The ribcage that hugged the sides of Henry''s vest glowed a green hue and, in a second, Orson''s eyes glowed a dimmer green and he froze in ce as his face became twisted in reaction to the horror he was experiencing within the Abominable Curse. With a smile ying at his lips behind his Mask, Henry pointed ''Violent Retort'' to fire a shot his opponent could not possibly deflect or dodge, but it was at this moment that Ka''s attention had been attracted, and of course, she interfered; Before Henry could pull the trigger, a tendril of water wrapped around him and yanked him out of Nyx''s saddle. "Ngh!" He let out as he hit the ground about a foot from Ka who raised a hand and cast a spell circle that unleashed a powerful stream of water that descended with enough force to shatter Henry''s bones. With his eyes wide at the spell circle, Henry managed to direct ''Cudgel'' toward the tendril still keeping him tethered to the mage. He infused the weapon with his Mana and its weight increased so that it dropped hard and broke the tendril, freeing him to roll away right before the streamnded with a *Bang!* Back on his feet, Henry tried to turn his sights toward Orson but he was unable to because Ka started tossing out attacks that forced him to dodge and left no room for him to attend to the Fighter. The Virtutis in his Hat was still recovering so Henry could not yet activate the shield again so running was his best bet. Fortunately, he had his Perception to rely on and had considerable agility to aid his dodges. He rolled away once to avoid a water st that struck the ground hard enough to crack it and turned his guns at the Mage to fire multiple shots. He aimed for a singr spot. The two mana-infused slugs from ''Violent Retort'' hit first and hit with such bangs that they created a ssh that resulted in less thickness on that part of the water shield. This was followed by multiple shots from ''Cudgel''. It took two Mana-infused bullets from the magical Repeater, toplete what the Mana-infused slugs had started. The third shot from ''Cudgel'' went right through the hole that had been created in the shield and pierced the Mage''s Shoulder. "Ah!" Ka yelled out with a hand flying to the wound and her eyes widening as though stunned that she had gotten injured. Her stunned expression became one of anger almost immediately after. The next shots Henry fired from ''Cudgel'' went through the created Hole but missed as Ka had quickly urged her horse to trot away. She urged the horse to charge at Henry next and he sidestepped and only barely managed to dodge it by an inch. While he was in motion, and not at all settled, Ka sought to take advantage. She went for a killing strike that Henry had no chance of avoiding. Even if he called Nyx, she would not get here fast enough to save him. If anything, she''d just get caught up in it. [The Virtutis has reset¡­] ''Activate !'' Henry yelled in his head immediately after and was flooded with a feeling of relief when the shield appeared in a blue haze around him to intercept the attack that still sent him sliding many feet away. Ka''s eyes were wide. She had seen him get struck for sure and yet, there he stood perfectly fine. With that strange blue shield around his body. "Alright then," she said, "Let''s see how long it holds!" [0:58] [0:57] [0:56] Watching as the Mage prepared another spell, Henry was not all that worried. He knew it would be useless against the shield but he was also very aware that he only had this protection for less than a minute. The timer ticking down on a miniature screen in front of him made this fact difficult to ignore. And then came the water jets and Henry still dodged. Getting mmed would not kill or injure him at the moment but it would still push him away from her and distance or disorientation would do him no good. Henry only dodged the first round of water jets and he already had both his guns pointed and fired. He had done enough tests with the in the past few days to know it wouldn''t stop him from firing projectiles from behind it. It only stopped outside projectiles from hitting him. Ka saw the raised guns and erected her shield again. But Henry didn''t aim for the shield. He turned the muzzles of ''Violent Retort'' downward and aimed for the knees of Ka''s horse which were still very visible and hardly protected. Having her on horseback while he was on foot seemed too much of a disadvantage for Henry to let remain and with two shots from ''Violent Retort'', he destroyed the horse''s knees so that, with a pained cry, it hit the ground, disrupting Ka''s spell cast. With her water shield dispersing into blue Mana mist that melted into the air and the near-relentless stream of water jet attacks getting shut off, Ka rolled for a few feet. She had no idea in which direction she was moving so her eyes got especially wide when she found herself lying beside a leather boot. Cylindrical shadows were cast over her face next and she looked up to see the magical-metal muzzles of two guns pointed at her as Henry''s fingers stroked their triggers. Sure to pull them the very next second. ¡­ Meanwhile, barely two seconds after Henry was pulled off Nyx''s saddle, Orson finally shook off the effects of and cast angry eyes at Henry who no longer had a horse to keep him constantly out of reach. Orson unleashed his Mana surge and prepared to swing his sword in an attack at Henry when he heard an angry whinny. Nyx charged over at Orson from the side with her body covered in the shadowy mist of that tremendously boosted her velocity. *BAM!* Nyx struck her head against the side of Orson''s horse in a collision that caught the creature by surprise and sent it clear off its hooves tond hard on the ground. Orson managed to get away and, gritting his teeth at the pain of his fall, he was quickly on his feet only for arge shadow blocked to descend upon him as Nyx rose on her hind legs and struck her hooves at him. Orson leaped away and avoided the clobbering by inches. He retaliated with a violent Mana surge strike that charged toward Nyx in an arch. She dodged it and galloped at Orson to strike him with her head. *Bam!* "Oomph!" Orson let out as he hit the ground and rolled for a while but the moment he was stationary, and before he could nurse the pain in his chest, Nyx was back, rearing on her hind legs to stomp on him with her front hooves. Lying on the ground, Orson realized he had no chance of getting away from the hooves by moving backward. So instead, he skidded forward and once he was lying underneath Nyx, he stabbed his sword into her abdomen and twisted. Nyx let out a pained cry and dropped her front hooves to the ground before falling to her knees. Orson rolled out from under her then with a wide grin, "How about that?" He asked with a bit of a yell, "You like that you dumb beast?!" With a grin, Orson swung his sword at Nyx''s neck. His weapon was coated with the aura of his Mana surge and being so close, with no activity from the downed creature, he was sure of making contact. "Huh?" He let out a sound of surprise and his eyes bugged. The horse was no longer there. In her ce was arge dark shadowy circle. "Where''d you¡ª" Orson started to ask but was interrupted when Nyx charged out headfirst and mmed into him so hard, that he was sent at least four feet into the sky. "Ahhhh¡ª" *BAM!* *CRACK!* When Orson hit the ground with multiple broken bones, Nyx was waiting. She rose on her hind legs and brought down her front hooves toplete the stomp the Fighter had avoided twice already. She stomped four times; The first stomp shattered Orson''s sternum. The second caused a piece of the bone from the shattered structure to pierce his lungs and fill his insides with blood. The third stomp was the one that actually killed him. The Fourth was just Nyx being petty. Chapter 199: Extra Arms ¡­ Henry''s fingers pulled at the triggers of his guns but then a tentacle made of water thrust out from behind Ka as her body lifted about half a foot off the ground to amodate the width of the tentacle. It pped Henry''s wrists and while the physical pain was nulled by the shield still around his body, the tentacle still possessed enough force to m Henry''s guns aside so the bullets and slugs he fired struck the ground instead of Ka''s pretty face. The tentacle struck Henry''s chest next and forced him to slide back a few steps but he kept his eyes on Ka who was now rising off the ground. There was arge blue spell circle behind her back and out of it thrust four more tentacles to join the one that had already appeared. All five struck forward and wrapped around Henry before he had the chance to even get away and while they were unable to get past the shield still around his body, they constricted and slicked around his body in clear search for an opening. "That shield can''t possibly be active for much longer," Ka said, "Do you know how it feels to have your orifices filled with water that has taken form? I''ve never had it done to me but I assume it''s extremely suffocating and leads to an excruciating death. It will be such a delight to watch." Henry groaned with his arms pinned. How had he even let this happen? Had he really wasted enough time to let her retake advantage? Henry was very aware that she outssed him. It was so clear and he didn''t need the analysis of to know it, so ending her when he had the chance was the only shot he had had and he failed. With his arms pinned, he couldn''t even use the weight increase of ''Cudgel'' to break the tentacles apart, and the only reason she hadn''t suffocated him to death as she so proudly imed she would was because his shield outssed her Magical attack prowess. And then, as Henry wracked his brain for a way out, and as the seconds ticked down for the shield to inevitably get deactivated, he saw the spell circle behind Ka. It still glowed a dull blue as it facilitated the tentacles'' existence. ''Huh, that could work.'' He thought to himself. Throughout his encounter with Ka, Henry hadn''t analyzed any of her spells because they were always flying at him way too fast fit him to take notice of the spell circle or seal creation motions that had been used to cast them. The only spell that had remained stable enough to be analyzed was her water shield and its spell circle/cast process was also always either too fast or hidden. But these tentacles were different. Their spell circle remained so clearly behind Ka and while the view was partial, Henry wondered if could still work. [Activating ¡­] [Analyzing Spell¡­] [0:08] [0:07] [0:06] "Come on," Henry groaned to the analysis that was still taking ce on the screen in front of him, and with five seconds left on the shield, he considered reaching out to Nyx who he hoped was alright as he had ignored a notification of her losing some Hit Points earlier. [Spell Analysis Complete!] "Yes!" Henry yelled out knowing the system only ever said that when a replication was possible. [Spell: Extra Arms] [Would you like to Imprint ''Extra Arms'' onto your ~Arcane Tapestry~?] ''Yes!'' [Choose a spot¡­] A description of the spell appeared and while Henry was too distressed to pay attention to its details, he saw that its representation on the representative body presented on a screen by the system was sorge that there were only certain parts of his body he could imprint it. Plus, something about the design made him far more interested in keeping it somewhere he wouldn''t have to see it often until the ''Shocking Grip'' spell he had on the back of his hand. He chose his back. "Ack!" He let out in pain. He had expected pain as that had been the case with ''Shocking Grip'' but this was at least four times worse than back then. The shield deactivated then and the water tentacles wrapped around Henry to create some kind of cocoon as every opening on his face became flooded with water. His mask didn''t keep the water away. If anything, the mask trapped whatever water that got it. It was like being waterboarded and Henry knew this because he had been tortured with such a technique in his past life. His knees wobbled and his grip on his guns cked. ''Hurry the fuck up!'' He yelled at the ongoing imprint but it just continued at the same pace while delivering its stinging pain still. Henry remembered ''Shocking Grip'' had taken fifteen seconds toplete and he did not think he''dst that long. Ka watched with a sadistic grin on her face. She had a hand over her shoulder wound. Whether or not she could heal it, she didn''t try. It didn''t trouble her wound to control her tentacles and to watch her victim''s life get squeezed out of him was so satisfying that the pain was nothing. Through the water around his face, Henry could see her face. Discover stories with m,v l''e-NovelBin ''What a sicko!'' And then the pain on his back ended. Underneath Henry''s vest and on his fairly muscled back was a depiction of a Spell circle but recing the Arcane symbols were the words ''Extra Arms'' which were written in a script that might as well be as ancient as Arcane Symbols. From the center of the spell circle thrust out five tentacles that started out by joined tight together before spreading out and then extending an inch each from the outer border of the spell circle. It almost looked horrid. Like the rise of a sea creature from the ocean''s deep depths. But the imprint wasplete. And before he passed out, Henry reached out to it to cast it the same way he had cast ''Shocking Grip'' multiple times. Extra Arms! Henry felt it as more than half of his Mana points were instantly consumed to conjure the tentacles whose description, while almost macabre, looked cool in reality. It was a shimmering water-blue color. The exact same as Ka''s which meant Henry would likely have appreciated their beauty had they not been squeezing the life out of him. Speaking of which; Ka paused her sadistically delighted expression to widen her eyes at what was happening. Her enemy had finally sumbed and was on his knees but now on his back, was a massive spell circle to match hers and out of it was extending tentacles to match hers. Henry could feel each of his ''Extra arms''. They felt so much like an extension of himself that extending them to do his bidding was quite easy. And what he decided to do was pretty obvious; He thrust all five arms away from himself to m into Ka''s chest. *BAM!* The impact was powerful and Ka''s eyes only widened further as she was struck and sent flying at least six feet away from where she had been. She got too far and her tentacles detached so the part that was around Henry turned into ordinary water that sshed down onto the ground where they melted quickly into harmless mana wisps. *GASP!* Henry took a deep breath first and, as though he''d only now realized there was a lot of water inside him, he stopped short and began to cough. Spewing a lot of it out. He resisted whatever difort came next and turned his sights toward Ka who was already back on her feet. Her broken tentacles had recovered and she watched Henry with incredulous eyes. "How¡ª?" She asked in a voice that sounded stunned at the same time so shrill that it hit Henry''s ears. He smiled in response to taunt her and remembered he was wearing a mask so she wouldn''t see it. "You''re a Mage?" Ka asked and then shook her head. The masked Gunman simply being a Mage would made more sense than this. Magic has rules. A Spell requires words or gestures to be cast but Ka had mastered her known spells so well that the ones that require spell words, she could cast with whispers and sometimes nonverbally. I.e. reciting the spell in her head. The ones that require forming seals, she had mastered incorporating the seals into everyday actions and gestures with her fingers so they''d go unnoticed by even the most trained eye. It was how she could dish out spells so fast. Even the ones that required long chants or long casting time like the water-st she had first used to attack these bastards, she had done by keeping most of the spell recited in her head to bepleted the moment she needed the spell cast. It had taken years of deliberate practice to be that capable. She had chosenplicated spells to especially keep what she knew from being snatched by enemies she would face. And yet¡­ A masked man armed with guns replicated one of her mostplicated spells and appeared already so capable of casting it while she was squeezing the life out of him and suffocating him with water. What sort of talent¡ª? No, not talent¡­ It had to be a trick! So¡­ What sort of trickery is this?! Chapter 200: And For What? [Extra Arms: Conjure a maximum of five ''Extra arms'' to be wielded as genuine extensions of your body. - The Arms cannot be extended more than 10 meters from your body. - They will only remain cast for ten minutes and will have to be recast after. - If any of the arms is destroyed, it will be recovered at the cost of 40 Mana points. Cost to create all five Arms at once: 200 Mana Points.] Henry kept most of his attention on Ka but had an eye on the description skill of his newly acquired spell and at the sight of the cost, he understood why he had felt like he lost more than half of his Mana points to cast it seeing as his Mana Point Maximum at the moment was at 370. "How are you doing that?" Ka asked with her mouth contorted into a hard frown. "How am I doing what?" Henry asked mockingly and bent low to grab his guns where theyy on the ground after they dropped when he couldn''t maintain a grip on them. "This?" He asked and thrust all five of the tentacles at her to m her away as he had done once before. "Idiot!" Ka yelled, "Like that''ll work on me a