Getting robbed on threat of death! How fun. 

Still, pretty bold of this guy to pull a stunt like this so close to town. I'm sure the guards or something'll come help me any second now...

Any... Uh... They'll be... 

I'm nowhere near town, am I? 

Hoooooh boy, did I get lost in thought and wander so far off course that I ended up nowhere near town? I did, didn't I. Dangit, stupid, stupid stupid!

Well, in my defense, you've got a lot to think about when you got shot in the head and resurrected in a new world just a few days ago, y'know? A little bit of wandering should be expected, this much is normal. Yeah. For sure.

Anyways, I ought to focus on the situation at hand, shouldn't I? Okay, I'm currently being robbed. Well, my first instinct is to drop everything and run, but my second instinct, simply warping away seems much wiser, as it's safe, fast, and I don't really lose anything. 

But... What DYN2 said kinda struck me. Looking back, S has done almost all of the heavy lifting over the past few days. I'd be nowhere without him. I owe it to him to get stronger. As DYN2 said, I ought to grow a spine. Plus, this guy probably isn't any more than a low down scoundrel, anyways, he can't be that tough. And I can just warp away if things get real bad. 

I steeled myself, and put my hands together. 

How's this for backbone?

It was meant to be a simple job. It's funny, really. All I had to do was size up the town a bit. Take a quick look at anything important, see what the guard situation is like, and report back. That's all it was. That's all it should have been, at least. But I just couldn't resist. What a fool I was.

I'd come out here, this town, basenwhatnot or somethin', on a request from the boss. He's been growing tired of just robbin' merchants and stupid travelers who'd wandered a bit too far off the old road, he's been craving a good raid. We'd all felt the same, really. Tired of sittin' around. I mean, we got all these weapons, bits of armor, we've been trainin', seems a waste not to put it to use, right?

So the boss sends a couple of us out to size up potential marks while he was out on one of his little trips. Obviously we ain't gonna hit a bigger city, nah, that'd be suicide, 'specially with rumors of the captains hands wanderin' about. I mean, not that I believe they exist or anythin', just, I mean, I ain't gonna take chances. Anyways, we'd mostly been sent to check out smaller towns, and I'd got this cute little town, eh, Baserwhatever. Nice place. Don't seem like there's a ton of cash, but it's got plenty of crop, and that tavern's probably got some good drink in it. If nothin' else, this'll be a good place to stock up, even if the cash is light. 

Best part, they've only got 2 guards stationed here. They're askin' for it at this point, the way I see it. Only other concerns are that girly runnin' the shop, think she was on to me, looks tough, too, and that freak in the green. Man, what's his deal? But how much can some chick and a weird old dude do, anyway? Point is, this place'll be a field day for our guys. 

The boss'll love this place, I'm sure of it, it'll be ours before these idiots know what hit 'em. Anyways, on my way out, after I 'bout ran into that moron with a huge backpack, I was supposed to head back to camp, tell 'em what I've seen, but I saw this kid, weird clothes, walkin' outa town all by himself, just lookin' at clouds, lookin' at grass, whatever. Point is, he looks some sorta foreign traveler, prolly got some money from ol' maw maw and paw paw, and he's doing me the favor of getting out of the way. I got to thinkin', I know wasn't s'possed to cause trouble, but maybe I take what this idiot's got and pick up somethin' nice for the boss on the way home, right? Was a good idea. 

So, I decide to follow him. Initially, I'm concerned that he'll see me, since there's little cover and all that, but, no, he didn't notice a thing! Just kept lookin around, and walkin' for ages! He just kept walkin'! Heck, I was worried he never planned on stoppin'! But, eventually, he does, looks into the river. And, well I couldn't hear him very well, I was keepin' my distance, but I coulda sworn he was talkin' to the river! Hah! What, you got fish friends? Lookin' for a mermaid? What an idiot! I checked around for a minute, made sure no one was 'round. Then, well, put one of my knives against his back, and here we are. That cash is as good as mine. This defenseless idiot doesn't even know what hit 'em.

Well, it'll be mine when this kid hands it over. They've just been standin', not doin' anything since I put up the blade. Probably frozen from fear, happens a lot. I just gotta remind him of his situation.

"I said, your money, or your life. Choose."

I think I heard the idiot chuckle. "That's not how this is gonna work." He said. 

