“That’s it,” he said all of a sudden.
“Sorry?”
“We go hunting. I’m going to the camp, but I’ll be back soon. Can you dress in hiking gear while I’m out?”
“Hm… Mysterious and assertive… I like it,” Regina kissed him.
After kissing her back, Peter opened the windows, Warped up and on, sneaked into the camp, and went to see Ariana, who was having breakfast with Naomi and Jack.
“Hey,” he saluted. “Ari, can I have a word with you?”
“C’mon, Petey, we’re eating here,” Jack objected.
“Did I ask you?” Peter snapped, making the jock jerk, surprised he was put in his place.
“It’s OK,” Ariana said, walking with Peter.
“I have a mission for you,” Peter said once they had taken some distance and were in a more or less isolated spot.
The girl crossed her arms, creasing her forehead. “A mission? Who made you my boss?”
“Hear me up. You love Melinda, right?” Ariana nodded, swallowing a lump. “I want you to stay around her as much as possible.”
“Look, Peter,” she sagged her shoulders, “it’s nice you try to help, but it’s over…”
“Nonsense. Melinda just needs to sort out her daddy issues. Kostel is just a phase; it will pass. Pretend you want to be her friend, I dunno, but stick to her. Eventually, she will need a bodyguard, and we’re short on people.”
“But I’m not good at fighting,” she objected.
“Shredi is. You two should be able to protect her from some wannabee assassin or buy enough time until I come to the rescue. And maybe you could charm some more beasts.”
“That could work…” Regina shifted her weight from one foot to another. “OK,” she nodded. “I’ll do it.”
“Great. See ya later… Oh, fuck,” Peter slapped his forehead. “I forgot. This is embarrassing, but… do you mind gathering some more elven periwi—”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. It’ll be my penance for all the times we made you go out to buy us beer.”
“Actually, I didn’t mind that,” Peter shrugged. “I bought expired beer and kept most of the money.”
“You bastard!” Ariana spouted, trying to get a fist in his ribs, but he evaded it, running away, repressing a giggle for not adding insult to injury.
Peter’s next target was Marius’s tent. The man was cleaning his rifle.
“What can I do for you, son?” Marius asked.
“Are you free?”
“I’ll be on a night shift, so yeah,” Marius said. “Why? Wanna steal that ring already?”
“That’s what I thought too. Meanwhile, we throw a wrench or two in the cultivators’ plans. More details on the road.”
“Are we going to fight?” Marius asked as he was putting the rifle back together.
“Take the rifle and a scope.”
“Give me five minutes.”
Putting the rifle into the typical long bag, Marius stretched his hand in the tent behind him, pulling out a tactical vest and a helmet, which were the usual guard attire. Ten minutes later, they arrived near Lakeside’s edge. Peter went to bring Regina, then Warped the group a few miles beyond the city. They hiked through a forest for another mile, going uphill, finally reaching a high point offering a view of a fortified camp built on a gulf. It had the same configuration as theirs: surrounded by a moat, earthworks, and sharp logs, but it was bigger, and the waterfront remained open.
“Time to tell us what’s this about,” Regina said.
Peter nodded. “The cultivator running that camp killed a few students during the first trip with his own hand and kept the money he was supposed to use to pay bounty hunters. He’s from the Martial faction but is considered weak. I want to take him out.”
“Consider it done,” Marius said, unpacking the rifle.
Peter raised his hand in a stopping gesture. “You don’t get it. I want to make an example of him so that other rotten people like him think twice before hurting students. I’ll go down there and take care of that. Regina will heal me, and you lay suppressive fire or whatever. If things go south, we run.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“You sure wanna do this, kiddo? Taking a life is not as easy as in the movies,” Marius said. “You should let me do it. I was a special special forces operative, after all.”
“How many people have you killed?” Peter asked bluntly.
Marius scratched his head. “Err… none?”
“Then you stay here. You’re OK if I kill bad people, right?” Peter looked at Regina.
"I'll be all right, baby," Regina fondled his shoulder. “It’s war, and we didn’t start it.”
Peter hugged her, equipped himself with his usual leather armor, the biker's suit, and put his helmet on. He had the gun on his belt, a cleaver holstered on his thigh, and the Minotaur’s spear in hand. The latter was shaped like the weapon Peter had designed: the head was a cleaver with a spike, different from the billhook by the absence of the hook. "Don’t shoot if not absolutely necessary,” he told Marius.
Taking a deep breath, Peter exited the forest and descended the hill toward the camp. The location was all but empty; most of the students were fishing on the lake. A small flotilla of fishing boats was anchored half a mile from the shore.
There were two guards at the main entrance. "Halt!" one of them called, aiming an assault rifle at Peter. The other one had a halberd, but his attitude remained relaxed. They were both low-rank Cultivators.
"I'm here to see Headmaster Moon," Peter said.
"Regarding what?" the guard with the gun asked.
