Harun Vol 2 Chapter 8.2

《Brat’s Superb Performance – Part.2》

 Phin, Meilan and three other mercenaries with bows were waiting for Haroon when he got to the front of the party. As the first attacking group takes action, the other mercenaries will follow them shortly after, leaving only a few mercenaries to protect the merchants.

“Then, Let’s go,” said Phin.

 He led the way. His body moved swiftly, making his way between the tall, thick gra.s.s and the trees. Three mercenaries followed him, along with Meilan and Haroon. Phin was on full alert, but he was still very fast. It wasn’t easy for the others to keep up. Considering the enemy scouts, he decided to take a rough path some distance away from the road. As the path was quite steep, Meilan and the three mercenaries got tired fast and started breathing heavily. Phin noticed that the party needed some rest, so he signaled for them to stop.

 “I’ll need to check the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds’ scouts first. You four, standby here. It would be better to move as a group again after Haroon and I find ’em and eliminate ’em.”

“Whew, good call, Phin.”

 The four seemed relieved that they could take some rest.

“Well then! Let’s go, Haroon.”

 Haroon nodded. They began to climb the mountain.

 Phin made barely any sound despite how fast he was moving. Although Haroon was no match for Phin, his rigorous training allowed him to follow Phin without too much difficulty. Phin was impressed to see that. Seeing Haroon’s capability, he began to move in earnest, then he suddenly stopped and crouched. Naturally, Haroon crouched as well and waited for Phin’s signal.

 Without a word, Phin raised his hand and pointed to the middle of the thick forest. There was a path naturally formed by people fringed by a few big trees. Phin was pointing at one of them. Haroon could see two people between the thick leaves. They were wearing leather clothes to blend in. He could also see two silver wolves walking further into the forest. If they were not in a higher position than them, they would not have been able to spot them.

 While they were checking the enemy’s location, Roam joined them without making a sound. Roam is a middle-aged, Grade-C mercenary who is also a scout of the party.

 “How does it look?” Roam asked.

 “No bold moves yet. They must be waiting for us.”

 “So it was Wolf Bandits after all.”

 “Can confirm. I saw the d.a.m.ned wolves, and them riding on it.”

 The two gnashed their teeth.

 Wolf Bandits are the enemy of humanity. Unlike the beasts and monsters who attack others for food, they simply enjoyed killing.

 “But they are too far. It’s about 50 to 60 steps away from here,” Phin added.

 “How about luring them closer so Haroon can give it a shot?”

 “Good call, but it’s too risky.”

 Phin opposed to Roam’s suggestion.

 “Then how about moving to where they can see us?”

 Like Roam said, if they move close enough, they will be revealing themselves but Haroon might be able to take care of the enemy scouts.

 “Again, that’s too risky. If they alert the others, this plan is over.

 The two thought for a while.

 At their front was the end of the cliff without any cover. If they moved any closer, they would be revealing themselves. If they went around the cliff to move closer without revealing themselves, it would take too much time and the bandits would notice that something was off. They had a wolf by their ears.&sup

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 Haroon left the two, and climbed a tree to get a clear vision of the scouts. The two didn’t stop him, as they thought Haroon was getting a better view. Haroon took out a throwing knife, and summoned Brat on stand-by.

 – “Brat, you heard them, right?”

 – “You are bothering me so much. But, ay, ay, SIR. However, it seems guiding the knife won’t be enough as it is too far. I guess I would have to integrate with the knife, huh?

 Brat was being c.o.c.ky again, but for some reason, it seemed enthusiastic. Is it because it recovered from the fight last time? Or is it just bored? Whichever, it was fortunate that it does want to fight.

 – “Yes. And we are in quite a hurry, so let’s get straight to the point. Kill the one in front of the tree, and stick the knife on the tree so the guy in the back won’t notice anything.”

– “Okie.”

 Phin and Roam saw Haroon withdrawing his throwing knife, but they never imagined that he would throw it. Even at a glimpse, it was more than 50 steps away. Yes, he may gain some distance because he is throwing from a high position, but there are trees between him and the scouts. After all, it wasn’t a distance that a mere throwing knife could cover.

 ‘Well, yes, I heard he protected our members with his throwing knives. Some say he killed a Warrior with his dagger from 50 steps away, but, that’s simply impossible, like Boss and Jagin said.’

 This was what they both thought when Haroon withdrew the knife. They gave Haroon a doubtful look.

“Summon,” Haroon murmured.

 [You are poisoned!]

 Haroon could hear the UI sound as soon as he summoned Brat.

“Integrate spirit,” he continued.

 Quietly, Haroon casted the spell and threw the knife hard.

 “W-WHAT?”

 “NO!”

 Phin and Roam panicked. The knife didn’t care about them and flew at the bandit, illuminating blue lights. To avoid being spotted, it flew between the trees, rocketed high up in the air, and dropped right onto the bandit.

 Since Brat would control the knife, Haroon didn’t need to calibrate or see the result of it. Instead, Haroon took an antidote and opened his status window to see the change in his mana point.

 As he thought, the skill drained his mana. As the skill requires 50 mana per second, 200 mana was already spent while he breathed for a few times. He had enough E.F.P., but he was so nervous about his remaining mana that his mouth was drying up. Soon, he could hear the UI sound.

[You have slain a Grade-C criminal. You have acquired all of the opponent’s items.]

