'Sniper…?!' Not even a minute after he finished reading the SSS' notification, Zarba immediately heard the distinct sound of a crossbow shot as the faint silhouette of the flying crossbow bolt was suddenly flying towards him from inside the forest, but with his fast reflexes from the muscle memory gained through intense combat training from these past 15 years, Zarba managed to duck down in time as the crossbow bolt sailed past above his head to the far end of his campsite and disappeared inside thick grasses without even grazing him.
'The game's prologue event is happening today…?!' Zarba cursed in his mind as he quickly got back up on his feet while he picked up the featherless Hoho bird as he saw another crossbow bolt just fly towards him in quick succession.
"I cast Hoho Shield…!" Zarba cried out as he blocked the crossbow bolt with the carcass in his hands; thankfully the bird was fat and meaty, so the bolt didn't go through it and puncture his eyeball.
'I better escape from here; who knows how many they are…' Zarba thought as he was still holding up the Hoho shield while he stepped back towards his bow and quiver near the log.
He recalled that back in the game there's only one assassin attacking the crown prince of the Great Golden Empire, but now in reality Zarba is not so sure, as there were two bolts shot at him in a too short span of time for single assassin to reload and shoot properly, which means that the assassin has two crossbows on them or there's another assassin, which is really bad news if it's the latter.
"Now what the hell should I do…" Zarba mumbled as he arrived at the log where his hunting bow was, and then he put the magic wand that was also still in his hand all this time down as he picked up his hunting bow in exchange while he was still holding the bird by its neck as a shield against the possibly next crossbow bolt in the other hand.
While he was going to reach for the quiver, Zarba noticed that the forest was getting eerily quiet after the two crossbow bolts earlier; it's the quietness just like when the predator was about to attack its prey.
Then, before he could pick up the quiver, the assassins suddenly revealed themselves from the forest as they emerged out from behind the trees and bushes one after another, causing Zarba to become more vigilant as he paused his action and entered a defensive stance, wary of their long-range attack.
"Tsk…" Zarba clicked his tongue; it's just as he feared—there are multiple assassins, as there are four of them in total.
'The information about me being capable in combat and my daily schedule was probably leaked by a bunch of spies in the palace…' Zarba thought in annoyance as his mind raced for a way to get out of here alive.
He glanced at the assassins and saw them all dressed in the same all-black clothes with light armor that focused on mobility and black cloaks with hoods that covered their faces and concealed their identities. Half of them have a crossbow in one hand and a sword in the other, while the other half have only a sword. This encounter has very bad odds for Zarba, who doesn't like to take risks engaging with multiple enemies, especially a group of assassins who will not fight fair and will do anything to kill him.
"You have me at a disadvantage here…" He stated the obvious to his assassins with a wry smile as he slowly stepped backwards towards his tent while keeping the dead bird high in the air between them.
The assassins don't say anything back to him as they just spread out slowly to surround the campsite while two of them keep their crossbows aimed at Zarba. Their high discipline can be seen through their actions, as they won't do anything unnecessary, such as engaging in dialogue with the target.
The two sides seem to be very cautious against each other as both sides are slowly moving to secure an advantageous position that will help them in the fight to the death that is about to commence.
Zarba really appreciates their caution, as they indirectly help him out without them realizing it. The fact that he will definitely take full advantage of soon.
'Xin, I could use some help right now!' He called out a name in his mind as the small magic tattoo on his upper back underneath his white shirt glowed slightly in response, indicating that the magic tattoo was active and doing something that will make the assassins regret not attacking him as soon as possible.
In the midst of a tense standoff, suddenly something changes that only Zarba could perceive as his body begins to relax a little. 'Finally...'
'Yes, yes, your beloved slave-wife, Xin, is here, my most valiant husband.' A soft, pleasant, melodic voice of a woman sounds in Zarba's mind with some unintentional sarcasm after a couple of seconds of the tense standoff between him and the assassins as he feels the intense gaze of another presence outside of the material realm that only he could feel roaming all over him and the surroundings.
'Oh my, you got yourself in quite a situation, my husband...' The woman sounds surprised, but there's also a concern in her tone after she understands the situation Zarba is currently finding himself in.