second time!" Along with her yell came thepletion of a spell circle that created a shield to deflect the impact of the tentacles while her tentacles struck out from behind her, to strike at Henry in a counterattack. "Tell me how!" Ka let out in a voice tinged heavily with anger and just a bit of curiosity. Somehow, Henry knew she wanted it to be the other way around. He rolled to the side and the tentacles struck the spot he had been just a second ago but Ka was relentless. Just as Henry was pulling out of the roll to return to his feet, she was already striking at him with water jets. He managed to avoid the first volley and before Ka could adjust her aim to attack him with the next barrage, Henry pointed ''Cudgel'' and fired eight shots at her shield. "Another idiotic attempt to prate my shield?" Ka asked and let out a cackle, "You fool!" Her shield began to rotate in an obvious attempt to knock off Henry''s aim. Reinforcing her shield would cost Ka Mana and would also take her attention from other spell-casting attempts she had ongoing but she already decided she did not have to. Not right this instant anyway. Thest time the bullets had made it through her shield, it had been due to relentless barrages on specific spots that wore them down and let the bullets in. This time was different because, with the shield constantly in motion, the enemy could not aim for the same spot. Or so Ka thought. You see, manual aiming had temporarily lost its appeal on Henry. Why bother to be deliberate about aiming when he had a skill that could help with that? The first shot fired out of ''Cudgel'' was imbued with the homing signal that led the next to where it should hit. The next bullet followed the homing signal while still imbued with another that ensured the next shot struck that very spot and on and on. It only took four of the shots to puncture a hole through the shield and that fourth shot managed to strike into Ka''s side marking her with the homing signal of . As she let out a surprised sound of pain and grabbed her side as it bled, Ka pulled her shield closer to her body and the closeness allowed it to intercept the next bullet that had followed the homing signal that had been ced on her. But that bullet also carried so the just concluded process began again and the next three bullets created another hole with this prating shot stabbing into her stomach instead where it undoubtedly punctured an organ. "Ack!" Ka let out and spat out blood. Almost like they were acting of their own ord, the tentacles behind her back struck at Henry but hemanded him to smack hers aside in defense. They didn''t get smacked far and, only when he felt something slippery and strong wrap around one of his legs, did Henry do a quick count and realize only four tentacles hade at him for a frontal attack. The fifth had attempted a sneaky move for the only part of his body that his tentacles were not actively protecting as much as the rest. "Fucking Hell!" Henry yelled and swung ''Cudgel'' downward to increase its weight right when it was about an inch away from the tentacle and he watched as it struck and broke through it. "Huh," Henry let out in surprise. He had expected a favorable oue but had not truly expected ''Cudgel'' to prove so sound as a blunt weapon. His ''Extra Arms'' were still in a tussle against the four remaining but besides smacking each other aside while the enemy tentacles tried to m him and send him flying, there was very little the opposing tentacles could do against each other. "Alright then," Henry said and he was already swinging ''Cudgel''. With his ''Extra Arms'' to keep the enemy tentacles busy, he could get in and destroy them with the weight increase of his Magical Repeater. It was over in seconds and Ka had used the time she had been bought to down some potions. Henry knew this because he saw her discard the empty bottles right when he looked at her. "You surprise me," Ka said, "I really want to kill you but I want to study you almost as much. Never considered myself a researcher but I find myself so curious now." "A speech before you unleash your greatest spell?" Henry asked with a smirk. "Maybe," Ka said, "And yet, I''m worried it still won''t be enough to kill you." "You never know," Henry said. His Hit Points had not really been ducked so far so he was quite healthy. What he had lost were Mana Points and those would he recovered with Mana potions. Besides, he could also do without Mana Points since he was armed with two magical guns that did not require Mana to be fired. He had prepared for this Quest by stocking up on bullets and he was ready to use them. He also now had an interesting and useful spell etched onto his back on his ~Arcane Tapestry~ so he felt quite calm. Ka could tell. Hence her confession of doubt. She nced around. She saw Orson''s body with its chest caved in. Henry followed her nce and saw the sight. He recognized that wound so he knew what had caused it but he couldn''t see Nyx anywhere close to the body. And then Ka''s shadow started gettingrger. Getting darker. The eventful evening had turned into Night now. The moon was starting to rise in the sky so darker shadowspared to the daytime were not at all strange. At least, it shouldn''t have been strange. This shadow''s thickness, however, was unnatural. Ever-sensitive to magical changes in the atmosphere, Ka''s eyes twitched and her eyes began to roll to notice the darkness surrounding her so Henry, knowing what wasing and being a firm believer in the element of surprise, fired shots from ''Violent Retort'' and ''Cudgel''. All of which were intercepted by a shield Ka managed to erect. "An obvious distraction," Ka said, "And for what? Another trick?" Her words were interrupted by an aggressive whinny that came from the darkness that had now surrounded her. Ka''s eyes widened at the ck horse that hadpletely ignored her defenses and now had its head mming at her. This was why Nyx had chosen as her mode of travel. Ka had proven capable enough to erect shields at thest moment and while she was confident her speed could outrun the time it would take for the shield to appear, why bother? Why bother when she could just get past it simply because no matter what projectiles Ka''s shield could defend against, her Shadow would always follow. *BAM!* *Crack!* With the sound of an undoubtedly broken sternum, Ka spouted liters of blood, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head following the impactful contact. Only the whites were visible and she lookedpletely out of it. But only for a second. While still in the air, shepleted a spell cast she had already begun in her head before this surprise attack. It was among many others she had prepared but was best for this task. A spell circle appeared. It was small and out of it came a small tendril to match, it wrapped around Nyx''s neck. Strong as she was, the horse was capable of resisting the choking that followed but that had never been the intention. Ka used the Tendril to make Nyx her anchor and stop herself from flying too far. "Ngh!" She groaned and gritted her teeth before unleashing a powerful force of Mana that could as well have been all she had left. It coalesced into a massive Mana circle and out of it charged a spell the mage had only cast once so far. A powerful water-st attack that had been strong enough to cause andslide. Find your next adventure on m_v l|e-NovelBin It struck Nyx point nk and sent the horse flying. Her whinny of distress was drowned out by the rushing water. "I won''t forget this¡­" Ka said in a croaking voice that she barely managed and only then did Henry notice the spell had also been a distraction. The force hadunched Ka at least three meters away and from there she unleashed another stream. Less powerful and less focused to send her onto one of the many mountain peaks that bordered the path and soon, she was out of sight. Chapter 201: Party Leader Using her water streams as propulsions, the Mage traveled faster than Henry''s legs could possibly catch up with, and at the moment, he also had to turn his eyes to Nyx who had been sent at least five meters away and might have gotten even farther had she not mmed against a mountainside. [Nyx has lost 120 Hit Points] [Nyx''s Hit Points: 20/200] "-I''m okay-" Nyx said with a groan as she managed to return to her hooves. The pain of the impact was already nullifying but Henry knew she did not feel as okay as she had imed. Not with her Hit Points so low. "-Rest!-" He ordered her. *Crackle!* Now that Henry''s attention was not grabbed by other enemies, his ears picked out sounds of happenings all around him. "Cut that shit out!" Yelled a Mercenary Fighter who had gotten struck by Louis'' Lightning but had survived through a mixture of Mana-surge Shielding and Louis'' lessening Mana Reserves that caused his spells to pack less of a punch than they originally would. With Andor getting embroiled in singrbat situations, Louis'' task was to attack from a distance and provide support, and he would have done that had the vast majority of the enemies not quickly marked him as their target. Trying to increase the distance had not done much good against enemies whose agility surpassed his by multiple digits and while Louis could not be urate about the difference, he could at least feel and sense that it was a lot. They closed in on him quickly and while he vowed to invest in some movement spells next time he went spell shopping, he had to deal with the enemies in melee distance. He had electrocuted a bunch and tossed out lightning streaks and while he had sessfully taken down three of the bunch, the others had taken advantage of those moments to consistently strike at him. Their weapons had cut him all over and his shield was far from the versatile sort so while it defended him from attacksing at him, it left his back open, and again, the enemies sought to take advantage. Which brings us to now. A Mercenary Fighter tried to stab Louis and since he had just cast a spell, he was forced to use his Staff as a melee weapon. He managed to knock the de aside but a fist to the facended and sent him flying. Another Mercenary awaited with a Spear poised for Louis to fall and Stab himself on. *m!* The sound of the shot sounded from far off. As far off as many other shots Louis and the Mercenaries had heard since they had been battling but had paid no attention to. Except this time, the result was a gaping hole through the back of the head of the Mercenary who had ced his Spear for Louis to fall on. The bullet tore violently out of his forehead but even before he fell, and his Spear with him, Louis was sure to still get skewered. But then, a tentacle wrapped around Louis''s body and pulled him a foot away from the Spear tip until he hit his ass on the ground, his ever-wide eyes surprised. He looked down at the blue watery tentacle that was now unwrapping from his body and turned to look at the one responsible for the save but Henry was already walking past him pointing ''Violent Retort'' at his next victim. He pulled the trigger and with a bang, the slugs struck and blew half of a Mercenary''s head off. [Kill-Reward: 250 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 250 Exp] By the time the second victim hit the ground, the remaining two were already alert. With Mana-Surges and their reflexes to guard them, they began to make exaggerated motions to throw off Henry''s aim. At the same time, they charged forward toward him. Their desire to escape death and take down the enemypletely blinded them from the tentacles behind him. Big mistake. Despite their exaggerated motions, once they were close enough, Henry only needed to make a sweeping motion with his fine ''Extra Arms'' to sweep them off their feet. The moment their backs hit the ground, he shot them. One died to ''Violent Retort'' and the other died to a shot from ''Cudgel''. [Kill-Reward: 250 Exp] [Kill-Reward: 250 Exp] Following unsessful attempts to kill Orson and the escape of the Water Mage, Henry was feeling a bit thrown at how easily he had made the kills. But of course, he understood why. These Fighters were not on Orson''s level. They weren''t even on the level of the one Individual Rider Henry had managed to kill. They were certainly not on the level of the Water Mage. "Thank you," Louis said but his voice sounded so awed and Henry knew why. Louis'' wide eyes were currently staring at his Tentacles and wondering how he had them. The Mage probably had a lot of questions and so far didn''t know how to ask them. "Andor," Henry said then with his eyes on the Fighter. Andor was fighting against two Fighters who had forced him to his knees but even as he gritted his teeth, he still managed to keep them away. Both Fighters were armed with swords so Andor certainly had the advantage in reach but with them so close and so more physically capable than he was, he struggled. Violently letting his Mana surge loose through his Spear also didn''t prove a great move in his arsenal when the enemies constantly seemed so keen that they deflected all attempts and smacked him with their Mana surges before attempting to make a kill. Louis tried to stand up. "Rest," Henry told him and was already pointing his guns to shoot. Louis was bleeding and looked sapped of Mana and Stamina so why ask him to move? It also didn''t seem necessary. All his fired shots missed. His attacks had been expected. He had been spotted taking down the others so when he fired, the Fighters were alert and studied the barrel of his guns enough to make snap decisions on where to dodge. Fortunately, the split second they had taken to make their decision and the full second they spent toplete the dodge was enough for Andor to make two moves in one. He mmed the end of his Spear into the stomach of one and stabbed the tip into the stomach of the other. The pain alerted the Fighter and he made a quick leap back to dislodge the weapon out of his stomach knowing the st that wasing. He didn''t get far enough away to get the tip out of his body when the Mana-Surge was let loose with a BANG! that ruptured that part of his stomach, as he was sent flying. He never stood up again. A shot to the head by Henry made sure of that. [Kill-Reward: 250 Exp] As for the second Fighter, just after Andor had struck him in the stomach with the end of the Spear, he made to retaliate only to be mmed by the full force of five Tentacles which sent him rolling at least five feet away. Andor, fresh off of his st against the stomach of the other Mercenary, followed. By the time the Fighter that had been struck by the Tentacles managed to regain his footing, a Spear was stabbing toward his neck. "Ack!" Was the only sound he was able to make. Andor went further by twisting his Spear and cutting through the neckpletely so that the only connection keeping it tethered to the body just left the head dangling as blood spurted from the wound until finally the body hit the ground and moved no more. "It''s over," Louis said with a relieved sigh. Henry paused. [Quest Completed!] "Yes, it is," he agreed now that he had received confirmation. There would be no more danger now. [You have received 5000 Exp] *[Nyx has received 2500 Exp] [Level Up!] [You are now Level 27] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 270] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 380] [You have received 6 Stat Points to Allocate] [Nyx has Leveled Up!] [Nyx is now Level 13] [Nyx''s Hit Point Maximum increased to 215] [Nyx''s Mana is now 225] [Strength: 90 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 95] [Speed: 170 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 180] [Stamina: 85 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 90] [Youpleted this Quest as a Party Leader. As such, your Party members will also enjoy status improvements.] With a raised brow at a development he had not expected, Henry looked at both Louis and Andor and activated to inspect their Status screens. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Louis] [Race: Human] [ss: Mage] [Health: 190 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 200] [Mana: 260 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 280] [Strength: 14] [Agility: 19] [Stamina: 30 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 32] [Intelligence: 96 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 100] *[Remarks: A young Mage who makes up for what hecks in Magical Training with a lot of enthusiasm and Talent. Has only discovered one Elemental Aptitude (Lightning). Has impressive potential but Kible should you want to.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Andor] [Race: Human] [ss: Fighter] [Health: 250 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 270] [Mana: 190 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 200] [Strength: 80] [Agility: 34] [Stamina: 36 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 42] *[Remarks: A Fighter who makes up for his limited Martial training with enthusiasm and Impressive strength. Has Impressive Potential but is kible should you want to.