“I’m in a bit of a pinch in terms of food and you’re in my way.” The string on the bow tightened as the bowman flexed, the arrow nocked targeting Saber’s torso. The archer’s eyes widened slightly and he began to focus, taking in the environment as he prepared for the fight. Behind him, the woman with her horse and heavy armor lingered. Her stomach had rumbled, giving off the assumption that she too expected rabbit for lunch. Saber knew firsthand the problems of following your nose. For one, it caused you to focus your thoughts on food and the body tended to go into survival mode, cutting off quite a bit of necessary things for combat. Sure, adrenaline rushed through your veins and you turned into quite the savage but most people turned into beasts rather than into hunters.
And that was his advantage. Saber let the bowman draw his bow, let the anger turn to Saber, and let the bowman’s frustrations get the better of him. Drawing the bow took three seconds, the words took four seconds, and standing still was eating the clock. Five seconds left. Saber squeezed the hilt of his katana and raised it in front of himself, one hand high on the handle while the other balanced it low. The point stuck out towards the bowman and the cavalier, ready and steady. He took several deep breaths, counted down, and waited. Waited. Waited… Three… Two… One…
On que, the bowman sucked his teeth and less loose the projectile. Saber sidestepped, predicting the tradjectory based on the level of the bow. The Assassin sprinted to the right and forward, attempting to get behind Saber by taking a wide angle. The Summoner planted his left foot and backtracked, moving straight back. He turned sideways a bit but kept his chest pointed directly towards the archer and slowly, slowly, his straight back run turned to an angle. The Archer would keep his distance as to keep the advantage of his weapon choice. From the step count, he was twenty paces away. Even in a full sprint Saber wouldn’t get there without at least one or two arrows lodged in him somewhere. If the archer was smart, he’d target Saber’s legs as well.
Saber narrowed his eyes and swatted an arrow out of the air. The bow the archer used was a short wood bow. It was cheap and didn’t pack a lot of power, but just enough to pierce a small animal that wasn’t paying all that much attention. The arrows fired from its string weren’t terribly accurate and the arrows themselves weren’t of good quality; he was a beginning adventurer.
“Player Killer?” Saber’s teeth grit and he squeezed the hilt of his sword. A man willing to fight another player in exchange for a rabbit’s foot. He wasn’t going to be taken easy. Saber glanced to his left and saw the Cavalier standing there, shouting at her friend to stop his non-sense but it was too late. The man’s eyes were focused on killing, and Saber had just given him an opening.
The sound of a string snapping caught Saber’s attention. He cursed and looked forward but it was too late. The hard impact of poor metal knocked Saber out of his rhythm. Heat flooded out of his right shoulder and pain pulsed through his body. His feet kicked into one another as he flinched and the man tripped, tumbling ungracefully down onto his side with a heavy thud. Slamming down onto his right shoulder sent a shock of pain through him. His mouth opened in a gasp of agony and he instinctively rolled onto his back. The arrow was a low level one and he had seen the others in the air, they weren’t barbed. He grabbed the shaft and ripped it from his flesh. Pain hit him in a second wave, but he had clenched his teeth this time. His clothes stained red.
“Dammit.” Quickly, the Summoner snagged his blade and rolled at the sound of the bowstring snapping again. The next arrow dug into the dirt where Saber had been laying just a second ago, and it hit with authority. This man was intent on killing him. Fine then, he’d get his match. Saber pushed off the ground and into a sprint, heading straight again and he quickly caught back up with the ranger. The wound in his right shoulder closed, slowly, as the game mechanics put him back together. Pain lingered and there was a bit of soreness, but it wasn’t like the real world. A real arrow wound would have hurt far worse and he’d probably need immediate first aid even though the arrow didn’t have any nasty edges or poison. The fact that it was a game meant Saber still had a chance. In the real world, a moment like that would have left Saber with a second arrow stuck in him.
