Vladis did a Shift to get behind the leader. Not to attack, but to get away from the others. The one Infiltrator with the bolt in his head was robbed of his weapons. The Leader spun around and stabbed at Vladis.
"Whoopsie!" Vladis laughed as he ducked. The spear going right pass his stomach. 'I need to work on my diet!' He was average in weight but.. the update in the future would make the bodies the same both in life and game. Came with a 30% increase to synchro ratings above the base limit.
"Why are you getting in our way!?" The Leader asked. Stepping a back a little from fear as he did not think this person was some average smuck. Thoughts on when such a dangerous Wanderer would have shown up here in the area. "A Wanderer trying so hard in others affairs, is not normal. In fact, how about I pay you to leave?"
This raised a few flags. Vladis heard about this from several others. The Infiltrators were able to get inside because of bribes. With all the Users in town, a crackdown would have been easy. But the bribe-takers made trouble really easy to deal with.
"My answer is no." Vladis grabbed a trash bin and threw it into the air. The trash bin landing on the Leader. Blocking his eyes a little. While he was confused, Vladis pulled the bin further down over the man and kicked him. "Have fun rolling!" His senses alerting to someone attacking from behind.
The priest Infiltrator swinging wildly in anger. Large bursts of mana gathering within the arms to boost the strength. Wind gathered around the mace up to the priest's elbow like a sleeve. The mace barely missing Vladis. Instead taking out a part of the wall.
*Crumble!* Part of the wall falling down was very loud despite the fighting in the area. Yet nobody inside the building left from out of it.
"Tch!" Vladis did a lunging strike at the priest's neck. Mana fueling the strike, it pierced right through the opening. 'If not for my experience and synchro rating, I would not make these strikes.'
"Ughh!" The priest reached to grab his neck and Vladis's hand. Blood flowing over the two. His body was turned towards the others, as Vladis held him tightly running him forward. "Let... me..go!" He managed to force out.
"Stop wiggling! You are making me waste my mana!" Vladis chastised. As he ran, he had to lift the priest further up. "Watch it!" He yelled towards the rolling Leader. A kick delivered to the leg doing a little more damage and sending the man into a wall.
"Hah!" Vladis arms bulged as he threw the priest into the others. They bowled over falling amongst each other. 'Almost out of mana.' He looked around and cursed himself for not grabbing the mace. But he did see a few fish bones from the trash he spilled earlier.
The fish bones were good enough to do damage as he ran back. The Leader managed to pull the bin finally off his head. Getting up he was furious. His eyes went wide when he saw Vladis. Vladis had done a flying knee strike.
*Crack!* The running blow allowed enough force to generate anc broke the Leader's face. Vladis now mounted the man. Smile turning sinister as old habits were still at the surface when fighting.
"Close your eyes, it will hurt less if you do not see what happens.!" The fish bones were stabbed into the man's eyes repeatedly. Getting the bones stuck in the left eye, Vladis leaned forward and bit the ears off while his hands clawed at the face.
"Ahhhh! You monster!" The Leader screamed and bucked Vladis off. He kicked him over into the wall with every bit of his energy. "Help me, you idiots!" He called for his troops as he scrambled to reach in his bag for something to heal with.
Health -4
"Oof!" Vladis groaned hitting the wall. Seeing the mace, he reached for it. His ears twitching as something came towards him. "Woah!"
*Thunk!* One of the Infiltrator's had switched back to a crossbow. The bolt landing in front of the mace. Pulling the weapon with the last of his mana, Vladis ran to the Leader and struck him in the back of the head with a run by.
The vial he pulled out, flying out of his hands and rolling down the alley. It cracked only slightly dripping red liquid onto the surface.
"Ahh!" The Leader cried again as he fell face forward. With all the yelling and screaming, it was a surprise no one came over to see what was going on. Like other Nightwatchmen and other unsavory folk. Struggling to get up, the Leader's mana started to rise. "Going to kill him!"
