An owl flew down towards the gaping chasm at the outskirts of Erimead Village. An owl flying during the daytime was suspicious enough, however, it was also flying at neck-breaking speeds. With a flap of its wings, it stabilised itself as it perched on a nearby tree, gazing at the group of stragglers near the chasm's edge. The owl seemed to process the situation as it kept moving its head while taking the surroundings in. With another flap of its wings, it finally descended down into the ground near the group while changing its shape.
"Aima, I'm here. Calm down." The owl shifted into Leo's form as he walked towards the group. A villager was already passed out from mana burnout, while Aima looked weary. She looked like she could only cast one or two spells at most before she would also collapse. The other two villagers were tending to the collapsed one and comforting Aima. Although they were doing a miserable job for the second part.
"Leo! They fell down. I'm not sure if Becky is alive. You have to check!" Aima suddenly found strength as she jumped up and ran towards Leo. She only managed a few steps before she stumbled and fell.
Leo helped her to sit on a tree root as he motioned for the other villagers to come closer. "I've swapped places and sent my mana familiar to Rivie, she'll send a party here soon. Your group should rest. The rescue party will want an update regarding this situation." Leo took one last glance at the group before jumping into the darkness without any hesitation.
*
"There doesn't seem to be anymore mutated beasts here Jin." Mel wiped her sword clean, but she still kept it in her hands. There were traces of combat all around the two adventurers as the mutated beasts kept coming in waves. After what seemed like hours of non-stop fighting, the beast waves quieted down and silence took over.
"Let's rest here for a while. I should have some water in my rucksack. Let's cast [Heal] now. If we meet more beasts, I don't think I'll manage them in my current condition."
Mel finally sheathed her sword as she helped Jin remove his rucksack and fished out the water canteen from within. She finally realised that Jin had been fighting while wearing his rucksack and it was difficult to even move with it.
"Jin, we can remove some of the things in your rucksack. Maybe we can even fashion a sling bag for me to help you carry. It's tedious and difficult to fight while carrying it."
"Do you think we should? I'm just worried that we might need something from inside later on."
Mel finished a swig from the water canteen as she gave it to Jin to drink. "No. It's actually more dangerous to continue carrying it. We can remove some of the clothes or tent - we can even remove the sleeping bag. At this point, your mobility is important for fighting."
"I understand. If only we could eat the meat from mutated beasts." Jin looked at the corpses strewn about the cave floor.
"If it was possible then it would make adventuring easy. [Heal]." Mel used a healing spell to bring both adventurers back to fighting capacity once more.
step step step "You two would have made Elias proud." A figure walked out of the darkness and into the [Light] spell's boundary.
Both adventurers jumped up with a start, weapons and shield drawn.
"It's me, Leo. I saw the continuous [Signal] being deployed on the surface."
"Leo! Thank the gods it's you. Jin and I were separated from Sebastian and Becky. Did Aima cast the [Signal] spells?" Mel sheathed her sword as she sat back down, conserving her precious strength.
"Yes, she almost drove herself to mana burnout in the process. She's safe up on the surface with the rest of the survivors. Are you both okay?"
Jin sheathed his weapon and shield this time as he stepped forward as if to give a soldier's report.
"Yes. We both had to fight droves of mutated beasts. Mutated wolves and rat imps were fighting side by side. We managed to fight while conserving our mana and energy, we were now taking a rest when you found us."
"You don't need to be so formal with me Jin. I'm here to rescue you, remember. Let's continue to scout further on. Unfortunately, I also jumped in through the hole while protecting myself. I don't think we can come out that way again so we have to walk through this cave network. Do you both still need to rest?" Leo looked at the seated Mel as he prepared to take out herbal tea in a flask he prepared beforehand.
"I'm good Leo. Thanks for worrying. We can continue to move forward, I'll drink the herbal tea while walking. I think Jin and I just want to get out of this place quick."
Jin strapped his now-slightly empty rucksack as he drew his weapons out once more. "I agree with Mel. Let's find the others and get out of this place. I don't like cramped, dark places that much."
"I couldn't agree more. [Light]." Leo cast a huge orb of [Light] that floated on top of his hand. It allowed better illumination than what Mel or Jin managed to use earlier. With his makeshift lamp in hand, Leo lead the way into the darkness.
*
"Why do you have a gun..." Sebastian remained shocked as his question unknowingly escaped through his lips.
The burly man slammed his gun into Becky's face as he tried to elicit a response from her. He clearly enjoyed tormenting her as his smile grew the weaker she became. "So you actually know what a gun is? That's a first."
'[Augment] Steel mind and body, hyper senses' Sebastian pushed his body to its limits as he continued to stack [Augment] skills. He decided that pretending to be shocked would make the captor lower his guard. 'Both arms tense, jaw and shoulders tense. He's only focused on keeping Becky in position. I can strike his legs.'
"I don't like your eyes. They're fucking unnerving." The man quickly pointed his cylinder towards Sebastian.
BLAM!
Sebastian dodged to the side before his leg was bent at an awkward angle.
"That was a variation, I call it the shotgun. Useful for this situation isn't it." The stocky man dropped his now-deformed cylinder before taking another one and rammed it against Becky's face as if reminding her that he didn't forget about her.
"GAH!"
Sebastian felt something warm trickling down his left leg before the pain enveloped it. Dozens of metal pellets exploded from the cylinder as it flew at lethal speeds. If it wasn't for his augmented senses, he wouldn't have reacted in time. Although he leapt away from the trajectory, the shrapnel still grazed and embedded into his legs.
