He hastily rolled onto his back to protect himself, but a spear was hardly usable on the ground as he waved it weakly in my general direction. Ignoring his futile attack I leapt forward and fell on top of the man with my knee in his chest and another leg out to the side to brace myself. Before he could react, I slipped the knife cleanly through his exposed throat and up beneath the chin, smooth and easy without any resistance.
Warm blood poured out onto my hand as the rain continued to fall, washing away what little trace there was. In an instant, another man had perished to my blade. The corpse beneath limp and harmless, there was only one obstacle remaining.
Sitting atop the dead body, I looked up and eyed the last of the bunch.
Rain continuing to fall, dripping down my face and off my chin… this was the scenario we were in. Only two of us were left, and only one would walk away. The ring leader that blocked the doorway, the one that decided to harass a girl in my presence, he was the only one left now. He figured he could get away with his brash attitude all because of numerical superiority… no, not when I was around.
If he sought mercy, he wouldn't find it here.
"You're fucking sick," he shouted in desperation.
"Maybe I am," I replied nonchalantly.
The scene certainly was gruesome, I had methodically ripped them apart, one by one. I didn't shy away from slitting a throat, from hacking into a skull, or from burning a man to death internally with my lightning.
Maybe I was sick, but it didn't matter to me.
This was a game, and only that.
They would have done the same to me, if given the chance.
Without any further hesitation, I walked towards the man and dropped my shield on the ground, keeping only the bloody knife in my hand. With my arms relaxed and the knife dangling by my side, I closed the distance as the man readied his sword and raised his shield. He didn't back down, but he was anxious and nervous. He didn't know what to expect next, and I didn't blame him.
In truth, I wasn't skilled enough to kill him with my knife alone.
The knife was a bluff, meant to distract and nothing more.
I needed him to lower his shield or to attack.
As I closed the distance between us, the man grew impatient and angry with himself. He was angry that he had hesitated to fight me one versus one. That this lone man with a knife in the rain was keeping him standing still with shield raised. I could see it on his face. He was displeased, it didn't sit well with him.
"Does it bother you, that you're scared?" I antagonized.
He stood there in silence.
"Let me teach you something," I said as I slowed my pace slightly. "In this world of ours, there is always someone better, bigger, stronger, smarter, or worse, smaller, weaker, stupider… that's the nature of things. Someone will always come around and surprise you. Yet, you and your friends find yourselves above some others, and collectively as a group probably get away with your practices most of the time, too. Well, you just met someone better, and now I'm showing you what it's like to be on the other side of that fence."
Stopping a few feet away from him, he was clearly trying to contain his rage.
I only had to push a little more.
"It's not so fun being the weak one, is it?" I questioned, pitying him with my eyes.
He caught on, and his face nearly contorted as his anger boiled over and he roared at me, raising his sword into the air and charging at me with his shield held centerline. Three steps brought him into range as he swiped down at me, attempting to cut into my neck as I had no way to parry, but I had no intention of deflecting the blow as I tucked to my right and slid onto the ground. My right shoulder hitting the mud as I slipped and slid to the side, the man missed his swing as his back was exposed to me, shield pointed uselessly in the opposite direction.
I raised my left arm.
With my free hand, I opened it and channeled the most powerful individual spell that I had. [Arc Lightning] shot out and connected the two of us, as his exposed back became the focus of my attention. I only had enough mana for two seconds, and that wasn't enough to kill him, but it was enough to buy me some time.
Standing up with the channel still going, I walked closer to the man and as the [Arc Lightning] cut out due to my mana shortage, I plunged the knife that was in my right hand straight into the back of his spine, lodging it deeply between the vertebrae and severing it completely. A twist and a pull, and the man fell to the ground a corpse.
The fight was over.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I relaxed my shoulders as I stared at the carnage.
Four bodies lying on the ground, now released with their hosts in spirit form at the graveyard, waiting for the time penalty to fall off so they could resurrect. They deserved what happened, in my mind.
They were asking for it.
Yet, I wasn't really happy.
In fact, I felt like a murderer… the brutal nature of the fight left a lingering distaste in my mouth. It was too graphic, too personal, too real… really. Killing in PvP was expected to be harsh, that was the nature of virtual reality.
The fact that they strived for such an advanced realism is what set the game apart. Though, they had turned down the graphical gore so organs and such wouldn't be displayed, there was still the sensation of piercing through someone and the warmth and stickiness of their blood splattering across your face.
Really, it wasn't that much different from stabbing a wolf.
Maybe that was what bothered me… that there was no physical difference between cutting down a virtual beast and a virtual representation of another human being.
Desensitized… perhaps, I was.
The rain had picked up and was now a steady downpour, I was drenched from head to toe and covered in mud but I didn't really care. It washed the blood off, it cleansed my gear… a free bath, is all it was.
"Ah," I muttered to myself. "This is depressing."
Tilting my head back, I stared at the clouds that partially obscured the moon as I pondered how the future would turn out. I tried to get away from the fighting, with the constant struggle between other players and losing my temper. Now, I was right back in it. First, I killed the pugs that were talking shit, now… I killed four guys because they were rude and annoyed me.
I was completely, utterly regressed.
I had fallen back into my old habits, and I wasn't happy with that. Picking up my shield and my axe, I put everything back into their holsters and walked off into the forest. There was a little shame that I had resorted to violence so quickly.
Though that went away rather quickly.
At the end of the day, violence, was sometimes the answer.
Those guys wouldn't have learned anything if I tried to talk it out. Now, they at least knew to watch themselves and their behavior in public. I'm sure they will still misbehave, but fear is a curious thing. Fear will stop someone long before logic will.
Yeah, maybe I had regressed.
Well, it wasn't that bad.
I had a goal anyways, to build a kingdom in the North. Bloodshed would be necessary, as it was to free Selene and Katherine. Fights will happen, as players will come to blows over disagreements. And eventually, power struggles will occur, as this land, this game state known as The Dragon's Wrath, soon becomes a warzone where factions wage war on neighbors, partly for fun, partly for dominance, and maybe just because. Deep down, we all enjoyed it a little.
A guilty pleasure, is what it was.
Yeah, taking out the baddies was a fun thing.
I kind of liked it, really.
Chapter 51: The Big Boss
(Friday, June 25th Game Day / Sunday, February 28th Real Day)
"You're red again Sigurd," yelled out Barik from a distance.