Today's the day.

Extermination of the bandit group - Dragon Fist.

Despite waking up early as usual thanks to Villi, Tryx couldn't help but feel a little tired than usual. That's because he slept quite late that he used too.

After the trip from the mercenary guild, he took time by sightseeing around the town again. Along the way, he picked up some fruits and delicacies that could be used as rations. Since there are no MRE present in the game store, he has to buy some ingredients in the town. Well, its not like the MRE are delicious but it sure is handy if he needs an instant food in the time of need. Either way, all the items were to much and it was decided that all of it will be stashed in Hilux since hoarding it in the inn would take some spaces. And he came back to the inn quite late, it was around 10:00 p.m at the time. 

After a long bath and a good hot meal, Tryx went back to the room and prepared his gears.

Since he unlocked new gears and clothes, switching into new combat apparels is the best since the default uniform is god awful. Funny, since it has the same effect like the guns. When he discard the clothing manually like in real life, it will registered as 'unequipped'. Unlike the game, he can put on as many clothes or accessories as he want. It seems like the system worked its way into reality. Thanks to his experimenting,  he almost depleted the C-points. There's like 250 C-points left, Tryx spend kinda too much. Maybe he should start killing some baddies already...

He opened up the screen and tapped onto 'gears'. There, his avatar stood in current apparels he's wearing in real life. And he changed all of the current clothing on the screen with the newly bought gears and apparels.

Headwear: Unequipped
Tops: Basic T-shirt + Condor Trident Battle Top Long Sleeve (Tan) + Condor Phalanx plate carrier (Black)
Bottom: White underwear + 5.11 Stryke TDU pant (Storm) + Condor LCS Cobra gunbelt (Black) + Blackhawk! SERPA L3 holster with thigh rig
Footwear: Blackhawk! Trident ultralite boots (Black)
Accesories: 5.11 TACLITE 3 glove (Black), ESS Rollbar (Black)

Practically, these are the basic clothing he could buy. Back in the real world, these mid tier tactical products are seldom used by military as there are better equipment in the market. But compared to those default gears, this is practically better and its already an upgrade. Sure, he gets the option to wear more casual clothing but they don't last long in the field compared to these combat products.

He looked into the mirror, checking from every side just to see how it looked like when he wears it. People can't trust game avatar these days. Not everything looks good on reality.

After confirming that the gear fits his butt cheeks, he holstered the G18 and left the room.

Likewise, Villi was  at the reception who was having a chat with one of her co-workers. Seeing that it would be rude to call her, he decided to stay quiet and exit the premise without her noticing.

It was 12:33 in the afternoon by the time he reached there.

The gate wasn't busy as the custom's check point in his original world but the security was not to be taken light with. Near the entrance, there are seven knights talking to each other. He could see a man with golden pauldrons among them and it seems that he was talking with his subordinates. Based on the pauldron, he might be the group leader.

"Excuse me!" all of the knights took noticed as he approached them, "Hi... Are you guys with the 29th Lancers?"

"Yes, we are and who might you be?" the knight with golden pauldron asked.

It seems they didn't recognize him. Guess they're not one of the guys back when he arrived at this town few days ago. Tryx pulled out the permit from one of his pouches and handed over to him. The knight reads the permit and after a few seconds, he handed the permit back.

"I see, so you're one of the mercenaries that took this request. Quite shame only two people accepted this request." The knight nodded. "I'm Captain Izlof Dane, I'm the one who made the request." The knight offered his handshake in which he accepted.

"Tryx."

The knight began to scan him from top to bottom, "Never seen you before, are you perhaps new around here?"

"Yeah, I joined the mercenary guild yesterday."

"Ah, I see. No wonder you looked tame compared to other veterans around here. Even your armor looks weird as well."
Well, he's not wrong though. His modern PPE is really out of place here, it wouldn't be weird at all if they looked at him as a weirdo.

"Since you're a new comer in this town, we'll take it easy on you. But remember to watch around especially in the mercenary guild." Izlof lowered his tone as he whispered. Again, with that warning. Just like Lydia. "Now, where is your partner?" Izlof scanned the area with his blue eyes, searching for your aggressive temporary partner.

"Ah, I thought she already went ahead of herself?" Tryx blinked remembering what Raymond had told yesterday. He could only assume that she went ahead or refuse to come. With that attitude and her reputation, he doubt she'll be waiting anyways.

The knight captain raised his eyebrow. "She? You partnered with a girl?"