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 202: Omen "We killed them all," Louis let out with a long sigh just as Henry was observing the differences in the status screens of the two ''Party Members''. The Mage sounded a bit proud. "Not all of them," Henry said as the spell circle behind his back vanished and the tentacles along with it. Ten minutes were up. It seemed to havested longer than that to Henry but he wasn''t going toin seeing how useful the spell had been. "The Water Mage got away," Henry said while Louis watched him with wide eyes still deep in awe at his ability to cast a water spell. "As long as she''s noting back, I think we''ll be fine," Louis said. "I suppose," Henry answered but he didn''t sound convinced. They had worn masks just in case of this very situation that an enemy lived to tell the tale but Henry found himself wondering how helpful a mask was when he was the only person using a Guns in Alvareen City. With what the Mage had witnessed and lived to report, it wouldn''t be all that long before he attracted unnecessary attention. ''That mightplicate the Quest,'' he thought and managed a chuckle in spite of himself, ''Well, I suppose we''ll see." Henry looked at his and Nyx''s Stat screens next; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 27 (341/8000 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Death''s Bane, Vyker-Killer, Infernal Partner, Dungeon Raider ] [Hit Points: 270/270] [Mana Points: 30/380] [Strength: 31] [Agility: 76] [Stamina: 35] [Perception: 43] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 5 } {Taming Lv. 2 } {Insight Lv.3} {Raider''s Intent} [~Arcane Tapestry~: Read exclusive chapters at mvl Imprinted Spells: -Shocking Grip-. -Extra Arms-.] [You have 6 Unallocated Stat Points] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Nyx] [Creature: Shadow Mare] [Breed: Veren Night-Mare] [Level 12 (1640/5000 Exp)]* [Hit Points: 20/215] [Mana: 225] [Strength: 95] [Speed: 180] [Stamina: 90] [Skills: {Shadow Dash Lv.2} {}]* ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Nyx trotted over and Henry reached out instinctively to pat her neck before taking out a Healing Potion which he handed out. The horse grabbed it between her teeth and tossed her head back to down the contents of the potion bottle in a second. [Nyx has recovered 200 Hit Points] [Nyx''e Hit Points: 215/215] "Well done," he told her and gestured at Orson''s corpse, "You took care of him nicely." Nyx let out a hmph and shook her mane with pride, "-Of course I did,-" She said, "-Fool expected me to bleed out. His mistake.-" Smiling at that, Henry walked over to Orson''s body and ripped the Command cuff off his wrist before walking toward the cages. Andor stood up and followed him while drinking a Healing Potion to mend his injuries. Louis did the same and walked over too. The upants of the two cages that had spaced between their bars were watching him with wide eyes. There was still fight in those eyes. Mostly rejuvenated by the massacre they had observed to have happened to their previous captors. "Who are you?" One of them asked with his eyes on themand cuff Henry was holding. "We''re not here to hurt you," Henry said and he looked down at the cuff and said, "Release." The cuffs of everyone inside the cages snapped loose and hit the ground of the cages with them all still starting wide-eyed and uMaude if they could trust this bunch. Andor walked to thetch on one of the cages and pulled it free so its doors swung open for them all to spill out and he stepped away to do the same to the second cage. The ves stepped out. "Why¡ª why''d you help us?" The most outspoken of the bunch asked. Henry opened his mouth and wasn''t exactly sure how to answer that but Andor stepped in and said in a deep somber voice, "Because it wasthe right thing to do." "But you have your face hidden," said the outspoken man. "Seems like an odd detail to worry about when you''ve just been freed," Henry said. The man looked abashed but Andor raised his hand and pulled his Mask off. "We have nothing to hide from you," he said earnestly, "Go in peace." The man nodded to Andor and then nced at Henry as though waiting for him to follow suit. With a sigh, Henry raised a hand and pulled his mask off. "There you go," he said with his Hat casting a shadow over his face. The man nodded and looked at Louis who pulled his mask off as well. "You''ve done us a great service," the man said in a grave voice, "But the enemy will return. They''ll try again." "Do you want us to shelter you?" Andor asked. Henry had no idea how they had the means for him to even make such a suggestion but he said nothing. The man shook his head. "I was not seeking more help. I was merely making a statement I know to be true. We will try better to keep safe. The next time they try to cart us away like animals, they won''t have an easy time. Thank you." The man bowed low and so did all the captured people with him. Andor bowed too and Henry and Louis followed suit. "Before we go," the man said and straightened up, "I must offer one advice. Beware of that cage." The man pointed at the one cage they had not opened yet; The one without any openings and looked like it was made of thicker metal than the other two. Its locks lookedplicated and that might have been why Andor had left it locked for now. "Why?" Henry asked. The man''s eyes got dark and he cast a subtle nce up at the sky and shuddered, "The one in there is not one of us. I think you''d be much better off to just leave it as it is." "And let the one inside starve to death?!" Andor asked with his eyes wide and his tone showing how much he thought that was preposterous. "Not everyone¡ª Not everything should be allowed to live," the old man insisted with a hard voice. Andor looked so disappointed. It was clear that, although he''d only known the man for a few minutes, he had begun to respect him. To hear him so callously dismiss the life of another just after he was set free changed Andor''s perception of him. Henry saw his hands ball up into fists and stepped forward to take charge, "I''m afraid we can''t just leave¡ª whoever it is in there. We freed you. We''ll free them too." Louis said nothing. His eyes were on the thick cage now and after staring at it for a full minute, he shuddered. The man shrugged, "It''s your neck," he said in a somber voice. He sounded like he pitied them, "Please, can you at least wait till we''re far enough away, first?" "Of course," Henry said with a nod. The group rummaged around through the fronts of the three Cages and grabbed rations and camp supplies their captors had kept to themselves. Now stocked and fairly capable of surviving the wild they were heading into, they began to run as one toward the very end of the ridge. They moved with purpose as though they knew exactly where they were headed. Or maybe they just wanted to get as far away from the Cage as they possibly could. "-Nyx, round up Louis and Andor''s horses, please.-" Henry said as he leaned against a cage and watched the group get far away. "-Those wimps that ran away? Hmph! Cowards.-" Nyx said but she was already trotting away and letting out neighs and whinnies that sounded like calls. Henry knew she''d have no problem bringing the two horses back. He smiled and considered reminding her that she once ran away at the sound of danger too but ultimately decided not to. It took the group almost half an hour to bepletely out of sight and that was only because they eventually turned a corner. "Alright," Henry said as he stepped away from the cage he was resting against and stepped toward the cage with theplicated locks. "Magic," Andor announced. He had been observing the locks before Henry got close. "Louis," Henry said automatically. The mage''s brows furrowed and he stepped forward, "Are we sure we should be opening this?" He asked, "I think that man''s warning might be worth a listen." "Worth a listen at the cost of a life?" Andor asked, "Nonsense!" Louis sighed and got to work. Andor was being so much more vocal than usual that he just couldn''t find it in himself to argue. A bunch of clicking sounds began to ring out in the clear night as Louis fiddled with the magical locks and as it got closer to being opened, Henry began to feel uneasy. He didn''t know why but he looked up at the sky. The night was truly here now and the moon was full but its luminous rays shining down did not feelforting. It seemed more like an omen. Chapter 203: Urgent Quest Henry brought his eyes down from the sky at the same time thest clicks rang out and theplicated lock holding the cage''s door in ce finally broke free. "Alright then," Andor said and grabbed the door to pull it open. Within the cage was a man on his knees with his head bowed. His hair was long and unkempt maybe from the time he had spent within the cage or maybe from a time before that. The hair cast a curtain over his face and hid it from view. But as the rays of the moon hit the inside of the cage, he looked up and smiled. The smile was unsettling. The man didn''t look relieved like the other ves had been. He seemed more curious. "We''re there already?" He asked in a hoarse voice and Henry understood. This man wasn''t captive. Not really. So why would he have been kept so tightly sealed? "You''re free now," Andor said. "Free?" The man asked with his face cloudy with confusion, "Wait, you''re different from the other ones. What¡ª Ack!" The man broke off mid-sentence and fell forward on the cage floor. A shiver ran down his spine and he twitched. "Are you alright?" Andor asked with concern. "Andor, stab him!" Louis yelled suddenly with his eyes even wider than normal, "Kill him now!" As he spoke, Louis was already harnessing his Mana and conjuring Lightning in preparation to attack. "What? Why?" Andor asked. "There''s a full moon," Louis said and his noise sounded closer to a gasp. It seemed he was finding it difficult toplete his spell cast because of how scared he was. "So?" Andor asked, confused. But Henry knew why Louis was concerned. Full moon¡­ intense shivers¡­ He had never seen one and in his past life, he would have sworn such things didn''t exist but this world is different. Nothing is quite impossible here, is it? "Are you blind?" Louis asked, his voice sounding anxious, "It''s a Werewolf!" He finallypleted his spell and he fired multiple streaks of Lightning that went absolutely nuts within the cage. A bunch of streaks struck the cage and electrified it¡­ "Ah," Andor let out and took his hand off the door he was holding. ¡­ But the majority of the streaks struck the prone man who was bowed over and twitching. "ARRRGGGHHH!!!" He rose off the ground and raised his head toward the ceiling of the cage while yelling at the top of his lungs. His hands were curled tight and looked more like talons. ck fur was sprouting on them but they were all singed by the Lightning. The lightning also caused cracks to appear all over his body and when the cracks broke and he bled, the blood was also dried up. It was a horrifying sight but Louis didn''t look guilty. If anything, he felt worried. While the cage was still electrified, he grabbed the door and endured the electrocution of the lightning, as only he could, to m the door shut. He grabbed the lock he had just opened and snapped it back in ce while trying to infuse it with Mana to seal it off. And then¡­ *BANG!* ¡­ The lightning was no longer crackling around the cage beyond a few stings, and the creature wanted out hence its aggressive m against the cage door. The m tossed the door open by a foot. It would have been open even wider had Andor not mmed against it with as much strength as he was capable of. An arm thrust out of the foot of space. It wasrge. Asrge as two of Andor''s arms put together which is substantial because Andor is quite a muscled man. The ws that tipped the ck-furred hand glinted like metal. They reached for any of the two trying to keep the door shut. *Bang!* The first shot Henry fired was from ''Violent Retort'' and it struck the creature''s arm with the two Mana-infused slugs within the weapon. "RARRRRRR!!!" The creature yelled in pain but Henry was not at all relieved. A shot like that would have blown a disastrous hole in any human victim and likely rendered the arm useless, but on this creature, it had only resulted in a wound. And the wound didn''t even bleed for longer than a second. So of course, he shot again. This time, he shot with ''Cudgel''. Not as ''explosive'' as ''Violent Retort'' but certainly boasted more attack power. Henry didn''t fire once. He fired again and again and only when ''Cudgel'' gave the click of an empty barrel did the Creature stop reaching around and finally retreat into the cage to avoid getting more shots. All those shots hit the very same spot, and yet, the hole created was barely two inches deep. Considering the thickness of the creature''s arm, that was nothing. *BANG* Louis and Andor finally got the door closed and with Andor keeping his weight against it, Louis sealed thetch again and began to infuse the lock with Mana. Henry stepped forward as well to assist the effort. "I knew we shouldn''t have opened the damn thing," Louis said. Enjoy exclusive chapters from mvl "The man did warn us," Henry agreed with regret. "How good are our chances of getting it sealed in there again," Andor asked. "Probably not great," Louis answered honestly, "He- It was touched by the light of the full moon. From what I know of werewolves, that''s very bad. But, we have to try. We don''t know him so we don''t know how bad this could get if we tried to fight him off." "What do you mean?" Henry asked. Louis frowned but even as he continued to fiddle with theplicated locks and get it sealed again, he managed to exin, "Werewolves are just like us outside of the ''curse''. They can get stronger, get better just like everyone else but we don''t know who this man was. We don''t know how strong he is normally which is important because during the full moon, when Werewolves shift and transform, that strength bes greater. It could be double what they''d normally have. It could be triple. It depends." "Depends on what?" Henry asked. "Depends on what sort of werewolf it is. Is it a Lone Werewolf or is it a Pack wolf? And if it''s a Pack wolf, is it just a member or is it a Beta or (shudders), is it an Alpha?" "Let''s not find out," Andor said with a nod. He was not as knowledgeable as Louis in the matters of Werewolves but it didn''t take a genius to know that, as long as the enemy''s original strength was unknown, any of those scenarios did not bode well for their group. "Yeah, let''s not," Louis agreed and then groaned, "It''s frustrating how much easier it is to unlock the stupid thing than to seal it. But I got it now." "Thank heavens," Andor said and then mused, "A bit silent in there though. Think you killed it, Henry ?" "I did not kill that thing¡­" Henry said and his words trailed off as he listened. "Done¡ª" Louis announced and then¡­ *BANG!!!* ¡­ With a near-deafening sound of impact, a force from within the cage struck against the door and shattered the lock Louis had only just managed to seal. The door tore right off its metal hinges, mmed into Henry, Louis, and Andor, and sent them all flying at least six feet away. Hitting the ground to bounce and roll for another four. [You have lost 40 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 240/270] Henry felt like his face had been smashed in. Blood flowed from the center of his forehead which was significant since the System''s way of calcting injuries always made this a rarity. He had hit the ground hard and his back ached but after a few groans, he was relieved of the pain enough to stand and stare at the cage. A creature that looked far too big for it was stepping out. The werewolf was fearsome. Halfway between man and wolf; Its snout was half as long as that of a real wolf but its canines extended from its mouth like fangs. Glinting with the intent to rip and tear. The arms looked like those of a man. Large and bulging as they were but they were covered in thick ck fur. His legs had been transformed to look more like wolf paws and the way he stood made it look like he was standing on his toes. His back was hunched as he sniffed angrily. He twitched and leaned forward with every heavy step he took. Almost as though he was on the brink of bursting into a run on all fours. "Hng," Andor groaned from a few feet from Henry as he rose off the ground too. Louis stirredst and even as he shook his head, his body seemed to have taken the hardest hit of the three. The Werewolf growled. The clothes of the man he used to be were already ripped to shreds by the significant increase in size. Its red eyes red and it sniffed long and hard three times. Henry didn''t know why but he was sure it was taking in their scent. No matter where they ran, it would follow. And then an alert from the System rang in his head; [You have triggered an Urgent Quest!] [Quest: The Werewolf Hunt.] Chapter 204: Shattered [Quest: The Werewolf Hunt. Description: The Werewolf has caught your scent and it will Hunt you down. To survive, you must hunt the Werewolf instead, and in failure, you will die. Reward for a sessful Hunt: 6000 Exp. Good luck!] "What do we do?" Andor asked as the Werewolf stomped closer. "We fight," Henry said with trepidation. Even without the System''s Quest description, the thought of escape seemed very unlikely anyway. "Shit," Louis said with his Staff tight in hand as he instantly began a quick chant. The Werewolf''s ears twitched at the sound and it was only for a split second but Henry caught the start of a shift into a charging stance and he already had ''Cudgel'' pointed to fire shot after shot. All aimed at the enemy''s head. One shot struck the beast right in the center of itsrge head and while it created an inch-deep hole, the creature was definitely not dead because it burst into a charge right then. Its entire figure blurred and almost all of Henry''s next shots missed. Almost. Henry still had enough Mana to use once and he used it on the first shot to mark the creature''s head with the homing signal that guaranteed the sess of the next shot despite the creature''s speed. The mana-infused bullet hit right when the Werewolf arrived in front of Henry and swung a heavy blow at him. "Rarrrrr!!!" It yelled and, as though a second bullet to the head was akin to the prick of a needle, its action was not at all dulled. Henry still had ''Cudgel'' raised and was far too slow to move his body to react and erect a defense against the enemy''s attack but, fortunately, he had just the skill to aid his ability toprehend and react. Henry felt he had activated the skill out of panic because when the five seconds he had for the spell began to tick down, there was nothing his body could do to help. The beast''srge w-tipped fingers were already about two inches away from making contact with his body. Fortunately, there was still one act of defense he was capable of that only required an active mind. An active mind that was exempt from the normal passage of time for another two seconds. [Activating ] The skill was activated but the shield could not appear in the time-stopped state and when time finally returned to normal, it only just arrived in time to ward off the Beast''s wed punch. *Bam!