"Nahh!" Vladis taunted. As he ran, he spun on his heels and threw the Mace directly at the man's head. His foot kicking the vial up to his face. 'Healing Potion for the win!'
Health - 6
*Thunk!* Another bolt fired catching Vladis in the side. No longer having the chance to waste, Vladis threw the entire vial in his mouth as he turned back.
'Ugh glass and healing not great.' Vladis ran into two of the Infiltrators while they were reloading. Both look up just in time to move away. Moving to the one almost reloaded was the better of the options. "You are really rude shooting at me like that. It is not very nice."
"Are you crazy!?" The Infiltrator yelled. Vladis and the man struggled. "Get off me!" The Infiltrator pushed Vladis away using the remainder of his mana in a burst.
*Woom!* A shockwave pushed Vladis into the other Infiltrator. They both hit the opposite wall pretty hard. The good news, some of the Healing Potion restored Vladis. It would have been more but the glass he swallowed did some damage on its own.
The Infiltrator dropped his crossbow and grabbed Vladis from behind. As they struggled, Vladis reached for any weapons the man might have on him. He found a dagger but couldn't keep hold of it in the struggle.
Health + 33
Feeling Bloody Body push more, Vladis mana replenished a little. The other Infiltrator had loaded and was ready to shoot him. The smile on his face a one of ecstasy. A sure kill tended to do that to people.
'If I mess this up, it will hurt like hell. Come on Telekinesis. Do not fail me now!' His focus on the crossbow while he tried to grab the dagger still had to pan out.
"Die!" The crossbow raised and fired at Vladis' head. A look of shock dawning on the assailant the moment the trigger was pulled. "Nooo!"
*Splurt!* Blood poured out of the Infiltrator that held Vladis. The bolt sticking out of the face covered in mana from the power added to the strike.
"Wow, how cruel." Vladis taunted as he stopped the telekinesis on the Crossbow. "To kill your own partner, a shame really." The essence poured in from all around as the Leader bled out as well. "It will be ok." He tried to console as the man fumbled to reload to fire again.
Fearful and angered did not bode well for a reload.
The dagger was stabbed into the man's abdomen as he twists and pulls. Giving a headbutt, Vladis felt the essences pour in as the man came in from the final one. The smile growing on his face as he received what he wanted.
*Shine!* The Fairy ring glowed preventing the full power from erupting inside Vladis. Noin smiled in his hair as she changed it to keep the same issue from before from happening. If Vladis received his full ranking in Hand Against Hand combat it would be devasting.
(Northwind Gang 8/20)
(User has developed Hand Against Hand Understanding due to mental understanding. Gathering Rank XII)
'Aww man, that bites. If I received this weapon proficiency at the final Realm, I would be able to rip people apart in fights with ease.' Vladis started looting as he thought things over. "Maybe it is the update why I didn't get the full effect."
"Vladis, do not be greedy. You took a group down that requires multiple people. The essence all to yourself should be worth it." Noin fluttered about. Her eyes watching him for any disapproval. So far so good as he just nodded and continued to loot. "If you rank up, I think you will learn a lot after the update finishes."
"Aye." Vladis gave a nod as he found some papers on the Leader. "What is this now?"
(Additional Quest: Northwind Gang have made bribes towards several members in the Village. From the Wanderer's Guild to the Arena to the Merchant's Hall. User now has a list of names to turn in. Must be delivered to someone with Authority.)
(List of High Profile Names.)
"Ehh.. do not want to do this. This sounds awful. Hmmm?" As Vladis thought it over looting everything, Rosso made it over to him. She was a shining beacon of not wanting to do something at the right time. But she seemed to like challenges. "Hey, want a really hard quest?" He asked with a straight face. "It will cost you though."
"Sure. Have a little trade for you. Wait, how many have you taken out so far?" Rosso asked interested. She followed behind not really understanding the need to not be on the ground right now. Telling of the fight and how many he took out. "Are you going to leave all this.."
*Flutter!* Vladis recovered mana fueled his Telekinesis to lift all the trash back into the bin.