What's he babblin-

What? Where'd he go? It's like he fell, or somethin'. Did he trip? Wh-

"Why have you come here?" He said, as I found a blade in around my neck. What's that, a sickle? Where'd he-  No, don't care how he did this little trick, he's screwing with me, which means he's dead. That's what the boss taught me. Still, looks like this idiot isn't so defenseless after all. Really, I'd almost be scared, but this idiot's so short he can barely reach my throat. Idiot. 

Well, even with that, I'd still be in a jam right now. That is, if I hadn't prepared a second knife! The boss taught me to always have a backup plan. Always keep a few extra on me, 'case things go awry.

"As if I'd tell you, idiot!" I said, knocking his tool away with my blade. I turned around to face him, both blades ready. I'm not about to lose to some kid. I wouldn't be able to look the boss in the eye if I'd come stumblin' back after somethin' like that.

Oh, man. He's got quite the scary look on his face. Looks like he's had seen this situation a hundred times, grown tired of it. Yeah, that's unmistakably the look of a contract killer. Huh, at his age? Wait, if that's the case, there's no way I'd have been able to ambush him so easily... 

This idiot lured me out here. Oh, he must have known the whole time. This must be how he does it. Uses his looks to his advantage, lures people like me out, let 'em think they have the surprise, only to slice 'em where they stand. Oooh, he's clever. Hah, didn't think I'd have a bounty warranting someone like this, to be honest. Well, the boss taught me himself after all, guess it's natural. Sorry kid, this ain't gonna be as easy as you like. 

He dead stared at me, a sickle in one hand, the other free. Guess he uses magic, too. 

"Then I'll tell you. You've come to die." The kid said.

 "Don't get cocky with me, idiot!" I ran at him, 2 knives at the ready. It's gonna take a lot more than farming equipment and cheap tricks to beat me, idiot!

Our blades clash. He barely managed to stop my right hand blade, but my left got a clear slice at his shoulder. Shoulda brought more weapons!

I keep going, and going, slicing this idiot every which way, his left arm ended up almost completely drenched in red, and his chest also newly beaten and red as an apple. Still, it wasn't anything too deep, but it's gotta hurt like hell. Strangely, he keeps peddling backwards as we fought. His defense is poor, and there's no way he's ever landin' a hit on me, but it's difficult for me to land anything to deep since he keeps peddlin'.

Still, it was clear I was stronger. I kept slicing and slicing, and there was nothing he could do about it. How's that, pint sized bounty hunter? Bet you're not so confident n-

I guess I looked up at his face, probably wanted to see a look of fear, or somethin'...

He remains unfazed.

What?! How? Nothing?! After all those hits? He's just blankly staring at the blades! Damn, guess he's not a bounty hunter for nothing. He's got a will of stone. Still, that's not gonna help him n-

"Ow- M-My shirt!" He squealed. Wait, what? Why'd his voice get so much higher? And what's he-

AH!
MY ARM... Damn it! He got my shoulder but good. I wasn't payin' attention! Stupid, stupid! The boss told you not to get distracted in a fight! Stupid! As I recoiled from the pain, the kid managed to gain a bit of distance on me. 

"Y-You m-" The kid began, before stopping and clearing his throat. "You should pay better attention." He said, returning to his normal voice. Huh? What's - did he drop his sickle?

What's going- what's he- No. He's trying to distract you. This is all part of his game. Remember what the boss said about bounty hunters, they got all these weird tricks, try to scare you. Keep calm. Sure, he landed a hit, but you've clearly still got the advantage. 

I move my left arm a bit. Whoo, that hurts. No, this ain't nothin'!

"You better be ready, runt!" I said, charging in. He's hurt bad, no reason to even bother defending. One last hit and he's through!

Is- Is he smiling? No, surely... Whatever. I'm sure his face'll look much better when he's bleeding from his throat.

He swung his sickles as I charged in, one slicing at waist height, one much higher up. 

he swung far, far to early. This runt put up a good fight, but this was it. I continue charging. I can't help but grin. I wish the boss could've seen this. I feel my already ecstatic heart rate leap up just thinking about it.

"SCARED, ARE YA, RUNT!? TIME TO DI-" 

What're those on his sickles? Vines, or something? Wait, sickles? Where'd he get the second? 

And, wait, what's that black stuff hanging in the air? Is it... Did he-

I can't stop! I'm gonna- 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH