438 Picking The Worst Target
The branches covered in snow did their best to obstruct the view but Healon’s sharp eyes were unhindered.
Even as the dense assortment of trees tangled and twisted, almost masking the common road to the more populated areas of the region as they formed a vast woodland of immense natural beauty, he remained with his arrow nocked on his bow, following the target with incredible accuracy.
“You got a nice shot, right?” Trevis, who was over the branch which Healon was using as the perfect sniping spot in this large tree with large blue leaves that resisted the cold, asked.
“Yes. Just say the word,” Healon said.
His arrow pointed to two individuals who were walking on the road a little more than a mile away.
One was a man with slicked back auburn hair dressed in a rather stylish leathery get up, thick chains wrapped around his waist as he walked on with his hands in his pocket.
“Is he some powerful freelance mercenary or some idiot dressed to impress and putting up a cool front for the girl?” Healon asked his friend Trevis who held a saber in his hand while also looking ahead.
“Probably the latter. That’s some edgy fashion there. I can’t tell if the girl likes it or is just tolerating it,” Trevis replied with the shake of his head.
The girl these two were referring to was the woman walking beside this man.
She had lime-coloured hair that reached her shoulders, giving off a naturally wild look because of its unkempt nature that wasn’t at all off putting.
It flowed from her scalp to cover one of her eyes, giving her a timid visage.
What added to this was how thin this woman was.
The clothes she wore made this fact more noticeable than it would have been otherwise, her skin having a slightly pale tone that somehow matched her up with the surroundings.
“On any other day I’d take on anything that isn’t male but… what’s with her? It’s just like she hasn’t fed on anything since she was born.”
“Well we’ll never know until we get the job done, Healon. That guy has to be packing something in that ring on his finger. Just incapacitate him and we’ll probably find something good enough to not get our asses beat by leader.”
These two men… were bandits.
Both had blue cores, with Healon having the Archer class as a Arma User and Trevis having the Warrior class as a Form User.
Of the two, Trevis was the stronger and more experienced one. He was even branching from his class to try forming a proficiency in basic sword play.
In the small organisation they were from, these two were among the lowest ranked both in scores and skill.
Each individual in the group was supposed to bring contributions in the form of valuables, termed as scores, every day in order to stay, as they were supported with a place to sleep and food to eat.
The increase in scores was what progressed your standard of living and rank in the organisation as well as the skills you honed, which was why Trevis had begun diversifying.
Today, they were lucky enough to find two unassuming travellers who seemed to not be aware of how dangerous this road could be. No one used such public roads anymore unless they had a powerful escort and Healon and Trevis had just been passing by when they caught sight of this prey.
This was an easy catch that none of them were willing to pass up.
“Hey, Trevis. They are arguing all of a sudden. Should I still take the shot?” Healon asked.
“I can see that. Wait a moment,” Trevis replied.
In the distance, the man and woman had stopped moving and the woman seemed to be crying. She knelt down and gripped the man’s pants, begging.
She was shedding tears!
“The hell?”
The man on the other hand looked irritated.
He tried to push away the woman but she hugged his leg and kept weeping buckets.
Trevis and Healon were taken aback.
Did they misunderstand the situation?
“Just take the shot. The details have nothing to do with us,” Trevis said as he subconsciously increased his grip on the saber he was holding.
For some reason, as soon as he gave Healon the instruction, his body grew tense.
‘Come on. Why am I getting nervous? If she’s fawning over him, he must have something worth clinging to him for,’ Trevis calmed himself down.
Healon confirmed his aim on the man and was about to shoot his mana covered arrow when…
…!
pan-da-n0vel.com “WHAT THE HECK MAN?!” Healon exclaimed in shock.
He didn’t know how or why, but the woman who had been clinging to the man, begging for something suddenly exploded from the waist up!
Her blood stained the snow covered road, everything from her waist to her legs which remained intact falling to the ground while spilling torn guts and juices!
Healon and Trevis grew exceedingly alarmed!
What the hell was that?!
Could it be…?
No, it was definitely the man who did this but…
They hadn’t even seen him move!