Rosso started shaking her head watching. She looked at the damage to the wall and inspected it.
'What level were they for him to be able to take them all on?' She took a screenshot to make sure she checked everything over officially. She needed to make sure Vladis was not using Illegal Gear as well. 'Please be clean. Things are just getting fun. Wonder what Quest he has available?"
.
-Rooftop-
.
Vladis recovered on top of the building. The Infiltrator he injured not to far away. The man's health flickering from really low to low. Maybe about 25% of his health or so.
'I need more mana!' Vladis circulated Light of Reckoning Gathering Rank XII as well as Light Body II at the same time. I need to have a little fun with my development. I wonder if it will work as needed?'
(Two skills are relatable. Would you like to fuse? Doing so will increase the difficulty of raising it.)
Vladis agreed and felt his body tightened. The main increase in speed causing his blood to run wild. If he didn't concentrate, the flow would cause serious harm and cause several stat penalties. With his high understanding of Light of Reckoning, no issues happen on that part. However, Light Body was not something he raised before so it could have caused problems.
(Primary stats increased by 1. Level Up)
(Title acquired, Reckless)
Reckless: The User after trial and error has done unusual combat methods. Running skills together while having a little understanding of one. Increase a stat by random. Skills have combined.
"Hup!" Rosso jumped near him and watched him a little still. She could see Vladis moving items by his feet with practice ease. Several monitor programs running while she watched. 'The scanner is not finding anything illegal. But I can not be too sure till the info comes back.' A small fluctuation showing the increase in power before her very eyes. 'He is always training. Wonder how good he would turn if stronger skills were available?'
*Flutter!* Moonlight essences poured in waves. Rosso stared wide-eyed. To be able to pull Moonlight in, even a little took skill. Vladis looked to be at peace while he did so.
"Here, this is a concentrated Essences Stone. Better have a good quest." Rosso handed over a stone about the size of a fist. "Gathering Rank III, should take you.. a while.." Her mouth hanged low as Vladis shared the additional quest with her and passed over all rights to it.
Passing it over like this, Vladis was no longer tied to it. Rosso would receive full benefits as if she triggered it.
*Crush!* Vladis destroyed the stone and took every drop of the essences. Everything was pushed into the skills and spells.
(Spells: Telepathy III, Telekinesis III, Barrier, Shift III, Levitate III
Skills: Evaluation III, Bloody Body Gathering XII, Axe Breaking Bonds XII)
"Thanks for that. Needed it for my mana usage to go down." Vladis thanked her.
"Uh huh, can not believe you didn't use it to make yourself stronger." Rosso could tell his Level and Realm stayed the same. But Vladis name went deeper into the red for when players with certain skills viewed him. "Help me charge into one of the places to solve some things, and I will give you another one. The Sub-Boss might trigger on me going in alone."
No longer Dark Red but Dark Crimson with a little black inside. The color indicator was to alert a User how dangerous someone currently was compared to them. Noin caught that Rosso was scanning Vladis. She left it alone since nothing would be found.
"Sure, what can go wrong by dropping into the office while he is not there." Vladis shrugged. Rosso held his arm and provided her mana to help. "Let me buy a weapon first."
"Let me do it. I know something you will like!" Noin said cheerfully. Vladis gave her a nod. Letting her sell junk from his inventory and she did the purchase for him. It took less than 3 seconds for her to search the Fairy shop. "Wear this."
Phantom Ring: Summons a Gathering Rank Weapon off the User's Proficiency. Cooldown 10 minutes.
Vladis removed the generic left shoe and equipped it on his foot. Rosso gave him a strange look but he just smiled. A total of 10 items were allowed on the fingers. 10 were allowed on the toes. He would rather not put this on his fingers since the cooldown was so high.
"Shift." He said lowly doing a full spell chant to cut back on mana usage.
*Tap!* Both had used Shift and enter the room. Rosso was a pale light as she reformed. Landing on the floor with a little noise.