Escaping the hell-bent city

[Quest: Escape!]

[Corruption is a natural nemesis to justice. Icla’s authorities are no different. Without anyone to supervise them, the lower militia units do as they please. Unfortunately for you, they deem you their enemy.

Objective: Escape the city.

Optional: Do not let anyone die in a fight involving you while escaping.

Reward: 5 stat points

Optional reward: ‘Pacifist’

Failure penalty: Penalty issued by the System. Severity: low.]

…

No, focus! Travis quickly looked at the conditions of fulfillment and dismissed the notification afterward. This was… something he could work with. But…

He looked at Leaf. Her hands were tense yet ready to pull the string and release an arrow before anyone could react. Her blue eyes were alternating between the three guards in front of them as she was picking her target. Still, she appeared hesitant to initiate the conflict.

“Leaf…” he said quietly, coming closer to her. “We need to get out. Let's try to not injure them, lest they give chase. Alright? When I tap the ground with my foot, you'll run to the northern gate and hide in a forest one kilometer after it. I’ll follow right behind.”

She looked at him with a bit of surprise in her eyes but nodded lightly.

“So,” Travis said louder, turning to the guards. “You want to put me in my place?” he got hold of his dagger. “Are you really sure you want to do it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you even know who you’re dealing with?” he asked with a cocky smile, sheathing his blade slowly.

It seemed that however amateurish, his intimidation tactic was somewhat working, as one of the guards took a defined step back. Travis sent the escape signal to Leaf. Hesitating for a moment, she took her steps away, quickly disappearing behind the corner, much to the disappointment of the guards.

“If you’re her companion, then you’re her accomplice as well,” the one in the front said. The tone of his voice made him seem like the leader of the other two, defined and stern as he was taking a step forward. “You need to be captured and punished for stealing our property.”

“Try it,” Travis replied, and suddenly, he pounced forward at the guards. With a skilled hand, he unsheathed his dagger again.

He was a Rogue for almost half a year. He might’ve not been the best one there ever was, but Storm Rogue was patient enough with him to let him train at his own pace and taught him the techniques that fit his style. She showed him all the basic forms of attack and defense, proper parrying, and even how to fight on one without using any skills. And now, he was going to try and use that knowledge to lead the guards away from the direction Leaf was headed, if only for long enough to allow her to escape.

But the guards were nearly as quick in their reactions as he was in his actions. The one in the front raised his hand to block the stabbing attack while the two in the back prepared to engage. Before Travis managed to backpedal enough, one of them stabbed at him, piercing his cloak but not managing to hit him directly.

‘They’re faster than I thought.’ he thought, analyzing the situation as he made a bit of distance. ‘In RALS way of thinking, guards should have high Endurance and Strength to be able to wear those chain-mails all day, but these guys seem to have high reflexes as well… this will be tricky.’

Travis walked a step back, and the guards followed suit, keeping just enough distance to be outside of his effective range without charging in needlessly. Travis squinted his eyes a little, trying to seek out any weak points. But it wasn’t going to be easy to strike.

‘I thought I could hold my own, but this won't be possible… Change of plans.’ he made another step back and then shifted the backpack, bringing it onto his left shoulder.

Seeing what he was doing, the guard in the front started coming closer, and within seconds he was already in range. Seeing as he was raising his sword to slash, Travis timed the moment and managed to just barely avoid the attack. However, the guard quickly tilted his sword as it was cutting the air, and connected a second slash in the opposite direction.

Travis hissed, feeling blood seep onto his leg. Nearly 30 HP was gone from a single attack that wasn’t even in a vital area. While this amount wasn’t that great considering he now had 300 total, it still gave him a sense of fear. ‘His Strength seems higher than I anticipated... is his level above 30? Or is this sword of a better quality than I initially thought?’ he gritted his teeth and took a breath, evading another blow.

For a moment, the situation appeared hopeless as the Apostle could only desperately dodge. However... a drop of water hit him on his nose. Raising his eyes ever so slightly, Travis noticed the streets becoming wet and came up with an idea. Without hesitation, he bolted out of the alley, followed suit by the guards.

‘During rain, the surface of the road becomes a little slippery.’ he had experienced it already a few times. Especially during his time as a Soldier class, wearing the armor made the wearer somewhat clumsy and susceptible to slipping. ‘Without any skills to fight, I have to rely on the environment.’ just as he was taught. If your sword breaks, use your hands. If there’s no shield, a rock or tree could save your life instead.

The rain started properly after about a minute. A wave of droplets from the sky fell, tapping lightly on the cobble he was running on. Travis wasted no time, making a sharp turn into one of the alleys. Having run through it, he went into another, taking care to make as rapid and inconsistent turns as he could. There were a few moments when a guard’s blade flew near his neck, but they didn’t manage to hit him.

