I watched in total repulsion as Maccurach grinned deviously. I was disgusted to the point that I couldn’t stand looking at his face any longer. All manner of hesitation and precaution was thrown out of the window as I steadied my spear in front of him and assumed the combat stance that I had been practicing in the last few days. He would leave one way or another, I would make sure of that.

“Get the fuck out of here.” I snapped at him. “You are scum. I refuse to tolerate your presence here anymore. If you don’t leave now, I will make sure this is the last place you see.”

“Oh?” He sounded amused. “The puppy finally shows its teeth! My day can’t get any fucking be-”

“I am not fucking around!” I shouted. “Get the fuck out, now!”

“You are no fun.” He clicked his tongue. “In the spirit of honor, I will leave. Since I came here to bring you a gift, I won’t betray my intentions.”

He started backing off slowly, both hands up, palms forward, but his right hand still held his bloodied sword. I kept pace with him as he approached the barricade. I couldn’t pay much attention to the others behind me, but I knew at least Sarah and Noah would be covering my flanks. Maccurach stopped as he was about to pass the barricade.

“Let’s go crew,” He shouted. “Time to get back home.”

“No,” I said coldly. “They are not going with you.”

“Really?” He scoffed. “Do you plan to grab every one of them?”

“Nothing so dramatic,” I said. “But I doubt they want to go back with you when they can stay with us. We have more people, probably better defense, and we won’t use them as cannon fodder.”

I spoke the last bits loud enough so that everyone could hear me.

“I assume we won’t have a problem welcoming them,” I said as I glanced at the large group behind me. “Right, Johann?”

“They are welcomed,” Johann said, voice breaking up slightly. “But not this psychopath.”

“All of you heard that?” I shouted. “You don’t have to go back with this psycho, you will be welcomed here. The choice will be yours, but if you choose to stay, I guarantee he won’t do anything to you.”

“You? You will guarantee it?” Maccurach tried to hide his anger behind a farce of mockery. “I think you are misunderstanding things, puppy. I am not leaving because I am scared of you, or your numbers. I am leaving because I am magnanimous. A man of my word! I came here to gift you something, and differently than you, basal creatures, I do not betray the hospitality of others.”

“It must be really confusing living inside your head. You hardly make any sense.” I spoke with feigned pity.

“Lets go,” He shouted. “NOW!”

A couple people started shuffling forward. Three guys and the one girl, Hanna, I assumed. The people who chose to stay behind and the ones moving forward exchanged a glance, but no one said anything. 

Hyuk, the so called diplomat, was among the ones leaving. He had a hard to read expression. At first glance he looked uncertain, in doubt, but at closer look it might have been dread of what was to come.

Maccurach and I were still staring down at each other. My spear forward facing and his arms now lazily relaxed to the side. As they got closer to us, I spoke to them without turning my head.

“I meant it. You really don’t have to go with this maniac. If he is left alone, he will just probably die for some creature or another.”

“No, he won’t.” Hyuk said confidently. “You people still don’t really understand. It will be a bloodbath, but I guess that’s the norm these days.”

I didn’t answer. He passed me a few steps to my left and joined Maccurach, standing behind him.

“That’s my boy, Hyuk.” Maccurach spoke with eerie affection. “I always knew you were smart.”

The other trailed close behind him and soon passed me as well. They were two mean looking guys and I knew they probably fit with whatever Maccurach had going, but I wanted to weaken him, isolate him, as much as that meant dealing with people of dubious moral standards. In a group as large as ours, they would be suppressed or dealt with.

“Good, it’s good to see that some of you learned something.” Maccurach spoke in amusement. “Come kitty. Let’s get out of here.”

Lastly, came the girl, Hannah. The terror on her face was palpable, and she visibly shivered and hesitated. I didn’t even need to look at her long to know what I needed to do. I was going to do it anyway.

I glimpsed Sarah moving forward, and when Hannah was about to pass me by, I stepped to the left, towards her, and closed the gap with my spear.