'Yeah, and your help will be greatly appreciated…' Zarba says to the woman in his mind as he is glad that he has her as his slave. He will definitely reward her with a lot of affection after this.
'I see, I see. Allow me to assist you with this... inconvenience, my husband.' The woman, or Xin, agrees to help him in an eager tone before the magic tattoo on Zarba's back glows brighter as the presence of the woman in his head grows stronger and stronger around the campsite area, so much so that even the assassins begin to notice the strangeness in the atmosphere.
Then all of the assassins tense up by instinct as they feel a sudden chill run down their spines as an unnatural wind seemingly comes out of nowhere and snuffs out the bonfire and blows their cloaks violently while they quickly grab on to their hoods to prevent them from revealing their faces.
At the same time, Zarba, who was standing near the tent, smirks with malicious intent as his shadow elongates and twists unnaturally behind him until something emerges from it as that thing solidifies into a humanoid figure of a woman made out of darkness with long floating hair, two glowing amber-colored orbs for eyes, and what looks like a glowing purple crystal inside the center of her chest, as well as the jagged crown of purple crystal that materializes on her head at the end.
This is the female slave of Zarba, Xin's spirit form, as she materializes behind him with the astral projection of herself that she sent to aid him by their mana connection through the magic tattoo on Zarba's back and the magic slavery vow that links their souls together, which sounds more intimate than marriage in Xin's opinion, hence why she calls Zarba her husband instead of master.
Xin's spirit hovers above the ground as her eyes sweep over the assassins, her lips that are not visible in her soul form curving into a cruel smile that holds no warmth for fellow men, while she floats to the side of Zarba as she clings to his arm like a lover.
"Witch!" The word escaped from one of the assassins as they witnessed the emerging of what seems to be a dark spirit. Zarba and Xin could tell that it was filled with terror and prejudice as the man recognized the sign of the black magic practitioner, which is the blackening of the spirit form.
"Oh my, how ignorance…" Xin scoffs in disdain at being called a witch by a cold-blooded killer like she was a monster. She didn't immediately take any visible action to make her displeasure known, yet the air thickened, crackling with unseen energy.
The assassins feel goosebumps all over their skin as they feel the spirit's powerful mana radiating from her ethereal form.
"This is bad…!" One of the assassins muttered as they all took a step back, panic rising up; they didn't know that the target had a witch in his service, so they didn't even bring any anti-magic items with them. They currently are easy prey against black magic that specializes in curses, hexes, and mind/soul manipulation!
"Fuck…!" One of the assassins with the crossbow gets a little too panicky as his finger tightens on the crossbow trigger too hard. The crossbow bolt immediately flew—not at Zarba, but at Xin's spirit form.
It, of course, did nothing. The bolt just passed through her like she was never there, embedding itself harmlessly in the dirt behind her. Xin giggled at such a useless attack against an immaterial being such as her current form.
"Hehe, how unfortunate…" She said, with her voice echoing strangely, as if spoken from multiple directions at once, while the assassins tensed their bodies with cold sweat running down their cheeks.
"It looks like you're going to have a bad time soon." With murderous intent and true to her words, Xin's shadowy fingers flickered towards the assassins, and the cloaks of all of them suddenly moved violently in response to her simple gesture as if they were alive and then warped themselves around the assassins' entire bodies, becoming living bindings that constricted their limbs and muffled their voices.
After seeing the assassins get immobilized by their own cloaks, Zarba didn't need the invitation to join in the fun, as he intended to take full advantage of this. He dropped the bird in his hand—its shield duty complete—and in one fluid motion, he pulled out the arrow and nocked it on his hunting bow as he drew the bow to its full tension, and then immediately loosed it at his target.
The arrow flew through the air fast, finding its mark in the throat of the nearest assassin, who was still struggling against his own animated cloak. The man choked, crimson blossoming against the black fabric on his neck, before he fell down on his back with his cloak wrapped around him like a body bag.
