“Aaaaaagh!” Andreas' blood curdling scream rang out in the forest, completely unable to understand what had happened in that short period of time. Jack had been burnt, shot at by an arrow and even had his mobility frozen, how could he possibly move after that? Furthermore, much like Jack had been getting notifications each time an innate talent was activated in the vicinity, Andreas should have received one too- but the system had remained silent.

Jack of course, by now, had learned not to trust the system. Perhaps if the divinity were still alive, it would be infallible. But he had first hand seen the system fail on him. In this case though, the system had not failed- he had not used an innate talent at all.

“Andreas!” Elise screamed a mix of shock and anger, notching an arrow and firing at Jack from the other flank. But Jack had never stopped moving this entire time, out of respect for his enemies- he never underestimated them. He had learned from watching Sam’s betrayal, the key weaknesses of Mace-Knights. The sense of security that their Qi Tower-Shield provided was both a blessing and a curse in the wilderness- for safety was naught but an illusion. It already negatively affected their movement speed, coupled with the element of surprise Jack on his side- flanking Andreas from the right.

Pivoting on his right foot, Jack shifted his weight and did a 180 degree turn- mirroring Sam’s movement by cleanly cutting through the tendons in the back of Andreas’ right knee, sending him to the floor.

‘Luna, now!’ Jack called out to their bond, being all the time he had before the assassin stopped casting the barrier around the arena and rushed at him, his feet glowing with blue Qi. This was the first time Jack had witnessed the skill Qi Steps, and Jack was surprised. The assassin moved as if the ground held no friction for him, making almost no noise as he covered the distance very quickly and drove his dagger towards Jack’s abdomen.

On the other hand, Luna who was believed to be too injured to do anything but dodge by this point suddenly recovered her vitality and blazed forward with surprising speed.

Thirty meters, twenty meters, ten meters….

“Mike, stop it!” Elise yelled, causing a flummoxed Mike to finally come to a decision. He dissipated his shield, completely unarmed but his red, glowing hand and fired a bolt in Luna’s direction. While on the other hand, Elise pointed her bow in Jack’s direction, but due to the melee that Jack and Brian were engaged in, she couldn’t get a clear shot.

Luna was like a young child, except she was far smarter and more vicious than one. Perhaps it was her bloodline as a part-predator, or perhaps she was not yet as mature as she thought herself to be- but the thought of losing to any human except Jack didn’t sit right with her. She had faced that powerful bolt before, and it had burnt her skin pretty painfully. But she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. She was a natural feline, no human could compare with her when it came to agility.

So watched the human cast the bolt, timed it based on her prior experience and then leaped the furthest she’d ever done in her life- surprised at how powerful and responsive her muscles were- the distance of ten meters was reduced to a mere three, her longer legs making short work of the remaining distance. This was one of the humans that had humiliated her, and he would pay.

She watched as the panicked humans swallowed one of the pills, trying to stem the flow of the meeting. Their eyes made contact, the human while kneeling at the same level as her- she found that amusing. She saw the panic, the fear in his eyes, much reflecting her own when she was besieged by five powerful foes. She knew he would try to manifest his shield, but she was faster.

In a swift, elegant leap, she ripped the man’s throat out with her sharp teeth, landing on the ground just as Andreas’ lifeless body made contact with it, a ‘thump’ sound echoing out in her sensitive ears, before she broke out into another sprint. A furious red lightning bolt struck the ground where she was standing before, but it hit nothing but air.

“Andreas! No!!!” Elise’s pained cry rang out, while Mike just stared on in shock. Andreas was dead…. Just like that?

Elise’s eyes were bloodshot, and a tear trickled down her right eye.

Jack parried the assassin’s dagger, but found himself surprised when the assassin pulled out another dagger, made out of sharpened white bone like material from a sheath concealed in his robes.

If it weren’t for his higher stats, Jack would not have been able to parry that attack. Even then, he barely blocked its long, serrated edge.

“Get out of the way, Brian!” The scream of a crazed Elise rang out behind him, and though Jack already knew, it still made him squirm when he received confirmation. Luna had killed Andreas, just like…. he had instructed her to.

‘They threatened your survival. Only the objective matters. Forget everything else.’

Chanting that mantra gave Jack clarity, and he didn’t find it surprising when Brian chose to disengage and start stepping backwards, his Qi Steps skill making even that action quite fast.

Jack didn’t hesitate either, choosing to chase after Brian with a mad fervor- as far as he was concerned, Brian provided him with immunity. Three arrows were fired in rapid succession, but no fire bolt came. Mike was too busy trying to guard against the threat of Luna. Two arrows swept past him, but the last one missed him by mere inches- Jack found his danger sense to be slightly sluggish when multiple targets were aimed at him.

He knew this fight had gone beyond looting reasons and was now a vendetta, so retreat was no longer an option. Jack decided to… as difficult as it was, to lunge at another human with intent to kill. This was the wilderness, and if a man drew his sword and you or your people, it had only one meaning: either kill, or be killed.

The dual wielding assassin’s eyes went wide with panic, as he leaped backwards with surprising grace- his lightweight frame floating in the sky for half a second.

‘Luna, get this guy!’

Jack had formulated this plan when he saw the nimble assassin get away from him easily- he decided to completely ignore the assassin and took off towards Elise and Mark, while Luna who was pressuring Mark broke out into a sprint away from him. In an instant, they had switched targets. Jack did not have any need to guard his back, the assassin was the only one in the group without ranged attacks.