* The force of the blow sent Henry many feet away. He hit the ground and rolled for a while before managing to ground himself on his knees. The Werewolf followed. As Henry had managed to injure it twice, and because it had been thwarted and could not smell blood on its ws, the Werewolf''s red eyes seemed only for Henry. By the time Henry raised his head, the beast was back with another w-tipped punch. *Bam!* Again, it was intercepted by the shield and because the blow hade from above, Henry was forced even harder onto his knees. The shield saved him from the damage that would have done to his bones but he groaned at the force. And then ''Violent Retort'' was in his hand and he fired it along with ''Cudgel''. The muzzles of both weapons were aimed at the Werewolf''s throat. If injuries to the head had been shrugged off, then the throat had to be at least vulnerable. Of so Henry thought. The reality was different. It was like he had abandoned ongoing progress on the creature''s head to start all over again at the throat. His bullets and slugs only did as well as they had done to the Beast''s head. ''I need something more,'' Henry thought just as the Werewolf let out a roar and struck him so hard that he struck into the mountainside and cracked it. Seeing Henry again get protected by the blue haze only frustrated the werewolf further. It stared at its w-tipped hand almost in disbelief and with a hard shake of his head, he made to charge again but then¡­ *Crackle¡ª BANG!* ¡­ He was struck by converged lightning streaks from behind. Due to the earlier m of the cage door against their faces, the group of three had been separated so both Andor and Louis were a few feet away from Henry which helped them avoid the Werewolf''s attention momentarily. The creature not paying attention to Andor and Louis had allowed the Mage toplete his spell. He had even got the time to down a Mana potion to restore his lessened reserve so he could cast his best spell right from the get-go. The lightning crackled all over the Werewolf''s body. Its fur was singed and the point on its back where it had especially been struck was so charred that it revealed raw, smoking skin underneath. The beast arched his back and his mouth opened wide to let loose a deep growl of pain but it was stuck in ce for a second and Andor was already charging over to take advantage. It was as though he and Louis had coordinated because he had been ready with his attack almost as soon as Louis was done casting the spell. Andor''s Spear thrust into the Wolf''s neck from the side and, as he had done to a human Fighter earlier in the night, he unleashed his Mana-surge and charged it into his Spear to discharge it from the Spearhead in a powerful st. *BANG!* The explosion of the Mana-surge discharge moved the Werewolf''s neck to the side by about an inch. Its growl was shut up though. As though the force of the st had locked up its ability to produce sound. While all this happened, Henry pulled a Mana potion from his Inventory and downed it. [You have recovered 200 Mana Points] [Mana Points: 205/380] With one hand holding the potion bottle to his lips, Henry had ''The Hydra''s Sting'' in his other hand and had it pointed at the Werewolf frozen in ce by the violent streaks of lightning running through its body and electrifying its insides. ''The Hydra''s Sting'' was loaded with ''Hydra Tongue'' bullets Henry had secured from Elminster and he charged both magical attacks the weapon was capable of into a single shot which he fired just as Andor stabbed his Spear into the Werewolf''s neck and discharged his Mana surge through it. He aimed for the injury he had started at the center of the creature''s head already and when the bullet hit, it hit with an immediate explosion of the acidic green gas while its acidic effects spread all over the beast''s head. This was what Henry had realized was the ''more'' he needed to take the creature down. While both ''Violent Retort'' and ''Cudgel'' were capable of firing more powerful shots, they did not leave behind an effect quite like ''The Hydra''s Sting''. Right now the acid from the shot was sinking deep into the Werewolf''s head and eating away at its monstrous flesh like the ''living wound'' that it was. A wound that can''t be healed without the special solvent only Elminster possessed. *crack¡ª* The sound was very minute but it heralded the breaking of the Werewolf''s face and as the cracks became lined with insidious acid, they only grew wider until¡­ Explore more adventures at §Þ?? *Bang!* ¡­ There was an explosive shatter that forced the Werwolf''s head back. Its body flopped and it fell to its knees. Andor stabbed his Spear into the wound he had already created in the Creature''s neck and discharged his Mana-surge again. *Bang!* Andor blinked. He was sure he had stabbed the tip of his Spear into the Werewolf''s neck and yet, his Mana discharge had been released into the air. The shaft of the weapon was in the Werewolf''s tight grip and it used it to pull him closer before mming him in the chest with a wed blow. *BAM!!!* *CRACK!* It wasn''t just that fiverge ws had dug so deep into his body but Andor also felt as though his entire chest had been caved in. He certainly felt a heavy pressure against his heart. A heavy pressure that should not have been there. "Ack¡ª" He let out but the sound seemed to have caught at the back of his throat and was interrupted when he had to spout blood. He wasn''t even really aware of the flight as he was sent away from the Werewolf by the power of the blow. He only remembered the contact, the pain, the blood vomiting, and then hitting the ground so hard he lost all will to get back up. While the Werewolf hit Andor, it still had its head raised. "Impressive¡­" it said slowly. Henry''s eyes widened. He wasn''t sure why but he had not thought the Werewolf was capable of speech. Of course, he didn''t let this discovery numb him as he was already pointing ''The Hydra''s Sting for another shot. But suddenly, the Werewolf was no longer where it had been, and almost at the same time, Henry felt his arm, the one armed with ''The Hydra''s Sting'', get grabbed and mmed against the mountainside. *Bam!* The insane pain that followed told Henry his minute was up for the activation of . The pain that followed that one only served to announce to him that his arm was shattered. Chapter 205: I Did Not Expect That [You have lost 75 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 165/270] "Arr¡ª" Henry started to yell in pain but he was shut up by the werewolf''srge palm covering his face to muffle all sounds before mming him into the mountainside. [You have lost 80 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 85/270] All the while, the fiverge ws dug deeper into the sides of Henry''s face. [You have lost 50 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 35/270] "I was curious," the Werewolf said in a deep voice that made it sound like every word he spoke was punctuated by a growl, "I wondered just how much of a challenge you''d present. How much fun you''d make this for me¡­ I''m disappointed. Killing you will hardly sate me but it will do¡­ Also, the night is young. I can find better prey once I''m finished with you." While the Werewolf spoke and while Henry groaned into the inside of its palm, he felt a crushing pressure against his head. A pressure that sought to squish it. He grabbed wrist with his one good arm and tried to pull the hand off his face and spare his head from further damage. With every second that passed, and while the pressure applied to his head continued squishing it against the mountainside, Henry was getting alerted of lost Hit Points. He was sure that, if the palm was not over his face, his vision would be tinged with red in alert of fast-approaching death. Henry failed to push the wrist back. His strength was insignificant to that of the Werewolf and, as he suffocated fromck of breathing space and lessening Hit Points, he summoned ''Violent Retort'' from his Inventory with a flick of his wrist. Before he got to fire it ¡ªif he was even at all capable of summoning the energy to do so¡ª, there was a skidding sound from the side. Henry couldn''t see through the palm over his face but Louis had just dashed over with his hands pulled back as hepleted another powerful cast. With a yell, he unleashed a beam of crackling lightning that struck the Werewolf and pushed it away from Henry. Henry flopped out of the mountainside immediately and let loose a long gasp as he took in a breath he had been deprived of by the Werewolf''s palm. His arm stung and while it was certainly broken, he found he could still move it. Granted every movement caused pain to shoot through him so intensely that he wished for death but it was movement still. All the damage he had umted left his hit points looking like this; [Hit Points: 15/270] Ignoring the pain in his arm and face, he retrieved a healing potion from his Inventory and downed it. [You have recovered 200 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 215/270] The mending energy of the potion fortunately drove first to Henry''s broken arm and ''stitched'' together the damage to make it even more bearable. Henry scooped ''The Hydra''s Sting'' off the ground where it had fallen after the Werewolf broke his arm. Stay updated via §Þ?? "Thank you, Louis," he said in a gasping voice. He couldn''t quite raise his head to look at the face of his savior but from the nature of the attack that had helped him, he could make a very urate guess. Louis barely acknowledged the thanks because he was already casting his next spell while he and the Werewolf locked eyes. "You," the Werewolf said with its side smoking from the effect of the spell he just suffered. There was some sign of singed furs but the damage did not look at all substantial which was very disappointing to Louis who just pursed his lips and focused on trying again. Henry''s vision was no longer tinged in red. His body moved more easily too. ''All Stat Points to Stamina.'' The system didn''t even ask if he was sure. Maybe the conviction in his tone made that clear already. Or maybe it realized that was just the right allocation for the current situation. Winning a physical contest was impossible and as much as Henry was sure Agility was his most important stat (a fact that had been proven true many times since he had had this conviction), it was also clear that the speed of the Werewolf surpassed his far too greatly. Six more points into Agility would not help close that gap. Now Stamina, though, Stamina could make a difference. If you can''t confidently outrun the opponent, you might as well try to make sure you are capable ofsting long enough during the physical altercation to maybe turn the tables¡­ [Stamina: 35 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 41] ¡­ Maybe. "Louis, to the side!" Henry yelled out right as he fired a shot from ''The Hydra''s Sting''. The magical bullet carrying the activation of two magical attacks, flew out of the gun''s barrel, glowing an acidic green, and struck the Werewolf in the center of its head right before it leaped into a charge. Henry had infused into that bullet as well so it marked the Creature''s head with a homing signal that assured the sess of the next shot which also carried and assured the sess of the third shot. The cracks that formed on the werewolf''s head were farrger and greater than the first time Henry attempted this and the explosive *BANG!* that followed knocked the Creature''s head back incredibly violently but its speed was not impacted. It arrived in front of Henry and Louis with its arms spread out wide to strike them both with its w attacks. Henry''s yell had made Louis leap to the side but he was far too slow to avoid the blow. He barely even had the time to steel himself for theing blow when a blue watery tentacle struck out and mmed him away. The Werewolf''s wed blow missed Louis but hit Henry in the chest in an impact that broke his sternum and sent him Into the air to hit the ground almost as hard as the blow that had struck him. [You have lost 105 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 110/270] Just as always, the Werewolf followed up. Henry''s body was not going to react in time to get away or attempt to shoot it dead before the next attack struck. The next attack that he was morbidly sure would kill him. While Henry''s body recovered from the stun of impact, his mind remained active and that was all he needed tomand his singr tentacle to extend away from him and strike the Werewolf to whip it away. *Twhip!* *Bam!* *Stter!* With a roar, the Werewolf met the tentacle with a powerful swipe of its ws and he tore through it. "You think that will stop me?!" It asked with a growl that then shifted into a cocky chuckle as the spell circle behind Henry vanished now that it had no tentacle to support. A single tentacle had been all Henry''s Mana points had been able to afford. "No, I didn''t," Henry admitted mostly to himself. He had not really expected a single tentacle to stop the Werewolf but it had given him time ¡ªeven if just a second¡ª, to make a move. Another move that only required his mind. [Activating ¡­] The ribcage that hugged the sides of Henry''s vest glowed green and the Werewolf became frozen in ce. Its wicked red eyes became cloudy and his half-snout was open wide in some silent scream. Whatever horror it was experiencing was so great, it couldn''t evenpose a sound in reaction. Henry took the time to turn around and aim but before he could pull the trigger, lightning crackled from above. "Henry, get away!" Louis yelled. Henry didn''t think twice about scrambling to his feet and taking many steps to separate himself from the Werewolf still frozen in its personal horror. Above its head and in a wide range that would have reached Henry had he stayed where he had been just a second before, Lightning appeared with violent electrical crackling. It rained down in multiple streaks that struck areas around the Werewolf but thanks to Louis'' focus and intent attempt to converge them, most of the streaks struck the Werewolf and the pain seemed the catalyst to pull it out of its mental suffering only to experience a physical one. "ARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!" It yelled out a guttural sound that sounded quite human. The yell seemed like abination of the reaction it had been unable to manage before during and it spilled out now that it had been given a voice of sorts thanks to a much more real pain of lightning charging through its body and singing its organs. Animalistic or human as they were. The lightning created patterns all over the Werewolf''s body with horrifying burns and cracks. Its bone structure had been severely damaged by the spell and yet, when the lightning died out, its heart still beat. "A mental attack," the Werewolf managed to say with shudders ripping through its body at intervals, "I did not expect that. Did not expect it at all¡­" Henry interrupted what sounded like a possible long-winding speech by firing shots from both ''Violent Retort'' and ''Cudgel''. By then, the Werewolf had fallen forward on all fours. "Louis run!" Henry yelled as the hair all over his body stood on end but it was toote. All his fired shots hit the ground at the spot the Creature had been a second before. Henry couldn''t follow the Werewolf''s movements. He just saw Louis arch his back as a powerful wed fist struck his back with enough force to crack his spine. Chapter 206: It Will Be Tight The Werewolf used its ws that were dug into Louis''s back and spine to lift him off the ground and m him into the ground face first in an impact that surely must have crushed every bone in his body. When it raised its wed fist, Louis raised his face, bloody and smashed in as it was, out of the ground to let out a long weak wheeze. The realization that its action had not killed the Mage only made the Werewolf more excited as a wide grin spread across his lips and raised his fist to try again. *THWIP!* *BAM!* Five watery-blue tentacles struck out and mmed into him to force him away before he could. They only managed to push the Creature about two feet away from Louis because it stood its ground and locked in its knees so it slid across the ground hard enough to leave grooves. Henry controlled the tentacles to wrap around the Werewolf''s body while he downed a second Mana potion. The first one he drank had given him enough Mana to cast this spell and the second was for emergencies he was sure would arise. Sure enough¡­ *BANG!