There was a loud cracking sound as the blade bent and broke on contact with my skin. I gaped at the man.
"You tried to kill me!" I accused him. Hot anger boiled inside me.
He too, was shocked. Looking in disbelief at his sword that was bent and broken.
"HAL-!!" He didn't manage to finish his sentence.
I reacted by stretching my arms which held my pike towards the man, trying to push him off the horse.
My weapon skewered him through the chest, though.
"Holy shit!" I shouted as I retracted my arms.
There was a head-sized hole in the man's torso. My blood ran cold and I stopped breathing.
"Oh fuck!" I shouted again in horror. "I killed him!"
Everyone stopped moving, the man that fell down climbing on his horse, the rest in front of the cart. The man slipped off the horse and hit the ground while leaving a trail of blood on the animal. A gurgling sound was heard as the last of his breath left him. A few spasms were the last movement he made before life left him.
I felt bile rise on my throat, but forced myself to swallow back.
Self-defense. I told myself, taking a deep breath and clenching my jaw.
I turned my head away from the dead man and prepared myself for the others in case they decided to attack me as well.
An unnatural rage filled my head.
Two bandits charged me and raised their swords.
I lined my pike up and quickly stabbed at the woman on the left, leaving three head sized holes on her body. She collapsed before reaching me, staining the horse she rode with blood. I had the advantage of having a longer weapon.
The second bandit barely had time to react. His head left his body with a swipe of my weapon, shooting blood from his neck like a geyser as his heart pumped its last. The gore drenching my hair.
I turned around, not having the time to give attention to dead bodies.
The world slowed down, adrenaline pumping through my body. My muscles surged and my speed increased.
I sprinted to three mounted bandits that were close to each other, jumped and twirled my weapon over my head, dismembering bodies left and right. A shower of blood, guts, arms, legs and heads fell on me, and I felt the bile rise again.
"Bluergh!"
This time, I couldn't suppress it and vomited on a fallen head, which made it even worse. His frightened face covered in blood and vomit. I gagged as I spun in place, lifting my pike. I threw it to the furthest bandit from me, splitting his body in half, organs flying in every direction. The pike continued its course, flying off to the river.
The remaining bandits recovered from the shock of seeing seven of their own die in less than three seconds and charged at me seeing that I had no weapon. One jumped off her horse towards me while swinging a sword down on me.
"Die, you wench!" she shouted. Her face twisted in anger.
I raised a hand over my head and the blade bounced off my armor with an ear piercing ring.
Her face shifted from rage to terror.
I punched her in the face now that she was standing on the ground, trying to knock her out. However, her head exploded like a watermelon shot with a 50.Cal. My arm moved faster than my pike in flight. Bones, skin, brains and blood covered my body and face.
"Shit!" As I recoiled from the excessive success, my weapon reformed in my hands.
The two last bandits must have realized the futility of their actions, because they turned their horses around and ran off.
"Retreat! She's too powerful!" one called.
I raised my right arm, feeling an unnatural weight to my weapon, and threw it. This time, the pike impaled the last woman to the ground, dismounting her, which activated the area of effect part of the skill, sending a shock wave outwards. The other bandit was pulverized by the impact along with the two horses and the dead bandit's corpse.
"Holy shit, not the horses too!" I closed my eyes and whispered as I felt the pike return.
I quickly searched my inventory and pulled out a pink potion. My hands were shaking as I unscrewed the top. I drank all its contents at once as I felt another wave of nausea and bile rising up my throat.
I took a deep breath to calm myself. I was trusting in something I had yet to confirm. My expectations turned true as my entire body stopped shaking and my panic disappeared. It was a useless potion in the game that didn't do anything, part of a quest, but had the flavor text 'calms the mind and spirit' on it. That was useful information.
I sighed a deep breath and walked up to the Elf woman.
She was sitting on the ground staring at me with wide eyes and mouth. The horses were standing where their riders had died, not minding their deaths one bit.
"You alright?" I asked the woman. My mind was tranquil as a pond.
She closed her jaw and cleared her throat.
"Good riddance. You killed them all, good." she said as she stood up. "Those were ruthless bandits, and strong too. Good thing you were around. I was kidnapped, you see. They killed my companions and stole the cart. Phew!" her shoulders dropped as she exhaled all the air in her lungs.
"Dunno, still processing it all." I said. "Are you injured?" I asked.
Duh, you dumb bitch, look at her! I retorted in my mind.
I checked on her and saw plenty of wounds. Small and large cuts, huge bruises and deep rope marks.
"Yeah. They roughed me up pretty bad." she chuckled. "I was tied up for three days before I manage to free myself and you arrived."
"Here." I summoned a health potion and gave it to her. "Drink that."
She eyed the flask and took it.
"This is a-" she started.
"Yeah, yeah. Drink up first. Talk later." I interrupted her.
"...Sure." she said and brought the potion to her lips, shrugging.
The effects were immediate. Her wounds closing up in a matter of seconds and the bruises fading out. I even heard a few bones popping. We both winced at that.
"Okay. Now that that's dealt with." she said, returning to the cart.
She rummaged through a few bags and took some clothes. After getting dressed, she returned to where I was standing. I turned around to face her.
"I'm Lapia. You?" she said, offering her hand.
"Natasha." I returned the handshake.
"Not that it's any of my business, but I saw you vomiting while you fought." She eyed me warily. "Was that the first time you killed?"
