Betula Wooden Rod Category : Staff(M-Size) Grade : Rare A piece of betula wood shaped by a skilled carpenter. Ingrained with the original tree’s energy essence. Attack : +10(+2) E. Attack : 27(+3) Effects : +10% E. Attack for energy-based abilities

 

Seeing was believing, the moment he saw the description of the wooden rod he knew that this man was like him. It was the second time he met another Awakened but this time he could sense the hostility from those frantic looking eyes.

 

“Who the fuck are you guys?!” Scott bellowed at these three strangers that popped out of nowhere. He was already running away for his life but rather than finding sanctuary, he stumbled upon three unknowns.

 

Hakeem and Esther were nervous but Jason was still calm. The bow in his hand was visible for the other party to see and like any man who was afraid for his life, he shouted at Jason.

 

“What’s with the bow? Put it down!”

 

Scott’s threatening method was rather lackluster considering how he was just pointing his stick at these three. To the untrained eye, no one would know about that normal-looking wooden rod to be a precious artifact that came from the crack.

 

“Why is he pointing a stick at us?” Esther whispered.

 

“Stop whispering around, I can see your lips moving!” Scott was getting agitated by the second, his eyes didn’t stop moving around glancing left to right. The gunshots coming from a distance were telling him that his squad was still fighting a losing battle.

 

“Dude, calm down. We’re not going to hurt you. Whatever you’re thinking of doing with that stick, please stop yourself and think things through,” Hakeem tried to calm Scott down.

 

But it didn’t receive well.

 

“Stick?” Scott said as his eyes narrowed at the sight of that tall man. Just being that tall was an eyesore for Scott, he got a height complex since he was just at five feet and eight inches. Driven by anger, his lips were mumbling as he recited those words that were ingrained in his mind.

 

Jason saw it and he didn’t hesitate to move. At first, he thought of doing things peacefully but the guy just had to flip his switch. Jason’s insane agility caught Scott off guard.

 

He stuttered in his words as he saw the silhouette of a man who was already a foot away from him. He tried to back away but it was too late, a fist slammed right across his abdomen as he fell on his knees.

 

Intense pain wracked his entire body, he puked out whatever military ration he just ate and as his eyes glanced at the sight of a man staring at him with those eyes, he definitely knew that there was someone stronger than rank one.

 

“You’re… an Awakened?” he was close to blacking out but he kept his shit together and tried to stay conscious as there was still danger lurking around. Jason also pulled his punch a bit as he had a question of his own.

 

Jason grabbed the long wavy hair of Scott as he threw him at the blocked staircase door. Scott winced in pain as his scalp was burning with a lot of his hair falling on the floor.

 

Scott didn’t have the time to worried about his hair as his eyes didn’t leave the sight of Jason. He was one of those who escaped Ottawa, a place of nightmare. He got out with his grit and gut. He knew when to retreat when he sees one.

 

“I’m sorry,” Scott said as he knew clashing ego with this man was suicidal.

 

“Give that stick to me and I might consider not throwing you off from the roof,” Jason said as his face remained stoic.

 

Scoot unknowingly frown as his only weapon was being asked for payment for his life. Even after being punched and thrown he had never let go of his wooden rod no matter what. He went through thick and thin with this wooden rod and giving it away was like giving a piece of his soul.

 

But like they always said, sell your soul to the devil. His life was more precious than this wooden rod, and with no choice, he threw the wooden rod at Jason. This man who threatened to kill him grabbed on to the wooden rod and stashed it inside his bag.

 

While the situation was rather tense on the roof, so did the things around it. The loud gunshots didn’t stop as even Scott couldn’t calm himself down as his head kept turning side to side.

 

“Dude, did you really need to intimidate him by mentioning killing?” Hakeem asked as he felt Jason was turning more like a Russian mobster.

 

“He’s trying to kill you with his ability, and I just stop him from doing so,” his words left Hakeem speechless. Hakeem looked at Esther as she too didn’t know what to say.

 

“They’re coming! We need to barricade the door behind me before they come,” Scott shouted hoping for these people to help him out against a common threat.

 

“What’s coming,” Jason asked with his arms crossed over his chest. He was talking things slowly as the gunshots he heard didn’t even matter to him.

 

“You don’t understand, those freaking werewolves are coming towards here. Even if you’re strong, you alone can’t do a thing against them,” Scott was giving a warning to Jason, he acknowledged the fact that he was stronger than him but against those pack of furry humanoid, one strong man couldn’t hold a candle against them.

 

The word werewolf piqued Jason's interest as both of his eyebrows raised. He released a grin knowing that his prey had come.

 

“Why aren’t you down there fighting with your squad?” Although he was thrilled by the presence of those kobolds yet that didn’t stop him from questioning this man’s cowardice.

 

Scott turned his head around as he didn’t want to meet those condescending eyes. He knew what he did was an act of betrayal to the squad and the country but his life matter first. It was ingrained in him during those moments he experienced back in Ottawa.

 

“You do know that deserters are sentenced to death?” Jason was using the word death again as even Hakeem and Esther was shocked about hearing it.

 

Scott couldn’t see through this man. He was calm even after Scott had mentioned about the incoming kobolds.

 

“You don’t understand, I’ve already told them that we can’t fight against them but they won’t listen, but they…” Scott’s word cut off by the loud howling of a wolf. Uncommon to hear during daylight but it wasn’t a wolf.