But, conversely, to what he was expecting, the guards didn’t seem to lose their balance completely one time. The rain was wetting the four of them relentlessly as they ran through Icla, but the chase seemed to be on equal footing for both parties.

Soon enough, Travis ran from an alley and decided to change his strategy again. Running away was going to be too difficult to do if the guards were in top-notch condition. The gap between levels was obvious, and Travis needed to cripple them a bit if he wanted to make his escape.

But the guards seemed prepared. Hell, for a corrupt Militia, they didn’t seem to have skipped their training, as the moment Travis swung, one of the guards immediately parried his strike while another struck at him. 25 HP went down the drain again. Travis was already down to 256, and after a few exchanges, while trying to backpedal as much as he could, he only managed a single stab into a guard’s leg while his HP went down to about 200.

‘Not even crippling them is possible…’ he thought as he resumed his run. ‘At this rate, I’ll slip before they do… Think… what options do I have?’

Making his way between some buildings, he started recalling the contents of the backpack he was still wearing. A map of Forna Kingdom – useless at the moment. Some money in a pouch – it was too late to bribe the guards, and he didn’t even have a lot to begin with. A spare change of clothes – nope. Matching matches – they wouldn’t burn anything in this rain. A communication sphere he received from Aria – no… wait!

‘Could I threaten to call her? Would that even work?’ he wasn’t certain. Aria wasn’t an official Inspector yet, and besides, she wasn’t in the same city, so a threat calling her imposed on the guards chasing him was negligible if any. Still… wasn’t this something he could do?

‘Maybe I could threaten to report them to their superiors through Aria… no, that won’t work.’ he eventually dismissed the thought. As promising as it sounded, there was no way Aria would be able to help him.

He bolted out of an alley, feeling his lungs on fire, but not stopping just yet. Without a clear way out, he could only confirm that the guards were still chasing him. While they also seemed to be getting out of breath, Travis knew that he would run out of stamina first.

But… what could he do? He made a quick turn on a crossroad, water splashing all around as he stepped into a small puddle. The smell of wet dirt was now hanging low in the air as the droplets were falling from the sky, dispersing on whatever they hit.

Travis felt his vision getting a little blurry as a droplet made its way into his eye. He quickly swiped the excess liquid out and made a turn. Within his range of vision, he could see a gate leading out of the city. He just needed to get there…

But he forgot about guards by the gate itself. Seeing how he was being chased by their comrades, the two guards sitting next to the structure quickly got up, lifting their spears and pointing them outward, preparing to impale him should he try to run past them. One of them shouted something, and within a few seconds, Travis saw an arrow strike the ground just before him. Startled by the sudden projectile, he slipped and tumbled forward a bit.

Within seconds, the three guards that were chasing him approached him, swords out, and he was only lying on his back, staring at them.

‘…shit. I’m out of options. Even if I could run, my stamina is too low for even a couple more minutes.’ he gritted his teeth, a groan escaping his mouth.

“Finally,” the commander of the guards said, huffing heavily, but holding his sword straight by Travis’ throat. “You little fucker. I hate running after criminals.”

Travis didn’t even feel like answering. ‘They’ll rob me here anyways.’ he was certain of it. What would happen to him later was a secondary issue. They almost certainly won’t kill him, and he was sure of that.

“That’s why I always hated Rogues,” the guard said. “Always so elusive. I--!“ but then, everyone heard a roar. A bear’s roar, to be precise.

“A bear?!” another guard asked, his voice betraying an untold amount of bewilderment. “Why is it here?!”

Travis quickly turned his head and saw how Berry was charging through the spearmen by the gate, and rushing toward them, seemingly angered. Within seconds, it passed right above him and bashed into the guards, getting into close-quarter combat.

‘...Leaf actually helped me…’ he thought as he was quickly forcing himself to his feet. Even if Berry came to his rescue, he couldn’t slack off. Though his lungs burned, he had to escape the city. The water under him had soaked his clothes and backpack but that didn’t stop him from rushing forth. He nearly slipped again on the wet surface but managed to balance himself enough to keep pushing forward. ‘Berry won’t last forever. Come on, just a few dozen meters.’

Suddenly, an arrow was shot and nearly hit him. Looking up, Travis saw two archers aiming at him, with a third one holding their bow, having shot in front of him, clearly giving him a stern warning.

But he didn’t intend on stopping. Even if he were to be hit, he would still keep on running.

Another arrow was shot, and it almost hit again. Then a following one pierced through his shoulder lightly, but mostly the skin and clothes, not dealing more than 5 damage. Running through the gate, Travis only could confirm that this was the western gate but didn’t change his direction for a few minutes. Trying to make his moves as erratic as possible for him in his current state, he managed to dodge nearly all arrows that hit him.

Nearly.

[Critical hit received!]

[Over 40% HP of damage received in a single strike. All speeds reduced by 25% for 5 seconds.]

Except for one that hit his lower back, bringing his HP down to almost 100 on its own. It was an attack at a critical spot, otherwise known as a critical hit. Suddenly, Travis felt his movements become a little dull, but thankfully for him, he was just out of range of the archers.

He noticed how a crow flew close to him and sat on his shoulder as he slowed down to a walk, slowly entering the forest.

“Fuck…” he groaned, leaning on a tree. He didn’t care for his burning lungs or wet body. Sniffing a little, he could only let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Leaf.”

And then, he received a notification.

[Quest completed: Escape!]

[5 stat points have been awarded.]

[Optional condition completed.]

[‘Pacifist’ has been awarded.]

As if on cue, a small blade appeared in Travis’ hand. It had a leather handle connected with a tiny guard of silvery color. Its blade was of a similar color, reflecting gray clouds with its polished surface. Still taking a breather, Travis focused.

[Pacifist

Rating: Rare

Attack power: 7-9

Durability: 88/88

*Attack speed will increase by 10%

*Damage increased by 50% for every 10% HP the target has above 70%.

*Damage decreased by 20% for every 10% HP the target has below 50%.

*Damage increased by 33% when attacking a vital point or a blindspot.

*Cannot kill an opponent. Deals no damage to targets below 10% HP.

A dagger created with an aversion to ****. It excels at fighting opponents at fuller HP.

Weight: 344 g]

He looked at the crow watching his movements. ‘Is it good? I’m not sure myself.’ Travis shook his head. Whether or not this weapon was useful was debatable. Its base damage was lower than the dagger he typically used, but the bonus damage made up for that. Though it was a situational weapon, it was too good to throw it out. ‘For now, I’ll just stash it.’

The air, once dry, was now humid as the rain continued on and on, small puddles starting to form on the road not far from him. Travis took a swiping look around and could only confirm the fresh smell of the mire as he started walking toward the north. He looked at the crow sitting on a nearby tree.

“Come on, lead the way,” he said. “Let’s get out of here before those guys get on our tail,” he sniffled, feeling the cold spread through his body. Momentarily, he shivered.

The bird cawed loudly before setting off in a direction, and he followed it quickly. Step by step, Travis began to inspect the damage on his body. He pondered for a moment whether he should be alive anymore or not. ‘That arrow… if it hit just a few centimeters higher, I probably would’ve gotten severe internal bleeding… I am so weak…’ he gritted his teeth momentarily. This was not going well so far. He survived, but once again, he didn’t come unscathed. ‘I didn’t think enough about the possibilities.’ an angry sigh left his mouth. ‘If Berry didn’t come to save me, I’d be apprehended again, or worse.’ the rain slowly started subsiding a bit as he made his way between some pine trees. In the distance, he could see the other crow flying toward him, indicating that Leaf was nearby.

A fresh gust of wind was pushed into the forest as the light rain continued. In the sky, the gray clouds started changing to a bit more silvery variant, indicating that soon, the situation would calm down a bit. Just on the border of vision, Travis caught a glimpse of movement a little east from where he was headed. Stopping momentarily, he crouched and looked around, the mud in the mire giving way as he planted his knee in it momentarily, giving himself support. In the brown-green composition of land in front of him, he soon noticed the outline of someone’s legs, going quickly toward him. Within seconds, Leaf came out from behind a tree and looked at him.

“Travis! You’re safe!” she rushed to him, not caring for her wet tunic or pants, nor for her hair that was in complete disarray, hanging onto her chest and clinging to her skin. Her typically pale skin was now ruby-red with exhaustion. Taking in a few deep breaths, it looked like she was about to pass out any moment now. Water and sweat alike were dripping from her nose as she quickly made a round around him. “You’re hurt!”

“Don’t worry about me, Leaf. Are you alright?” he asked, despite seeing that she was relatively unscathed. Safe for what looked like a small bruise on her neck (perhaps done by the guards before), she seemed fine.

Suddenly, he felt her hand on the arrow and hissed while taking a wide step away. Gritting his teeth, he looked at her, a surge of pain momentarily blinding his sight as his eyes emanated rage at her. Leaf, in response, sheepishly bowed her head a little, but the amount of water going down her nose increased quickly as she sobbed a little.

“I’m sorry! *Sob!* It’s all my fault!”

“It’s not your fault, Leaf,” he shook his head, his gaze softening as he got hold of himself.

“It is! Because of me the guards *Sob!* went after you! I-I…” her voice shook as she found it difficult to piece together words.

“Leaf, it’s really not your fault. You didn’t tell those guards to chase after me, did you?”

“N-No… I would never--“

“Then it’s not your fault,” he replied, suppressing the urge to hiss again as he moved a bit, forcing muscles around the arrow to stretch momentarily. “Alright? You didn’t do this to me. You aren’t responsible for their actions.”