* ¡­ With aggression, the Werewolf thrust one of itsrge hands out of the cocoon of water that was wrapping around his body and centering especially around his head to restrict his breathing. Three tentacles were shattered but Henry was already expending 120 Mana Points to recreate them so they were stretching out and wrapping around the Beast before it could getpletely free. Meanwhile, a considerable distance away¡­ *KOFF!* Andor finally rose off the ground where he had fallen after getting mmed. He had been choked awake by the blood filling his lungs and rolled onto his side to spout out a bunch of it and free his airways enough to take in proper breaths. Every breath he took hurt. His lungs expanding put pressure on his shattered chest and even the slightest movement made that worse. Andor heard the sounds ofbat from feet away. Lightning, gunshots, and, of course, the m sounds made by the Werewolf in all its physically overwhelming glory. Pulling a Healing potion out of his Storage bracelet, he lifted it to his lips and forced his head back just so the liquid could flow down. He could barely even manage the swallow motion but fortunately, the liquid in his body was enough. It flowed to the area most affected but was barely able to put his chest back to how it should have been. His internal bleeding was also only barely mended. He drank three more potions as he had drank the first and only then did he manage to make his body obey hismands. ''This is it,'' Andor thought with a sigh of resignation. He was far too injured and Healing Potions had not quite helped with that. He''d need rest and the expertise of an actual Healer to be able to move as he''d normally move. ''Onest attack. I''ll have to make it count.'' He added as his eyes roamed in search of the battles he had heard when he''d barely been able to pay attention. He saw Henry standing in ce with Tentacles stretched out from behind his back and wrapped around the Werewolf who was straining against its constriction. "It won''t hold," Andor said as he forced his legs to move and quickly kicked into a run. He arrived within a foot of the cocooned Werewolf just as it broke free. Its hearing was so incredible that even with water wrapped around its head, it had heard the approach but it had been so constricted that there was very little he could do in terms of an escape attempt. Andor picked the spot to stab almost on instinct. There were crisscrossing patterns all over the Werewolf''s body. The patterns had been put there by the most recent painful electrocution it had suffered from Louis and there was one spot where a particr pattern intersected that seemed to beam at Andor like a spot marked ''X'' on a map. The tip of his Spear cut through that spot far more easily than it had ever cut through the creature''s body so far. The skin had been made weak in its natural or unnatural defenses so the entirety of Andor''s Spearhead stabbed into the Werewolf''s body in a second and he wasted no time discharging his Mana-surge. *BANG!* "ARRGHHH!!!* The Werewolf yelled with its maw opened wide. Henry had ''Cudgel'' out and fired a shot into the wide-open mouth. The force of the shot forced the Werewolf''s head back at the same time a shudder ripped through its body from the damage Andor''s Mana-st had done to his already-brittle bones. Andor almost found it funny that the most effective attack he had made thus far was not the one where he stabbed his target''s neck twice. Almost. His enjoyment of such irony was marred when the Werewolf closed his mouth and its red eyes still burned with hate. Its arm moved so swiftly that it was only by replying on Instinct that Andor had been able to retrieve his shield from his bracelet and raise it to intercept the blow. *BANG!* The shield vibrated violently on Andor''s arms as he was sent sliding many feet away until he mmed his already weak body against a mountainside and fell to his knees. Any further movement was doubtful. Any further attack would surely have killed him. He wouldn''t even be able to erect a defence but the Werewolf no longer has eyes on him. He had his red eyes on Henry. *PTUH!* He spat and a crumpled bullet hit the ground covered by his spittle and blood. The bullet had certainly injured him just as many of the shots Henry had fired on his body had injured him but just like them, the bullet fired into the Werewolf''s mouth was unable to travelpletely through to cause a far more fatal wound. "The Mage is down," the Werewolf said as he grabbed the shaft of the Spear in his side and ripped it out, causing blood to flow out of the wound. More blood flowed out than from any of the other numerous wounds all over its body but it hardly paid it any mind. Henry paid attention though. He saw it for what it was. To confirm what he thought as he believed he would not get two chances at this, he called on a recently acquired skill. [Activating ¡­] The skill scanned the Werewolf''s body and multiple points where the cracks caused by Louis'' spell had intersected, were marked as vulnerable but they glowed a dull light. Far duller than that spot in the werewolf''s side: the spot it just pulled the Spear out of. All this took a second at most and the Werewolf let out an imperceptible groan of pain as it continued, "The fighter is down as well. I can smell their ineptitude. Should they rise again, they will fall. Now, all that is left, is you." Henry''s finger twitched on the trigger of ''Cudgel'' as he held the Werewolf''s gaze and his mind worked fast toe up with a way to aim for that spot in the creature''s side while ensuring he wouldn''t miss. He could tell he was being studied. Every movement he made was being eyed and the moment he made a move, the Werewolf would move too. Traveling too fast for him to follow. Hell, the recent finger twitch had caused the Werewolf to twitch in reaction. "Before I end this, I must say I''m impressed," The Werewolf said, "From what I sniffed from you three, I never would have thought you''d push me this far. I mean look at me¡­" The Werewolf paused to let out a chuckle to gesture at its body. Burnt by the electrical currents of Louis'' lightning and punctured by Henry''s bullets and Andor''s spear. "Oh well, it has certainly been fun," it said toplete its speech and then hunched forward with clear intent to leap into a charge too fast for Henry to follow. ''Abominable Curse,'' Henry thought. He had seen it work once and believed it would work again. s, the skill had a limited range. To use it, the Werewolf would have to get within melee range and that range was dangerous. ''Alright then. first and then activate in the time-stopped state. It will be tight.I could die.'' Henry''s lips twitched at the thought and he steeled himself. As he saw it, there was a 70 percent chance he failed¡­ Maybe 75¡­ He took a deep breath and raised ''Cudgel'' as though to shoot. As expected, it forced the Werewolf to move and it did so with a wide excited grin. Henry had no intentions of shooting. Not yet at least. But just as he thought to activate , he heard a voice in his head. A voice louder than the swift padding of paws or the clopping of horse hooves. "-Get away from him!-" Nyx yelled in Henry''s head but her words were tranted into an angry Whinny right before she intercepted the Werewolf''s charge like a bullet leaving behind a trail of shadowy mist in its speedy trail. Chapter 207: Combination Bearing Fruit *BAM!* Forced to slide a foot from the initial impact caused by this new arrival, the Werewolf let loose a growl as it snapped its fangs angrily at any part of the creature that he could get. Nyx evaded and struck her head against its chest to knock it even further back but the creature was prepared now. It locked on its knees and avoided being moved even an inch before taking a powerful swipe that connected with Nyx''s neck. She let out a long whinny as the wicked sharp ws dug through her flesh and created fivecerations while she was lifted off the ground and sent flying a few feet away to hit the ground hard. [Nyx has lost 85 Hit Points] [Nyx''s Hit Points: 130/215] Having gotten the horse away from itself and while still reeling at the creature''s speed, the Werewolf turned its sight on its previous target but Henry no longer stood where he was before. Nyx''s intervention had been unexpected and although Henry was ted, he acted all the same. Except that he activated it after Nyx had made contact with the Werewolf and forced it to move a foot away. He spent the five seconds he had in that time-stopped state to metaphorically catch his breath and when time resumed, he moved and tried to get himself a good view of the enemy''s vulnerable spot. The altercation between Nyx and the Werewolf hadsted two seconds at most and by the time it was searching for him, Henry slid over with ''The Hydra''s Sting'' in hand and aimed at that vulnerable spot. The Werewolf''s ears twitched and it made to move. Henry knew it would turn faster than he could pull his gun''s trigger but luckily, he had a card to y and was just within range to y it. [Activating ¡­] The ribcage hugging the sides of his vest glowed green and the nightmare struck the Werewolf, freezing it in mid-motion. Its upper body was almostpletely turned around but its vulnerable side remained very much in view and Henry fired a shot right into the hole that had been created by Andor''s spear. The Acidic green bullet left the gun and stabbed through the hole to travel deeper into the creature''s body than any previously fired shot ever could. It cut through organs, corroding them on the way and further damaged bones already made brittle by Louis'' lightning before stopping before it could puncture a hole to travel clean through the Werewolf''s body. Cracks spread all over the surface of the Werewolf''s midsection but they were dull cracks. Merely mirroring the ones forming inside its body and then¡­ *Bang!* ¡­ A muffled explosion sounded within and pulled the Werewolf out of its nightmarish hallucinations. Its knees wobbled and it appeared it might sumb and fall to the ground but Nyx interrupted that by galloping over and striking out with her hooves against its head. *BAM!* *BAM!* The first two stomps, which hardly dented its wickedly thick skull, sent the Werewolf mming into a mountainside and Nyx followed up to continue stomping. Six more stomps from Nyx and the Werewolf finally regained enough strength to grab both her hooves and pull her down to the ground to deliver a headbutt that knocked her back multiple steps. [Nyx has lost 55 Hit Points] [Nyx''s Hit Points: 75/215] Nyx let out a cry of pain that was almost rivaled in volume by the sound of her cracking skull. There was no mistaking it ¡ªespecially since it had been proven ever since the first wed strike she suffered¡ª, that the Werewolf was stronger than she was. Its attacks inflicted far more damage on her than she ever could have inflicted on it. Hell, all her stomps had done nothing more than annoy it. Speaking of which, the Werewolf pushed itself off the mountainside and grabbed its midsection. The bone structure within seemed to struggle to keep his weight. He doubled over and wretched, spitting out multiple litters of blood all tinged with green Acid that still sizzled wickedly. And then its ears twitched and it moved just as Henry fired a shot having managed toe at him from the side again. s, moving to dodge could only possibly help when the bullet traveled in a forward trajectory. When the bullet was following the homing signal preemptively ced by the previous sessfully connecting shot, then dodging was useless. The Werewolf discovered this after a second acidic bullet sunk into his insides to corrode it and cause another explosion that would further an already ongoing deterioration. "ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!" It yelled in a pained growl as the Acidic cracks began to spread, but rather than stay in ce and suffer the damage while its attacker smiled in tion, the Werewolf kicked its limbs into motion. It fell on all fours and charged forward before Henry had the time to blink. Fortunately, Henry had expected such a move. He had ''Cudgel'' in his hand the moment after he shot the Werewolf and managed to cross the weapon across his chest just in time to intercept theing blow. *BAM!!!* The impact erupted mini sonic booms and while ''Cudgel'' was not bent or at all damaged by the blow, the impact still forced Henry''s arms back so hard that they popped out of his shoulders. Henry gritted his teeth at the pain while he was sliding back and receiving the alert of the sustained damage from the System. [You have lost 42 Hit Points] [You have lost 42 Hit Points] [Hit Points: 131/270] One notification for each dislocated arm. Henry swung his upper body so hard that he flexed his arms and even as pain wracked through him, he managed to pop them back into their sockets. Thanks to how the System calcted damage, the pain quickly dulled or at least was negligible enough that he could keep one hand around ''Cudgel'' while he summoned ''The Hydra''s Sting'' and fired a shot at nowhere in particr because, of course, he had made sure hisst shot had been backed by . Before this happened and while Henry had been sliding, the Werewolf had tried to follow up but Nyx galloped over to m into it as she had done twice already. However, this time the ck horse did not catch the Werewolf by surprise. Its nose sniffed and, groaning due to every move worsening its pain, the creature swung its arm in a wed-fist strike it was convinced would surely be the end of the annoying horse. Its red eyes widened in shock when, right before its wed fist made contact, Nyx vanished into Shadow and leaped out the very next second to connect her head with its jaw and send it about two feet into the air. It was at this moment that Henry''s shot hit and the cracks spread across the Werewolf''s midsection right when its legs hit the ground again. The cracks glowed bright. "ARRGGH¡ª Again! You just won''t stop¡ª" the Werewolf started to say and then its eyes widened in horror because the explosion it was expecting and was slightly confident it would survive did note. At least not yet. Instead, the glow of the cracks continued to get brighter. This was different. The Werewolf could tell and so could Nyx as she trotted away from it and watched from a distance as the creature fell to its knees with its ws scratching at the glow as though to snuff it. Abination of multiple attacks was finally bearing fruit; Louis'' lightning had worn down the tough exterior which Andor had taken advantage of to create a hole deep enough to grant ess to far more damageable interiors and finally, Henry''s shots ¡ªthree deadly corrosive shots packing the maximum firepower ''The Hydra''s Sting'' was capable of¡ª, had worn that interior down for this result. "OF ALL THE¡ª" the Werewolf started to say before the glow shone out from the insides of its mouth and it lost its voice as the cracks spread even further with the main concentration still centered at its midsection. And then¡­ *BOOOOOOMMMM!!!* ¡­ It erupted in a green cloud thatpletely covered whatever was left of the Werewolf from view. Out of the cloud flung out tiny bits all sizzling with acidity. The bits sttered on corpses lying around and against the walls of a cage but Louis and Andor, lying unconscious much farther away, were safe from it. And then, when the green cloud had fizzled out, Henry saw the Werewolfid out, spread-eagled with its midsectionpletely ruptured. Its eyes were still open and were still red but were no longer bright having been dulled with lifelessness. [Quest Completed!] [You have received 6000 Exp] [For your contributions to the kill and delivering the killing shot, You have received a Bonus of 2000 Exp] [Nyx has received 1500 Exp for her contributions to the kill.] [Level Up!] [You are now Level 28] [Hit Point Maximum increased to 280] [Mana Point Maximum increased to 390] [You have received 6 Stat Points to Allocate] [For your sessful hunt of a Werewolf, You have received the Title ''Hunter''] Chapter 208: Coattails [Title: Hunter Description: You stood your ground against a beast whose physical might surpassed your own and was intent on your death but you turned the situation around to hunt it instead. You have proven yourself worthy of being called a ''Hunter''. This Title grants you ess to the skill ''Hunter''s Instinct''.] [Skill: Hunter''s Instinct Description: On activation, your senses be sharper i.e. Your Perception receives a temporary 50% boost. Costs: 50 Mana Points. Duration: 2 minutes.] "Useful," Henry mumbled as he read through the skill''s description. Many times already he had tried analyzing spells and had failed because his Perception had not reached a good enough threshold for the analysis. This changed things and allowed him to bend or at least adjust to the requirements better. Plus higher Perception meant faster reactions to enemy attacks and that could never be a bad thing to have in his arsenal. Especially if his body was capable of following the speed of his reaction to get the hell away before he got hit. Speaking of which; ''All points to Agility.'' The situation that had made Stamina especially important had passed now and Henry decided it was about time he invested in his most used physical stat. That it had barely helped today did not change that fact. [Agility: 76 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 82] While the System allocated the Stat points as per his wishes, Henry walked over to Louis and Andor. He passed the dead Werewolf on the way and saw the body''s fur was gone and its size had shrunk. It had reverted to its human form and the way the mouth was lolled open with eyes wide open and rolled lifelessly looked very pathetic and almost pitiful. This was especially the case when Henry''s eyes fell on thepletely ruptured midsection. Henry looked away quickly enough and was by Louis'' side assessing the damage. He touched the spine and felt Louis twitch in reaction. ''He can still feel pain,'' he thought somberly, ''That''s good.'' While the injury was very extensive, pain could mean the cord within the spine had not yet snapped so he could still recover and regain full mobility of his body. "Nyx, the horses," Henry called to the ck mare trotting closer. "-Ah, I forgot about those idiots-" she answered with an annoyed snort, "-I had rallied them and was bringing them over when they heard the sound of battle and skittered away like the cowards they are. I''ll bring them back here.