 Finally, one down. But it was very surprising that he was able to acquire all of the bandits’ items. Is it because the system thinks of this as a PK(Player Kill)? But there was no time to think of that. Brat had already returned.

 “Got him. But I saw another one down there,” said Brat.

 “We need to get that b.a.s.t.a.r.d too.”

 “Yaya.”

 “Integrate Spirit.”

 Haroon threw another knife, again with Brat integrated to it.

 Phin and Roam were speechless. They saw that the knife moved like a living thing. And they saw it killing the bandit that they could barely see. They had just recovered from the shock when Haroon threw his second knife.

 “Did he get him? With the knives?”

 “So… I-It was t-true.”

 They couldn’t hide their admiration.

 While that was happening, the skill took 200 more mana from Haroon, and it took another 50 until he could hear the UI sound.

[You have slain a Grade-C criminal. You have acquired all of the opponents items.]

‘I love how this works.’

 These bandits must be considered as Boss monsters, or PvP Players. The system won’t apply for NPCs, but to Haroon, a user, it was a very exciting fact.

 “Hehehe! How do you like that, Master? ‘Quite killing’, eh?? Kel-Kel-Kel-Kel, I’m soOO good.”

 “Get lost!”

 Haroon had no more time to speak with Brat. Not when it chose a wrong wording for ‘Compliment me!’. As the skill took 450 mana, Haroon wasn’t feeling good. He felt dizzy and woozy, just like how it feels after focusing intensely.

 Before it was too late, Haroon drank a low quality mana potion, which restored all of his mana. As he could feel he was being recovered from the disorientation, he talked to the two, who were still in a daze.

 “We’ve got the scouts. Let’s get moving.”

 “Y-Yes, we should, Haroon.”

 “I’ll give a signal to the party, and pick up the four.”

 Phin and Roam were still surprised, but moved with haste. While Phin went to pick up the rest of the squad, Roam and Haroon went to one side of where the bandits were waiting to ambush.

 Soon, Meilan and the other three arrived with Phin. They were soaked with sweat. Meilan heard from Phin that Haroon got rid of the scouts while they were moving, so she thanked Haroon first.

 “Thanks, Haroon. I heard you took good care of their scouts. Let’s take a rest for a moment, and then execute the plan. We’ll start when the other group gets in position.”

 The mercenaries unsheathed their weapons. Three of them checked their bows and arrows, and Meilan was memorizing her spell so she could use it whenever she wanted.

 Phin silently moved next to Haroon.

 “When Meilan creates the fog and silences us with her magic, me, Roam and you’ll go straight into the fog. As she won’t be able to cover entire forest, the bandits will move to the other side. The original plan was to leave you with the bowmen to attack the bandits when Roam and I draw them out. But we saw that your skill is beyond ours, so you move with us.”

 “Got it. But wouldn’t the fog blind us as well?”

 “Don’t worry about that. Meilan will cast Light Eye upon us.”

 Now Haroon could see how the plan would go. Then it was just a matter of how wide an area the fog would cover, and how long would it take for the bandits to react.

 Phin went back to see if the other group was prepared for the ambush. From the hill to the forest, there was a field of tall gra.s.s. From there, the second group would be waiting for the bandits that had been drawn out from the forest by the first attacking squad.

 While the group was getting in position, Haroon was stroking his throwing knives as a habit. Lost in thoughts, he remembered tricking the Quad w.a.n.kers, back in the Mercenary Academy. Thinking of how they suffered from the bad stomachache because of Brat’s polluted materials, an idea went through his mind like lightning.

‘Right, Brat’s Poison! Wouldn’t it kill them all instantly?’

 Haroon breathed deeply. It was quite a reasonable move. Haroon has been using Brat’s elemental skills, rather than its poisonous materials so far. Its poison can become a very effective means of fighting in the fog.

 Haroon stood up and went deeper into the forest to talk with Brat. The others didn’t bother as they thought Haroon went to pee.

 “Summon Brat, at stand-by mode.”

 – “Hey, Brat!”

 – “Oh, C’mon! What is it this time? I’ve already helped you once. Don’t you think that is enough for the day? Shouldn’t skilless Master give some consideration to skillful ME? You’ve got some nerve.”

 – “Quit saying nonsense, would you? Or I guess you want another punch in your face, right?”

 This spirit is really good at spoiling everything it scored previously.

 – “Eeks! Alright, Alright.”

 – “I have to say, you are really good at asking for a punch.”

 – “So what is it, Master? Make it quick. I’m so tired, and I was having a good dream.”

 Haroon asked Brat if its poison is strong enough to kill people, and how wide it can spread.

 – “Isn’t that obvious? Some polluted materials I’ve got are way too strong that no medicine can detoxify. On my own, I might be able spread it wide enough to kill a few people, but the rest depends on your capability. The more capable you are, the wider it would be. Of course, it wouldn’t be that wide.”

 By capability, Brat meant mana points. Though Haroon’s mana was now fully regenerated from the rest, he wasn’t sure how long it would last.

 ‘Dang, I thought it was a good idea, but my mana won’t be enough.’

 He thought for a while, but came up with nothing.

 Brat intruded his train of thought.

 – “Oh deary, deary me.’

 – “What?”

 Its words strangely p.i.s.sed him off. It was talking like it was so pathetic to see him.

 – “Nah, I was thinking my master was so pathetic that he can’t think of me as a spirit – a G.o.d d.a.m.n spirit who can use the G.o.d d.a.m.ned wind. How pathetic.”

 That brightened up Haroon’s mind.

 ‘Yes, that’s it! The wind will spread the poison!,’ he thought, and said

 – “I’ve been thinking of it. What kind of master do you think I am? I was considering my mana.”

 He was bitter to lie about it, and he knew quick-witted Brat would never be fooled by that, but his pride wouldn’t let Brat win the argument.

 – “Don’t you know that wind is a unique elemental skill, so you can use E.F.P. instead? Oh gosh, why do I have to babysit you?”

 – “That’s it! Ok, you won, you brat! Just go back to your place.”

 He lost track of his health when he got lost in his thoughts, but fortunately, it wasn’t too late. Haroon realized his H.P. was too low to have any further arguments, so he quickly unsummoned Brat and took an antidote.

 Soon after, Phin came back to the first squad, and everyone stood up. It was time to act. Haroon joined them hastily. They have a plan, they just have to execute it.

 “Alright, I’ll cast Fog from that boulder over there, so wait for my signal here,” said Meilan.

 Everyone nodded nervously on her order.

 “Uh, Meilan?”

 She saw Haroon hesitated to say something.

 “What’s the matter, Haroon?”

 “… I’ll protect you when you’re casting the spell. Just in case.”

 “That’ll be very helpful, I appreciate it.”

 Magicians are very vulnerable when they are casting the spell with voice. At that moment, even a small impact on them can break the spell, and in the worst case scenario, the mana flow can be reversed, killing the caster.

 Meilan and Haroon went to a giant boulder that was 20 steps away from where they rested. The boulder and its shade would hide them well from the bandits’ eyes.

 Meilan started casting the spell that she had memorized.

 Like a fairy tale, the fog started to cover the forest soon after. Meilan gently closed her eyes, and focused on her magic rod. To maximize the effect, she was extracting mana from her mana circle located near her heart, which resonates with runes.

 The area of effect started getting larger and larger. It was an easy task for a 4 circle mastered magician. Soon, two fifths of the forest was covered with the fog. They could hear some noises coming from the forest. The bandits must be confused by the situation.

 Haroon summoned Brat, only moving his lips.

 “Brat, Now!”

 “Aye. Scattering Poison! Wind!”

 On Haroon’s order, Brat scattered his poison and spread it using wind. The effectiveness of it depends on how much it will be spread. Haroon opened up his status window and fixed his eyes on his remaining H.P., M.P, and E.F.P.. If he spend too much of them now, the rest of the battle will be hard for him. He still had some more work to do.

 “Stop!” Haroon shouted when his E.F.P. was at 30.

 Brat came back and started chatting.

 “Hehehe. It ain’t much, but I spread it to where they are crowded, so it’ll be a good view, Master. By the way, I saw them having some delicious thing to drain. Let me eat those, OK? It’ll help me a lot to recover my abilities, lost by you.”

 “Alright.”

 Haroon wasn’t quite sure what it meant, but he had to unsummon it before he reaches his limit. He was tired as he had spent half of his mana and almost all of his elemental force. He quickly took a mana potion and an antidote. Soon, he was able to move his body with ease again.

“Well, Let’s go then,” said Meilan

 She rushed Haroon as she was in good mood, because she was satisfied to see how wide it spread. It had spread out more than she thought it would. She didn’t notice, but Haroon saw that some portion of the fog was being darkened by the poison.

 Back with the group, Meilan cast silence magic on Phin, Roam, and Haroon.

 “It won’t last more than 5 minutes, so you have to move hastily.”

 As soon as she spoke, they ran down to the forest. They would have to make the most of their 5 minutes. Meilan and three bowmen quietly moved to the pit they had made to hide.

 Suddenly, Phin cringed his face and signaled to stop, whispering,

 “Poison! Stop, there is poison everywhere.”

 “What is it now?”

 “Poison! I already got poisoned. It’s a strong one!”

 “You don’t mea…. Ugh! I got poisoned too!”

 Phin and Roam’s arms were already turning blue. Haroon’s arm was fine, but his hands were getting dark, and it was slowly changing its color.

 They hurried their way to the pit where Meilan and the others were hiding. Fortunately, the bandits hadn’t noticed them as they were still confused by the fog.

 “What’s the matter, Phin?” Meilan asked.

 “Oh s.h.i.+t! It’s poison!” One of the mercenaries shouted.

 The mercenaries were surprised, and moved away from Phin.

 “It’s a very strong one. It already got to my shoulder!”

 Phin’s voice was very urgent, but Meilan’s face was turning white. She didn’t have enough mana to detoxify the poison. Counteract, the magic that detoxifies poison, wasn’t an option that even she, a circle 4 magician, could take when she used almost all of her mana.

 “Here, I’ve got some antidote.”

 Haroon quickly took out some antidotes and handed them to Phin and Roam, and took one himself. Hector’s antidote was very effective, and their arms went back to normal.

 At that moment, Haroon could hear numberless UI sounds, overlapping with each other.

[You have slain a Grade-D criminal. You have acquired all of the opponents items.]
[You have slain a Grade-C criminal. You have acquired all of the opponents items.]
***

 A near endless number of them drew his mind blank.

 ‘S-Sick! I guess most of them were in ambush near us!’ Haroon thought.

 Phin and Roam came to Haroon.

 “Haroon, thanks. You saved my life!”

 “That was really effective, Haroon!”

 They hugged Haroon to thank him. If it wasn’t for him, they would have died by the strong poison.

 Meilan’s face was coming back to normal as well.

“What’s going on, though?” said Meilan.

 Phin shook his head, confused, and said,

 “I have no idea, Meilan. I am pretty sure there was no poison there before…….”

 “Despite what happened, this could go in favor of us. But as we don’t know how wide the poison has spread, or if it is moving with the wind, we have to get back to the other group and retreat with them.”

 Phin ran back to where the other group was hiding in a hurry. If the wind carried the poison to the group in the back, it could wipe out the entire group. The rest of the squad followed him.

 Soon, they were able to join the main group in the gra.s.s field. Fortunately, the wind was blowing to the forest. Meilan reported the situation, and prepared to attack with them.

 “Poison! We are getting poisoned!”

 “Get out of the forest! Quick!”

 After a while, some noises and screams came from the forest, and the forest spit out about 50 bandits and more than 100 wolves. Unlucky for them, they were heading to where the mercenaries were hiding.

 The bandits were in panic because of the poison. They carelessly ran away from the forest. Surprisingly, there were more wolves that survived from the disaster.

“NOW!”

 With Tain’s booming voice, the mercenaries started their attack with throwing weapons.

 “Argh!”

 “Guh! Mo-ther……”

 As the bandits and wolves were running directly to where the mercenaries were at, they had no window to avoid the throwing weapons thrown at them from 20 steps away. Their momentum only caused the throwing weapons to have more impact on them. A few dozens of them in the front line got killed by the mercenaries’ first attack.

 “Again, NOW!”

 Another wave of throwing weapons were thrown. At this time, Phin, Roam and the bowmen were ready with their bows; Meilan and her niece were ready with their fireb.a.l.l.s.

 “Gugh!”

 At least they should be happy that they were killed instantly. Those who survived from the first attack, with knives and daggers stuck in their bodies, had to take another shot.

 ‘Dang, more bandits could have been killed if it weren’t for the wolves,’ thought Haroon.

 There were more wolf corpses than bandit corpses. Still, the number of remaining bandits were outnumbering the mercenaries.

 “CHARGE!”

 With Tain’s order, the mercenaries jumped out of the pit, shouting and running at the bandits.

 Emotions are quite strange things, and it can make living things act differently from how they think. When the bandits were in ambush, they knew that they could easily outnumber the mercenaries. But when the actual fight began, and they saw their front line demolished by the throwing weapons, and could see the mercenaries courageously charging at them, some bandits started running away, giving up the fight.

 Finally, the bandits and mercenaries started striking their weapons at their enemies. Greatswords and dual blade strikes making sparks; Axes and iron clubs making metallic sounds. It was a matter of killing, or being killed. The faces of the mercenaries and bandits were turning red, and their muscles seemed like they would burst at any second. They looked for each others openings, and the eyes for that were burning with their hard pumping heart and fighting spirit.

 The battle was going in the Mercenaries’ favor. The bandits were tired since they just ran about 100 steps from the forest, and the mercenaries were waiting for them with their weapons and minds ready. After a few strikes, the mercenaries gained momentum. Tain had already slain 3 bandits, and Jagin was looking for another opponent after slaying two of them. Haroon also joined the battle wielding his sword, attacking with Turan.

 “Tonight! We will be drinking their blood and eating their fles.h.!.+” Someone shouted.

 A wolf, the size of a horse, had appeared from behind the bandits. A Bandit was riding on it, and it seemed he was the one who shouted. The shout was so loud that the atmosphere vibrated for a while.

 The mercenaries’ will was dampened for a while. The Bandits’ shout had a similar effect to that of a beasts’ or a boss monsters’ roar, which can cause fear on humans with a weak will.

“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” Tain Shouted.

 His shout also contained some mana, and it helped the other mercenaries to wake up from the fear. He charged at the Boss bandit. Jagin and his squad followed him.

 A sword was dropping on Haroon’s face, trying to cut it in half.

 “Not today!”

 Haroon swiftly dodged the attack, and jumped at the chest of the attacker to stab.

“Guh!”

 His sword penetrated the bandit’s heart, but that didn’t quite kill the bandit. Haroon felt that the bandit was still trying to move his arm to attack Haroon back, so Haroon pulled out his sword, turning his wrists. It was disgusting to see blood bursting out from the bandit’s chest, but strangely that didn’t unsettle Haroon. Now, he was considering the bandits as monsters, not humans. Only the UI sound, which alerts that he has killed another criminal, has his interest.

 “Woah, Boss, you are good!” said Gitan.

 Gitan has killed someone by himself too, and as he had no opponent to fight with, he saw how Haroon fought. In fact, It was the first time he saw Haroon’s proper swordsmans.h.i.+p, as all he had seen was his throwing knife skill. When Haroon finished his opponent, Gitan moved his eyes to the battlefield, and saw a bandit cutting the chest of a mercenary. Spinning his greatsword high up in the air, he jumped at the bandit.

 The bandit tried to block Gitan’s greatsword with his own. At the impact, the bandit’s sword broke with a cras.h.i.+ng sound. The bandit began stumbling because of the aftershock. A mercenary didn’t miss the chance and cut the side of the bandit with his sword. It was the one who got an injury in his chest. Because he moved his body too much, the cut opened and it couldn’t hold his organs anymore. The signs of life faded from his eyes.

