Outside the house, both Hark and Sylvia are preoccupied with taking down their enemies. This is because, as soon as they thought the battle was about to be finished, another batch came out.
The sound of the spells and arrows hitting Sylvia's barrier is enough for her to not hear whatever is happening inside the house. This also applies on Hark who is too far from the house to make out any sound coming from inside.
As to why there are bandits that keep on coming; the reason behind this is because, the Platoon Leader used his money to hire more people. This ensures that the couple won't be bothering them any time soon as they continue with their task.
However, things didn't go as they planned. As these three went up to claim their prize, they are met by a shield which hit the face of the sorcerer who went up the stairs first.
"Ack! Who the hell did that?" The Platoon leader said, pushing off the bodies of the sorcerer and his assistant who are both on top of him.
Zeke didn't allow this to happen as smoothly as they intended however. He jumped from the top of the stairs, landing his blade directly on the back of the sorcerer. The unfortunate enemy started trashing about.
The goon tried slashing this assailant with his blade, only to be dodged by Zeke as he used [Quick Step].
"Damn, I should've been able to take at least two of you." Zeke said, seeing how his enemies are now standing just as he is. The other one is lying on the ground, with his [Beginner's Sword] still stuck on the sorcerer's back. A pool of blood soon followed as he viewed the stats of his enemies.
[Name: Hash'in Seth'o]
[Species: Human]
{Specification: Mercenary Bandit]
[Level: 21]
[Name: Arh'ak Laktha]
[Species: Human]
{Specification: Mercenary Bandit]
[Level: 15]
"This isn't looking good." Zeke told himself, getting a green color around the [Name Bar] of the bandit named [Hash'in Seth'o]. This means that he is a higher class of opponent while the other enemy is just a regular bandit with a gray color around his name bar.
He activated [Quick Step] again. This shocked both enemies and, before they could even reach him, Zeke has already hit his shield to the weaker enemy's knee as he took back his blade.
The Platoon Leader reacted faster however and, was able to plant his foot at Zeke's stomach as [Quick Step] was used again to back away from his enemies.
The pain was enough to make Zeke halt momentarily from his stream of thought and, this was all that the bandits needed in order to make their next move.
The weaker enemy dashed toward Zeke, bringing out his scimitar that has a green liquid dripping on its tip. The goon made a quick slash which Zeke managed to block this with his shield. But then, smoke came from where the blade landed.
"Whatever that green stuff is, I'm definitely not letting you get it near my body." He thought as he activated [Mana Conversion] leaving 300 points on his mana.
He pushed his enemy back using his shield and went after the other enemy who's about to climb the stairs. He tried bashing his shield to this enemy but, Hash'in quickly backed away, creating enough distance for Zeke's sword to not reach him.
"Where do you think you're going?" Zeke said, remembering how a [Sub Quest] mentioned that he needs to protect Keith.
Hash'in responded by bringing out a couple of daggers and throwing them at Zeke. He was able to block two with his shield, another one he deflected with his sword but, a fourth daggers found its way to the side of his waist – diving into his flesh as the smoke came out, making Zeke scream in pain.
Both his passive [Regeneration] and his [Endurance] attribute healed him as the damage was being made but, the pain isn't something that these things can nullify.
Arh'ak continued the attack, running straight at the wounded enemy. Zeke was able to twist out of this but, his knee was met by another dagger in the process.
Due to [Mana Conversion] being in effect, even his health has more points to it now but, that doesn't mean that he can't be killed.
Arh'ak continued his assault, swinging his scimitar at Zeke. This time, the [Counter Skill] activated, making his body move on its own as it deflected the blow while also holding up the body of his enemy which received the three new daggers that have just been thrown.
"AHHHHH!" Arh'ak shouted as he rolled on the floor. The daggers hit his belly, his shoulder blade and, his crotch.
"Yeah, it doesn't feel good does it?" Zeke thought as his last remaining enemy threw five more daggers. Zeke knew that he wouldn't be able to deflect all the blades and, with his knee being stabbed, he can't use quick step. That's why he just deflected the three which aimed at more dangerous spots, and let the two other blades hit his shoulder and the knee which already had a dagger in it.
"AHHHH!" Zeke shouted.
"Just go down already!" Hash'in shouted as he finally took out his scimitar. He ran out of throwing daggers and now has to rely on close range combat.
Zeke waited for this moment. As Hash'in made a dash toward him, he activated the other spell that he has been itching to use since the battle started.
"Blood Counter."
As soon as Zeke said this, his enemy felt pain exploding from his body. His leg, his shoulder, the side of his waist, all has a burning sensation mixed with the pain of steel being planted inside it.
This moment is all that Zeke needed. He forcibly activated [Quick Step] seeing the blood spew out of his injured leg and, slashed at the neck of his opponent with all his strength.
Hash'in's decapitated head rolled on the ground but, this isn't the only thing which happened. As Zeke made this move, the platoon leader was able to perform a quick stab motion which has left his scimitar deeply inside Zeke's stomach.
"AHHHHH!" Zeke shouted as the door of the house opened, revealing both Hark and Sylvia who just finished wiping out all the enemies outside.
"Dear lord, what happened?!" Sylvia said, seeing all the blood and corpses that lay all around.
She then immediately attended to Zeke, with Hark making a quick motion of taking out the scimitar as Sylvia began healing through the wound.
"Honey, go and see if Keith is safe." Sylvia said as beads of sweat started forming on her forehead.
Zeke heard all of this but, is already feeling his body getting colder. All the blades that hit him are actually coated in poison. The only reason why Zeke was able to last a bit in the fight is because he had two things restoring his health but, now that a larger wound had been made, his strength began waning. Adding to this is the fact that the scimitar had even more poison than the daggers.
"You'll be fine. Just hang in there." Sylvia said as he continued healing Zeke. At this point he already began losing consciousness. But as he did, he saw a white thing floating outside the window.
"I hope I'm not dead yet." He told himself as his surroundings got darker and darker. This is his first experience of a real battle, not counting the trial stage which he basically cheated through.
Everything suddenly flashed before Zeke. How he thought of all this as still being a game. The system even made him feel invincible because, the way he used it in the Trial Stage made him think that there would be nothing on this world that could pose as a challenge to him. But he was proven wrong.
The trial stage was made by the three major deities to test out a potential hero's capacity. It is made with a system and an algorithm just like a real game, placing monsters at specific areas and giving certain responses to these monsters. Dying on that island is not likely and, the worst-case scenario would only be a person having to stay there for a year before completing the ten trials. However, there was never a record of death. That's how safe the trial was.
Down in a living planet, the variables are uncertain. This is a real world, with things not being controlled by the gods above. Things will continue happening through various gears of fate. There is no walkthrough, nor guides made by NPC's. There are no respawns and painless wounds. Everything is real. Life and death included.
As Zeke closed his eyes, he heard the mumbled talking between Sylvia an Hark who just came down. He couldn't make sense of their speech anymore and everything they said is just noise to him. He then remembered the white object he saw flying outside and thought of how it looked like an owl.
This is the final thought that came to Zeke's mind as his body shut down completely.