"Pretty much, yeah. It was mostly on instinct, though. I just followed what my body told me to do." I shrugged. "Quite gruesome."
I felt the potion effects wearing off, and a wave of nausea rising. I turned to the side and vomited again.
"Well, if it's any consolation, you'll get used to it." she patted my back.
"I guess I will." I managed to say between barfs.
After calming down, I straightened myself and took a good look at the Elf. Her chestnut hair was long, her green eyes were almond shaped. She was, however, almost only bones and skin. I looked away quickly.
"Now what?" I asked as I eyed the horses. "What do we do about the corpses and the animals?"
"We burn the corpses and take the animals to Riverfield. We'll sell them or return them." she explained, gesturing around.
"Riverfield being a town nearby? I´m not from around here, you see." I sighed as I approached the horses.
They were pretty tame and followed me when I took the reins.
"Yes, it's a city a day or two from here if haven't lost my sense of direction." she explained while the horses moved away from her.
"I'll get the horses. You gather the bodies." I offered.
"Sounds like a plan." she sighed in resignation.
The following minutes were spent in silence as both bodies and horses where gathered in different places. The Elf going through the corpses and taking pouches and useful items, which weren't many. The swords were ordinary steel, their armor destroyed beyond usage by me or covered in blood.
"I was saving this for when I escaped, but your timing was good, so I'll use it here." she said and raised her hands.
The air in front of her distorted and a few sparks flew out before a flame the size of a fist formed in front of her. It grew in size to an adult head and slowly descended to the pile of bodies, setting them ablaze.
"What the fuck was that?!" I raised my voice unconsciously.
She looked at me with a fearful expression.
"What was what?" she looked around us, searching for something.
"That fire thing you did!" I exclaimed.
"Oh, E'er? Everyone can do this if they study long enough." she explained, looking me with obvious confusion. "Have you lived your life under a rock?" she asked.
"Might as well." I nodded. "How come you got caught if you can use fire?" I asked the obvious.
"Ah, yes." she nodded, a sad smile on her face. "You see, the bandits attacked at night and knocked me out, then bound me with Numbing Rope, rendering me useless." she scowled. "It took me three days to cut through the ropes." she flexed her fingers, her eyebrows knitting together.
"Good thing I showed up, then." I said with a smudge of bitterness.
The smoke rose and brought the stench of burning flesh and leather. I backed off, allowing another wave of nausea to rush through me, bending over and emptying my bowels on the ground.
"Better out than in." I wiped my mouth with a towel I had in my inventory.
As I moved away from the pyre of corpses, I focused on my armor, now covered in blood, guts, brain matter and pieces of skin. The smell was anything but delightful. Nearing the river, I undressed to my underwear and took a nice dip in the freezing water.
The fire kept going as I did my best to clean my metallic equipment. Once there were no signs of blood, I was satisfied. The leather undergarments were easier to clean by an entire magnitude, just washing them once took the blood away. I cleaned my body as meticulously as I could, making sure my hair was spotless. I vomited once more when coagulating blood came out of my ear canals. I never thought people had that much blood in them.
I left the armor and leather drying on the edge of the river and mindlessly floated in the water. Making sure I didn't drift off was an ordeal of its own. The river had a strong current. A few minutes later I got out and dressed as the fire died down. Luckily my equipment had dried by that time.
Lapia was leaning on the side of the cart and saw me approach.
"Ready to leave?" she asked.
"Let's." I said as I sat on the front.
The horses pulling the vehicle responded amiably, advancing at a steady pace, the rest following the cart. Lapia sat next to me. It wasn't until twenty minutes later that she started crying.
"I was so scared!" she managed to say between sobs.
"Hm..." I looked up to the sky, taking notice of the two suns. "You're safe now." I, too, wanted to cry.
I didn't expect my first meeting with humans to be so violent. I thought it would be a majestic tale, with friends along the way, a heroic adventure. I had fought before, sure, but a fistfight paled in comparison to taking lives. It was brutal, savage and left my mouth tasting like bile. I allowed myself to relax and let tears fall.
"Looks like this world is not as kind as I thought." I sobbed and choked.
"That, it is not." she said back, still crying. "Seriously, thank you." she put her hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah, it's all good now. Hic!" A hiccup escaped me and I laughed.
Lapia laughed too. Then we both cried a little longer with words of gratitude on her part and reassurance from mine.
After calming down, I summoned food from my inventory. Dumplings. Those were damn good.
"Is there anything you don't eat?" I asked. Maybe Elves in this world were vegans or something.
"Hubis mushrooms, I hate those." she said.
"Never heard of them." I gave her a dumpling and a soft drink. "Give me the bottle after you finish, I don't want to pollute."
"Don't know what you mean, but sure." she accepted the food and the pet bottle.
"So." I cleared my throat. "Your ears, what's up with them?"
She stared at me with wide eyes.
"You really have lived under a rock, huh?" she nodded with understanding. "I'm from the Elf species." she said as a matter of fact.
"Species?" I asked confused. "Not race?"
"Uhm, you know races are within a species, right?" she took a bite of the dumpling. "This is pretty good."
"They are, aren't they? Continue." I sighed.
"There are many species in the world. Elves, for example. There are a few races of elves. You have the Elmari, the Tulmi, the Domi, and the Faeton. Each with their own land, laws, culture, specific features, etc. We all have common features, though. Much like dwarves are all short. Humans have round ears and have short lives. You Halves glow with the sun. You get it." she explained.