"Yeah."

"A quest with a girl, huh? Quite a lucky man." Izlof tapped your shoulder lightly.

Some of the knights smirked and others whistled as if they caught something interesting. Even the knight captain was grinning broad showing his glistening white teeth. Okay, he's seen this pattern before. Are they interested with the girl or they were just cheering for him?

"I'm jealous..." One of the knights murmured.

"I don't think I'm that lucky..." Especially with that Zith Girl becoming his partner. What part of that is lucky? More like bad luck.

"What are you talking about? Heading out for an adventure together with a girl? Not everyone gets to live that dream, even I haven't got myself a partner yet." Izlof scoffed,"Besides, you should be happy - travelling alone with a girl, you know what it means? You're living every single men's dream right now, sir Tryx!"

"Its like a date!" another knights exclaimed.

"No. Its not." Tryx sighed but they weren't letting up.

"Come one, aren't you being really modest right now?" the third knight spoke. "Aren't you lucky to have a girl as your partner?"

"And a mercenary at that?!" the fourth knight interceded.

"Geez, what's up with these guys. Do they think I'm planning on a date or something?" Tryx thought. 

Anyways, if Seele hasn't arrive that means she's still in this town. Though, he do wonder if she's willing to travel along together since both of them shared common objectives. Then again, knowing her loner and hot-headed personality it'll take more than just words convince her. Damn, this is why he don't make promises. But really, just why would Raymond ask you such favor?

Did something happened to her in the past?

"Sir, she's here!" the fourth knight yelled out of sudden.

"Who?" Izlof looked at the knight.

"Who else would it be?! Its the 'Crimson Demon'!"

Izlof's eyes widened, "WHAT?! HURRY! OPEN THE GATE!"

"Yes, sir!" all of them instantly went to the gate where the rest of the guards are standing by.

The knights were instantly panicked as soonest they heard that. Fear could visibly seen on their faces. Three of them quickly went

Crimson Demon?

Who the fuck is that?

Wondering who this so called 'Crimson Demon' was, Tryx turned around to looked at the direction where he came from. Down the street, several pedestrians avoiding a single figure covered in dark red robe. They were so afraid that they opened up path for her like a celebrity. As the figure draws closer, he could see a pair of glowing purple eyes underneath the hood and a red dress between the opening of the robe.

Ah, he now knows the true identity of the 'Crimson Demon'.

"Ah, didn't expect her to be here..." Tryx muttered.

"Sir Tryx, you must hurry and leave. She is not someone to be taken lightly!" Izlof ordered.

"Eh? Why would I? My partner's already here. Don't wanna leave her like that." Tryx replied.

"Your partner?" Izlof blinked in confusion.

"Yeah, over there. The one with red hood." he pointed at the approaching Zith Lord.

Izlof's eyes twitched, he didn't see it coming. "You... Don't tell me..."

"Eeyup..." he made a bitter smile. "That girl is my partner."

Izlof didn't have any words. No, he couldn't say a single words anymore. Guess he didn't expect his partner to be the renowned 'Crimson Demon'. Hey, if anyone's in his shoes he would be surprised to death as well.

As Seele approaches them, Tryx waved at her, "Huh, never thought you'd be coming." 

"I only did this because Raymond told me to." likewise, she replied monotonously.

"Oho, he told you? That's pretty rational of you to consider his option. I thought you already went ahead of me." He said jokingly.

Seele growled, "I was going to leave you behind anyway." she then directed her piercing gaze at Izlof and asked. "You! Are you the one who made the request?!"

"Y... Yes. Yes I am." Izlof was visibly shaken, there was a hint of anxiety on his face. "Y-You m... must be the second m... mercenary that partake this quest... Correct? To think that the notorious 'Crimson Demon' to accept this quest..."

"Save your flattery. Tell me what I need to know about those bastards!" Seele hissed.

"Y-Yes, of course!" Izlof pulls out a map and unrolled to reveal the contents. "We believe that Dragon Fist is currently hiding at northern Gukuru Plains." he pointed at the north area of the map just a few inches from the border line. "We believe they might be hiding in an old fortress that was left by our army 40 years ago but that is just an assumption. According to our scout, they are regrouping the rest of their survivors after losing several fighters. We believe there are only 40 bandits out of 400 survived."

40 out of 400? Damn, just what exactly did these bastards fought?

"Are there any reports about a child kidnapped by them?" Seele added another question.

"Uh, if you're talking about the village that was raided by these brigands last week. I might have to say that they might have kidnapped them."

