章 11: Speed is King

Notifications:-

You have taken ten lives. Reward: Spirit Marking

'I knew it…'

David's points had shot up by eleven, yet they failed to hold his attention as this message hogged all of it.

When he received the first rewards after the system activation, he thought [Inventory] and [Starter Pack] made sense. The mind-body technique however, did not, and it made him curious and suspicious.

[Inventory] was tied to the soul absorption of the system, and the starter pack provided him the needed skills to bring out the full potential of [Killer Instinct]. If [Killer Instinct] is the sword, the skills are the techniques. This left the meditation knowledge as the odd one out.

Why did he get it? Were there other rewards? This notification answered all those questions. The mind-body technique arrived after his first kill, and this ability appeared after his tenth. From this, he easily deduced that a reward, one that likely matched his kill count, awaited him at each subsequent exponent.

As he thought of the future and the possible gains, he found himself growing excited. His face however darkened right after, as a part of him didn't share this joy. Only by racking up an increasing kill count would he continue to receive these things. The mere thought of it added to his worries.

He shook his head to dismiss it, letting out a long huff. 'I can't think about this. Not right now.'

Bringing his attention back to the system, he focused on the reward. In a manner similar to that of an ability description, a small tab popped up beside it with details. This time though, the sensation of something being stirred within him accompanied it.

At a loss for what to do, he hastily read the description before focusing on the mysterious sensation.

[Spirit Marking]:

[Mark any person or object with spectral energy to keep track of their location. Note: A single mark takes up one point of spectral energy. ]

'Spectral energy?'

His mind instantly went to the stirring in his soul. Closing his eyes and breathing in a peculiar pattern, he focused on the phenomenon occurring within him. His elevated human potential and Isu aptitude, combined with his relentless practice of meditation, allowed him to sink into himself with ease.

In less than a minute, he assumed full control of the energy and spun it himself, reveling in the sensation. Once this happened, the external force acting on the energy disappeared and he opened his eyes. Making sure not to lose focus, he raised a hand to his face and directed the energy to it.

Wisps of ghostly cyan energy wreathed his hand and lit it up like a lantern. He turned his hand over and around, watching as the energy undulated like smoky flames. 'I wonder what it can do…' There were so many things he wanted to try, but he settled for just one.

Clenching his fist, he retracted the energy and channeled a sliver of it into his index finger. He then pulled out a pistol with his free hand, imagining a small inconspicuous dot as he pressed his glowing fingertip against the barrel.

Following his intent to use [Spirit Marking], the familiar cyan glow escaped his finger tip and branded itself into the firearm, taking the shape of the small dot he imagined. Despite the size, it formed an odd and noticeable contrast with the black metal of the gun's barrel.

That wasn't his focus though, as the moment he placed the mark, he felt some kind of connection between himself and the inanimate thing come to life. It was as though some part of him existed solely to keep track of the gun. A never ending watch, one might say.

To put this to the test, he got onto his feet and wound his arm back before flinging the gun with all his strength.

Even though he stood in complete darkness with [Eagle Pulse] inactive, he moved his head as though he could see something streak across the horizon. He continued like this until his gaze stopped at a somewhat low angle, seemingly piercing through the endless veils of darkness to where the gun fell.

Unable to contain his excitement, he chuckled, albeit with a strained smile. "If you keep giving me nice things like this, it'll be hard to resist you know," he said to no one in particular.

Not expecting any answer, he took in a deep breath and brought up the system with a hardened and determined gaze.

'I've wasted enough time.'

.................................

Name: Oliver Jonas Queen

Race: Human/Isu Hybrid

Bloodline: Isu (50.00%)

Strength: 8

Agility: 11

Durability: 8

Vitality: ∞

Senses: 8

Mind: 8

Radiant Energy: 10

Spectral Energy: 99

Available Points: 11

....................................

'It's here too? Does this mean it can be increased with points?' A number of such questions popped up on seeing the spectral energy attribute. However, considering that he'd wasted enough time, he shoved them aside and went straight for the available points, his main goal for bringing up the system.

For the next camp, he had reviewed the possible modes of attack and chosen to go with a full on assault. His peak human strength combined with the guidance of Connor's knowledge and [Killer Instinct] allowed him to fell a normal man with one blow. So, no strength isn't what he needed-nor wanted.

The brief "exchange" he had with Fyers' men tonight had reminded him of something a character said about martial arts. "Speed is king," is what the character posited, and indeed it was. If he didn't believe it before, he did so now…. wholeheartedly, after killing these men so easily.

When he focused his speed and senses-particularly his eyes- to the limit, everything looked as if he were in a video moving at 0.1 speed. While that wasn't enough for him to disappear from the sight of normal people, it allowed him to accomplish what he did tonight with the ease of a seasoned professional.

The way he dodged the soldiers' attacks replayed itself in his mind as he gazed at the attributes, and the images solidified his decision. With one decisive move, he dumped all eleven points into agility. In response, an even greater warmth, five times compared to the first enhancement, rushed into him and brought with it changes that spread throughout his entire body.

There were no deviations from before. His brain, spine, and limbs absorbed most of the energy. He basked in the warmth, enjoying the feeling of well-restedness and almost losing himself in it. After about a minute though, the pleasurable feeling receded and left him nostalgic and dismayed.