-" By the time she was saying thest sentence, Nyx had already reached the very end of the path and she dwindled quickly as she traveled far to bring the fearful horses back. Because Henry had tamed them and had ordered them to stay close, there was only so far the horses could get. Sure, they were still very free to react to sounds of distress and save their hides but they ensured closeness with their tamer and obeyed Nyx as a horse whose ''Equine hierarchy'' surpassed theirs. Henry turned Louis on his back and propped him up before feeding him Potion after Potion. They flowed down the Mage''s throat and applied first aid to his wounds but besides a few twitches, he hardly made a move. His heartbeat was also very weak. For a moment, Henry worried the potions would not be enough. He couldn''t help but think back to the one time this had happened to him. Sure, Louis was different from Tony because he had Mana and was more durable than the average human thanks to that, however, Louis was as exempt from the System''s way of calcting injuries as Tony had been. "Come on," Henry said with urgency and as though his voice had hit Louis'' ears and pulled him from the brink, the mage''s chest heaved and he turned his face to the side to open his mouth wide and spew out blood that had pooled on his inside. He retched for half a minute and it didn''t look like it was just blood that spilled out. "Ugh, Henry," he said weakly, "We''re alive?" "You, barely," Henry said with a small chuckle, "Think you''ll be alright? I have to tend to Andor." "Yeah, yeah," Louis managed to wheeze out as he retrieved a Healing potion from his Storage bracelet and downed it before holding up the empty bottle, "This will hold me. Go, go." Henry nodded and walked over to the mountainside that Andor''s back was pressed against while he sat on the ground. The Fighter''s head was lolled to the side and a blood trail drew down the corners of his lips. Just like with Louis, Andor''s heartbeat was also weak, and just as he had done with Louis, Henry fed him Healing Potions as well. Two potions were all that were needed to have Andor''s eyes fly open as he looked around in urgency and he only rxed when he saw Henry crouching in front of him and no sound of a rampaging Werewolf. "Henry," he said," It''s over?" "It is." "You killed it?" Andor asked as he grabbed the next potion and drank it himself. "We all did, actually," Henry said before sitting down and resting his back against the wall. Up ahead, Louis looked to be feeling better. He had shifted into a somewhat crosslegged position and had his eyes closed as he drew in Mana to rejuvenate his weakened body and dull the ache in his spine. ''I wonder¡­'' Henry thought as he activated and analyzed the Mage; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Louis] [Race: Human] [ss: Mage] [Health: 200 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 210] [Mana: 280 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 300] [Strength: 14] [Agility: 19] [Stamina: 32 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 38] [Intelligence: 100] *[Remarks: A young Mage who makes up for what hecks in Magical Training with a lot of enthusiasm and Talent. Has only discovered one Elemental Aptitude (Lightning). Has impressive potential but Kible should you want to.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª With still activated, Henry turned his subtly glowing eyes to Andor who was staring off into space and clearly at nothing in particr. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Andor] [Race: Human] [ss: Fighter] [Health: 270 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 290] [Mana: 200 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 210] [Strength: 80 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 84] [Agility: 34 ¡ª¡ª¡ª> 36] [Stamina: 42] *[Remarks: A Fighter who makes up for his limited Martial training with enthusiasm and Impressive strength. Has Impressive Potential but is kible should you want to.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ''Huh, they advanced again,'' Henry thought. For the second time today, the stat screens of both had seen improvement and while the System would justify it as being due to their contributions, Henry felt it was mostly following his coattails. It was as though since they had ''formed a party'' and he led the party and they attempted a Quest of his, then every time he leveled up, they would too. It wasn''t entirely a bad thing. Henry just wondered what the guidelines were because the System had not made it clear. And then the sounds of clopping rang clear in the silence of the night. Both Louis and Andor reacted with a readiness to do battle like they thought more enemies were making their way to them. "Rx," Henry said, "It''s just Nyx and the other horses." Nyx galloped slowly ¡ªslow for her¡ª so she could keep pace with the horses she was leading and Henry could hear her snipe at them over and again, using them of cowardice. Henry could tell the horses didn''t quite care. They were scared of Nyx, sure, but should another dangerous situation arise, they''d be only too eager to get their asses to safety. "Come on, let''s go," Henry said once the horses had stopped a few feet away from them, "Can you walk?" The question was for the two and they nodded slowly and stood shakily to their feet. Louis had a strange posture to not aggregate the damage done to his spine but even then, he winced with every step. His horse trotted closer and, gripping its reins, the Mage pulled himself into the saddle and promptlyid across its back. "Oh, that''s so much better," he cooed. Andor, moving cautiously one step at a time, walked over to his Spear to lift and send it back into his storage bracelet along with his shield, and then he allowed himself onest look at the Werewolf''s pitiful human body before pulling himself onto his horse''s saddle. Henry was observing his Status screen with Nyx''s tagged along with it; ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Henry Morgan] [Level: 28 (341/8500 Exp)] [Race: Human] [ss: Gunslinger] [Title: Death''s Bane, Vyker-Killer, Infernal Partner, Dungeon Raider , Hunter] [Hit Points: 141/280] [Mana Points: 50/390] [Strength: 31] [Agility: 82] [Stamina: 41] [Perception: 43] [Skills: {Marksmanship Lv. 5 } {Taming Lv. 2 } {Insight Lv.3} {Raider''s Intent} {Hunter''s Instinct} [~Arcane Tapestry~: Imprinted Spells: -Shocking Grip-. -Extra Arms-.] ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª [Name: Nyx] [Creature: Shadow Mare] [Breed: Veren Night-Mare] [Level 12 (3140/5000 Exp)]* [Hit Points: 75/215] [Mana: 225] [Strength: 95] [Speed: 180] [Stamina: 90] [Skills: {Shadow Dash Lv.2} {}]* ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª With that look at what more he required for the next level-up, Henry clicked the ''LOOT'' button the system presented to him and reaped whatever residual wealth was on the bodies of the many dead littered all over the ground. Some gold, and some Venster and he pulled himself into Nyx''s saddle and led the way away from the ridge and back to Alvareen. Chapter 209: Overconfident *** A horse''s hooves hit the stoned streets of Alvareen hard and fast, causing denizens to disperse or get hit. Stop the horse was ady whose pretty face was contorted in a mixture of emotions; Anger, annoyance, and pain. Ka''s mana had onlysted for a few more propulsions but they had been enough for her to leave her enemies in the dust. Her escape was also better aided by her striking down the most capable creature of catching up to her. She knew this because she had witnessed the ck horse''s speed. Her chest was broken and all the Healing Potions she drank did not put it back together well enough. Every time she exerted herself to cast her spells, her injuries got worse and it seemed the already fractured structure got broken further. Fortunately, although she had spent years in the employ of Ralph Gribbo and took care of more ''posh'' tasks, there was once a time she had had to fend for herself and the skills she had gained in the period had not left her. Those skills helped her track down one of the many horses that had fled at the initial sound of danger. The first horse she found didn''t have a saddle but she could hardly be bothered to care. Fashioning herself a tendril of water, she made sure the horse didn''t get away and used it as reins to steer it and ferry her to Alvareen. And now she approached the gates of her employer''s massive Estate. The security was immediately alerted and Ka knew, that had she been perceived as an enemy, she would already be under fire from all barrage of attacks she would hardly be able to survive. The obvious guards ¡ªthe ones who stood in ce and kept an eye out¡ª were the least of worries for any trespasser. The most dangerous security measures in ce in the Estate were the ones far more hidden. "It''s me!" Ka yelled and held up a token that she infused with Mana so it red up in a symbol that hovered above her head like a banner. She could have chosen a more discreet method of announcing herself but that would have required reducing her travel speed and time was of the essence. Already, the fools that attacked them might have opened the cage andpromised the greatest prize of that Caravan. The Guards stood aside and the Gates opened just in time for Ka''s horse to ride through and she didn''t stop until she was close to the Estate''s internal barracks where the bulk of Ralph Gribbo''s private army made their residence. By the time she was urging her horse to stop, a man was approaching her. Tall, muscled, and wearing a shirt that was open halfway down his front to show off hard pecs covered lightly with hair. "Ka," the man said, "You''re back?" He looked behind her and only then seemed to notice age was alone. "Where are the others?" He asked. "We were attacked," Ka said. "What?" Gareth asked in disbelief. The idea that anyone would dare attack their Employer''s Caravan so close to Alvareen was almost imusible. Ka nodded grimly, "Everyone is dead. I would be too had I not barely managed to get away." "How many were they?" Gareth asked with furrowed brows. Ka pursed her lips and said nothing. Gareth grew suspicious. "Ka?" He called. "Forget about how many there were," Ka managed to say then. "Ka!" Gareth called again, his voice slightly raised while he glowered. Ka ignored him and pushed on, "I suspect they came from Alvareen and if they did, they''ll be back so we need to lock down the city." Gareth red for a second more and then sighed, "It''s not impossible. Though I wonder who would be foolish enough to do such a thing and still return to Alvareen," he said. "The Lord''s enemies are numerous. Some might be hiding in in sight. Their motives hidden beneath smiles." "If you have someone in mind, I''d like to hear you say it inly." "How many ''allies'' are truly on the Lord''s side?" Ka asked with intense eyes. "Grave usations to make," Gareth said with furrowed brows. "Just lock down the city," Ka said, "I''ll provide you a description of who to look out for. I got a good enough look at one of them." "Very well¡­" Gareth said and then paused as his body went stiff, "Hold on, what about ''it''?" He asked. "They have itobviously," Ka said with a sigh while she closed her eyes like she couldn''t bear how disappointed she was in herself. "By the gods!" Gareth let out, "That Cargo is worth more than the entire Caravanbined." "I know," Ka said with a groan, "But it was either stay and get killed or leave and try for reinforcements which is why I''m here now." Gareth let out another sigh and nodded, "I''m d you''re alive, at least," he said, "I''ll lock down the City and send out men to try and get it back." "Good," Ka said with a nod and spent a few seconds describing the masked gunman whose gun-wielding and fairly peculiar way of should make him easier to spot. "I must report to the Lord now," Ka announced once she was done. She turned her horse around and galloped to the main building. She was a few feet away from it when she leaped off the horse''s back, let her water tendril/reins fade, and dashed through therge doors. "Where''s Lord Gribbo?" She asked the first worker she met on her way. "He''s in his study," the worker said, looking taken aback by the urgency. "Alright," Ka said and she was already pushing past the worker and heading deeper into the Estate. "Lady Ka," the worker yelled out after her, "Hold on, he''s in a meeting!" But Ka didn''t hear. She was already heading down corridors, and traveling up a flight of stairs until she was at a thick door against which she knocked raptly. "Lord Gribbo?" she called out still with urgency. "Ka," said a soft voice from behind and the Water Mage either took that as an invitation or would have entered either way because she pushed the door inward and hurried inside. "My Lord¡­" she said and then stopped short. The study wasrge and stockedrge shelves all stacked with books containing information ranging across all manner of topics. It seemed like the den of an intellectual. There were two men inside. Both were dressed in fine clothes that did very little to hide their muscled bodies. One of them was bald and had a grey handle-bar mustache above his thin lips. He stroked and twisted the mustache while he stared down at the chess pieces lined up on a boardid on top of the small table between the two men. The other man''s hair was slicked back. His trimmed beard was proper¡ª refined and he had a smirk as he watched the bald man rather than the board. "Ka," the man with the slicked-back hair said, "I don''t remember inviting you in." "I''m sorry, my Lord," Ka said with a bow, "There''s been a¡­ situation." "The Caravan?" Ralph Gribbo asked still with his eyes on his chess opponent and still without losing his smirk. "I''m afraid we lost it, my Lord. We were ambushed at the Brieme Mountains," she said, and then to recover she added, "But we''re going after it with more men now." *Snort* The sound came from the bald man who hadn''t taken his eyes off the board. Ka frowned at the man but dared not say a word. "Is something funny?" Ralph Gribbo asked. "Of course, something is funny," the man said, "I offered you an entourage of some of the best Knights of the Citadel and you declined. That''s the thing about you, Ralph, you''re always so arrogant. So overconfident. You think smirking all the time makes you seem all aware. All-knowing. All capable. It doesn''t." "Ouch," Ralph said, "All that you haven''t made a move in what¡­ thirty minutes now?" "I take my time," the man answered and finally moved a piece ¡ªhis bishop¡ª across the board before he announced, "Check!" "Wrong move," Ralph said, and before moving his Knight piece to take the bishop, "I never liked Clergies." "Overconfident as always," the man said before moving his Queen piece to announce again, "Check!" The word had barely left the man''s lips that Ralph was moving a piece to take the opponent''s Queen off the board. "Fuck!" The man said with his eyes wide at the move he had missed. Ralphughed then. It sounded quite good-natured but the man''s bald head grew red. "If Overconfidence is my problem. Blindness is yours, Marcus. To have stared at the board for that long and not seen this move. You''re hopeless!" "I can still win this," Marcus said and with one hand scratching his bald head, he moved a pawn piece to start the long journey to a promotion. "That''s too little toote, buddy," Ralph said and chuckled before he moved his ''castle'' piece to announce confidently, "Checkmate." "Shit!" Marcus let out. "That''s what?" Ralph asked with a mocking attempt at remembrance, "Six to nil?" "Let''s go again," Marcus announced gritting his teeth, "I''m winning for sure this time." Ralph shrugged, "Set up the board then," he said and after another good-natured chuckle, he nced at Ka and his eyes grew cold, "You are right though. I can be very overconfident. Clearly, I was in this case because I expected a bunch of morons led by one of my best Mages to sessfully guard a Caravan to my City and they failed. Tell me, Ka, just how many enemies ambushed you." Ka shuddered and swallowed before she mumbled out a word far too low for anyone to hear despite the impable hearing of all those in the Study. "I didn''t catch that," Ralph said, his voice cold as ice. Ka''s face lost all color and she trembled before she managed to say, "Three, My Lord¡­ They were three." Chapter 210: I Came For You "Three?" Ralph Gribbo asked in