Chapter 10 : Subversion

It was pitch black, the throbbing headache made her want to vomit. Oz adjusted her weight on the soft soled boots as she watched the group of men a few hundred feet from her hiding spot. The pine trees offered plenty of thick cover, none of the men below were clueless to the waiting death in the trees.

Hours had slipped by since she woke up, the ache in her eye dulled with each breath. By the time she woke, the huts had been broken down into efficient piles. Over two hundred elves had knelt to her, arms crossed over their chests.

"Praise to be the Saint" They had said. Oz had no idea what that was supposed to mean. Her eye ached, but she tried not to think about it. She wasn't sure what any of this meant. She shifted again, careful not to make too much noise.

'I really could use an info dump or something right now.' She thought, breathing deep the cold night's air. They have been waiting for hours. Tracking the group of soldiers as they moved massive boxes over the ice flats. She was still worried for time, but her watch had yet to change over. The time was still stuck. Oz rebooted it three times, cleaned her skin, even dunked her arm into a snowbank to try and reset it.

Still it said 6:56:06

The blue box appeared with barely a second thought.

[ Status : Ozel Kasper ]

Level 10

Class : Saint

Title Pack Mule (+5 to Constitution) 

HP1600

MP1000

Strength 12

Constitution 14

Dexterity 12

Intelligence 13

Wisdom 15

Magic 10

Bonus Points 20

Passive Skills:

Latment Lv 1

Eye of the Scholar Lv 1

Forgager Lv 2

Active Skills:

Boreas' Tempest Lv 1 (From Boreas Tear)

Dark Vision Lv 1

Bloodlust Lv 1

She blinked at the sight of her stats, it really was like a video game. She did a double take, level TEN!? She leveled up over three times since coming here? It took over a year to accumulate enough points for one level, much less three!

Oz eyed Nahern further ahead in another pine tree, did he know about this? She eyed the bonus points, she had a nice amount. If she dumped them into strength she would be a God! But only an idiot would load up one stat. Was it just part of his plan? Her stomach rolled at the plan she agreed to help with.

Nahern's people had been slaughtered by other humans, she had no idea how others came here. Or why no one had said anything about dungeons leading to other realms!

'Not that any guild shares their research.' She thought miserably. The Locus Guild was just as greedy as any other. All their research was tightly locked down, only the elites had any pull to peek into the research labs. It took years for a paper to come out, demonstrating the importance of stacking bonuses. Something hunters had been doing since day one. The cure for cancer would be hiding in a Guild's research hall, and it wouldn't come out for decades at this rate.

A sudden crack caught both hers and everyone else's attention.

Down below a few men in military camos walked by, rifles on their backs as they noisy crunched through the snow.

"God damnit."

"Will you be quiet, you idiot."

"Why did we have to be stationed out here, there's nothing but savages and snow! Those dicks should be out here with us instead of staying cooped up in the office. Why are we the only ones freezing?!"

The other soldier slapped the complaining one upside the head.

"Shut up, gotta take a piss."

The younger man stood off to the side, eyes narrowed in the darkness as the other man stomped off into the trees. The only thing that lit his path was the flashlight in his hand.

Days before Oz would have been just as blind as the young man down below. Stumbling about unable to see a foot before her face. Now she saw everything clearly, able to make out the shadows and dim light with ease.

'What did they push into my head?' She thought with a shudder. She could see out of the eye, it felt like an eye, her body hadn't refused it. She wanted a mirror but that would have to wait. She was still scared that some sort of gemstone was pushed into her head.

A branch rustled and an arrow flew out, hitting its mark through the young man's eye. The body hit the snow with a soft thump. The elf beside her, brushed his fingers against her hand then pointed.

'Go time.' Oz thought and pulled her cowl back up over her nose. Time to work. A flash of white and she descended from the trees.

Looting a human was different from monsters. The body was still warm as she pulled it away from the stomped on path and into the snow. She had to think of it as an it and not a person.

She hated rifles, far too loud and noisy. Putting the safety on she then emptied the clip into the snow, she tossed the empty rifle into the trees. In the darkness it was lost within seconds. The combat knife and hand gun though, that she could use. Tucking a knife into her boot, she cocked the pistol and grabbed the extra magazine and silencer.

'That's odd.' Oz thought, noticing the unusual shoulder patches on the uniform. A Tiger? She wasn't aware of any tiger based guilds in her city. But who was to say it was local? She didn't have time to look closer but as she touched the camo uniform, it dissolved into her inventory.

'Convenient.' She thought with a sigh.

'If dungeons can lead to other worlds, then who knows these guys could be from anywhere. Sorry dude.' She thought. Grabbing the keycard hanging off a lanyard, she gave the naked body a firm kick. Sending it into the snowbank. Oz had to hope some wolf would have a tasty dinner. She motioned to the trees above as she took to the path, keeping to the shadows.

The plan was simple. She would deal with the humans supplying their rivals with weapons, and they would help her find a way home. The elves made it clear that the humans were coming and going, many of their kin taken away. Oz didn't want to think why someone would take women and children away...

[!!!!!]

The blue box appeared with a loud chime, enough to make her wince in complaint.

[Quest: Deal with the Enemies!]

[Those blocking the Saint's path have been found. Ensure safety by removing blockages.]

[Enemies left : 12]

[Non-compliance will result in penalty ]

The sudden dialog box shocked her, Oz's eyes went wide as she heard crunching and yelling over the snow. Damnit! Pulling the pistol close she felt the familiar dull numbness take over her mind as she screwed on the silencer.

Guilds had the responsibility to train their hunters. An undertrained hunter was less than useless. All the strength or magic in the world was useless if the hunter couldn't be relied on.

Despite Oz having the title of Pack Mule, she was still trained in multiple forms of combat. Both physical and magic. She had a few spells but never reliable, her magic was so low it was just enough to light one of her cancer-sticks.

