The area where the attack had landed looked charred and certainly black. The power behind the shot was apparent and Mark was certain that the weapon had been a human wieldable shape and had been a warning of some kind.
But it had not felt like a warning at all but rather an attempt to kill them before they could take a step further inside the cave.
"Alan, protect yourself" Mark signalled the teen as he took out his gun. Alan had been given his own gun, the grade A one he had wielded and the teen took the gift to the heart. It was always on his person and Mark had no idea how.
But it was helpful in this scenario where the element of surprise was needed.
Kuro hissed in his arms, her face aligned in the direction of the nearby bushes and Mark did not hesitate to fire. He had learned to trust Kuro's instincts over the days. The black shadow dashed as it dodged the attack.
The moments were light but they were not experts in any way. Whosoever was the one attacking them was not a big threat at this point in time. Mark was sure that even Alan could handle them alone.
The teen made a sudden motion and shot at the place where the figure was moving. It was enough to startle the shadow into retreating. There were a few more shots but they were jerky in nature.
As the shots missed his person, Mark made his way quietly to the side and let Alan handle this for a while. He himself made his way around the place so that he could position himself in the shadow's blind spot.
He let Kuro hideaway in the bushes as he closed upon the shadow. It was definitely a human and he was more sure than ever. But why they were attacked, Mark had no idea about that at all.
Once he was close enough it was easy to tell that their attacker was a female, her age looking close to Luna. Her being here could indicate that she was an important character.
Mark did not know her at all, but he decided to scan her data just in case he would need it. The system beeps as it found a match and he looked down at it.
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User authority confirming. Loading content, Jean Winghton - status level 1. Status not met..
Affiliation - The knights - support
Weapon choice: ranged
(Note: potential love interest of the protagonist. Beware, has a tendency to fall in danger a lot)
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Great, a potential love interest was here and she was weak too. She was basically the poster girl for a damsel in the disaster plot of the story and Mark felt himself instantly disliking her.
He closed in on her and before she could fire on Alan again, his leg made contact with her knee and her legs collapsed.
Before she could gather herself, he had his gun pointed toward her face and her own was kicked away. Now she was defenceless, her back on the ground. Mark avoided looking anywhere but her face out of respect for the fairer sex.
"Why did you attack us?" Mark asked as the girl seemed to register what had happened with her. Her eyes showed disbelief at her loss which was ridiculous in her position. She had not been that good.
"Who are you?" the girl asked, his voice suspicious. Alan and Kuro had made their way closer now, their faces dark with suspicion. Alan had his own gun positioned toward the female as a precaution.
The girl was defenceless and yet she had a proud and arrogant body posture. She really was a pampered princess who believed that she was better than you. Mark remembered that the only reason she had been chosen for the team in the first place was that she was good at getting people to do things for her.
This was a key factor that allowed many conflicts to be resolved in the party and her tongue was good to those who benefitted her only. This did make her somewhat popular in the base with the NPC population.
When Mark had briefly read the file, this trait had stuck him but not enough to remember the name of the person who possessed it. So it had been her who had this trait.
But she was a foolish person, still not understanding the danger she was in.
"I asked you first and I won't hesitate to shoot you if you did not comply with me" Mark's voice was dark as he did not want to face this headache in the form of pride.
The female looked offended at his tone, her face twisting in disbelief and her eyes shocked that someone would actually talk to her that way ever.
"You don't know who I am and you came here? I'm the second-in-command of the knight, the strongest team there is in this base. That makes me the second most important person hereafter Luna. Now let me go and I'll show you mercy" the female really was prideful and maybe a little delusional too.
While he did not doubt that she was the second-in-command of the knights because not a lot of people had joined right now. The actual story of the video game would start in a few hours so it was entirely plausible.
But her understanding of hierarchy and her own position was totally wrong and Mark felt sorry for all those who fell victim to her tongue.
Would people even care if he killed her? Surely she was not that important to the story and would not be missed?
But then again, he had rather not make any unnecessary changes since he had already made plenty till now. What would one more do to add to everything?
"I know you could not be anyone important to be posted here" Alan's words seemed to touch a nerve inside her and the girl let out a shout before Mark had to subdue her again. She really was a mincning and she was annoying to boot on top of it.
"Let me go or else" her threat meant nothing to Mark.
"Let her go or I'll shoot" the voice sounded familiar to him but far too cold and detached to be who he thought it to be. But the gasp at his side made him realise that what he thought might turn out to be true after all.
"Brother?" Alan's voice sounded small and Mark let the girl escape him as he turned around to look at the other person behind his back.
Luna stood there, looking so much older than a week ago and his gun aimed at their person. He looked confused seeing them but his gun did not lower at all.
"Alan? And Dr Mark? Why were you threatening Jean? Should I be concerned?" he finally dropped the gun but the vigilance in his voice did not drop at all. Alan was trembling at his side and Luna had a dark look inside his eyes.
Just what had happened in the week he had been away? He had a feeling that En did something that caused all this.
"They attacked me so why don't you deal with them right now?" Jean had made her way back to the protagonist's side and seemed to be leaning on him now. Her words sounded as if she had been wronged and an innocent party here.
Really, the female was a good manipulator and Mark would have given her props for it had he not been the one who was on the receiving end of it.
"That's not true brother" Alan seemed to console the elder who looked pained, sighted out in defeat as he gave the party a look.
"Follow me inside and we'll talk about all this and keep your 'pet' in line. Jean, you are serving punishment so please try to behave yourself" the girl did not look happy at all but she seemed to not fight the other's words and stepped back.
She gave them a glare as they followed behind Luna deeper in the cave and he was sure that she would prefer them killed. But thankfully, she was not in charge and maybe never will be.
"Do you know Luna?" Alan asked, his voice suspicious. The teen had been with him long enough to know that Mark had an alternate source of information so Mark just nodded.
"We've met before but I did not know you both were related. What a coincidence" Mark tried to laugh it off but the narrowed eyes told him that he had not succeeded.
The kitten just purred in his arms and seemed content to burrow herself in his arms. He allowed her to do so as he looked at the protagonist.
He seemed tired and the body seemed even more buff than last time, but it was the aura that seemed to have aged years. His reaction was also very strange and Mark knew that he had tried to hide the surprise in his eyes but had failed.
Somehow, everything seemed to be getting even more complicated than before and he had a feeling as if only Liam could tell him what was going on.
The cave was illuminated by artificial light and soon they reached the deepest part of it which had a metal gate embedded in it. This was most likely the entrance to the base and they were finally here.
Alan had a tight grip on his arm and Mark held his breath as the door opened from inside.