He never thought he would miss sleep even when he had no need for it. Taking in a deep, long breath, he stretched and moved his body, winding his arms and cracking his neck as he pushed his focus to the limit. The world around him crawled to a standstill as a result, with the wind brushing against him at a snail's pace.

With a loud and visible exhale, the world returned to normal and the cold biting wind assumed its calm, normal pace. Eager to put his new speed to a physical test, he activated [Eagle Pulse] to use it as night vision and began what was for him, a light jog in the direction of the marked gun.

With steady acceleration, the "jog" transitioned into a sprint, one that brought him to the gun's location in less than a minute. Using his own mental calculations, he deduced the distance he just covered, finding it to be just shy of 600 meters.

'That wasn't even half my speed.'

A smile crept on his face as he picked up the gun and adjusted his direction. Channeling every ounce of focus into his movement, he darted in this new direction, vanishing from the spot as if he were never there. Aided by his enhanced senses, [Eagle Pulse] allowed him to maneuver the moonless night with ease.

With the bare minimum clarity of sight provided, he rushed towards the staging area, maintaining a staggering pace of 95mph.

…..

[Lian Yu… mercenary rest camp…]

Inside Fyers' personal tent, a device conveniently positioned beside the mercenary leader's bed disrupted the silence of the small enclosure with loud and urgent beeps. As if his light snores had been make-believe, the man himself sprang awake, displaying little to no discomfort as if he had not just been asleep.

He grabbed the device, and upon examination of the problem, his expression morphed into one of confusion. Someone had broken through the safe zone designated around the staging area and fast approached it. 'Is it Yao Fei? Slade or someone else?' he wondered as he got up to get dressed.

Being of supreme importance to his plan, the staging area had the best security out of all the three camps. It hosted most of his men at any point in time. And if their presence somehow failed to deter any would be intruders, then the myriad sensors deployed in the surrounding forests and hills would expose them.

Nothing could get past this boundary without his notice. However, to avoid being bombarded with false alarms, the sensors had been programmed to ignore wildlife and only pick up humans. Or in this case, human, since the imaging system of the handheld device showed just one.

It couldn't be Yao Fei or Slade. Those men were too smart. This had to be someone else. Someone dumber…or brave, depends on how you look at it. Still he couldn't rule those two out entirely. They had killed too many of his men. It was better to be cautious.

Grabbing his communicator, Fyers contacted the guards at the staging area and warned them of the intruder, instructing them to be on guard. The orders were: capture if it is Yao Fei or an unknown, and kill if it is Slade.

For a brief moment, the image of a handsome young man begging for his life flashed in his mind, and he considered adding him to the list of people to watch out for. With a shake of his head he stopped, 'Not possible,' and dismissed the thought. It couldn't possibly be him.

With urgent steps, he exited the tent and called for Wintergreen, gathering ten more men in addition before setting off to see who this intruder was.

…..

On a short hill overlooking the well-lit staging area, David crouched behind a rotten tree log. His position was not far from the camp, hence he could make out most of the soldiers in it. With [Killer Instinct] already active, he had come up with a plan to end them all swiftly.

However, he held off on doing so as he noticed something odd. Compared to the relaxed and lackadaisical manner in which their now dead counterparts patrolled the airstrip, these men looked like they were preparing for war. Their gaits were urgent and their postures straight like javelins.

'They know I'm here...'

That was the only explanation. It made him glad though, not about being found out, but about his decision to go with a full on assault. He didn't need to change the plan. Whether or not they were ready for him would not change their fates.

Bringing out the katana and maintaining a low crouch, he shuffled towards the camp. Still in the darkness and halfway from the target, an invisible pulse emanated from him and engulfed everything in an eighty meter radius. Being in this radius, the camp lit up like a Christmas tree, coughing out all of its secrets.

That was all he needed to commence the attack. Noting the position of the generator powering this camp, he straightened himself and dashed in its direction. The soldiers had been expecting him, but the way he appeared was nothing like they imagined.

Fyers' warning had put them on edge, hence they had every corner the camp monitored. In truth, their attentive attitudes were just a show for Fyers and deterrence for the intruder. Some of them hoped it was Yao Fei or Slade as both of them had killed a couple of their friends.

However, most of them hoped it was an unknown person as he or she was more likely to retreat upon seeing their numbers. Their expectations were completely subverted when a few of them got flung aside like ragdolls before the intruder appeared in their midst.

Too stunned to react, they could only watch as a crimson light flashed before darkness and gunfire overtook their senses. A few of them close to the generator saw David's last position and therefore opened fire. While their friends reached for their flashlights, they chose to die without even knowing how.

Steering clear of their aims, David rushed towards them one by one and swung for their necks, activating [Reinforcement] at the last second every time. This created an odd scene where sharp red trails emanated and disappeared at various points in the darkness.

What made it worse were the thumps that followed. Apart from the occasional stray and desperate gunfire, these thumps and the metallic sweeps of a sword were the only things to be heard. In this manner, he decapitated the

thirty-something soldiers in cruel succession.

After about a minute of chaos, the final gunshot and thump sounded out, leaving just the crunching of boots as David strutted through the graveyard of his own creation.