My body moved with an almost automatic gait. Upon the many markings on the map, only four of them were ones inhabited by the beasts. The other ones seemed to be hunting marks.
Likely traps that had either been set or had been sprung. I didn't know and I didn't care to check.
As a vicious smile made a mockery of my face, not that I noticed it. I was too distracted by the displeasure I felt at the previous battles.
No, to call the players a battle, that was too grandeur a name. They were bugs crushed under heel.
My footsteps made no noise as I approached the next spot. It was quite a distance away from my last battle.
A mile or two at the most. Not that it was particularly hard to cross that distance, just annoying.
I shuddered and furrowed my brows as I looked at the densely packed trees. Some of them swayed in the wind and others stood firmly in their spot.
These beasts were different. Despite being of the same species and likely the same genus, these ones carried red eyes that burned with anger.
I smirked. Raised my rifle and shot at them. I didn't bother with stealth, why would I?
My body moved fluidly around the trees, using them to absorb the impact of the beasts. They made their way towards me with deathly force.
The trees fell to the ground with thuds, sometimes hitting the back of their allies. I held my breath for a moment before another shot rang out.
One
I had one bullet left in the chamber. In the first three seconds I had taken down two, they had fallen to the ground and made a suitable obstacle for the chase.
The next stomped in the spot I had just been in. It looked around before roaring in communications. There was a slight pause in the combat as I shot my last shot and pinged the container to the ground.
Blood stained the ground red. I found crimson blocking my view.
My aim was deadly accurate.
And as another round fell into the chamber, another Cavalier fell to the ground dead.
They were unable to even showcase their prowess. Dead the moment I placed my eyes on them.
When all was said and done a ring echoed in my ears.
[You have gained a level]
I took a deep breath. In through the mouth and out through the nose. My manic smile wasn't yet gone. To make matters worse my mind was muddled by the power that flew through my veins.
The blood had not yet parched this thirst of mine.
The sun lowered and ushered in night. Despite that I still made my way towards the last two marks. The penultimate fight ended the same way as the other two.
I pulled the trigger and they died without being able to get close to me at all.
Each of the habitats involved larger and larger numbers. Still...
"Why aren't you a challenge?!" I growled.
The fourth habitat fell to my aim. Even when my bullets ran dry they still fell to my knife.
Blood dripped from my forehead and arms. My breath came out in rough pants.
I had dispatched them with brutal efficiency but this thirst of mine had still not been sated. I wondered whether it ever would be.
A sigh left my mouth and I let the moon guide me back towards the town.
/./
When I made it back to the city, only a few hours later, it was crawling with people. Hundreds of them seemed to beam in askance of praise for the slightest move they made.
I, and the NPC's, just looked at them with disgust. Some snickered at the ridiculousness of their actions and others just looked at them like they were a gaggle of dumbasses.
Me on the other hand, I just snickered in disgust and made my way back to Adrian's house. It wasn't too far off from where I was. So I was able to rest my legs rather soon after arriving back.
There were some sneers aimed at me. They weren't idiots, first me, then a ton of other people that were clearly visitors came.
Yeah, it was quite easy to connect the dots. I had to deal with jeers and yells.
Eventually though I knocked on the door and was ushered back in.
"Back already?" The old man raised his eyebrow.
I stretched my back and yawned, just a bit.
"Of course."
My back hit the couch and I practically melted into it. I blinked when Adrian's gaze didn't leave me, however it didn't take me long to figure out why.
I was splattered in both blood and snow. And I was sitting on their couch.
"Oh... Sorry."
He waved his hand.
"You're fine. Just take this and rest, we'll talk in the morning. You should know the house, it's the one next to here that seems half abandoned."
The old man tossed me a key and left to go to bed.
I opened the door and left, trailing blood as I went.
There were some glares from players as I unlocked the door and went in. The little click told me that I was right to assume which house it had been.
When I closed the door behind me I had to cough a bit at all the accumulated dust. He wasn't kidding, it really must have been abandoned for some time.
I didn't bother cleaning up. It was just for tonight, instead I gathered some wood and lit the fire. I cooked myself a small meal with the carved up bits of the beasts.
It was my first meal within this game. Within the frontier where I would make my existence.
/./
I stretched and put my clothes back on. It wasn't the most comfortable sleep but it would do. I made my way outside and found myself extremely cold.
It wasn't that it was particularly bad, it was just the morning and for some reason that just made everything colder. Even my breath turned to smoke.
I couldn't even warm myself by breathing on myself. It was that cold. At the very least though I wasn't alone in this.
There were other players weathering the morning like me. Maybe ten at the most. But they shivered in front of their shops bundled in fine furs.
Yes, they did shiver. But it wasn't as bad as me. In front of them were several winter coats and jackets.
Huh... I guess they were trying to sell those.
The coats were low quality and overpriced. But the players would pay anything just to have some protection so I doubted that they wouldn't make any money.
"Twenty whole dollars... for something like that..." I muttered to myself. And despite the scamming nature I still approached.
I went towards the nearest of the bunch. He was a balding man that looked like he was in his late-thirties. He wore a black version of what he was selling and still shivered from the cold.
"Holy SHIT!" Someone shivered behind me. She drew the ire of the NPC's but they couldn't do anything just because someone yelled.
The girl pulled herself towards a stall and got herself a coat. Apparently, we could use real money, I mean it was obvious. But... actually there wasn't any but... I was just a dumbass.
Besides that, there was one other thing I noticed. She had spawned here. The girl had spawned here. Here.
The NPC's didn't care, and the players just saw this as normal. Was this what I was supposed to go through.
I hadn't but it seemed clear that this was the normal.
One question at a time. One question at a time.
I chanted to myself coughing into my hand to draw the balding man's attention.