“She isn’t going with you,” I said. “Even if she wants to.”

“Wait, no-” Hannah’s voice caught in her throat. “Please, don’t do this. Just let me go.”

“Sarah,” I turned my head slightly towards the approaching Sarah. “Would you mind bringing her to the group?”

“Was about to anyway.” Sarah said as she gently grabbed the girl’s arms. “Come, let’s go. Don’t worry about him, just come with me.”

Sarah spoke softly, but Hannah pleaded increasingly louder, until she was screaming and crying. It was all she could do in face of Sarah’s strength. As they slowly retreated towards the group, and hopefully, the building, my full attention returned to Maccurach.

Whatever mask of superior detachment or mockery was gone. Replaced with it was the deranged expression of a man who had lost it.

“What the fuck you think you are doing?” He screamed. “She is MINE! They are MINE! MY rightful spoils of war!”

I knew we were past any point of discussion and argument, his facade gone. I assumed my stance and held my spear towards him, daring him to come meet me. I had never faced someone in a serious fight before, not one where our lives were on the line, but the recent struggles with my training had given me plenty of confidence.

If I am being completely honest, I had been holding myself back since the moment he got here. I wanted to kill this guy since I saw him standing in the barricade like he was better than everyone else. Now, we had finally arrived where I wanted. He was beyond reason and ready to jump at me. Just the way I wanted him to be.

Maccurach kept screaming his nonsense. I didn’t hear it, not really. My eyes were focused on him, and as I observed every twitch of his body, I willed two of my points in agility. He was fast, I had seen him fight, I would need all the edge I could get if I wanted to best him.

A few windows popped in front of me, but I couldn’t read them now. It was the agility deviation, and I really wanted to choose one of them, probably any of them would be helpful. Things had been going at a frantic pace and I hadn’t had time to read the descriptions, even if I had spent the points earlier 

To be honest, spending those two points in agility was probably not the best option, with strength and dex still at seven and six respectively. I was tempted to spend one more in dexterity, but I wouldn’t unless I absolutely needed. I wanted that last one point to invest in magic.

His diatribe seemed to finally be reaching its climax. He took a step forward, raising his sword and pointing it at me. I tightened the grip on my spear, but kept my position. If he wanted to have a go at me, he was welcome to get in my range.

With a rage filled shout he jumped at me, sword raised above his head in a two handed blow. I was expecting him to come at me, but not in such a suicidal front attack. Instead of outright impaling him with my spear, I deflected the blow and hit him in the ribs with the blunt end of the shaft. He staggered slightly, but pressed on, all the while cursing me with promises of pain and torture.

I knew he was fast, I expected him to be fast, but it was hard keeping track of his sword. Sometimes I couldn’t believe how fast it would move to block a follow up quick strike of the spear. 

Despite my superior range, he had managed to get in close and personal with his suicidal charge. I was on the back foot, literally. The only reason I could even keep up with him was because of the extra points in agility. 

I deflected, parried and dodge his sword strikes as they got sharper with each strike. I was being pushed to my limits, especially since I had very little experience against a sword, the spar with Sarah being the only time, and his style was completely different from hers.

Sarah favored powerful and precise strikes. She would twirl and move around me sometimes, but they always lead to a powerful and precise blow. Maccurach was the opposite. If Sarah was finesse and control, he was savagery and recklessness.

Maccurach would constantly give me opportunities to strike back at him, but in doing so, he made sure that I would be hit as well. I started to understand that if I wanted to strike at him, I would have to pay the price in blood. There was no holding back with him, he didn’t care if he got hurt, as long as he could hurt me. He fought like a beast, not like a man.

As we moved around the open space, people shuffled out of the way. I was being pushed back, but holding my own. For someone watching from the outside, it was probably looking very precarious for me, but that was only because I was trying to hit him without being hit.

Our speed was about the same. Where he had a better skill with his sword than me, I still had a weapon with a longer reach. I would manage to create some distance between us from time to time and would take full advantage of it, but he fought through my strikes, barely deflecting them and even trying to grab my spear on multiple occasions.