 To kill, or to be killed. It was a cruel fight. The bandits and mercenaries on the battlefield didn’t fear death. Even when they were heavily injured, they attacked their opponent no matter what. The battle was so horrible that one could not look at it without a brave heart.

 Haroon focused on stabbing rather than slas.h.i.+ng. He instinctively found the openings made by the opponents’ big moves, and his sword found its shortest way to the opponent. When he had killed two other bandits, he felt an airflow caused by a greatsword. It was coming from the side. His Sense Sword moved like a snake, directly against the flow of the greatsword, and penetrated the bandit’s heart. He pulled out his sword from the screaming bandit. Again, he felt another danger instinctively, and rolled to the side.

 “Die!”

 A spiked iron ball with the size of a child’s head struck where Haroon was standing. A bandit, who was wearing a silver wolf’s head as a helmet, smiled and showed his black teeth. He was pulling an iron chain to get his ball back.

 But he wasn’t the only one who was targeting Haroon. Another bandit, who just took one life, had attacked from the flank. Startled, Haroon pulled his hip back. The sword grazed by a narrow gap. He could smell the rotten breath coming from the bandit’s mouth.

 But the bandit’s sword was a two-handed sword, while Haroon’s iron sword was one handed.

 As the bandit had lowered his upper body to stab Haroon, Haroon held the sword only with his right hand, and held the Bandit’s neck with his left arm. The bandit shook his body, and Haroon lost balance because of that. But Haroon didn’t let him go.

 With his right arm, Haroon put the blade on bandits gut, and put strength in his arms. A scream came out from the dirty mouth. Haroon saw the deathly sphere spinning in the air, again to target Haroon, but he still didn’t let the bandit go.

 With great hostility and bursting fighting spirit, Haroon felt as if his blood was boiling. But at the same moment, indescribable sensation spread across his body. The bandit was still resisting, but it didn’t last long. Before the bandit could hold his weapon properly again, Haroon turned with great speed, breaking the bandit’s neck.

 The head got turned grotesquely, but there was no time to think of it. The deathly sphere was shot at Haroon’s head. Using the dead body as a s.h.i.+eld, Haroon jumped at the bandit. With a dull sound of flesh and bone, the sphere hit the body, and Haroon couldn’t avoid stumbling from the aftershock.

 Haroon let the dead body go to recover his balance, and flung his body at the bandit, with his sword ready. The bandit tried to let the weapon go and move away, but the chain was linked to his wrist and the weight of the sphere prevented it. All he could do was accept death, with fear in his eyes.

 It was Haroon’s first combat in close range. It was different from how he attacked the bandits with his throwing knives. There was no time for thinking. Almost falling in unconsciousness, sometimes not avoiding but parrying the attacks, Haroon’s sword looking for openings was being stained with blood.

 “STOP! STOP!!”

 When dim sounds became reality, Haroon realized there were no more bandits attacking him. Haroon look around, and saw a few bandits running from the battlefield, away from the forest. There were corpses of mercenaries, bandits and wolves all over the place.

 “d.a.m.n, Boss. I knew you were great at throwing knives, but I didn’t know that you were great with your swords. You fought like a berserker!”

 Philip smiled, with his thumbs up. He was covered with blood, not his, and it was contrasted with white teeth.

 “How about the enemy?”

 “Well, numerous small fry ran away, and several head to heads are going on now.”

 With a deep breath, Haroon swung his sword to shook off the blood. He could see Tain and Jagin were having an intense fight with two bandits.

 The last two bandits were wearing silver wolves’ heads as helmets. They were skilled, and were well equipped. It seemed the one with a giant axe was the boss, and the one with a giant sword was the underboss.

 Tain’s sword was releasing a blue light, which means he was using aura, but the Bandit boss’s axe was also releasing a blue light. No matter how they struck together, not even a single scratch was made on their weapons.

 Jagin also seemed like he was using an aura, but he was no match for the underboss, or Tain. Whenever his sword and the giant sword struck, he had to back off to remain balanced. As he wasn’t as good as Tain is, the aura kept going on and off.

 Two others in Jagin’s squad were fighting with giant silver wolves, which seemed to belong to the boss and underboss bandits. Surprisingly, they couldn’t win against the wolves.

 The wolves’ size was as big as the humans, but their movements were as light as the winds. Moreover, their claws and teeth were as long as human fingers, sharp as blade and hard as steel.

 The wolves dodged the swords well, and leaped to bite or claw the mercenaries. The mercenaries managed to dodge their attack as well.

 “It seems they are losing,” said Haroon.

 “Yes, it seems so. Jagin’s squadmates are on the edge, though. The bandits might be back with reinforcements if they lose this fight.”

 About twenty bandits and dozens of wolves were running away from the battlefield. But if the mercenaries lost the head to head fights, they might come back to outnumber the remaining mercenaries, which was less than a dozen. Moreover, those who are not injured were exhausted. They were breathing hard, and were taking a rest as they couldn’t chase the bandits. They couldn’t rest properly, as they had to be prepared for the worst case scenario, until the battle was done.

 “Argh!” Someone cried.

 The mercenaries looked to where the sound came from. One of the silver wolves had bitten the thigh of one of Jagin’s squadmates. He seemed shocked. He dropped the sword, and screamed, quaking with fear. Blood flew out where the fang has punched a hole. The silver wolf had tasted the blood, and it drove the wolf into a frenzy.

 “GAAARGH !” The mercenary screamed.