"Then, what about carriages crossing from the border? Any rumors of a child kidnapped while crossing this plains?" Seele added.
Izlof cupped his chin, thinking hard as he can. Then, a light bulb appeared on top of his head. "There was a report from a group of rookie adventurers, they encountered a noble carriage ambushed by the said bandit. They couldn't saved the child and eventually the brigands disappeared without a trace."

Huh, that was out of sudden. The request never asked about missing person or hostages but yet, she's asked such details. Perhaps she is very cautious about picking her targets. If it were him, Tryx would've missed that question. Typical gamer mindset you could say.

"Is that so..." Seele remained silent for a few second before heading towards the exit.

"Where are you going?" Tryx asked.

she stopped and tilted her head, "Isn't it obvious?" she turned her head around and shot a piercing gaze at him. "I'M LEAVING NOW."

"At least say something!" the gamer replied full of annoyance.

"I refuse to bring a dead weight such as you. I only have four days to arrive before they make their next move! Now, stay out of my way!"

"Four days?!" Tryx laughed out loud at the spot. Both the knights and 'Crimson Demon' looked at him in worries and hatred respectively.

"Why are you laughing?!" she questioned.

"Oh nothing, I can arrive there in like... four hours." he added a mocking tone at the end. Somehow, it feels a little bit of Deja Vu here...

"Huh? Are you drunk?" she raised a suspicion, "There is no way you can arrive in four hours! Not even the fastest horse can reach in that period of time."

Tryx smirked, "Who said anything about riding animals?"

---

Its been 20 minutes Tryx left Bulgen Town.

He then looked at the passenger next to him. He couldn't help but enjoy at the sight of the 'Crimson Demon' AKA Seele inspecting the Hilux's interior cabin. Seele was still perplexed about this new experience. She simply scanned the interior of the Sandy Chariot full of curiosity. Her eyes were darting all over the place. From the smooth dashboard to the rigid and bulky PK machine gun mounted in front of her. Her eyes widened as she tries to absorb the new information right now. She must be thinking a lot, right now.

Though, it was enjoyable enough to see her turning back on her words though. The moment he speed off leaving her to dust, she desperately begged him to take her with you. Damn, bet she hates him even more.

"Hey newbie, are you a golem master?"

"Why would you say that?"

"This carriage we're riding on, it moves on its own without horses. The shape is like a golem and it feels like a golem but at the same time its not." she paused stroking the door next to her, "A golem has a soul imbued into its vessel but this one... it doesn't have one."

"Well, because its not golem. Its a truck, a type of vehicle powered by an engine."

Seele blinked in confusion, "What the hell did you just said? Truk? Vi-huh-kul? En-jien? What are those? Some sort of magic?" Like Yuwen, she also has a hard time pronouncing new words.

"Nah, this entire thing we're riding on is man made."

"How?"

Woah, getting a little curious and talkative here, are we?

Tryx shrugged, "Eh, we got a factory to build hundreds of these..."

"H-Hundreds?!" Seele exclaimed. "But this amount of complexity... How?"

"Eh, how do I know." he said truthfully. "The only thing I know is that they got a factory and a worker to build these. That's it. I'm just the end user, what do I know?" Back in the real life, he would be one but right now, its just an artifact in a game that made its way into reality.

"Is that so..." she fell into silence again. Then, she looked onto the machine gun mounted in front of her. Seele slowly reaches out her hand towards the gun and touches the stock. "Newbie, what is this metal thing?"

He glanced at her and quickly warned, "Hey, don't touch that!"

Seele quickly retracted her hand, "What? Why?" she glared at you.

"That's a weapon."

Seele raised a brow, "A weapon?" she scanned the machine gun.

Thanks to her mercenary experience and travelling across the battlefield, she had seen a lot of weapons but none of them looked like this. She was baffled at the design of the weapon, there's only wooden handles and metals clamped together with strip of pointy looking chains protruding into the side. Is this a crossbow? But where is the arrow? It looked like a child's toy more than a weapon.

"What does it do?" she asked.

"Well, it does what a weapon does - Kill enemies. What else?"

"Then, can you show me how it works?"

"Only when there's an enemy around. Don't wanna waste my ammunition."

Seele raised her brows, "Ammunition? Does he meant arrows? I don't see them..." she thought as she scanned around the cabin for the sign of arrows. Her eyes looking all over the interior until she took noticed of a box right in front of the gear shift. The box was black in color with several buttons on it. It even has a knob. "Hey, what is this for?" As she reaches out her hand, Tryx took noticed of her.

