Nathaniel panted as he reached the bottom of the mountain, seeing that there was nothing a long strip of rocky fields, a treeline in the distance. He had already assumed there was a forest nearby, with the mention of some sort of Witch.
There was a heavy feeling in the air, something telling him to keep running.
"Shit...." He said as he kept running, looking behind to see the figures of his chasers in the distance, "Guess I haven't fully escaped their reach. So the previous instructions were to just escape the Fort?"
He then tripped on a rock, hitting the ground hard with a thud and rolling a few feet. His entire body throbbed in pain as he had a couple of grazes on his arm and knees.
"Shit....." He said while getting on his knees, hearing the voices get louder and closer, "Damn fucking sandals..."
He got back up, patting his pants and stumbling back. He looked at the gun in his hand, noticing it had a few cracks on it. He didn't know if it had cracked in the fall, but he didn't like the idea of his weapon breaking.
In his line of sight, the blue bar appeared, displaying that his MP was full; at 100/100MP. He then began to run again, but the System appeared out of nowhere.
[Warning: Powerful Foe Nearby]
"Huh?" Nathaniel said as he frowned, "What the hell?"
[Threat Level: High]
He was a bit confused on what the System was telling him, hearing that his pursuers were already reaching him.
"What powerful foe?" He asked, "These fuckers? No...must mean something else. It would have given me a warning with them already."
The Message suddenly shifted:
[Current Objective: Defeat The Pursuing Bandits]
[Rewards: Magic Item]
Nathaniel frowned, "A Magic Item?" He said, "I wonder what that's about.....But I doubt I will be able to outrun these guys....."
He turned to see that they had already reached him, only a few dozen feet away.
"You son of a bitch!!!!" Borug said as he charged towards him
Hub was behind him, "Get him, Borug!!!"
"Summon Skeleton"
Yet another skeleton sprouted from the ground, exiting it with haste as it stood in front of Nathaniel. The Orc was scowling at this, however, unfazed by the fact that Nathaniel summoned another undead puppet.
"Get them." Nathaniel commanded, already accustomed to the spell
The skeleton lunged at the Orc, clattering loudly as Borug simply swung his club hard at it, smashing it into pieces. It had appeared that no matter what, a fragile skeleton like the one Nathaniel summoned is nothing against the might of an Orc's strength.
"Get this shit out of here!!" Borug exclaimed as the bones flew everywhere
The bones got in front of his companions, which caused them to stop and shield their faces.
"Watch it, Borug!!!" Hub exclaimed
This is what Nathaniel wanted: for them to be temporarily blinded. He lunged to the side and aimed his gun at the nearest one, pulling the trigger and firing a round at him. The projectile shot straight through him, causing the bandit to widen his eyes in shock as blood sprayed everywhere.
"Urgh....." He managed before dropping to the ground and dying seconds later
"What?!" Hub shouted, "Borug!!!"
"I got it!" Borug's deep voice resounded throughout the air, "Come here, you fucking-"
He jumped to the side to avoid another projectile that was shot at him. This was the second shot that he managed to avoid from Nathaniel's gun. However, this one was able to graze him, making him stumble as his entire body began to sting.
"What....?" the orc said as he stopped, "This feeling....."
Hub glared at Nathaniel, "You fucking asshole...." He said, "I'll make sure you will suffer!"
One of the other bandits had rushed Nathaniel, but he had rolled forward, grabbing the femur of the skeleton and swung it at his face, using it as a club. The bone snapped upon impact, and Nathaniel followed it up by stabbing his throat.
Then, to finish it off, Nathaniel pointed his gun at the bandit's head, pulling the trigger and blowing his head wide open.
"No!" Borug exclaimed as the bandit's corpse collapsed
Nathaniel's gun shattered and disintegrated into thin air, the five rounds having already been depleted. As if taking advantage of this, Borug lunged at him, swinging the club downwards. Nathaniel had rolled away without wasting time, grabbing the skull of the skeleton and flinging it at Hub, hitting him in the face and causing the bandit to stumble.
"You fucking....!!" Hub exclaimed as he noticed Nathaniel attacking the final of their companions
The bandit swung his axe at Nathaniel, but missed as Nathaniel had dodged. He then punched the bandit in the throat, causing him to stumble back as Nathaniel followed up with a low kick to the leg. He then struck him in the jaw with an elbow; the sound of the bone cracking was heard loud and clear.
"What the hell is this guy?!" Borug said as he rushed him, "You fucking bastard!!"
Nathaniel then got behind the bandit and pushed him forward as Borug swung his massive wooden club, smashing his own companion hard, killing him by accident.
"Corpse Weapon"
Nathaniel had extended his hand outwards, and one of the corpses burst open, a long bone knife floating right towards his hand. It had a jagged blade, and the handle was long enough for his whole hand to hold it firmly. The blade also seemed to be bleeding itself, blood dripping down to the ground as Nathaniel twirled it, testing the weight.
He assumed a stance, holding the knife in front of him, "Whatever the fuck is going on.....wherever I am...whatever is all of this nonsense.....I know one thing is for sure." He said, "You lot are ordinary humans.....except for the big guy. But I am sure that you can bleed....and if you can bleed, you can die."
Despite being a Private First-Class, Nathaniel Reyes was not a stranger to combat, especially in hand-to-hand. Prior to joining the military, he was a black belt in many martial arts, having won several gold medals and a couple of world championships. And before dying in an ambush during an operation, Nathaniel had 67 confirmed kills, save for the couple of enemies he got during the fight. 10 of those kills were stated to be pure hand-to-hand combat; his weapons had been disarmed during his first operation.
It seemed rather impossible for a young man like himself to be this dangerous and only be a Private First-Class. But as his file had stated, Nathaniel Reyes had the potential to be the Army's most dangerous "Weapon," which was only held back by several higher-ups who wanted to keep him "Sheltered." That is why he was forced to naturally progress through the ranks of the military, despite his abilities.
He is a gifted fighter, having gotten to his level through both talent and hard work. Mere bandits in a foreign world stand no chance against him, especially if they do not have the weapons that Nathaniel is used to facing off against: firearms.
Borug stomped the ground, "You fucking shithead....!!!" He bellowed, "You dare underestimate us?!"
"Come and try me, Orc." Nathaniel said with a serious look on his face, "Even if you manage to kill me, I'll make sure I drag you to hell with me."
"Make the first move."