 The wolf’s mouth was being stained with red blood.

 Another man of Jagin’s panicked, and lost his will to fight with the wolf. Not even trying to wield his weapon, he started frantically running away from the wolf. Jagin, too, seemed to be in danger. He seemed he would get hit by the deathly sphere² at any second.

 ‘s.h.i.+t!’

 Haroon instinctively took a dagger out of the belt. Although Jagin and his squadmates are cheap and dirty, he couldn’t let them be killed by the wolves. Even if they wouldn’t thank him, he had to save them. It felt like he would regret it if he didn’t save them.

 He threw the dagger.

 The silver wolf seemed like it had sensed the dagger, and leaped away from the projectile, but didn’t let the mercenary go. It showed how cruel, and persistent it is.

 ‘s.h.i.+t! That’s it.’

 Haroon took out another dagger. Even if he would regret that he had saved Jagin’s squad, he didn’t want to feel guilty about not saving a life from danger.

 “Summon! Integrate!”

 At last, he had to summon Brat. The integrated dagger released a blue light, and was shot at the silver wolf.

 The wolf sensed the dagger again, and threw the mercenary into the dagger’s path. Not only its size and jaw muscle were stronger than the other wolves, but it was quite clever as well.

 “NO!”

 With someone’s cry, some mercenaries shut their eyes and turned away. But the dagger dodged the mercenary and turned its path, and headed to the mouth of the wolf. Startled, the wolf tried to leap away from the dagger, but the dagger was faster. It struck its head.

[You have slain the Silver Wolf Boss. You have acquired an item.]
[Focus is increased by 1 point.]
[E.S.P. is increased by 1 point.]
[You have acquired 3 Soul Point.]

 “Holy s.h.i.+t!”

 “The dagger is living! So it was true that he uses an elemental spirit to control the dagger!”

 That shocked the mercenaries. Some even forgot to breathe for a while watching how the dagger had made a miracle. Meanwhile, some mercenaries were trying to help Tain out, wielding their weapons.

 Something sounded like it exploded. As they turned to where the sound came from, Tain was staggering like a drunken man. It seemed like Tain and the Bandit Boss struck using all their force, but the Bandit Boss recovered from the shock, only with a few back steps.

 “Help him out! quickly!”

 Every mercenary started running. But they were too far, more than 20 steps away. The Bandit Boss had already raised his giant axe high up in the air, and would make Tain a meat cube at any moment.

 Haroon hurriedly summon Brat on stand-by mode.

– “Brat.”

– “Really? You don’t have enough mana.”

 It was after a close-up fight. Haroon’s health point and mana point was quite low. Even if he drinks a mana potion, there wouldn’t be enough time to wait for the regeneration.

 – “f.u.c.k! But I can’t let him die!”

 – “Alright, I will use my power as much as possible.”

 “Summon! Integrate! GO!”

 Haroon threw the dagger as hard as possible.

 The mercenaries who were running to help their boss saw the dagger flying at the speed of lightning. The dagger pa.s.sed the mercenaries in a second, and headed to the neck of the Bandit Boss.

 But the Bandit Boss simply deflect the dagger with his axe. It was quite impressive how he wielded the giant axe like paper. At least, it earned enough time for Tain to recover his balance and release a final strike using all of his mana.

 Two weapons with auras struck. With an explosive roar, they both staggered. Although the Bandit Boss was stronger and had more mana than Tain, the dagger had prevented him from using all his force. Tain managed not to fall down, barely grabbing his sword. Suddenly, Tain’s eyes were opened wide.

 The dagger, which was supposed to be bounced off the axe and flew away, has turned back and hit the back of the Bandit Boss’s thick neck. The Bandit Boss dropped his axe, making a face that he couldn’t believe the situation, and pulled the dagger out with his hands.

 A huge amount of blood spurt out of the hole.

 “Sh-it! That son….of…bitc-……Kugh!”

 Finally, the Bandit Boss fell down on the ground.

 Tain clearly heard the dead body falling on the ground. He trembled at the thought of the battle. He was one step away from the gate of h.e.l.l, and yet, it didn’t feel real to him. Tain’s eyes were on; not Jagin who got a cut in his arm while the Bandit boss was dying, not the bandits who were running away from the battlefield, but Haroon.

[You have slain a Grade-A criminal. You have acquired all of the opponent’s items.]
[You have received 100 gold as a bounty]
[You have gained 300 Fame]
[You have acquired 10 Soul Points]
[You have been granted the t.i.tle of ‘Bounty Hunter – C’]
[You are rewarded with 5 Soul Point, and every stat is increased by 1 point.]
[Focus is increased by 1 point]
[E.S.P. is increased by 1 point]

 What a pleasure to hear those U.I. sounds. But Haroon was busy enough holding his mind together to not faint from lack of health and mana. He could barely move his hand to take a mana potion out.

 ‘Only grade C for the bounty hunter t.i.tle for killing a Grade-A criminal? I guess the grading system for criminals are judged by their action, not their skill.’

 Haroon secretly hoped for him to be a great criminal. If he isn’t one, Haroon doubted that the items that he dropped would be good ones.

 “Watch out!” Somebody shouted.

 Haroon saw a blurry image of a bandit’s giantsword dropping on Jagin, but he couldn’t do much about it.

 “Aargh! My arm!” Jagin cried.

 ‘I want to help, but I am out of mana,’ Haroon thought.