The Locus Guild focused on swords and quick combat, valuing kills per hour over all else. Usually she was used as a punching bag for the other hunters, her high constitution allowed her to take hit after hit without much problem. She didn't have the patience for sniping, so her experience with range weapons was limited. But pistols were simple enough. Cock, lock and shoot.

With the freaky dark vision, it was easy enough to locate the group racing towards her as she hid around a large pine tree.. Twelve men in camo uniforms, heavily armed with rifles. But what surprised her, they weren't hunters. Normal humans and hunters gave off different auras, humans didn't 'feel' like much. Other hunters just had a 'vibe'. It shocked her to see a number of men with streaks of red across their faces. In the darkness she figured it might just be face paint of a sort. Still, it smelled like blood. Oz ducked into the shadows of the pine trees. Her aim wasn't the best, she needed space to work.

'How did normal people get through the barrier!? No, don't think about that. Survival first. But I suck at distance, if only my accuracy was better. Wait! I still have points, right?' She thought as she tried to slow her breathing, settling into her hunting stance.

'Hey, Box?' She thought to herself. 'I want to use my bonus points!'

The box hovered before her, the gentle light unseen by the other humans in the forest.

[Which Stat?]

'Only an idiot would dump Strength, sure I could crack them like glow sticks but that would make me stand out too far. Most women are limited. It is better to balance out.' Oz thought as she lined up a shot. Her hand shook slightly, having to use a dual handed grip to stop her flinching. Right now they weren't people. They were barriers.

'Five points to Dex. Five Points to Strength. Dump the last ten into Magic.' She told the box. The box disappeared for a moment, an odd warmth surged through her veins. It reappeared flashing the increase in stats.

[Strength UP! 16]

[Dexterity UP! 17]

[Magic UP! 20]

It felt like gravity released its grip on her ever so slightly. Oz never felt so light on her feet in her life. Pulling back the trigger, the furthest soldier of the group suddenly hit the ground. A solid shot right through the heart soaked the illuminated snow bright red. The shock of hearing one of their kin hitting the snow gave her the chance to rush in. She needed information, but she only needed one or two to do that. Nahern's words burned through her.

'The humans took many of our people. One took my sister. Selene. She's barely more than a child right now and those bastards ransacked the villages for children.' he had told her as they traveled towards the ruins in two groups. The slower supply group behind as the faster hunters took to running through the heavy trees. Nahern offered to carry her, but Oz had her pride. She ran the full three miles without actually noticing.

With her new found strength, she grabbed a fallen log that she would have struggled with before. The heavy weight felt like nothing as she threw it into the soldiers, now all panicking and yelling at one another. Two trapped under the log. The harsh language made her slide to a stop as two opened fire, rushing back to the safety of shadows. White hot bullets flew out into the night. Time seemed to slow down as she actually dodged one.

'Was that Russian?' She thought, kicking out to strike one soldier straight in the back with her foot. She felt giddy with power, grabbing two soldiers and knocking their skulls into one another. A nasty CRUNCH echoed as they fell to the snow.

'Is this how those higher rank hunters feel? No wonder they are assholes.' She thought. Everything was crystal clear as she fired. The boost made the bullets fly true. Two more went down, screaming as they held their thighs and knees. Red hot blood splattered across the snow as they crumbled.

"Fuck! I'm going to kill you!" One screamed in broken English, firing wildly. He didn't care as he struck his teammates, a man screaming as the semi-automatic rifle ripped through his leg. Any that fell were soon turned into pincushions by the ice-elves' arrows, snipers high above her. Well at least they seemed to understand taking down who she marked.

She crouched down, creeping closer. This one she needed alive.

[Enemies left : 2/12]

'Where's the other one?' She thought, keeping her body low to the snow. With the wraps and the borrowed cloak she was toasty warm, almost forgetting she was in a growing blizzard.

"THERE!" A voice called out, a monster of a man charging her. Her vision flashed for a moment as he was surrounded in a clear outline. A rank C Hunter.

Oz frowned at the sight, remembering Chad. Remembering the pain in her eyes. She snarled from the memories, the need for revenge boiling in her blood. She leveled the pistol just as he charged her, the weapon felt like an extension of her body as she emptied the magazine. The bullets bounced off like nothing, leaving the hunter to charge her head on. The monster laughed as she went flying into a tree, the bullets barely hurt him at all. Like his skin was bulletproof.

'Another meathead.' She groaned, coughing up a touch of blood. Oz groaned as she crumbled to the snow, wheezing as if she was just hit by a car. The pistol went flying into the night.

"Nasty little knife-eared bitch, I'll make sure you're given to the men tonight." The hunter laughed, kicking his lips. He then blinked in surprise when her hood fell back.

"A human? You aren't one of ours. No matter, a whore's a whore. With the money we're making off selling these monster bitches, The Black Tigers will be unstoppable."

Oz rubbed her chest, the bite of the chain reminding her of the ring. A white glow surrounded the bastard, and charged again with his large meaty hands out ready to grab her. She dodged the first grab, but on the next it was like a vice around her arms. He lifted her high and she brought her feet straight into his face. The man grunted as his head spun, unable to stop her constant kicking into his face. The soft soled boots smashed into his face as she pulled her leg up to rip the combat knife from her boot. She stabbed his hand with the knife, making him roar in rage.

"Fucking bitch!" He yelled, dragging her close into a bear hug. She cried out as he crushed her bones, unable to breathe from his strength.

What she didn't expect was that off glitch sensation. LIke the door before, she passed through his meaty body with ease. Her body tingled at the sensation.

She rolled to the ground and blinked, again! It happened again! The man looked around in shock.

"Where did you go, you good for nothing bitch!" He roared.