She looked somewhere to her left, but her gaze was still focused on the ground, seemingly not having enough courage to look up at him.

“Hey, Leaf. Don’t sulk now. It just happened.”

“…it’s the first time it ever happened,” she said.

“First time?” Travis raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve never seen something like this happen. I’ve been to places where guards were lenient and all that, but… attacking travelers? Out of blue? W-Why?”

“…I’m not sure,” ‘I can’t tell her about higher-ups in the capital. Not yet, at least.’

“…”

“Can you help me with that arrow?”

“…yes…” she answered quietly, almost as if she was lacking conviction in her words.

Finding shelter under a wide tree with large leaves, the two of them soon sat down on the ground. Within minutes, Leaf had rummaged through her bag, searching for herbs she wanted to use, and within a quarter of an hour, Travis was finally free of the additional burden. Looking at the arrow in his hand, he inspected it in silence as Leaf was simply leaning on the tree, Bill and Jay going around her. Her face had an indifferent expression plastered on it. Compared to how she acted normally, this was her sulky face.

She barely moved when the two birds sat on her lap and then on her chest, trying to get her attention by hitting their beaks and cawing quietly under her chin. Her blue eyes were unfocused, looking into the distance. In her attitude, she even forgot to change into any dry clothes, and within minutes, she started sniffling a little, much like Travis.

He raised the arrow a little and glanced over its construction. It seemed to be made of simple wood without reinforcements, outfitted with an ordinary steelhead and fletching made of a bird’s feather. Still, Travis had to commend the sturdiness of the bow’s ammo. Most arrows were prone to breaking upon hitting a target (mostly because Fletchers tended to half-ass their job), but this one didn’t.

‘It’s undeniably a work of a very good Fletcher. The structure seems brittle, but is flexible enough to not break upon use.’ he nodded a little at his affirmation. ‘But I never heard of any residing in Icla… and it’s too good to be called an ordinary arrow, too. Looking at its materials, only a master of his craft would be able to bring forth such qualities. Then… who supplied this arrow to those guards? Was it a stroke of luck that a random Fletcher managed to create it? No… something doesn’t feel right.’

Focusing more and more on the arrow, he was trying to pierce it with his gaze, trying to **** RALS to tell him more about it. However, he got a surprising notification back.

[<Analysis is currently impossible. Raise your Sense stat or obtain an appraisal skill to analyze.>]

‘Again with this. Sense stat is too low to even see its name.’ Travis huffed a little bit of air. ‘On one hand, I want to know more about this, but… Sense isn’t worth it yet.’

He took a look at Leaf, sitting left of him. With little movement from her, it seemed that leaving her be for now was the wisest decision he could make. Besides, the rain didn't stop yet, and they had nothing to protect both of them efficiently. For now, they were only bound to sit under that tree.

Soon enough, after checking his status, Travis confirmed that he had regained most of the lost HP. Truly, Leaf was an expert at creating herbal bandages. Single-use items always tend to have greater effects than their multi-use counterparts but even then, a single-use item healing 200 HP was rare to find, and Leaf dished them out consistently so far.

As he felt complete freedom of movement again, he quietly walked behind the tree and opened the Daily Quest. For today’s one, he had already finished most requirements, and thankfully, the last two remaining were nothing complex. After reading a quick explanation from RALS about the first exercise, he started exercising, slowly at first and then picking up his speed a bit.

The 6 stats from its reward were put into Strength. The 5 stat points he received for completing the quest were all spent on Endurance.

‘I need brute **** power if I want to survive longer. I have no way of fighting long-range. For now, I need to focus on Strength, Endurance, and Agility. After I get the second skill point, I’ll get Mana Bolt, and then I’ll focus more on Intelligence and Wisdom.’ he made a choice. Once again, he had to change the way he went about things. This time, however, he didn’t intend on just going forward. If he wanted to survive, he needed to get stronger, fast. And to keep Leaf safe, he needed to be that much more powerful. Then, the only way to do it was… dungeon hunting.

‘There is a dungeon northwest of Icla. We can visit that place. Monster levels are at about 20 to 25, so we’ll be fine.’ he looked forth. The wet ground was being illuminated by the sun that started to pierce through the clouds, and consequently, the rain started to die off. Within an hour, they would be able to set off.

---

[[Name: Travis Salliv
Class: Apostle of Tricks & Manipulation
Level: 10
HP: 325/350
MP: 20/70
WP: 40/320]

[Strength: 37
Agility: 36
Intelligence: 35
Endurance: 35
Wisdom: 18
Sense: 25
AP: 0]

[Possessed abilities: Suggestion lvl.2, Hypnosis lvl.1]

[Current status: No anomalies]]