 

“Help me out here,” Scott said as he stood up with his aching scalp and body. He wasn’t going to let his injured body to stop himself from blocking the door.

 

Hakeem and Esther were nervous as the sweat on their foreheads told about their current state. They glanced at Jason simultaneously as they knew the only way of living through this was this man.

 

“How many are there?” Jason asked.

 

“I don’t know! Are you guys just going to stand there doing nothing? Help me out or we’re going to be dog’s food!” Scott hollered after seeing how unresponsive these people were, they acted like the first time Scott mentioned his game-like status to his close friends and he wasn’t liking it.

 

“Give me an estimation,” said Jason, pointing the bow at Scott.

 

Scott wanted to ridicule this man seeing he drew an empty bow at him but after seeing three glowing arrows manifesting from empty air, cold sweats ran down his back.

 

“I’m running out of time here,” said Jason as those three arrows were intimidating enough to Scott.

 

“Nine or ten perhaps,” said Scott as the thought dying made him talked.

 

Intimidation was one way of making people talk. Jason himself didn’t favor of going through this way but he knew how effective it was, he knew people won’t let go of their ego not until their life was on the line.

 

“Expecting more,” said Jason as he canceled his Triple Strafe.

 

Jason’s words didn’t make sense to Scott. Scott saw the back of Jason making his way to the ledge of the roof.

 

“Jason?” Esther called out to him.

 

“Brace yourselves,” said Jason.

 

Hakeem knew that things were going to get heated. He readied himself as he picked up his iron mace. His shield was long gone but his strengthened Iron Body might be enough to withstand against those kobolds.

 

Esther grasped both of her own shaking hands, trying to stop herself. She slapped both of her own cheeks as the mild pain at least stopped the shivering. She wielded the steel dirk in her right and the combat knife in her left.

 

“Metamorphosis,” she muttered as her eyes turned into yellowish slit eyes.

 

Scott couldn’t believe his eyes as he saw these people arming themselves for what was coming. He too noticed that the other two were also Awakened. He couldn’t believe it but they are others like that Scarlet Battle Maiden, fighting without receiving any remuneration from the country.

 

Jason stood just beside the ledge as he saw a few silhouettes running towards the building. They were fast, agile and tactical in a sense. Scanning what was in front of him he saw these kobolds coming in every direction. Ten was too small of a number, from what he was seeing, the numbers might be reaching twenty or thirty.

 

Nevertheless, numbers won’t stop Jason from striking them down.

 

“There’s one,” said Jason as he drew his bow aiming at one who was running through the open street.

 

Three arrows flew and it was struck down dead. A howl reverberated as if it was an announcement of one of their kin ending up dead.

 

“Unfortunate or just too amateur,” said Jason. A clean shot, nonetheless his accuracy was deadly even without an optic scope.

 

But then he ducked down as something just flew past above his head.

 

“Damn it,” Jason said as he saw a few strands of his hair falling to the floor.

 

“Jason?” Esther saw Jason ducking down.

 

“We’ve got archers, stay away from the ledges,” said Jason as he turned invisible.

 

Jason stood up and searched for that archer kobold. Their crossbow wasn’t something he could take lightly off, then he saw it. A kobold was crouching on top of a shorter roof with that gigantic crossbow that was hard not to see.

 

“I won’t…” Jason aimed at the head. “Make the same mistake,” he released it.

 

Its head pierced by a bright arrow and the kobold dropped from the roof. Leaving it alive would only make things difficult. He knew first-hand the prowess of that archer kobold and heavily injuring it wasn’t enough.

 

Jason continued taking them down with his bow as he circled around the whole roof making sure he took down as many as possible in every direction. Scott who saw this with his own two eyes were baffled. He had a hard time believing it but seeing this man disappearing and appearing shooting those bright arrows showed to him that he had really underestimated this man.

 

Did he really kill those werewolves? Thought Scott.

 

With Jason shooting them down numbering to sixteen of them, his level raised up to level twenty-three. Among those he killed, he noticed something with his sharp eyesight. He felt it was too bad but he couldn’t help but have the urge to loot.

 

“Hakeem,” Jason called his friend. “Try to defend the perimeter, I’m going out a bit.”

 

“What?!” it took Hakeem by surprise but before he could say anything Jason was already gone leaping off from the roof.

 

Hakeem stared at the ledge hoping for Jason to appeared and told him it was just a joke, but that didn’t happen.

 

All three people were dumbfounded seeing their hope gone like the wind. Scott glanced at Hakeem and Esther as his calm heart was starting to race back to nervousness.

 

“Where did he go?” asked Scott.

 

Hakeem didn’t know what to say as he just stared at Scott. Esther who grew rather comfortable after seeing Jason running around shooting them down started to shiver slightly.

 

Those three stood on the roof motionless for quite a time, long enough for the staircase door to suddenly broke down with all the blockage scattered around the roof. As if it suddenly exploded out of nowhere.

 

Scott was thrown a bit by the force of the door being knocked down. He fell on the floor as his eyes stared at the only entrance of the rooftop. Then from the darkness of the staircase, a tall silhouette emerged emitting a ferocious aura., an aura that was filled with the wild.

 

Hakeem’s grip on his iron mace tightened. The shivering Esther bared her sharp fangs like a cornered cat. At the same time, Scott stood up facing the kobold with his lips starting to mumbled incoherent words.

 

The kobold glanced at all three of them and it knew that these three were scared shitless of it. It grinned as it then released a howl in the air.

 

A sign for a bloody massacre.