Another assassin managed to tear free from his writhing cloak, sword raised high in a desperate charge at the duo, but Zarba was already moving, sidestepping the desperate thrust from the assassin while drawing another arrow as Xin also cast a joint lock curse spell on him while Zabar fired at him point-blank. The assassin watched in despair and resignation as the arrow punched through his eye socket with a sickening crunch, dropping him instantly onto the snuffed-out bonfire while his body was still frozen awkwardly. Zarba didn't pause to watch him fall; he had already taken another arrow, seeking his next target to eliminate.
The third assassin, currently half-strangled by his own cloak as it was also binding his arms, managed to wrench his crossbow free and turn it upward. Zarba saw the movement, the glint of the loaded bolt aimed at his chest, but he fired first. His arrow took the assassin in the open mouth just as the assassin was about to squeeze the trigger. The crossbow bolt fired aimlessly into the dirt to the side of Zarba as the assassin staggered backward, Zarba's arrow protruding from inside between his lips. Gurgling, he collapsed on his back from shock while the cloak once again wrapped his body up like a body bag; his fate is sealed.
Only one assassin remained—the one farthest back, who'd wisely torn through his animated cloak early. He stood frozen, sword held tight in his hand, eyes wide with primal terror fixed not on Zarba, but on Xin. Her shadowy form seemed to drink the fading afternoon light; her two amber-colored glowing orbs locked him in place like they were staring into his soul. He knew escape was impossible. Madness took him. With a cry of desperation, he still charged at Zarba, sword raised in a suicidal attack just to stick to his mission until the end even if it was hopeless.
Zarba's fingers touch the fletching of his arrow. Before he could knock it, Xin's cold dark hand placed over his wrist. Her touch makes him pause as he glances at her questioningly.
"Allow me..." Her soft voice sounds in his ears as she gazes at the incoming assassin, the last one remaining, with cruel indifference eyes.
Then, with the gesture of her two fingers, Xin caused an arrow in Zarba's quiver to grow pale white and eject itself with unnatural force from the quiver, and then, with her glowing gaze on the charging assassin, her shadowy fingers moved and pointed at him as the ejected arrow suspended in mid-air for a split second before it spun its tip around to the assassin and shot towards him with the sound of a whip crack.
The assassin, who had already lost his cool and only had tunnel vision on Zarba, didn't notice a thing as the arrow with impossible speed punched through his black leather armor like wet paper, burying itself deep in his chest cavity with a wet, crunching thud as his heart was pierced. The assassin stumbled, eyes wide with shock, staring down at the feathered shaft protruding from his chest before collapsing backward with his eyes wide in shock. His sword clattered uselessly beside him...
÷×÷×÷
[ System Alert! ]
—Congratulations!
—You have cleared your first quest!
—Quest: The Story Begun!
—Objective: Completed!
—Reward: [Updatable User Template] received!
—Summon function unlocked!
—1 summon unit template available!
[ Unit Template ]
—ID: Zabar Altra Zigma
—Type: User Template
—Class: Ranger Knight
—STR: C+
—VIT: B+
—DEX: B+
—AGI: B+
—INT: C+
—Bow: Expert
—Evasion: Expert
—Hunting: Expert
—Sword: Skilled
—Dagger: Skilled
—Cooking: Skilled
—Acrobatic: Skilled
—Crossbow: Skilled
—Throwing: Skilled
—Shield: Trained
—Spear: Trained
—Unarmed Combat: Trained
—Horse Riding: Trained
—Jousting: Trained
—Leadership: Trained
—First-Aid: Trained
—(More)...
—Evaluation: Rare-tier
—Update: 1 time
÷×÷×÷
'Well, it's about right…' Zarba hums with satisfaction at his own summon template states. It seems to be accurate to what he has been doing for these 15 years of training after all.
"What now, my husband?" Before Zarba could take a look at his SSS properly, the curious voice of Xin put a break to his plan as he turned to look at the floating spirit of his slave.
"Now? I guess it's time we leave the empire. Xin, pack our things and wait for me at the exit of the palace's secret escape tunnel." Zarba quickly commanded as he looked at the spirit with a wry smile. It's time to run away!
"I'll be waiting for you then, and please be careful." Xin said softly as she floats to him and hugs his torso before she dematerializes her spirit form from the material realm.
"I will…" Zarba whispers while he starts gathering his things around the camp before he heads to the palace with a solemn expression.