a cold, calm tone. The very next second, Ka''s eyes bugged and she clutched at her neck but there was nothing there to grip. "Ack¡ª" she choked as her knees wobbled and she struggled for breath. She was unable to get a word out to plead for mercy as she got forced to her knees where she continued to clutch at the non-existent noose around her neck. "Three," Ralph Gribbo repeated, his tone even colder. Nothing on his face hinted that he was the one squishing the life out of Ka but it was him. The only other person in the room capable of such was Marcus who was impassively arranging chess pieces without even the slightest bit of interest. Aura. Ka knew why Ralph was capable of choking her without moving a muscle and she also knew she could lessen her burden with Mana but, besides the fact that that would only make her Lord more angry and invoke a worse fate upon her, she also believed she deserved this punishment. She had been useless and a precious capture was lost. "So it''s all gone?" Ralph asked, "Even the Werewolf?" He let the question hang in the air and only when he angled his head did it be obvious that he was seeking an answer. He furrowed his brows when Ka continued to choke and with a cold roll of his eyes, he reined in his Aura and let her gasp for air as she slumped to the ground. "Speak," he said before she had even regained propermand of her voice. "The Werewolf''s cage was still intact when I left, My Lord," she managed to say in a single breath even if her voice did sound very hoarse. Now Ralph became thoughtful. "Tonight is a Full moon. To open that cage now would be misguided. Despite my means and nned negotiation of services with that beast, reasoning with their kind, after they shift, is near impossible. They''ll only be focused on the hunt. To unlock the Cage would likely spell disaster for the hijackers. It''s what they deserve. However, I cannot dispel that this could have been the work of someone who knew of the Werewolf. They might have sought to capture it instead." Ralph mused mostly to himself and Ka dared not pay attention even if she continued to rub her hand around her neck still feeling the difort of the earlier choke. And then Ralph looked at her and nailed her with cold ck eyes, "So you returned in failure and your first instinct was to report it?" "No, my Lord," Ka said and shifted into a low bow on the floor, "I spoke with Gareth. We''ll lock down the City in case the hijackers happen toe here. We''re also sending men out to the site in case we can still track them down and get the Werewolf back." Ralph Gribbo still looked dissatisfied but he nodded. The Werewolf was the main cargo in the Caravan. More ves to be pped with Control cuffs and forced to work his various businesses was fine enough but a Werewolf, if tamed could be such a game changer in so many ways, and these ipetent fools lost it! "Well, then what are you waiting for?" Ralph asked after a second or so passed. The Mage raised a brow, at first not understanding, and then her Lord''s voice rose, "Get up and get after it with them. It''s your mess, so you''d better clean it up!" Ka sprung to her feet and winced at the pain that action caused her unhealed injuries. "Right away, my Lord," she said and backed away so fast, that she was out the door before her words werepletely out of her lips. Silence¡­ "Not a word," Ralph said to break the silence. His eyes still glowered coldly but they were on the chess board instead and on the pieces Marcus had arranged. "I was only going to say it''s your move," Marcus said gently with a smile ying at the corner of his lips. A smile he didn''t try at all hard to smother. "Hmph," Ralph said but the intensity of his glower lessened a smidge as he reached for a piece and moved it. "Three¡­" Marcus said in a mumble. "Marcus, I swear¡­" Ralph said with a bit of a growl. "All I''m saying is my squad of Knights won''t fall to three nobodies," Marcus said, unbothered by the growl or the intensity of the words. "Who says they''re nobodies?" Ralph asked. As disappointed as he was in Ka and the dead Mercenaries, he did understand that numbers were hardly a defining factor in a world where impossibilities were so possible. It was embarrassing that they''d lose to three but for all he and Marcus knew, the three were powerful experts who put Ka''s talents to shame. "Bah. Against the Citadel''s Knights, everyone is a nobody." Marcus sounded very confident and he had fairly good reason to be. He had spent decades at the top hierarchy of Alvareen''s Citadel of Knights and while he had seen talentse and go and seen many prosper, the current batch were some of the most promising in decades. Chapter Read: Ralph snorted, "Right," he said before announcing silently, "Check." Marcus was unbothered and blocked the move in a manner that forced Ralph to retreat lest he lose an important piece. "You know I''m right," Marcus insisted, "We have great talents in the Citadel. Aurelius has been very promising and he''s not even the best we have. And then there''s his partner; Eloise the Mage Knight. Powerful fighter and a beauty too." "Marcus, just stop," Ralph said. "You could have used our help is all I''m saying," Marcus said with a shrug and a tone of finality that made it appear he''d drop the matter. A few movester, Ralph sighed, "You''re right. Clearly, we could have used a Squad of Knights. I miscalcted." "You were overconfident," Marcus corrected. "That too," Ralph said and managed a chuckle before he added in a very mellow voice, "Checkmate." "What?!" Marcus asked and stared hard at the board but indeed, his King piece had no route of escape. "Marcus my friend, we might have to get those eyes of yours checked. The score is now Seven to None." "Again!" Marcus announced. "Set them up," Ralph answered with an easy smile. Marcus did and they yed again. He lost seven more times that night for an even 14 matches and dered a rematch for their next ''very-important'' meeting. *** ¡ªOutskirts of Alvareen¡ª Henry, Louis, and Andor rode at an even pace back to Alvareen. Not too slow and certainly not too fast. They hoped they''d meet no more dangers on their way but Henry, leading the party, kept his Perception spread to detect the slightest inclination of someone ¡ªor someones¡ª in their path. "Snow," Louis mumbled suddenly. For someone who was keeping an ''eye'' out for the path ahead, Henry had been so spaced out that Louis mentioning it was the only reason he realized the kes were indeed falling. The Brieme mountains were a strange terrain in the North. While Alvareen and most of its immediate surroundings were usually covered with snow in a light sheet or sometimes in heavy piles, the mountain path was far drier. But a snowfall had started now. "Could be a storm," Andor said as the snowfall increased. Creating a curtain in front of them. "I don''t think it is," Louis said in a low wheezing voice, "It''ll pass, I''m sure." "Hold!" Henry said suddenly in an urgent voice. He pulled on Nyx''s reins and his call-out caused both Louis and Andor''s horses to stop as well. "What is it?" Andor asked. "People up ahead," Henry said, and ''Violent Retort'' was suddenly in his hand. "They''reing?" Andor asked. "No, just standing in ce. They seem to be waiting¡­ Wait, one ising." "Do we run?" Andor asked and he nced at Louis wondering if the Mage''s weakening body could handle an intense gallop. Henry opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted before he could get a word out. "Don''t run," a voice called out gently as the speaker walked close enough for all three to see who it was. But the voice already made it clear who it was. "Eloise?" "Yes," Eloise said with her hands folded beneath her breasts and her grey eyes glowering at them. "I can''t believe you did it!" She said in an irate tone. Henry didn''t even think to deny it. They looked like they had been through hell so there was very little ¡ªif any at all¡ª, he could say to assuage her usation. "It was better you didn''t know about it," he said, "I didn''t want you implicated." "Idiot," Eloise said. "Why are you here anyway?" Henry asked. He looked her over. She was dressed in a blue-stripped white shirt with her hair braided so it fell over her shoulder and down over her left breast. She had on cotton pants with leather boots; Casual wear like she was just out for a nightly walk. Or maybe a nightly ride. "I came for you," she said with a deep frown, "You have no idea how much trouble you''re in." Chapter 211: Back To Alvareen (1) A minute passed with Eloise ring at the three still on the backs of their horses. The snowfall was getting more intense and still, she said nothing. So Henry decided he might as well prompt her. "So about this trouble¡ª" Eloise interrupted immediately to shut him up and she spoke like she had never stopped talking. "The whole of Alvareen is on Lockdown. Last I heard, Mercenaries are rallying up within the Gribbo Estate. They''reing for you." Henry shared a look with Andpt and then went back to looking at Eloise to ask in a somber tone, "How long do we have?" "Quarter of an hour maybe. Even less probably. They have fast horses," Eloise answered, and then her voice became angrier and she looked like she might just stomp her foot to the ground, "I can''t believe you''d do this! I thought you might but I really wanted to believe you had more sense¡­" "I''m sorry Eloise but if we only have a few minutes, we need to get moving now," Henry said and he was starting to angle Nyx''s reins for a turnaround. Eloise noticed and for a moment, she tempered her disappointed glower. "Where are you going?" She asked. Henry looked confused by the question, "We have to run. We''ll go back through the Brieme mountains. Take diverging paths and try to shake them off." "To what end?" Eloise asked. Again, Henry looked confused but still, he answered, "Till we get away," he said, "Till we''re safe." Eloise shook her head and lowered her voice, "You won''t be. They''ll catch you." Henry managed a smirk, "Nyx is fast. And strong. She can carry the three of us and still outrun any horse after us." "Are you sure about that?" Eloise asked, "These are Mercenaries in the employ of arguably the most powerful man in the Alvareen. I assure you, they will catch you." "You''re being very bleak. What do you suggest then?" Henry asked. Eloise took one hand away from the underneath of her breasts and pointed behind her towards the direction she hade from, "The safest ce for you is Alvareen. We just have to get you in." "You said something about a Lockdown," Henry said, "How will we get past that?" "You''ll be with me," Eloise said like that solved the issue, "Like I said earlier. I came for you. Ever since I went to the Lotus Inn and learned you were out again as you have been out the past few days, I feared the worst. So I''ve been keeping up with all developments involving the Caravan. I was informed when Ka returned and announced herself to the Gribbo Estate. I only managed to rally myself after you before the lockdowns and chase began. Tell me you at least took precautions." "We wore masks," Henry said, "Our faces were always hidden." "Good," Eloise said, "That makes this a tad easier. Now get off your horses and get in." "Get in where?" Andor chimed in but Eloise had gestured behind her and, through the curtain of snow getting thicker by the second, the Fighter saw the frame of a carriage. "Oh," he said at the sight. Of course, Henry had known it was there. His perception hadn''t only picked Eloise when he first cautioned them all to stop. He had detected the carriage as well as three more upants. Two seated inside and one seated at the front: The Driver in charge of directing the horse where they ought to go. "We''ll have to change your clothes. Make you more presentable," Eloise said. Henry got down from Nyx''s saddle and he and Andor assisted Louis off his. Henry bore more of the weight because thanks to the system, he was suffering pain of injuries the least. Or not at all even. "-I''ll keep close?-" Nyx asked. "Of course," Henry answered out loud, surprised why she even sounded unsure at all. With a small whinny of content, Nyx manipted his Shadow and vanished into it as she usually did. "Eloise, who else is here?" Henry asked as he and Andor approached the Carriage with Louis between them. "Eager help," Eloise answered. The Carriage door opened then and two young faces appeared shing eager smiles that were only slightly muted by the caution in their eyes. Henry recognized them. They were the squires that had forged ahead into the Lich''s chamber during the Dungeon raid. He remembered their names were Alice and Darren. "Dame Eloise, How may we help?" Alice asked. "Attach these two horses to the Carriage," Eloise said, "We don''t need help pulling the Carriage but I see no reason to leave them behind or have them follow us riderless." "On it!" The two Squires said in unison as they leaped out of the carriage and grabbed the reins of both horses to urge them to the front of the carriage where the driver awaited with the fastens to secure them. Their saddles were stripped and kept safe while they were fitted with the proper harnesses. "Here," Eloise said and thrust her hand into the Carriage so that the change of clothes fell from her storage bracelet and onto the carriage floor. "Thanks," Henry said as Eloise stepped back and made a point to look away and give the three some privacy whether or not they needed it. "You have one minute." They were done faster than that. The dresses Eloise had provided were not the sort Henry would have ordinarily worn. They were even more expensive than the casual wear she had on but he understood why; There was a sort of appearance those searching for them would be on the lookout for and this could help hide them better. Andor had wounds and while their bleeding had stopped, he decided to keep his clothes on underneath the new ones to act as a barrier so any blood stain did not seep through. Chapter Explore: Henry sent his ''Abominable Vest'' and the ''Hat of Shielding'' into his Inventory but he employed a simr principle as Andor by fastening the new clothes over a more in shirt underneath. Louis was still capable enough to pull on the new clothes on his own and by the time the minute was over, the horses were joined the earlier simple formation of two horses and the carriage was ready to pull away. Eloise, Alice, and Darren entered and the journey back to Alvareen began. "Hold still," Eloise said to Henry with a small bottle now in her hand. She pushed a small bit of ball from the bottle and b fan to dab it on the wounds across his face that had not been healed by the Healing Potions. Wherever the balm touched, the wound sealed up. "It''s not healed," Eloise said gently, "This is purely cosmetic and will keep the skin looking normal. That should be enough to dissuade suspicion." Her finger moved so lightly across his face and when she started trailing the ball down his neck at the scratches he had sustained there, Henry realized the carriage was very silent. Or maybe he was just too focused on the look on Eloise''s face that he didn''t hear what was being said. He noticed Eloise''s cheeks gain a reddish hue as her finger stopped in ce against a wound she had been mending with the balm. She seemed to realize she had stopped her finger in ce because she flushed, cleared her throat, and dropped her hand. "And that''s how it''s used," she announced as she retrieved another much fuller bottle that she tossed to Andor who caught it and began to apply it across his wounds before doing the same with Louis''s. As a cosmetic solution, the balm did nothing to soothe the Mage''s pain but it did make him look less on the brink of death even if he leaned his head against the seat looking pale while he took in the asional deep breath. The carriage had dragged across the snow-covered ground for about five minutes before it became clear that they hadpany in the form of a host of horses. "Halt!" Said the deep voice of the one leading the formation. He pulled his horse to a stop and the others behind him followed his lead. "Is anything the matter, sir?" The driver asked gently. Gareth eyed the driver and then the carriage, "Where are youing from?" He asked. "Alvareen," the driver answered immediately and then when Gareth raised a brow, he rified, "I mean we are originally from Alvareen and are on our way back." "Seemste for a ride this far from the city?" Gareth said with his brows furrowed, "Where exactly did you travel to and are returning from?" "Nowhere in particr," the driver answered, "My young Miss enjoys asional rides out of the City, you see. She finds Alvareen sometimes stuffy and enjoys what she calls ''fresh mountain air''. "And your Young miss is¡­?" "Lady Eloise Du Vurgen," the driver answered grandly. Gareth shifted atop his horse then. He observed the Carriage better and only now noticed the noble crest emzoned against its coat. He cleared his throat, "Hmm, I see. Well, there''s been a situation so I had to be thorough." "I understand," the driver answered. Gareth nodded, "Very well. You may¡­" he started to say. "Wait," Ka said and her horse trotted forward. Her eyes were on the horses pulling the Carriage and she was almost sure she recognized one¡­ maybe even two of them. The more she stared, the more convinced she was until she was saying with some confidence; "Hold on. Don''t let them leave just yet." Chapter 212: Back To Alvareen (2) Henry heard Ka''s voice and words clearer than he''d heard anyone else who had spoken outside. He also recognized her voice; The only one