[Your Spear Fighting skill has upgraded from (Beginner) to (Proficient)]

I didn’t have time to process the changes and the information suddenly flooding my brain. I flinched for a moment, and Maccurach true to his style, didn’t miss a beat. I barely managed to dodge a horizontal strike aimed at my throat. It instead cut me across the chest.

I staggered under the pain of the blow and the new information in my head. I watched as Maccurach didn’t pause for a second, coming at me with a powerful one handed strike aimed at my head.

Something hit him in the arm and he faltered. Maccurach lost balance and fell on one knee two steps to my left, an arrow sticking on his shoulder. He touched it but didn’t pull. 

Maccurach dodged left as another arrow came whizzing by. He broke the shaft of the one sticking on his arm and leapt forward, as yet another arrow missed him by a hair’s breadth.

My head cleared and I pressed on while he was distracted dodging Noah’s arrows. Maccurach only saw me coming in the last possible second, but still, what would have been a nasty wound to his abdomen, became a cut on his ribs.

Maccurach tried to counter my blow, making me pay in blood for the blood I drew from him, but I was expecting it. I maneuvered around his sword and escaped his attack unscathed.

He pressed on, as he had done before. If the injuries were bothering him, he didn’t show. He increased the nonsense in the verbal attacks, but I was paying very little attention, if at all, to what he was saying.

Our weapons clashed again and again, and were still pushed back, but every time we crossed weapons I felt less pressured. As the upgrade in my skill settled within my brain, I was slowly incorporating it in our fight.

It was increasingly taking him longer to make me take a step back. His opening and baits were becoming more clear, ways for me to hit and dodge him almost at my grasp, but not quite there yet.

Eventually I held my ground long enough that I forced him to take a step back. His eyes went wide and he redoubled his efforts. I took a step back, but held on again.

When I was under his pressure, there wasn’t much I could do but be defensive or be self destructive and open myself to his intended style where we would trade blood for blood. Now that I was the one putting pressure on him, I started creating opportunities to draw blood from him without paying any price.

Shallow cuts started showing on his arms, legs and torso, but nothing decisive. He still offered me big opportunities, but I knew this was bait, tempting me with an opportunity to finish the fight quickly. I wouldn’t fall for it. If anything, I was happy to chip away at him, slowly bringing his defeat.

Our battle seemed to hit the peak of our crescendo. He was getting increasingly reckless, but I had just gained another power increase.

[You have increased your Dexterity.]

It was the last bit that completely tipped the scale in my favor. My strikes were getting more consistent and deeper, putting him completely on the back foot. Maccurach didn’t spout any vile shit anymore. Too focused and wounded to afford the luxury.

The battle was completely under my control, and I pushed him, hard. He was on the defensive, no longer even able to afford offering me a trade of blood. He dodged, ducked, deflected, but ultimately walked backwards steadily.

Soon we were upon the barricade again, but when I realized what he wanted to do, there wasn’t much I could do. He deflected one of my strikes with more power than it was necessary, opening himself for the follow up attack, but when it came, he wasn’t there anymore.

Maccurach leapt and rolled towards the barricade and away from my reach. His breath was ragged and he was bleeding from multiple places. His crew was behind the barrier, some distance away.

I took a step forward, but he took two steps backward. I saw the hatred in his eyes as he turned tail and ran. I tried to go after him, but Noah grabbed my arm.

“Leo, don’t, it’s not worth the risk.” Noah cautioned me. “You are not much better yourself.”

“What?” I said. “What do you mean-”

I looked down at my chest. I had bled from the cut Maccurach had given me. A lot. My clothes were soaked and now that adrenaline was fading I started to feel the pain and dizziness. I faltered in my step, but Noah caught me.

“It’s alright, mate,” Noah said. “You were fucking amazing. We will take care of you now, come.”

I didn’t say anything, just nodded. Johann helped me on the other side and I felt like the world was spinning as they pulled me through the crowded area towards our main building.

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