"Ero Boost!!"
As I conjured my new skill I felt something new building up inside me. My body became lighter and stronger thanks to the new burst of energy that coursed through my veins.
I checked my status to see how much it changed, and my eyes popped out of my head.
[
Valkyrie Tamer System
Name: Richard Forster
Class: Valkyrie Tamer
Level: 1
Valkyries: 0/3
Health: 50 points
Mana: 15 points
Strength: 4 points
Defense: 4 points
Magic: 4 points
Agility: 4 points
Status Points: 0 points
]
'Oh, my power was multiplied by four?! This skill is the ultimate cheat!' I thought.
[ Mr. Richard, Ero Boost raised your status, but it's not certain how much power it will give to you. ]
'So I received this much at random?'
[ Yes. ]
'I'm at a clear disadvantage here. That sword makes my dagger look like a toothpick, but at least Lady Luck is on my side. I'll take advantage of this big bonus.'
I dashed towards the bandit. Thanks to my increased agility, I reduced the distance between us, exceeding my usual speed.
"Waaaah!" Bandit 1 entered panic mode when I was less than 1 meter away, a dagger at hand.
He swung his sword aiming for my head. By a few threads of my hair, I managed to avoid a major wound.
"You… !" I was already pissed because of the way he threw himself above the blond girl, but his last attack made the flames of anger burn inside me with even more intensity.
I could see the fight happening in slow motion. I had lowered my body to evade, and his sword was still up, where my head should be. An opening.
I raised my body, preparing to finish this fight before the Ero Boost effect passes. I didn't hesitate, aiming for his throat. But when I was almost stabbing him, Bandit 1 raised his arm and let my blade get pinned in his flesh.
"Huh! Did you think that I would go down easily?" he said while my dagger sank in his dominant arm. "Think again, you moron! What can you do without your weapon, huh?!"
He passed his sword to his left hand, grasping it in a stabbing position, raising the weapon to pierce me. I couldn't take my knife out of him, because he forced his muscle to stay stiff. He was making me choose: Step back and lose my only weapon, or die where I stand.
"You seem to like my knife, you can keep it…!" I decided neither of those. There was another way. With my free left fist, I punched him right in the stomach.
"Buaaah!" The air being forced out of his lungs almost made him throw up. My punch launched the mercenary two meters backwards.
"Damn you…!" My enemy was lying down on the ground. *Crack!* I crushed his left hand under my feet. "AAAAAAAH!!" The mercenary screamed in pain. Now he couldn't defend himself at this point.
"No, please! Don't kill!" He begged for mercy. But I wouldn't stop.
"Why should I?" I responded to his plea with a cold voice covered in disgust. "What are you going to do with that girl? How many people died at your hands? Did they beg for their lives? Huh, did you spare them?"
He swallowed hard, his eyes filled with fear. I took his own sword, the blade didn't feel heavy in my hands.
"Don't make me laugh. You deserve no mercy." I said in a cold sharp voice.
I lowered the longsword, cutting Bandit 1's neck with one single swing. His head rolled on the rocky ground, with his expression frozen in fear.
For the first time, I killed a human. But I didn't feel a thing.
…
The clashing of our swords could be heard in the middle of the woods. I ferociously attacked him, putting my life on the line.
All strengths were pretty similar, even considering our bodies' differences. Every attack that was directed towards him got repelled by his sword. But he wasn't attacking me, only defending.
At the beginning, I thought that he was being cautious about my Thrasher Flasher and decided to play defense, but it wasn't just that.
After too many blows, I started to gasp, while my opponent didn't seem to get tired of repelling me. Rick told me that our status was similar in strength and agility, but he had a better defense. At this pace, he will win by exhaustion.
I got stronger thanks to Rick and the Valkyrie System, but that is my limit by using technique alone.
'I'm not going anywhere this way.' I stepped back to take a breath.
Guraag smiled broadly, seeing that I was getting tired.
"You are quite an opponent, for a woman." He said.
"Flattering won't work. I'm married." I responded to him firmly.
"Hoooo! What a surprise! I didn't imagine someone could tame such a beast." He still tried to provoke me. It seemed that the tables were turning in his favor, but…
"Huh, what a funny choice of words. By now, my man must've defeated one of your friends at this point." I said, smiling back.
"What trouble this guy is, huh? Giving the hard labour to his girl." He continued talking, but for this lowlife insulting Rick…
I let my head tilt to the side. "Do you consider yourself a big deal?"
Guraag stopped laughing, his expression became serious with my words.
"Don't be so full of yourself. Are you afraid to be chopped like your friend over there?" I said in a cold tone, pointing at the mercenary corpse.
"Don't compare me with him. I had endured many more fights than this weakling. I'm surprised that these were the only survivors until now." He smiled like he did back in the crater. "But if I'm the only survivor, I can take the money all to myself. I'll just kill the girl back there and bring her head. I wanted to take my revenge, but I'm not stupid enough to risk everything for somebody close to death."
Exactly like Rick said. They are mercenaries, people from the dark guilds. These kinds of guys are contracted for any shady jobs. Theft, kidnapping, but in this case, they were sent to kill the girl from before.
I could sense the killing intent coming from him. He would take the offensive now. I don't have the stamina to attack him tirelessly as before, but there was something that I could do. Something that I had and he didn't.
He stepped forward, ready to cut me with a diagonal attack coming from above. His blade fell down quickly, trying to tear me apart.
"Thunderblade!" I summoned my power. With lightning speed, my sword parried him effortlessly. His eyes opened wide when his sword was repelled by a stronger force than his.
That was the major difference between us. My skills with magic power, capable of exceeding my own physical abilities. Of course, he didn't expect this. A full-speed attack was one thing, but magic was a different story.
"And I still have mana for that! Thunderblade!" My blade sliced Guraag from above, slashing his abdomen. Blood spilled on the grass, forming a pool at his feet. I still had mana for more attacks, but it wasn't necessary.
His hand let go of his sword, and the muscular man fell to his knees. His body wouldn't be able to rise again anymore. The leader of the mercenaries was defeated.
"Haha…" Guraag let out a laugh.
"Even like this, you still are able to laugh?" I said calmly, without intention to fight.
"You don't go too far in my realm of business without accepting madness, Sarah."
"Huh." I was surprised when he called me by my name for the first time.
He wasn't going to last long, but his expression was a satisfying one. He was a man that lived going from bloodshed to bloodshed. This kind of end is just predictable, but he was enjoying it until the very end.
"Why didn't you finish me?" He asked with a ragged voice.
"There is no need for this. You are about to die. I would rather not kill someone if I can." I said, as firmly as I could, but I was nervous.
"But you still killed my underling, right?"
I stood there in silence. It wasn't easy for me to kill, even if it was someone that wouldn't spare my life. I killed him because he would murder me.
"Hahaha. You are more powerful than me, however you are still too naive. It's pretty amusing. But you won't survive like this, now that you stepped into something bigger than you."
"What are you talking about?"
"My client won't be happy until the blonde is as good as dead… Her and that Assassin will die eventually… If not by my hands, by someone else's… I suggest that you kill that sweet side of yours…"
"Your client… Assassin… What do you…?"
I tried to take more information from Guraag, but it was too late. His head tilted forward, surrendering to his own weight. The mercenary died, leaving behind a malicious, ominous smile on his corpse's mouth.