 Enough mana was regenerated to allow Haroon to move his arms. He drank the mana potion. Soon, when he got vivid sight back, he could see the miserable scene of Jagin. Jagin was screaming, suffering from the pain coming from his left shoulder. He was holding it with his right arm.

 The under-boss, who cut Jagin’s left arm, was running away. He had gained quite a bit of distance already. Tain ran to Jagin to hold where the limb was dismembered to stop him from bleeding to death, but he himself wasn’t fully recovered from the shock yet. Rotem’s only medic ran to Jagin.

 When Haroon finally knew the battle was done, the scene of the battlefield finally came into his eyes.

‘This is horrible!’

 Those who lost one or two limbs were screaming. Dead bodies were lying around here and there. Especially, the condition of corpses of those who got killed by the wolves were so horrible that he couldn’t directly look at them.

 Tain looked at Haroon with mixed feelings for a while, then he realized that his mercenaries were about to panic because of the situation.

 “Clean up the battlefield!”, Tain ordered.

 The first thing they did was to move the mercenary corpses to one place. If the body were missing limbs, they found them and collected them as well. They chose to live dangerously, which some may call low-life, valuing money over their lives. But that didn’t mean that they don’t deserve a good-bye from their friends.

 When Meilan recovered her mana, she went around the battlefield to heal injured mercenaries. The medic applied ointment under the nose of injured ones, which helped them to get some sleep for a rest.

 Tain and two other mercenaries checked the dead bodies and their belongings. They recorded every detail, and put the items in a small bag. It would be sent to their family or their relatives. It was horrible, but it was what a leader of a group must do.

 When they finished moving the corpses, Haroon and Philip flopped down in a clean place.

 “Boss, that was really b.l.o.o.d.y.”

 Haroon found it awkward to hear that from someone who was fighting crazily in the battle, but Philip was serious.

 “It was a matter of surviving or not. It couldn’t be helped.”

 Haroon was surprised how calm his mind was. He wasn’t too excited, nor downed from the shock of the battle. When the battle was done, his fighting will was all gone, and his mind came back to calm with peace, like nothing happened at all.

 “Boss, you really are quite special. And now I have no idea who you are and what kind of life you lived, but you did so great today.”

 “Huh, Special? You think so?”

 Haroon gave a hollow laugh and looked up at the sky. The weather was clear, the sky a dark uncaring blue. Haroon thought that it just doesn’t get along with the situation.

 “Well, time for the glorious loot!” said Gitan, coming to where Philip and Haroon was sitting.

 Haroon could see that the mercenaries finished burying their squadmates and started looting the corpses, taking bandits weapons and belongings. Some seemed happy about getting precious items.

 The scene came to Haroon like a comic relief. They’ve just buried their friends, and in the next moment they were happy about getting new items. It was rather bitter, but he thought maybe it could be natural to mercenaries. Who would ever dare to be a mercenary if they couldn’t get any loot like now.

 “Why don’t you go and join, Philip? I know you have slain some.”

 “Shall I, Boss?”

 Philip didn’t seem unsettled by looting a dead body as he grew up under a mercenary family. With curiosity floating on his face, he joined the mercenaries. Haroon also wanted to check the items he got, but decided not to as many eyes were watching him. It was at that moment when someone shouted,

 “Poison! Everybody, get away from here!

 “The wind is carrying the poison downhill!”

 It was Tain and Meilan.

 They were the ones who were nearest to the forest as they went to check the Bandit Boss’s dead body. They sensed the change of wind, and saw black fog, which seemed like a poison cloud, slowly crawling out of the forest. Their expressions made it seem quite urgent.

 As the two shouted and warned the mercenaries, the mercenaries on the battlefield stopped looting the bodies and started evacuating, helping the injured ones. It was so urgent, that some even gave up the weapons they looted.

 Haroon saw this as a chance. This was perfect timing to summon Brat. People were running away as fast as they could.

 “Hey! Come out, quickly.”

 “W-H-Y! I am freaking tired.”

 Here it goes again. But that wasn’t the problem.

 “Absorb the poison that you released.”

 “Hehehe, if that’s why, of course, master.”

 “Don’t leave anything behind.”

 “No worries. I can’t eat these as these kind of things are so rare.”

 Haroon quickly took an antidote, and opened his status window to check remaining mana. The poison cloud could not spread further, and was disappearing as Brat moved.

 “What made you so late, Boss!” Philip shouted.

 Philip, Phin and Roam were waiting for him downhill. What loyalty they had, thinking how they decided to wait there, instead of waiting for him at the carts.

 “Well, while I was running, I saw the black cloud dissipating as it flew away high up in the air. That was quite a scene, so I couldn’t miss it,” Haroon replied.

 “What do you mean, Haroon? Do you mean the poison cloud just disappeared?”

 Phin asked, surprised.

 “I guess it did. I just went to the point where the Bandit Boss died, and it seemed fine.”

 “Really?”

 Phin and Roam still seemed feared by the poison, but as scouts of Rotem, they went over the hill to check if it was true.

 “Strange. it really disappeared.”

 “Hmm.”

 They shook their head, and joined Haroon and Philip.

 “Well, let’s get down now.”

 “Yeah, we will have to report about this as well.

 It was the last danger they faced on the way to the Viscounty of Parson. But the aftermath of the battle has slowed down the mercenaries. They were able to arrive at the castle in the afternoon of the next day.