to escape their interception of the Caravan and the subsequent death of the Mercenaries. Knowing now what trouble her escape had caused, he sorely wished he had managed to kill her. That said, when he clenched a fist, it was not in anger but in preparation. He was all too ready to pull out any of his guns and fight if it proved inevitable. Almost like she had heard his fist clench, Eloise looked to the side at him and his hand. "Rx," she told him quietly. "I''m rxed," Henry said immediately. "Be calm," Eloise continued and she patted the back of his fist. "I am calm," Henry said and he wasn''t lying. He wascalm. Meanwhile, outside the carriage, the man leading the host of Mercenaries nced at Ka, "Why?" He asked. Ka didn''t speak at first. She kept her eyes on the horses she thought she recognized and then she said, "There''s just something about their story that doesn''t sit right with me, Gareth." "Eloise Du Vurgen is a member of the Citadel," Gareth said and the tone he used made it clear that that was only one of the reasons to give Eloise the benefit of the doubt. Ka was not at all as bothered. She had witnessed so many die and watched her enemy show capabilities that stumped her and she had been so close to dying to someone whose magical andbat expertise should have been below hers. She had also gotten choked by her Lord earlier that night because of her failures. How could she, after all that, now dismiss a potential lead toward their target because of the identity of Eloise Du Vurgen? Hold on, let me check," she said, and wincing at the pain in her chest, she got off the back of her horse. "Ka!" Gareth called but she ignored him and started walking toward the Carriage. As she passed the horses, she eyed them again. Snow was covering their coat in mes but the view was clear enough for her to see the coats. She could have sworn she had seen two of the enemies ride on those horses. Of course, considering the costs (dark brown and reddish brown) were not all that umon among horses in Alvareen and the North in general, this was not all that big a deal. Plus, there was no sight of that ck horse anywhere in the formation. ''I still have to know,'' Ka told herself and walked to the side of the carriage. She barely nced at the driver who was keeping quite calm and only when she heard shuffling through snow did she realize she was being followed. "Ka," Gareth called again now a step behind her, "We''re wasting time here." "How would you know?" Ka asked in a low voice and with a bit of a sneer. She tapped on the window on the side of the carriage then, "Open up please." Immediately the window was pushed outward, allowing the Water Mage to peer into the Carriage at the upants. The Squires Alice and Darren were calm and tried to be inconspicuous. They were actually doing well at that because Ka barely paid them attention. She could just tell they weren''t the ones she was after and moved on. Her eyes fell on Louis and Andor then with more attention on the injured Mage. Louis was leaning against the backrest of the seat he was in, his eyes were closed but he managed even breaths that barely showed the pain he was in. He had drunk another Healing Potion right before Ka asked for the window to be opened just so the soothing energy of the liquid would help ease his difort and aid him in acting normal. She looked at Andor then and he paid her no mind. His fist was clenched too and Henry knew it was for simr reasons as him; Readiness to draw his Spear from his Storage bracelet and stab the Mage in the face at a moment''s notice. Ka''s eyes found Henry next but before she could scrutinize him as she had done with the other two, a fairly urgent voice hit her ears. "Is anything the matter?" Eloise asked in an easy-going tone of voice that was just the right amount of annoyance. After all, their journey had been interrupted and now she was being scrutinized. "Alvareen is on Lockdown," Ka said. "It is?" Eloise asked like it was news to her, "Why?" "We''re searching for a few people. Three of them in fact," Ka said and then gestured at Andor, Louis, and Henry, "Can you tell me who these three are?" Eloise furrowed her brows at the request and made it a point that she didn''t think it was Ka''s business to know, "Are you using them of something?" She asked, sounding almost hostile. The sound hit Ka''s ears harder than she had thought they would and she flinched slightly but corrected herself to ask her question still, "Who are they?" "Friends of mine," Eloise said. "For how long have you known them, Miss Du Vurgen?" Ka asked. "It''s ''Dame''," Alice the Squire piped in correction. "Oh, you''re Knighted by the Citadel?" Ka asked with a raised brow. "I am," Eloise said. "I already told you she was," Gareth piped from a step behind her. "You said she was a member of the Citadel. That does not automatically make her a Knight," Ka sniped. "Why would I feel the need to introduce a Squire?" Gareth asked and sounded insulted. "It doesn''t matter," Ka said suddenly and kept her eyes on Eloise, "How long have you known them?" "A week," Eloise answered honestly. "And who are they?" "Dungeon Raiders," Eloise answered still with impatience and annoyance. "And did you happen to be raiding a Dungeon tonight?" Ka asked with her brows furrowing. At first, Eloise said nothing and then, with a long drawn-out sigh and a re at the Mage, she said, "I, at times hate the City air so I wanted a ride out of Alvareen. I called them along so we could discuss important matters." "Important matters, such as?" Ka pressed and gripped the border of the window to lean into the Carriage. "Important matters such as asking them to stay at Alvareen. There are only so many Knights the Citadel will add to my squad of Raiders. I need more help and I wanted theirs." "A Knight of the Citadel ismissioning outside help?" Ka asked like she didn''t buy it. "Good outside help," Eloise rified and then nodded, "But yes." Ka opened her mouth clearly about to profess her doubt but Gareth stepped in. "That happens a lot actually," he said. "It does?" Ka asked, sounding surprised. The matters of Knighthood were not her strong suit. Gareth nodded, "It''s a lot of hard work bing a Knight. A lot of steps and the recruitment and training is not always fruitful. There''s also more to Knighthood than Dungeon Raiding so Knights who do raid Dungeons usually do so with Squads of Mercenaries." "I see," Ka said but still didn''t sound convinced (she was stubborn like that). "So they''re Mercenaries?" She asked about the three in that same doubtful tone. "In a sense," Eloise said, "May we leave now?" Ka said nothing and kept looking the three over. It seemed too much of a coincidence that she was after three men and happened to run into three different men. Also, the horses. "Yes, you can," Gareth stepped in to say, "Sorry to have dyed you. We must be on our way now as well." "Wait¡­" Ka said. "No," Gareth snapped, "Look at them. Can you say with certainty that anyone in the Carriage is who we''re after?" "Well, they were wearing Masks," Ka pointed out. "Can you?" Gareth asked again. "I suppose not," she admitted. The clothes these three were wearing threw her off but a change of clothes was possible so that had not been that big a deal. If she could just scrutinize them for a bit longer¡­ "Ka," Gareth implored in a low intense voice, "Remember there''s another reason we''re out here besides those three." "Another¡ª" Ka started to say and then paused. She remembered now; The Werewolf! The most precious of Cargo of all. When she and the now-dead Mercenaries had ''captured'' it, they had witnessed the strength the man had been capable of and, despite being a Lone Werewolf, the strength increase the creature would have enjoyed during the full moon, there was no way those three would have survived and be seating so calmly in a Carriage. She doubted they would have survived even if they had the help of the so-called Knight of the Citadel. If she was indeed in on the whole thing. "We have to go," Gareth said and Ka''s mind was so busy she didn''t argue. Eloise grabbed the window and made to pull it close but right before it did, Ka locked eyes with Henry. He certainly had a good-looking face but that was not why she held the stare. She held the stare because of his eyes. ck as they were, there was something about them she couldn''t quite ce. It seemed familiar but the thoughts of the Werewolf had captured her attention so much she could not dwell on that feeling. The window closed and the driver up front spiked the reins to get the horses trotting, quickly moving past the host of Hunting Mercenaries until they were truly back on the path to Alvareen. Chapter 213: There Was A Werewolf?! Ka stood in ce and watched the Carriage pull away. The memory of those eyes was popping back into her head and winning the battle of relevance against the thoughts of the Werewolf she was still holding on to hopes of recovering when Gareth tapped her gently on the arm. "Come on," he said and led the way to the rest of their host of Mercenaries where he got on his horse. Ka followed and once she was seated at the back of her horse, they continued the ride toward the ridge. A few minutester, they arrived at the scene of death where the bodies of the dead Mercenaries were strewn. Gareth stepped his horse a few feet from the cages and leaped down to run toward them. The ones with therger bars were so clearly empty but, with the door of the third being turned away, he held on to hope. That hope was dashed when he caught sight of the broken door lying a few feet away amid signs of battle that were not quite the same as the ones they had passed and had obviously been caused in the battle between the hijackers and the now-dead Mercenaries. "It''s gone," Ka said a mere feet away from Gareth and while he stared at the door lying on the floor many feet away, she was looking into the empty cage. "There was a battle here," Gareth said. "Our fight against the hijackers didn''t get this far," Ka said, "It had to have been the Hijackers against the Werewolf." "So they opened the cage then," Gareth said, "They''re either suicidal idiots or they didn''t know what was inside." "If they didn''t know what was inside then they might not have been allies." Ka said. "Maybe not," Gareth said, "But where are the Hijackers?" He cast his eyes around but everybody he saw was clothed like a mercenary; one of their own. None of them fit Ka''s descriptions. "Search around!" Gareth yelled to the Mercenaries they had brought along, "Spread out and search for any sign of the Werewolf. Be careful in your search. The moon is still high in the sky and if it has already killed once, it will be all too excited to hunt down more." "Right!" The Mercenaries chanted as one left on horses. It was going to be easier to outrun or at least reach support if they were on horseback. "Hold on," Ka mumbled with her eyes on the battle trails she was sure had nothing to do with the now-dead Mercenaries she had been with earlier that day. The snowfall was making visibility difficult but she trudged through and it didn''t take long before she saw something sticking out of a snow pile. Gareth was close and together, they looked at the face of a recently deceased. It had been obscured not just by the snowfall but by the snow that had collected on the ground around and on top of it. Gareth and Ka shared a look and it was clear that they both had the same thought. But one of them was reluctant to ept that thought so he proffered a hopeful alternative; "One of the Hijackers, maybe?" Gareth asked. "It''s naked," Ka said as though that made things clear. And it did. A Werewolf''s shift was bad news for its clothes and they don''t return when they revert to human form. There was no doubt about it; This was the cargo they hade to retrieve. Only it no longer had any value. Ka saw a bullet hole on the head but it was so shallow that she didn''t think that was what killed him and so, curious about the cause of death, she swiped snow off the body and exposed the ruptured midsection still sizzling with the acid of the shot that killed it. "They fought it¡­ And they won," she said in a low voice, "Might as well call the Mercenaries back. This is what they left to search for anyway." "No, let them search," Gareth said, "We might still be able to find the bastards that did this." "What?" Ka asked with a raised brow. "Look around, Ka," Gareth said and gestured around them, "It might be obscured by snow but a great battle happened here. I don''t think the ''winners'' were left in good shape." "They''ve had time to heal or at least get far and hide away," Ka pointed out. "We''ll see," Gareth said. Ka frowned but said nothing. "How strong was the Werewolf?" Gareth asked. "Incredibly," Ka said with a sigh, "There was a legend about him in the neighboring towns. They marshaled hunt parties and always failed. Granted they were not the best andcked good resources but even when we faced him, he didn''t shift and we still had to send our best." "Orson?" Gareth asked and scoffed. "Scoff all you want but he was the best Fighter we had with us," Ka said. "Why didn''t you just do it?" Gareth asked. "Orson thought I might kill him if I did," Ka said with a shrug. "Would you?" "If he pushed me to it. It''s hard to hold back when you have someone raging anding at you that hard," Ka admitted, and then, with a sigh, she continued, "The bastard was very stubborn. Said he had a good thing going with hunting the townsfolk and wasn''t interested in ''greener pastures''. Also, Orson didn''t him defeat alone. He had help. So I know he was strong. And with the moon this full, that strength had to have been doubled and then some." "What do we do with the body?" Gareth asked. "We bring it with us," Ka said. "Why?" Gareth asked, looking surprised. "You want to return to Alvareen empty-handed after an all-out search and a Lockdown?" Ka asked and paused for Gareth to be against it again and then she continued, "We''ll let Lord Gribbo decide what we do with it." "Very well," Gareth said, "But we''ll keep searching. I believe those hijackers can''t be far." "Suit yourself," Ka said and stood to her feet to walk away. She was sure that the search would not be fruitful just as sure as she was that their targets were now nearing Alvareen. - - - *** For Henry and the others, the rest of the journey to Alvareen was peaceful. Before they could venture into the City, they were stopped by the City Guards who had been ordered to lock it down and stop anyone from getting in but, with her name and her status as a Knight of the Citadel, Eloise quickly had the Guards stepping aside and offering apologies for dying her. In minutes they were stopping at the entrance of Lotus Inn and in a few more, they were all stepping out of the Elevator now on their floor. "A Healer will be here soon," Eloise announced almost as soon as they were out. Henry wasn''t sure how ''soon'' was soon but barely five minutes after Eloise made the announcement, they were weing an aged man onto their floor. "Sorry for calling you sote, Healer Aldrin," Eloise said with a bow. "Anything for you, My dear," the Healer said with a kind smile before he shuffled forward to be led by Andor into Louis'' room. The consultation went on for an hour before Aldrin stepped out with a rxed smile, "He''ll be alright. He''ll need some rest and to refrain from strenuous activities for a week but he''ll make a full recovery." "Thank you," Henry said faster than Eloise could. "I''m only doing my job," Aldrin answered gracefully. He healed Andor next and provided far more concentrated Healing Potions to keep the recovery going. The potions were very expensive but Eloise said she''d take care of it. Aldrin healed Henry too but all through the short process, he just kept announcing that Henry was healthy besides the small cuts on his face. The concealing balm from earlier had worn off which was good and helped the Healer diagnose their injuries. When Aldrin left to many words of thanks, he was escorted by the Squires Alice and Darren. Soon, it was only Eloise, Henry, and Andor who were left in themon area since Louis was resting. "So," Eloise said with her head inclined as though to prompt something. "So?" Henry prompted her in return, looking confused. "So, what happened?" Eloise asked this time with her voice sounding almost like a snap. Henry sighed, "You already know what happened," Henry said. "Tell me everything," Eloise prompted. "You''re asking for details?" Henry asked. "Yes," Eloise said. Although she was disappointed they would do something so dangerous on their own without a word to her, hijacking those ve trades was one of Eloise''s goals in life. And she wanted to hear from someone who actually lived that goal. "Okay," Henry said with a shrug and gave a quick rundown of events. Andor supplied a few phrases here and there. Mostly details about what he and Louis had been busy with while Henry faced off against Orson the Fighter andter, the Water Mage. "¡­ And so Nyx struck the Mage in the chest, she sted Nyx away and ran. She got too far away too fast for me to follow after her." "An interesting tale," Eloise said with a nod, "What happened next?" "That''s it. She got away and we freed the ves," Henry said with a shrug. Eloise furrowed her brows, "You didn''t mention anything about Louis'' back in that story. How did it get broken? Or almost broken anyway." "Oh that wasn''t the vers," Henry said, "That was the Werewolf." Eloise''s eyes went wide, "There was a Werewolf?!" The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!