"Now, why do you know what a gun is. Are you also from Earth?" The man in the coat started to ask questions well after he placed the two adventurers in a desperate position.
'[Augment] Adrenaline rush, increase mana flow' "We had that in Earth. Who are you?"
As if to reply, the man pointed his cylinder towards Becky's right thigh.
BLAM!
"AAAHHH!!"
The blinding pain caused Becky to jerk up in response as an unstifled scream escaped from her throat through the man's clutches. In response, he tightened his grip around her throat and forced her to lean onto him - removing any chances of escape or movement.
"BECKY!! Stop!" Sebastian held his swords tighter as he suddenly found himself standing. The adrenaline rush numbed his pain receptors while the physical augmentations continued to support him.
"I ask the fucking questions. She's Becky, what's your name?" To emphasise his threat, the man placed a larger cylinder onto Becky's temple while placing her at an arm's length in front of him. Should he shoot another cylinder, it would literally blow her brains out.
"Sebastian Miller! Please stop!" Sebastian couldn't drop his sword even when he found himself at a disadvantage. He gripped it tighter as he continued to think of different methods to rescue her from her mad captor.
"Sebastian Miller from Earth. Nice to meet you, I'm Nathan Cohen also from Earth. Nate to you."
Feeling the man's grip loosen on her throat, Becky circulated the mana in her body. Adventurers were taught the basic lesson with regards to skills: moving mana across different parts of the body was the foundation in using different types of skills. She swirled the mana in her left hand, before shifting it towards her mouth.
With only her left leg remaining, Nate needed to support her weight partially for her to remain standing. With a sudden movement, she dropped to her left knee, breaking Nate's centre of gravity.
With a startle, he stumbled forward, releasing his grip!
This was enough for Becky to bite down into Nate's left hand.
Sebastian saw the opening and immediately rushed forward!
BLAM! BLAM!
Thud!
Sebastian fell on his face once more as he stopped a few paces in front of the couple. His chest started to feel warm as blood trickled out. Even with numbed pain receptors, he still knew that the shot had pierced through his chest armour and probably went through his body. He felt the nostalgic feeling of bleeding out as his consciousness started to waiver.
"This bitch actually poisoned me. Good thing I used the double-shotgun. Fucking hell. This is too much for today." Nate threw the spent cylinder towards Sebastian as he took out another one from his coat with a seemingly endless supply of cylinders he called 'guns'.
Tok
The cylinder found its mark as it bounced off Sebastian's head - as if the cylinder physically asked him to focus on what was in front of him.
Nate picked up the kneeling Becky as he gripped her throat with his hand once more. He had to use more force to get her to stand as the first shot grazed the top of her head, bathing her face in fresh blood. She became weaker as the encounter continued. Nate pointed his new cylinder towards the sprawled Sebastian in front of them.
BLAM!
"GAH!!!"
Sebastian experienced the feeling of the projectile going through his body and warm blood flowing after once more. Nate's target this time was Sebastian's lower back.
"I'm tired playing with you fuckers." Instead of another metal cylinder, Nate this time took out a dagger with ornate carvings as well. From an outsider's point of view, the dagger could well easily pass as a ceremonial knife.
"Sebastian..." Becky struggled to speak as the colour started to drain from her visage.
STAB
Nate didn't waste time as he immediately stabbed Becky's side with his dagger.
Gritting her teeth, Becky winced through the pain as she tried to continue her statement. "Sebastian avenge... previous party" Becky managed to convey her feelings even as her consciousness started to fade.
STAB
"BECKY! [Augment] Mage Killer Set! Triple physical augment, maximum mana flow!" Sebastian lost his cool as he started to call out his skills. He wanted to enhance every fibre in his body as he lay helpless in front of Becky and her captor. He tried to stand time and time again, yet failed to do so because he couldn't feel his lower legs.
"Why" Nate looked with anger at the tender scene in front of him as he gripped his dagger tighter.
STAB
"The fuck"
STAB
"Are you both"
STAB
"So annoying!"
STAB
STAB
His last stab found its mark in Becky's neck as her blood gushed out once he removed his dagger. Her blood sprayed to the side, indicating the main artery was cut.
"This bitch managed to get my clothes dirty."
STAB
"BECKY!" Sebastian used all his mana as he augmented his body further past its limits. Even with the numbing of his pain receptors, Sebastian still couldn't stand up - indicating the damage affected his nerves or his spine. '[Heal]!' Feeling the warmth of his mana coursing through his body, Sebastian turned his eyes to Becky as he tried to reach out for her.
His mana-saturated body glowed yellow as he continued to seemingly reach for something in the air. He saw golden tendrils extending from both Becky and Nate's body which seemed to beckon him. Sebastian couldn't understand what he was seeing but he didn't have time to process it further. He simply tried to grasp it as his legs started to recover from his [Heal] spell.
"Oh ho, so you can move now. It's getting boring. Find me if you want to have fun. Ahaha, I sound like a bitch don't I?" Nate sheathed his dagger as he took out a red, fist-sized mana crystal wrapped in metal and other shrapnel from his coat.
"I call this invention, the grenade."
Nate pushed Becky's body towards the now-kneeling Sebastian as he threw the mana crystal in between them.
BBOOOOOOMMMM!!!!