"A bounty."
"Wait here… You go," the guard told his colleague.
The good with the halberd ran into the camp, returning two minutes later. "Master Moon says he didn't put any bounty. He's in a meeting. Go away."
"The bounty is on him," Peter said. "He's wanted for murder."
"Hahaha…" the guard with the gun laughed.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Peter said. "But I will go in."
"The hell you will," the guard smirked.
The tell signs were there. The index moving toward the trigger was the most important, but the stance the one with the halberd took was also a tell.
“Hard way it is.” Peter flickered his wrist, rotating his weapon, then put his arm, shoulders, and body behind the swipe. The spear followed his motion. The first guard's head rolled on the ground, his eyes widened in panic, the mouth gurgling like a fish out of water. The body fell backward like a sack of potatoes. The blade followed through, hitting the guard with the halberd. It failed to behead him, hitting too high, but crushed its helmet and the skull underneath.
You have killed Body Cultivator, rank 4 x2.
“I wonder if they were Earth or their planet,” Peter said pensively, Looting the bodies.
“Well… too bad they didn’t see reason. Let’s proceed.”
Peter entered the camp slowly, taking his time. There were only a dozen students around, indifferent to his presence. No one had seen them killing the guards, he realized. In the middle of the base was a larger tent with a long table in front of it. Six people were examining maps. Teachers making plans about whatever.
"Headmaster Moon?" Peter began.
"I told them I was not to be disturbed," an older man blurted angrily. He was a bit overweight, with a thin beard and long gray hair gathered in a ponytail. "What do you want?"
"On the tenth of July, during the first trip, you ambushed a party of three students you sent foraging, then blamed their deaths on wild animals. A bounty has been put on your head. I'm here to collect."
"Who sent you?" the elderly cultivator unsheathed a jian sword.
"Moon, is this true?" an elderly woman shouted.
"I had orders from our superiors," the man sneered, showing his teeth.
There were gasps among the students and teachers around. Peter flourished his polearm. "My business is only with him, but if you fight at his side, you'll die."
Moon erupted forward, leading with his sword. From the teachers, only the elderly woman kept out of the fight, rushing to pull the students away from danger; the rest followed Moon. At first, Peter Phased, assessing the situation and moving just a bit to give the appearance he was dodging.
Two seconds later, he sprung into action. He thrust his spear into someone's heart while still in Phase, then returned to the real dimension, impaling his victim and shooting another cultivator in the head twice. Then he Phased again, Moon's sword cutting through the place where his body was a moment ago.
Peter Warped behind a third cultivator and shot him in the spine. The fourth, a woman, lounged at him, but he diverted the sword with his True Aura and cut deep into her arm with his spear.
Three things saved the cultivator's life: the young woman's frightened expression, Moon taking flight, and the elderly Cultivator prostrating herself at Peter's feet. "Please, have mercy on my daughter. She didn't know, I swear."
Sending his weapons into the storage, Peter Warped up directly above Moon, Phased at the end of his Warp, and plunged his hand into the Cultivator's chest. Returning to the ground, he took the older man with him. There was no pain; the True Aura and growing stats protected his arm. He pulled his fist out and the man's core in the process, making the ribs shoot outward. Moon fell, vomiting blood, flailing his arms and legs before laying still.
You have slain Spirit Cultivator, rank 5, x3.
You have slain Spirit Cultivator, rank 7, x1
You have reached level 52. 6 free APs available.
He rose his Strength to seventy-four, looking at his stats for a second and displaying an abridged version.
Peter Hillden, age: 25, Class: Impulse, Lvl. 52
Strength: 74 / Dexterity: 100 / Constitution: 53
Intelligence: 41 / Will: 48 / Concentration: 46
Charisma: 61 / Luck: 81 / Magic Power: 48
If anything, the fight had felt underwhelming. Peter had expected a seventh rank would perform better.
Storing the core in his backpack, he stared at the two women. The older woman was healing her daughter. "You’re lucky I’m only paid for Moon," he told them to reinforce his hired killer persona, taking out the cleaver and cutting Moon’s head. It took several swipes to get through the spine, the noise like butchering a carcass. Not pleasant.
"Thank you for sparing our meaningless lives, Grandmaster," the older woman groveled.
"I'm just a Bounty Hunter," Peter snorted. He noticed a few students recording him on their phones, but that was for the best. He hoped it would spread the news that bad cultivators were fair game.
Putting the head in storage, Peter extracted the cores of the other slain cultivators and returned to Marius and Regina, who were looking at him with widened eyes. "It was easier than expected," he told them.
“On second thought, it’s better to let you do the fighting,” Marius said.
“Badass!” Regina nodded, turning both her thumbs up. “Ewy, but totally badass.”
“We can have a brunch in town and continue on a second target,” Peter proposed. “Hit them hard and fast… We’ll stop by the lake to wash my hands and change.”