First Mage Fight

A ring broke my watch over the lab. With a grunt not too far as a plead for help from a bound person and snapped out my tablet, which was ringing. I looked down briefly and pulled and took the call. 

"Hey," I heard Ura say over the tablet. "I was looking into some things, and I think I found a customer with an emergency shipment coming that needed to be sent in twelve hours. Major signing bonus if we take this package. I mean a major bonus that can pay this month's bills and purchase a slave if we take it. I am considering signing it, but I also don't want to stop your hunt. So my question is," I looked down from my gaze on the lab to see her blush slightly purple as she asked, "Should I take it?"

The question was valid, and I smiled; I wasn't about to make her lose a contract that she was saying was this good because I wanted to bounty hunt. I smiled, but my attention was back on the lab, "One sec," I said, and I closed the door to the hotel room so the bound man couldn't hear, "Sure, I will be here for another two hours if Oxrock does not show in that time, then I will leave, and we can spend that time looking for a good slave with the credentials we need." I told her as I watched a young man walk into the lab feeling a little frustrated.

"Okay!" Ura said, and I could hear the happiness in her tone, "I will start looking for something on the local net for slaves. I know multiple agencies here work for different pirate outfits that capture cargo ships. They can get a lot of crew that might be hiding their talents among them. The really good people tend to want to keep a collar around their neck for their own ships. The slave bands don't mind losing some of the smarter ones either since it makes their 'merchandise' more appetizing if they tend to miss more good ones than the competition. It is an interesting game I am not interested in getting into." Ura continued, "I will look into that so we can at least have someone servicing our engine."

"Sounds good to me," I replied with a smile watching a black creature of some kind with five limbs leave the laboratory. "I might have a movement here, so I will see you soon, Ura," I finished and hung up. In the last five minutes, I noticed an increased amount of people leaving the laboratory, and soon my eyes narrowed as I noticed a Drow leave the lab. The man turned to the restaurant next door and started to order food. Before I started to move, I turned on the recording feature of the tablet to watch me hunt, just in case this was Oxrock.

After, I quickly moved and brought up my sniper rifle to take a look without much thought. I looked down the scope and saw the man turning and looking around as he ordered something from the man. When he turned, and I saw his face, I couldn't help but smile and bring my finger to the trigger. This was quick and direct movement as I looked the man in the face as I readied my rifle, and his eyes widened. He looked directly at me, and my finger pulled the heavy trigger.

My ears flattened just as I saw the man get up, and shouts started around the area as the bullet tore a hole into Oxrock. I cursed as I looked up, and the man began to glow. I had hit the man in the shoulder, and his arm hung like dead weight as people pulled out weapons, and I ducked behind my cover. Shouts all around started to sound, and people started shooting.

To my surprise, people started shooting at each other, and screams and death instantly became mayhem. I looked up and quickly noticed Oxrock leaping onto the balcony and looking at me, pissed. The man looked down at me, holding something that looked like a staff in his still-useful arm, and it was aimed at me.

I let go of my rifle and jumped to the other side of the balcony just as the staff seemed to shoot something. A fire sparked, and Oxrock cursed as he looked at me. I didn't know what the fuck was happening, and I couldn't hear well because of the constant shooting down below. Oxrock looked composed even while missing an arm and aimed his staff at me again.

Fight-or-flight instincts hit me, and I didn't have room to dodge. My handgun snapped up to him, and I could see his anger as my finger stroked the trigger just as more flames shot toward me. 

There was no room to dodge, and I didn't have the momentum to break the door in. The flames hit me, and pain blasted my head as the heat hit my hip; I moved away from it as much as possible. Gunfire and flames were now all over, and I didn't have time or space to use my rifle. Instead, I moved for my shotgun with my other hand, feeling the heat of the flame as I shot Oxrock again. 

Oxrock seemed to smirk, even if that smirk was tinged with pain, as the bullets seemed to hit a shield. I didn't stop shooting, and he aimed his staff at me again. Bullets ricochet off his shield like the bullets were nothing, and I could see the sadistic glee on Oxrock's face as his spell was finishing. I didn't have time to do much, so instead of fleeing, I decided to close the distance. The spell came to fruition just as I got enough onto my feet and leaped for him. 

Oxrock was floating in the air over the balcony, and I reached out for him with one hand, not even realizing I had dropped my pistol while my other hand grabbed my shotgun. The spell hit something on me, and pain blossomed under me from somewhere on my leg. My body collided with Oxrocks shield, and it repelled me down but sent Oxrock further into the air. My hand gripped my shotgun, and I pulled it from my harness and turned around, aiming at the man. 

I saw Oxrocks eyes widen, and I released both shots from my shotgun, and the shield shattered like glass, sending him tumbling a little in the air and some fresh blood from his body down. I looked around, knowing that I had nothing else, and found my assault rifle on the floor somehow fell off my back as I was fighting and dodging. I had no idea when since everything started, and I reached out for it grabbing the large rifle.

Bridging it up as I lay down, I turned back up to see Oxrock chanting something while glaring at me. I could see the hatred in his eyes and then see them widen as the assault rifle aimed at him. A second later, I could see him start to move while the spell from the staff started to form, and a moment later, My shoulder was slammed as the rifle fired the first shot. My thumb reached the full auto function a moment later and swiped down as I watched as Oxrock's spell went wide, hitting the wall as the first bullet hit him for the first time since the battle started. 