 The merchants decided to stay in the same inn the Rotem mercenaries regularly used. After unpacking things, they went to the market for trading. The mercenaries had lots of things to do as well. They had to sell the leathers and other loots, repair or buy new gear and stock the supplies.

 Some merchants decided to quit the party. They would settle down here for a while and continue their trading in the castle. Of course, Devron and Doran were among them.

 When the party departs the castle, some other merchants would join the party instead. That’s what Doran told Haroon about how the merchant trips work.

 While everyone else were busy doing their own business, Haroon went to one of the biggest rooms in the inn where Rotem mercenaries were using it as a temporary headquarter. Tain, Meilan and few other mercenaries were in the room. The Quad w.a.n.kers waited outside, as they didn’t even want to meet them any longer.

 “We were so grateful to have you with us. I am sorry I didn’t thank you until now, forgive me. I was just way too busy until now. Thank you for saving my, and everybody’s life.”

 Tain gently held Haroon’s hands and thanked him.

 “Not at all. It was the Bandit Boss’s mistake, after all.”

 It wasn’t a lie. No Expert swordsmen were weak enough to be killed by a throwing weapon, even if a spirit was integrated into it. Yes, the dagger was moving unexpectedly, but Experts are called Experts as they can react fast enough to defend themselves from it.

 To add, if one knew the dagger was integrated with a spirit, even Gitan, an advanced swordsman, would be able to protect himself from the dagger, as Haroon couldn’t maintain the skill for a long time. Thus, it was the Bandit Boss’s mistake, underestimating the dagger.

 “To be honest, I didn’t trust your skill as I didn’t see it with my very own eyes. My apologies. I have been deceived too much and I began to believe only what I saw. But now, I can see how frustrated you would have been back in the last meeting we had before the battle. I am truly sorry, and thank you for what you have done for us.”

 “It was my duty as a comrade. Even if it was just for a moment.”

 “Well, that still doesn’t mean I am not going to reward you for saving my life or your performance in the battle. Meilan?”

 “Yes, oppa. Here.”

 Tain received a leather bag from Meilan, and handed it over to Haroon.

 “What is this?”

 “Mana potions. Meilan saw how you suffer from lacking mana, if you were to use that impactful skill. As soon as she arrived at the castle, she went to the temple to buy those. We are sorry we couldn’t give you high quality ones, but we believe it will still be useful.

 Haroon undid the knot and opened the bag. It was full of small gla.s.s bottles. Even at a first glance, he knew there were at least twenty of them.

 “But, this is too much.”

 According to what Bell told him, mid-quality potions were being traded at around 7 gold. It would be a lie if he didn’t expect a reward, but this was way more than what he expected.

 “No, not at all. Wouldn’t it be much cheaper than my life, don’t you think? I would have given more if we didn’t lose some money on the last trip.” 

 Haroon refused to receive them, but Tain’s stance was firm. Eventually, Haroon had to take the bag.

 “By the way……. Have you thought of joining us?”

 Just as he thought, Tain asked Haroon to join them after giving a gift. But Haroon had already received a new quest. Moreover, he’d prefer not to accompany them because of Jagin.

 Tain read Haroon’s expression, and whispered in his ear.

 “If Jagin is a concern to you, don’t worry about it. He got his left arm cut off, and received a great injury to his thigh. He wouldn’t be able to be a mercenary ever again.”

 Seeing how Tain was saying it emotionlessly, he didn’t seemed sad about losing Jagin.

 “It’s not about him. We just want some rest, and we will use that time to see what else we could do.”

 Haroon knew a flat refusal is needed at times like this. He had experienced this kind of situation multiple times in real life. Of course, Haroon had been in Tain’s position most of the time. But he learnt that a stern refusal helps the opponent to give up easily.

 “Hmm, that’s a shame. Each member of yours is better than hundreds of the others.”

 Tain still couldn’t let them go.

 “We are sorry, but I must say ‘so long’ for now. The wind doesn’t stay in one place.”

 “Only if I trusted in you way sooner…….”

 Tain seemed to be regretting his choice.

 “Don’t mention it. Well then, we have to get on our way.”

 With that, Haroon stood up. He knew it would be harder for both of them as this moment got longer.

 “Stay well, Haroon. I will buy you some nice clothes³ when we meet again,” said Meilan, giving a wistful smile.

 “I won’t forget you Boss Tain and Boss Meilan. I hope you’ll have a safe trip.”

 “Same to you. Let’s get a proper drink next time we meet again.”

 After exchanging some farewells with other mercenaries, he left the room. He felt some kind of a big boulder being removed from his shoulders.

 ‘And that b.a.s.t.a.r.d didn’t come just as I thought.’

 Although he didn’t expect anything from Jagin, he thought the mercenary he saved from the wolf would come at least to thank him. But he never came near Haroon at all.

 ‘From now on, I won’t even think of ungrateful b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! Never, ever.’

 It was a short moment, but it had taught Haroon numerous valuable lessons. With the Quad w.a.n.kers, Haroon headed to the place where he and Devron decided to meet.

Translated by Channy_
Edited by Tom, And Kmatt

Footnotes:

¹ ‘have the wolf by ears’ – https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/have_the_wolf_by_the_ear (Channy, Don’t forget to link when you copy this to the WordPress.)

² “Wait, didn’t the underboss use a greatsword?”
Apparently, it seems he has both, or it is an error made by the author.

³ Clothes are considered as good gifts in Korean culture.