First Kill

Bane knew the system was on his side, designed to assist him. So, when he saw the young woman about to be beaten, the system granted him a skill to intervene quickly. He wasn't about to let her suffer and walked past, deliberately provoking the attackers to overreact.

As the man's foot was about to strike the young healer's chest, Bane activated the skill. He expected an increase in speed, but the result was shocking. While he was nowhere near as fast as Sol or Mr. Grey, he was still incredibly swift and managed to intercept the man's foot.

"Tch. What?" the gruff man clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed.

"I thought she was just freaking out for no reason. But it looks like you were about to hurt her," Bane countered, knowing these men were likely scum trying to take advantage of a helpless woman.

Bane kicked the man's foot away, causing him to stumble back and regroup with his companions.

"So, you really want to do this? You know this place is lawless, right?" the man said with a devious grin.

"Yeah, I know," Bane replied indifferently, turning to the young healer. He extended his hand, and she took it, allowing him to help her up. The young woman thanked him, but the group of men was now fuming.

"What are you doing? Go!" the man shouted, trying to intimidate Bane into leaving. Just as Bane was about to respond, the healer grabbed his shoulder.

"Please," she pleaded, avoiding eye contact, her arms bruised and knees scraped. Bane nodded, affirming that he wouldn't abandon her.

"If you want to leave, you'll have to make me," Bane said, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. In the shadowy, poorly lit room, the veins in the leader's head bulged, casting faint shadows.

"You might be fast, but you really think you can beat us?" the man laughed maniacally, as if Bane were insane for even suggesting a fight.

"I don't think I can beat you—I know I can. If I couldn't, I'd be disappointed to call myself an adventurer. You're all scum," Bane spat, provoking the four adventurers further.

"Let me handle him, boss," a shorter, sniveling man said, patting the leader's shoulder as he stepped forward. The rotund man carried a short sword at his side, oozing with undeserved confidence. Bane withdrew his sword and began walking forward as well.

Having received a quest to save the young woman, Bane knew this wasn't just about helping her—dealing with these thugs would also benefit him. But killing… he thought. While he had slain hundreds, if not thousands, of monsters, killing a human felt different. I'll just have to beat him senseless, he decided as the two closed the distance.

"I'll bring you down to earth!" the rotund adventurer shouted, charging at Bane with his small sword raised.

Bane had acted arrogant and annoying on purpose to provoke them, knowing it would rattle them further when they started losing. The rotund adventurer was slow, and Bane already anticipated his strike. How are these people on floor seven? he wondered. If the others were at the same skill level, Bane doubted they'd make it past a single shadow armor.

"Ahh!" the man shouted, but Bane easily parried the attack, sending him tumbling to the ground. Before the man could recover, Bane was already on top of him.

Thud.

The hilt of Bane's sword struck the rotund adventurer's neck, knocking him unconscious. Bane stood calmly and turned to the remaining three adventurers, who stood with their mouths agape. The leader was the first to snap out of it.

"Hmm… Well, good thing he was by far the weakest of us all," the leader said, still grinning. Bane didn't doubt it—the other three adventurers were tall and muscular, while the man on the floor was clearly out of his depth.

The leader nodded to the other two seasoned adventurers, and they drew their weapons. One was a masked figure dressed in black, carrying a knife, while the other wore armor and carried a sword on his back.

"Guess we won't take it easy on you," the leader said as the three split up, initiating the next round of combat. A single torch lit the area until a bright green light emerged from behind.

"I will support you," the healer whispered, her eyes closed as a green aura surrounded her. She muttered a few words and moved her hands, but Bane's attention was drawn to the leader's shout.

"Don't let her empower him!" the leader yelled as he and the armored adventurer charged. The masked figure lingered in the shadows, but Bane knew he was targeting the healer. Thanks to his Night Vision skill, Bane could see the masked adventurer clearly, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

With this knowledge, Bane felt confident engaging the other two. The leader hadn't lied—the two he was fighting were far stronger and more skilled than the rotund man. However, Bane held his own, parrying and dodging their attacks with ease. Just as the leader made a critical error, leaving himself open, the masked adventurer made his move.

"Haha…" the leader laughed, forcing Bane to make a split-second decision. He considered all the factors: his own well-being, the quest, and the healer's safety. Ultimately, Bane chose to save the healer. He turned away from the leader, retrieved a knife from his boot, and hurled it at the masked adventurer.

Crunch.

The dagger struck true, piercing the masked man's skull. He convulsed for a moment before collapsing. Bane had a policy on killing: an eye for an eye. He could sense the murderous intent radiating from the masked assassin, and he felt no remorse.

The leader and the remaining adventurer were now visibly fearful. They had no intention of fleeing but fought with extreme caution. Bane, however, was now fully unleashed. For the first time, he had killed a human, and oddly, he felt at peace—calm, almost robotic. He turned to the two remaining adventurers with cold eyes. Two more pieces of garbage, he thought.

The fight continued, with the two men throwing everything they had at Bane. They worked together, but every move was met with a counter from Bane. The leader, with better stamina and pain tolerance, was the last one standing. However, he too eventually fell.

Just as Bane was about to deliver the final blow, the healer spoke up. "W-Wait!" she stammered.

"What?" Bane turned, lifting his sword from the leader's chest, if she were a second late, his sword would have been slotted into his chest.

"S-Stop," she pleaded.

"Stop what?" Bane asked, confused.

"Do not kill them," the healer said, clasping her hands as if in prayer.

"Why?" Bane snarled, baffled. "Have they brainwashed you or something?"

The healer shook her head furiously. "Of course not, but do you not believe in forgiveness?" she asked.

This was where Bane lost his temper. "Forgiveness? For trying to kill and do unspeakable things to you?!" he shouted, stepping closer to get in her face.

"..." She had no response, but showed no sign of backing down from her request. 

Bane explained the situation to her slowly like she had no idea what was going wrong, "These four just tried to kill you, and me for that matter. So why allow them to live and have the chance to hurt you or another person again?" 

"..." The healer had no way to respond. Ethics did not exist in the dungeon, therefore mercy did not exist either. Bane had the right to take revenge on the individuals who were just trying to kill him and the healer. 

"Well?" 

"Just let them be." The healer finally answered. Just before Bane could critique her answer, she continued, "You did enough damage to them in the fight, it is likely that they will bleed out, when we descended, they packed no food or water. Without me and my ability to generate water, they will certainly die." She explained.

Bane gazed on the scene he had orchestrated, bodies, pools and splatters of blood were all around. 

"Okay, fine." Bane answered.

The two of them left the area and backtracked to the prior room with the intention to leave the stench behind, but it seemed to follow them anyway.

"Thank you." The healer said, bowing deeply.

"Yeah." Was all Bane said, his mind was occupied by the urgent quest, 'I still can't claim it.' He noted, trying to figure out why such a thing could have happened.

"Mister, what is your name?" The healer inquired.

"Bane, what about you?" 

"I am Liora, it's nice to meet you Bane and thank you again." She said. Bane just nodded, still trying to figure out why the quest wasn't claimable.

"Say, if it isn't too much to ask, could you escort me back to the entrance?" She asked.

Bane wanted to sigh and tell her no, but, he had a feeling this was a clear condition for the quest. So reluctantly he answered her.

"Sure." 

"Thank you!" So, the two of them ascended the levels, as they did, they chatted and got to know each other.