A smile broke out on my face, and Oxrock started to run as he tried to dodge. Trying to run from a pro gamer wasn't something I would allow. My aim was my life's work in previous games, and I tracked him as my assault rifle went full auto, and I fought the recoil. Seven bullets in, and five of my shots hit Oxrock, and he began to fall out of the sky. 

I quickly tried to get back on my feet and leaned over the rail. Mayhem was below as seemingly four factions separated, and people were shooting at each other. It seemed my rifle bullet started off a turf war or something, and I found Oxrock on the ground bleeding and using his one hand to reach cover. It seemed he wanted revenge for the sniper shot that hit the wrong spot and came to kill me in response. I didn't care, and I came over and aimed down at the man, and my thumb put the gun to burst. Two three-round bursts of 5.62 mm ammo later over the head and where I thought the heart was, and he wasn't moving.

My smile was short-lived as I noticed people turning to aim at me, and I dodged down. Rifle fire speckled where I was on the balcony held. I wanted to curse, and I did as adrenaline hit my body hard. My heart was beating hard in my chest, and more gunfire and shouts sounded. I decided that being here any longer would be bad, and I collected my guns and empty shells that I could see. I put them in whatever pocket and opened the balcony door. 

I ran into the room, and the bound man was moaning and groaning loudly, and I decided to help him. I got up onto my feet fully, and pain hit my head hard. I coughed hard and stumbled to the bed. Sparks in my eyes of pain flashed, and I felt sick. Instead, I moved to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked down, saw a chunk out of my hip, and cursed. That fucking hurt like a bitch, and I looked down at the burns on it and realized that Oxrock hit me hard with that first hit. There was good news, though, and the hit cauterized the wound poorly but did cauterize it. My leg took a much smaller hit, but I could see burns down my shin.

Pain erupted with each step, and I wanted to curse, but there was no point. Instead, I took out my little medkit and wrapped the wounds making my head blank. The pain erupted but also subsided faster than it would in the real world. Gabin Corporation didn't want to create a generation of masochists, so I knew it would regulate the pain quickly. Still, it fucking sucked, and I got a hold of myself. 

Stepping back out, I walked over to the bound man and hit him in the neck, making him pass out. It was an old movie that I learned about somewhere; it was one of those movie things that actually worked. Seems they brought it into the game world too. Then I cut his restraints and used the key on the handcuffs. With that, I started to reload my extra magazines before heading down.

As I reached the lobby, I heard an announcement. 

"All factions will cease fire and stop trying to kill each other. An accidental gunshot, not meaning to kill anyone, went off, and you all started trying to kill each other. The Beastials shall go to Dock Three nine two. You will not fire your weapons or be hit with the regulators! The Mystics will go to Dock, oh-oh-two. Or you will be hit by regulators. The Undergrounders, You will go to dock seven niner three, OR YOU WILL BE HIT BY THE REGULATORS! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? The Oxfolds, You will be the first to come to the tables, Dock Three three three, or the previous will happen. NO MORE SHOOTING UP THE PLACE, YOU MORONS!"

I wanted to chuckle, but the shooting stopped immediately, and I stepped outside. I could see angry expressions, but it seemed the fear of the regulators was keeping people in control. The shopkeepers looked annoyed, but like this happened every Thursday or something. Pain laced me as I stepped out, and I could see more than Oxrocks dead body around. The pirates started to collect dead men and women quickly. Humanoids or not, they were collected into four separate piles, and I saw some of the various races smiling.

"It seems the Oxfolds won today's battle; They got to go the tables first. It seems those Beastials came in last again." A dark purple pirate said while picking up a different drow from the floor. It seemed everyone ignored Oxrock at this moment, and some were laughing.

It was the oddest thing, and I moved toward the elevators. It seemed they were busy, and the cleanup was happening. Looking injured, though, I got a spot before others as one of the men chuckled. "Ah, Rish got shot a couple of times. I saw her take out an unprotected. Maybe a bounty hunter? Got caught in the crossfire?" A dark purple humanoid thing asked with a straight face.

"Fuck off,"  I replied, trying to act like a character, and he chuckled.

"You lucky the Regulators are watching bitch," The humanoid said, "We are the winners of today's bout, and you bitch are easy pickings. I might look for you in the next round. Although you are unprotected yourself, I might look for you tonight." The humanoid said, looking me up and down just as I reached the elevator and stepped in.

The hatch slid shut, and I input the number of our dock. The elevator streaked away, and I cried out in pain as it shot off faster than I expected. I stepped out of the personnel elevator a moment later and almost dropped down on the dock. I pulled out the Tablet and hit the record button ending the recording before looking at contracts and calling Ura. The woman's blue face showed up a moment later, and I smiled.

"Open the ramp; I need medical attention," I told her, and Ura's eyes widened before cursing and shutting down the connection.

The ramp came down a minute later, and I was crawling up with Ura's help. I lost track of time while she injected me with something, and I found myself perking up, and my mind cleared.

"Was there a Gang fight while you were there?" Ura demanded, and I looked at her with a chuckle.

"I might have set one off," I told her with a grin, "Mission accomplished," I told her, "Got my first bounty!"

The look Ura gave me wasn't one of happiness.