21:The First Hunt

A tearing sound rustled, followed by the ripping of the trunk from which I walked out.

It didn't even last a moment. As my sight cleared, I spotted the vast greyish desert before me.

The warm light of the sun fell over my face, and the sudden influx blinded my vision.

"Just how long was I there?"

"For 12 hours... for a day or more than that."

Stretching my body in the showering sunshine, I thanked my luck, as I would have been screwed if it was night.

"Whatever! I am finally—YOU... FUCK!"

I screamed, tilting my head to the side. An arrow whizzing past my ear struck the tree trunk.

My eyes widened in shock, and I immediately darted toward the ground, rolling toward the prop root trunk to take cover as another arrow shot out.

I jumped to take cover and rolled on the ground. While doing so, I spotted a glint transversing below, zooming up.

Far ahead, when the arrow was loaded, a faint reflection occurred as the archer fired the arrow.

Catching the location, I sprang up and immediately jumped down the mound, darting straight at the archer. But as I juggled down, my senses whispered the warning of danger in the next step. I rotated my ankle, causing a small flinch, which made me stumble a bit. Supporting myself, I saw a hand sprouting from the ground, serving as assurance of knowing what had come.

"No need to hide, just come out, you son of a bitch!" I shouted, pulling out a dagger while keeping my eye on the archer hidden underneath the sandy dunes. As for the undead, I ignored it, as it was a low-level skeleton.

The hands that stretched to make me stumble were broken with a simple kick.

Noticing a subtle movement on the shifting sand afar, I pulled out a grenade and threw it.

BOOM!

"KYAK!"

A dark, blurry smoke emerged, from which two figures shot out. While one took his stance, the other rolled around and spat out the sand.

One was a huge, bulky red demon with a horn whose name was Grutal, while the other seemed to be a Dark Mage called Krux—someone I came to know from background flash scenes.

"You..." Grutal narrowed his eyes, raising a huge axe.

"Why did you attack me?" I asked while keeping up my guard for an upcoming arrow.

"Kid, stop talking and just hand over everything you got from there," Krux shouted.

"OHH!" I curled my lips and asked, "I took the pain to get it, and you want to take it away. Are you bullying me?"

"Krux, stop bullshitting and—kegs! Just attack!" Grutal screamed and, with a roar, charged at me, slashing his axe.

CLANG!

I rotated the two daggers to block the attack, forming a cross sign, but the balance threw me off. I bent down a bit to draw my momentum at first, then pulled back my dagger, letting the demon's axe sink a bit as I slashed at him. He ducked down and pushed his head, aiming to slam my torso.

Kicking the sand, I shot back when my senses screamed. Halting, I leapt back and slashed my dagger.

TANG!

An arrow bounced off against my attack.

Grutal roared and lunged forward with his axe raised high. I braced myself, tightening my grip on the daggers. As he swung down, I sidestepped and aimed a quick slash at his side, but he twisted just in time. The blade scraped past his armor instead.

Suddenly, the ground shifted as skeletons clawed their way out of the sand, summoned by the Dark Mage Krux. They swarmed toward me, rattling and groaning with every step.

BANG!

With a kick, I dismantled them, and with this, I had a preliminary assessment of their rank.

Grutal was an Acolyte, while the Dark Mage was at best a Spark. The skeletons were too weak, and no curses or flying spells were hurled toward me.

Hopefully, that would remain the case, but I couldn't solidify my assumption, as he might be hiding his power to cast surprise attacks.

"Tsk... A troublesome bunch."

I decided to run around a bit and disrupt the Dark Mage's plans, who was trying to shift my focus from Grutal.

The archer fired a few shots, but I was always mindful of his location.

The skeletons chased me, followed by Grutal. I was more agile and nimble than them. Grutal, being a huge, bulky guy, found it harder to move in the shifting sand.

Finding it a pain in the ass, he screamed, "FUCK!"

"You fight like a coward. Even women who dance in bars fight better than you," Grutal mocked with an annoying smile, trying to get his hands on the swarming fly who dodged and somersaulted amidst the fight.

"Grutal, I will trap him with the skeletons. Then you finish him with a blow," Krux shouted.

Soon, I found my path blocked by another skeleton, who tried to sacrifice itself to hold me back.

I kicked one hard, sending it crashing back, but the others pressed in. Grutal swung his axe again, aiming low, forcing me to leap back while fending off the undead with rapid strikes.

As I spun around to hack down a skeleton, I caught a glint in the corner of my eye.

Spotting another arrow hurtling straight for me faster than ever, I tilted my head at the last second, avoiding a fatal hit. But the arrow lodged painfully into my shoulder as I was a bit slow. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I ripped it out, glaring at the archer hidden beyond the dunes.

"Damn! I need to take that archer out."

The situation was bad. Being inexperienced, dodging was the only thing I was good at.

Also, due to the fact that Grutal was a stone-headed, brutal maniac without any good technique, I might have already been hacked to death otherwise.

With my shoulder aching, I refocused on Grutal, who was already charging in again. With a charge, I was already close to the Dark Mage. This time, I let him close the distance, then dodged under his heavy swing, and then I ran ahead.

Grutal chased after me, while the Dark Mage's eyes spun around as I drew closer around. I wasn't running like a headless chicken rather I tried to get around the Dark Mage periphery.

Contrary to their expectations, I stopped, then turned and threw something.

Grutal snorted and swung his axe, but as it touched the object..

BOOM!

SWOOSH!

A smoke blast erupted. Essentially, I dropped a smoke bomb right there and then used my skills.

[Shadow Step.]