However if he continued like he was, simply running at a distance and beside the archer, he would end up with another painful memory regardless. He had to react and fight back. And being a magical user, he had just the tool. Opening his right hand and using his mind to key a the skill, a fire bolt appeared in his palm. Saber had summoned the Salamander companion both to take care of the rabbit and to give him a few trump cards he could play. With his class, Saber was meant to be a support for the familiar. But, there was another way to play it. As he keyed the skill, a slender cylinder shaft appeared in his palm. It was a blank grey color at first but when it formed, it ignited into a brilliant blaze. Saber grasped it in his right hand when it finished forming and adjusted his angle on the archer. Another arrow whizzed over his head. The ranger was zeroing in.
Saber slammed onto his right foot and tensed his shoulder. With a hard leap, he jumped into the air and pulled his right arm back. His left arm extended forward as a guide and like a javelin, Saber fired the bolt through the air. He knew the concept of ranged combat, unlike his foe. Rather than aim straight at the archer, Saber led his target. The bolt wasn’t as fast as an arrow though because Saber wasn’t particularly strong with his stats. Upon throwing the bolt, the archer spotted it immediately and hesitated his progression. The bolt flew passed him harmlessly and dug into the dirt at his back. The archer’s eyes followed the bolt and he laughed in a taunt. But when he looked back towards Saber, he felt something in his stomach.
“Three mistakes...” The words were like ice. Saber’s blade twisted in the archer’s stomach and the summoner gave the blade a shove, burying it to the hilt through the man’s abdomen. The archer coughed and gripped onto Saber’s hands. Saber met the archer’s eyes and locked his jaw. The man stared back, eyes full of pain, agony. And fear. The bowman was an archer, but he wasn’t a hunter.
Yanking his blade free, Saber pulled himself away from the archer and created a small gap. Blood flicked off the edge of his weapon, human blood. With his blade out to the left, Saber grabbed the man with his right hand and wrenched on his leather armor. Using his right foot, he swept the man’s feet out from under him and planted him hard onto his back. Blood and oxygen exploded from the other player’s lungs. Saber clenched his teeth and then dropped a hard knee onto the man’s ribcage. The sound of pops and cracks echoed, followed by a wail of liquid agony.
The archer had made three fatal mistakes. The first was distance. The advantage of a bow over a sword is the distance between the ranger and the swordsman. Keeping that distance is vital, hence why a lot of archers prefer high ground; trees, castle walls, hills, and anything that forces a gap. Mind you, high ground also helps with trajectory and velocity of the arrow. When fighting, an archer must always maintain distance. The archer Saber had beneath him had not done that. As the archer focused on firing off arrows, Saber had dodged them and slowly inched in closer, shaving off nearly six feet of distance in the running. When he had been hit, Saber had fallen inwards, taking off another two feet. When he had returned to his feet, he had rolled inwards, taking another foot off. Slowly, Saber used the fight to shave off the distance between the two of them.
The second mistake was the archer letting Saber throw his Elemental Bolt. Sure, it was an easily avoidable thing but the point of the attack was deception. The archer had stopped shooting and focused his attention on the new threat. When Saber jumped, Saber jumped at an angle and towards the archer to close the distance further and made the exaggerated motion of a javelin throw. The archer hesitated at that moment, slowing his pace and focusing on dodging the bolt.
The final mistake was taking his attention off Saber. The archer should have kept his eyes on Saber and he should have nocked another arrow to keep the Summoner at bay while the bolt traveled by, as there was no sure way the archer would have taken a hit unless he had stood directly in front of it. He should have adjusted his angle of attack to use Saber’s jump as a moment to take a few steps back. He did none of these. The inexperienced archer planted his left foot, hiccupped in his steps, and then stared at the bolt without an arrow pointed at Saber.
“…and this is the result.” Blood bubbled from the archer’s throat as Saber buried another length of metal into the man’s upper torso. The blade pierced the area above the sternum, slipping between the bone and carving through the man’s spine before digging into the dirt. The health bar of the man plummeted and Saber took a moment to meet his gaze. Fear, pure fear. The eyes of someone who knew they were going to die. Saber looked into those eyes and he felt his stomach tighten.
“….”With a pull, Saber freed his blade from the man and rose to his feet. The archer was finished. Saber grabbed his bow and tossed it towards the cavalier who had begun to close the distance. She stopped a few paces before it and readied her shield. Saber stared at her for a moment, ensuring her distance was kept, and then looked down towards the man at his feet.