Jack moved in a zig-zag motion, momentum building up with each stride- he was now accustomed to this movement style, it had saved his life many times before in the wilderness after all.

“Come on then. You wanted to kill me, so here I fucking am!” Jack replied, and for the first time he screamed at them. This loss of life was unnecessary, he didn’t want this. But they pushed, and pushed him until there was no remaining path left.

“Mark, kill him!” Elise shrieked, maybe intimidated by Jack’s six foot three figure barrelling towards her at full speed.

Elise fired arrow after arrow, without stopping. The moment an arrow left the bow, another one was notched and ready to fire, or at least that’s how it felt to Jack.

“I’ll fucking blast you to cinder this time. Let’s see if you can come back from that!” He bellowed, channeling the red thunder in his hand before firing it in Jack’s direction.

Jack started to move even faster, wishing he could have Qi Steps at this moment. One of Elise’s arrows hit him in the right arm, making him strafe to the left. Mark had learned from his previous mistake, this time aiming for his legs instead of his chest. Pity Mark didn’t know Jack would soon run out of Qi, if he kept shattering his shields. Jack tried his best to jump over the fire bolt, but his lightning was truly fast.

“Aaaah fuck,” Jack’s right leg had caught fire, and this time no magical healing technique would save him. Either he would be fatally wounded, or he used to deny and shattered his soul. The first option somehow seemed less painful in comparison.

But he kept running, another arrow catching him in the arm- but less than three meters remaining.

Jack made eye contact with Elise’s features, which had just finished firing the most recent arrow that had struck Jack. At that moment Jack saw her as a twenty five or six year pretty brown haired girl with hazel eyes, and not someone who would make an old man fight a cheetah like creature to the death and try to kill him for his items and experience.

She had a small sword tied to her waist, but it was unsheathed. Matt had already fired his Red Bolt, and was recharging it. Jack knew he at least had a few seconds.

Did he have to-

‘Do not hesitate.’

A voice rang out in Jack’s mind. A voice that brought back terrible memories that he couldn’t afford to remember at any cost. No. Never.

So he complied.

Jack watched as her neck burst out with trickling blood, feeling too terrified of that voice to realize the nature of what he had done.

“Die!!!” Matt screamed like a maniac, his red hand glowing with such power that even Jack felt enough fear to snap him out of his trance.

In that moment, pragmatism took over his thoughts, and he let go of his sword, grabbing Elise before she fell to the ground- using her as cover.

A wave of fire unlike Jack had never experienced before burst forward, reducing Elise’s body to embers, shattering his shield and searing his left arm completely aflame. The pain was maddening, but Jack in a moment of quick thought dove to the ground and started rolled away from Matt, trying to get rid of the terrible pain and the fire.

A quick gaze at Matt showed him to be completely spent, Jack figured that last attack took every single inch of power he possessed.

‘Finish Him.’

The voice returned, once again bringing Jack a deep terror that far overwhelmed the pain. Most of the fire had been doused, but the upper part of his left forearm was still aflame. Just the act of leaving the grass and getting back on his feet took immense courage, but Matt also knew that the battle had to end here. Taking out the mace was slower than depositing it, perhaps so people couldn’t pull out battles mid fight- that gave Jack some time to get back on his feet, but that was it.

Matt charged with his Mace held up high, too mentally and physically drained to channel his Qi. He had overdrawn his talent, but Jack was equally exhausted and his left arm was in no position to channel a shield.

Matt screamed, and then charged.

Jack screamed, and charged back.

Jack swung his sword, knowing he had the reach advantage. Matt parried, with a blow from his hefty mace. Jack was sent stumbling back a few steps, the pain still making him unable to focus. Matt charged again, swinging his mace sideways.

‘Do not prolong his misery, Jack. Finish it.’

“Fine! Fuck!” Jack yelled, as he sidestepped the mace swing, all his subconscious inhibitions gone. He knew somewhere, down deep, he was slightly holding back. He didn’t want to kill him. But he slashed his sword anyway, taking off Matt’s overextended arm that had hit nothing but air. The arm went flying, and Jack shifted to a lunge, straight for the heart- to make sure he didn’t have to suffer any more than he need to.

“It’s done, motherfucker! Are you happy now! Are you fucking happy!?” Jack screamed, losing all the strength in his body and collapsing along with a hollow eyed Matt, who stared back at him with hatred, right to his last breath.

A proud Luna waltz in, her white coat marred with sticky red blood, but Jack was in no position to pay her attention.

He just kept chanting the same mantra over and over again.

‘I am Jack Smith. Son of George and Amanda Smith. I live in the suburbs. I did a three year animation degree in college, after that I worked in an animation studio till I got fired. My passions are playing basketball, reading and drawing comics and occasionally, going to the gym. I am Jack Smith. Son of George and Amanda Smith. I live in the suburbs. I did a three year animation degree in college, after that I worked in an animation studio till I got fired. My passions are playing basketball, reading and drawing comics and occasionally, going to the gym….’

Over and over again, in a landscape painted with blood sweat and gore- Jack kept repeating the same words until two hot tears rolled down his eyes. Knowing that once pandora's box was opened, it could not be closed. The memories could no longer be suppresed. No longer denied.

His original name was not Jack Smith. And this was not the first time he had killed a man.