"Hey!" he barked but it was to late.

Suddenly, a song played over the speakers.

It was so loud that it spooked both of them.

"WHA?! WHO?! WHERE?!" Seele reaches out for her sword as she panicked. She was scared as the music and the voices suddenly screams around her out of nowhere.

"FUCK!" He didn't expect the speakers are so bad that it turned the song into a deep bass sound making it painful his ears. Not to mention, the volume was set at 20! "GOD DAMN IT!" he quickly turned off the radio ending the suffering instantly.

"The... Voices... They've stopped..." Seele calmed down but still wary until Tryx snapped at her.

"Hey! Just don't touch anything, OKAY?!" the gamer barked at her.

"I was just..." Once again, Tryx interceded her.

"I don't care! Just don't touch anything! If you ever do that again I'm going to leave you right here, right now! So, don't touch anything! Understood?!"

Seele growled, "FINE."

"Good."

The two of them remained silent for the rest of the journey. Thanks to the bad start off, he didn't utter a single word to her. Well, if it weren't for her edgy and hot headed personality, she would've been a good person to team up with.

And so, two hours have past since they left the town. It didn't take that long to arrive at the norther Gukuru Plains. Compared to the area that he first arrived, the area in this plain is much hotter than the ones he was spawned in. There is significant number of vegetation across the region. Not to mention, there are several sightings of animal herds in the area as well.

Then again, finding the Dragon Fists wouldn't be an easy feat since the enemies might be waiting to ambush them at any time. Thus, he better prepare the UAV at any time since this area is their domain and they have the field advantage.

Just as they were on the route, Tryx noticed the fuel has depleted. This is bad but its good thing that he has extra two cans at the back. Back in the game, these fuel can are nothing more than an artifact embedded with the skin but in this world, it morphed into an individual items that can be interacted with. Anyhow, Better stop at the side and refuel for a while before heading to the old fort.

Just as the Hilux stopped, the 'Crimson Demon' asked.

"Why are we stopping?"

"To refuel." Tryx jumped out of the truck leaving the girl perplexed.

"What?" eventually, she disembarked from the vehicle as well. She initially had a hard time trying to open the door but she managed eventually. As she walks around the car, she sees him picking up a can from the back and proceed to fill up the truck through a hole. "Are you feeding this thing?" that was her initial impression.

"Well... Sort off..." he replied.

"Huh, and you said its man made." she crosses her arm shot a questionable gaze.

"It is. It still needs energy much like humans, you know?"

"You're quite a weird person, newbie."

"Do me a favor and keep an eye on the surroundings, please? Don't wanna have those bastards attack us out of nowhere."

Seele huffed, "You don't get to order me."

As he was pouring the fuel into the tank, Seele yelled at him.

"Hey, newbie! We've got a problem!"

"What?" Tryx wondered as there is another half to be poured.

"Its the Dragon Fists. They're here."

"Oh, its just the Dragon Fists." he nodded, its not a big deal at all. Its just... Wait, "The what?" he asked in a surprised tone.

"The Dragon Fists you dimwit!" Seele yelled again. "See it for yourself!"

Tryx stopped pouring the gas and quickly head to the front. "Where?" Seele pointed at the road leading uphill 100 meters away from their position. He could see several figures on a horse staring down at them. Damn, he should've used the UAV earlier. "You sure its them?"

"No doubt. Those bastards are well known for wearing brown leather armors."

"Brown leather armor?" He looked closely at the figures. They indeed have brown leather armor, all of them dons it in various forms and sizes. "Yeah, now that you mentioned it... I think I've seen them before..." He thought. To be honest he's seen them somewhere but he couldn't remember them at all.

"Heads up, they're coming!" Seele warned before he could remember everything. "Prepare your weapon, newbie!"

The brown boys on their horses storm down the road heading towards you. It seems they have gone impatient while waiting for us. Guess its show time then. Seeing the standard raiding formation those guys, it seems machine gun is the most appropriate weapon for these guys. And there's two machine gun on the truck as well and he can only use one of them since Seele was barred from touching anything in the car. But he has no idea if Seele is pissed about stealing her kills though... But then again, watching Seele fighting could be useful since she wasn't called 'Crimson Demon' for nothing. This makes him intrigued how on how she fights in the battlefield. Is she strong as they rumored to be? 

So, what should he do...