“Well fought, but today is mine.” Saber flicked his sword and raised the whistle to his mouth. From the distance, a horse galloped across the meadow and closed in on the group.
“W-Why…?” A hand rose from the dirt, grasping firmly onto Saber’s pants. The ranger tugged on the fabric and clenched tight. Saber stared at the man and knelt back down. He took the moment to wipe his blade off on the archer’s shirt, cleaning it of blood and fat, and then sheathed it.
“Death isn’t the only means to victory, Ranger. Sometimes just knowing you won is enough. I could have killed you. I could have made you suffer. I could have taken the items your avatar would have dropped. But, I didn’t.” Saber pulled the hand free from his body and took a few steps back.
“Your wounds will close and your health will regenerate. If your friend has potions, it’ll be even easier for you. Or you can use the skill and return to the city. But, you’ll have to do it without the rabbit.” The horse Saber had called forth walked up beside him and the Summoner swiftly mounted it. It didn’t have a saddle so he was forced to use his own strength, but once he was on its back it was easy to get comfortable. This wasn’t the first time he’d have to ride bare.
“Next time, don’t chase the rabbit.” With a kick, Saber’s horse let out a sneer and galloped away from the scene. He didn’t look back.
* * *
Traveling on horseback was a lot faster than running. Not only that, but it was far less taxing and Saber was exhausted. His right shoulder was still sore and his muscles ached with fatigue. Fighting a monster was one thing but players were something else entirely. That was his first battle with another person and he honestly hoped he never would have to do that again. As much as Saber enjoyed fighting and as much as he enjoyed playing chess, he didn’t like it when he didn’t have the option to run. Sure, he could have let the archer get away but in exchange there would have been an unnecessary loss of life. That’s the consequence when it comes to human battles; there’s always a downside. You can’t just quit. When you fight monsters? You can always run away because they aren’t going anywhere, they’ll be there when you recoup.
“Damn…” Saber muttered and adjusted on the back of his horse. In the distance, the orange-red body of his Salamander and the rabbit came into view. On his display, the den wasn’t far off from where the two of them were and it seemed like they were on the final stretch. Saber simply directed his horse and whispered in its tongue for it to chase down the orange body. His horse was a kind fellow and simply nodded in agreement. Due to the distance and their speed, the horse arrived a few moments after the Salamander had placed the rabbit onto the ground.
『Good work.』Saber dismounted and landed heavy. His knees flexed a bit but his weariness was showing. The horse huffed and glanced on him, but Saber gave it a gentle tap on the side. It huffed again and remained motionless, causing the Summoner to sigh. Yes, his horse was a kind fellow.
『Sire, are you well?』His Salamander showed concern and brushed against his right left gently. A subtle movement, but Saber saw through it; his familiar had picked up the scent of the bowman.
『I am fine. How is the rabbit? 』Saber looked up to see the little rabbit surrounded by a few others. They nuzzled each other and then it was led down into the burrow. One of the larger, adult rabbits, hopped over and looked up towards Saber.
『Thank you, sir! Thank you so much for bringing my baby back! Please, accept this as appreciation. 』In front of Saber, a screen appeared and he heard some fanfare; Quest Completion. He nodded and accepted the rewards, letting them be deposited directly into his inventory. The Summoner knelt down afterwards and then produced a few carrots from his inventory. He extended them to the rabbit and forced her to accept them.
『It was a pleasure. Keep an eye on him next time. He seems to get into quite a bit of trouble.』The rabbit bowed her head, thanked Saber for his help, and then hopped back to her den where she disappeared in front of what he assumed was her husband. The male rabbit bowed his head as well and then followed.
Saber let out a heavy sigh once they were gone and plopped down onto his backside. His horse turned and then nudged at him with its nose. Saber grinned and lightly rubbed the horse’s long head to calm the fellow, only to find his Salamander brushing along his other side. That quest was a lot more taxing than he was ready for. He expected an easy walk but instead he got a battle. Talk about bad luck, eh? Saber let out another sigh and then slowly got back to his feet.
“Alright boys, let’s go home.” Saber turned to face Londinium with a smirk, a smirk that faded into a frown.
“…home… huh?”
Tags: [Party Quest Turned Solo]