From the distance, it was hard to ascertain his strength but he couldn’t be that strong considering that he hadn’t noticed them. If he was an expert of a higher level, he would have, and they should know since they were experienced enough at picking their targets carefully.
Maybe it was his gear?
Was it not some casual get-up after all?
The man with the slicked back hair swiped his hand, started to cleaning off the blood on his pants.
Then…
He suddenly turned his head… over to Healon and Trevis’ position.
…!!!
The two men almost choked at how this man was seemingly looking at them as if they were right in front of him and then came the unsettling feeling that crept from the man’s eyes!
A creepy and disturbing sensation that caused every cell in their bodies to jolt and start warning them of terrible danger!
It didn’t help that now, with a clear view of the man’s eyes, they saw that he had no irises or pupils, which added an even more terrifying layer to this horrific scene!
Healon’s bow and arrow fell from his hands as he turned pale while Trevis grit his teeth with a shudder coursing through his body!
Even with this mass of fright however, he refused to drop his weapon!
WHOOOOSH!
SPLAT!
Something phenomenally quick suddenly blasted from the terrifying man’s position, tearing apart the trees and branches in the way within the blink of an eye as it then smashed into Healon’s head, shattering it into a gorey mess!
…!
“Ah…” Trevis stuttered as blood splattered on his body.
That was way too fast!
Right before Healon’s body could drop…
WHOOSH!
Another one of these projectiles flew at Trevis!
The man’s hand suddenly darted before him as he swiped with his sword subconsciously, a massive stroke of luck applying as it allowed him to partially deflect the oncoming attack!
Perhaps it wasn’t luck but his anticipation of an attack coming for him too, as well as the fact that his long practises with the sword day and night jolted his hand to swing!
Who knew?!
Something hard knocked against his saber, causing the weapon to ring and vibrate vehemently, the following result being Trevis getting knocked off the branch he stood on!
The rapidly flying object landed a few meters away and Trevis who quickly recovered to his feet on the ground couldn’t help but turn to see what it was.
A fist-sized stone?!
A layer of mana swiftly died down from it, bringing the bandit to come to a realisation but he didn’t dwell on it.
‘I have to RUN!’ Trevis thought as he immediately took to his heels, pushing his body to the limit with mana while rushing in the opposite direction!
At least he thought to do so…
BWOOF!
The bandit suddenly fell on the snow covered ground with a puzzled and horrified expression.
He had intended to run but… he just fell down.
“I was waiting for that arrow for five minutes, bro. And it never came,” a voice spilled into his ears.
Trevis was about to turn to see if the nightmarish thoughts he was having were true but a burst of pain beat him up first!
He quickly looked down to his lower body and saw the reason why he had suddenly fallen over just now!
His legs were severed!
From his knees and below, there was nothing there!
His legs were neatly packed side by side in the snow right beside the tree he had been stationed in!
“AGGGHHHH!” Trevis screamed in pain, his blood staining the frozen innocence pooling over the ground in this eternal season.
His eyes brushed against the view of the same man he had been targeting from the distance standing a meter before him, his image obscured by tears than started to flow down his cheeks.
The man held his saber which he thought he had been gripping tightly all along!
Trevis’ thoughts could hardly focus on the details of what and why.
He could only feel the pain.
Something like this… had never happened to him.
Losing limbs was a mortal fear of all man!
“Looks like we won’t be having a brief talk like I imagined,” the man before him said as he walked up to him and crouched down.
Trevis trembled as he looked at the man’s face with a pool of emotions.
He wanted to hurl his hate and put up an unfazed front like his thieving peers but he was past that point.
Even if he could, the image of the man’s hand coming down to touch his face as his white eyes lit up with what looked like a dark flame caused him to quiet down as he felt his whole body turn stiff!
The same dark substance leaked from his hand as it started to sink into him without pause, Trevis’ eyes growing bloodshot as he reached the climax of his fear.
Soon, the bandit found his consciousness fading, the last thing he would ever remember being the words of this man which echoed in his mind vibrantly.
“Let’s see what a sockethole like you can teach me.”