บท 37: Another Path - Part 7
!! SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT
QUEST COMPLETE!
EARN THE RESPECT OF THE CROOKED-TOOTH MEN!
GAIN ENTRY INTO THE CROOKED-TOOTH RAIDERS BY SLAYING NOOKHAVEN GUARDSMEN
5/5 GUARDSMEN SLAIN
REWARDS:
STRENGTH +1
WEAPONS SKILL +6
AGILITY +2
STAMINA +3
ADVANCED REGENERATION (ONE-TIME USE ONLY. UPON REMOVING ARROWHEADS VESSEL WILL SPEND THE NEXT 48H WITH 5X NORMAL REGENERATION LEVELS)
He looked behind him. He'd expected the man that he'd headbutted to still be alive, but the System announcement had come, and seeing the corpse, and the pool of blood that came from his skull, he could see that it was certainly dead. He must have put more power into his kick than he'd realized, or so Vol thought.
The guardsmen were stunned, and the Raiders hollered their delight.
"Well, well," Blackbeard said over the noise. "It would seem the Crook-Tooth boys have their newest member. What is your name, comrade?"
"Vol."
"Vol what?" Blackbeard pressed, keenly interested.
"Just Vol," came the firm reply. He'd only half-turned to look at the man. Whether the leader of the raiders interpreted that as a sign of disrespect or not, it was hard to tell. But he did catch movement out of the corner of his eye, and his voice came out as a loud thunderous fury.
"NOW! Don't you be going back on your word, guardsmen. If any of you gets any funny ideas and tries to run, we'll kill the fuckin' lot of you, do you hear? And don't think we won't catch you," Blackbeard said, striding forward, and grabbing the reigns of Usar's horse with a long arm. It seemed almost an optical illusion the way he covered the distance so quickly. The guardsmen couldn't react until he was right there.
The man that had been clutching the reigns in Usar's absence slowly let them slip out of his hand, and meekly allowed Usar to take them.
"There – now I have one of your mules. Run if you want, but I will catch you, and the second one of you does, I will have my men slaughter what's left of you. They're eager for a good bit of blood, aren't you boys?" He said. His men shouted their approval of that line, clambering with their axes.
He let the noise sit in the air for a bit, whilst he surveyed the ranks of guardsmen with his oppressive gaze. He grunted, apparently satisfied that his orders would be obeyed. "Then let's get to fuckin' work then, ay? Time to reap the rewards," Blackbeard said. "You, newboy. You get the first pick. You put on that display earlier, only right that you get the first pick. We're a fair bunch, you'll some come to realize. Well then, what do you want?"
The thrill was beginning to fade, and Vol felt the pain in his left arm acutely. He stood with a hunched shoulder. He wondered if Blackbeard could see the weakness in him as he looked.
"I want the coin pouches of the six that I killed," Vol said. Disapproval rang out from amongst the rest of the raiders. There were more than thirty of them, after all. If Vol was taking six coin pouches for themselves, then what would be left for them?
Blackbeard gave him a considering look, and then held up his hand to quiet his men. "Mm. What of their weapons and armour?"
"Don't care, you can take them. But I want a mule as well," Vol said. With his lagging strength, he all but needed a mule. Besides, he'd never ridden a horse before. Riding a mule seemed like it would be good training. And he had the System with him to accelerate that learning process… hopefully.
More disapproving shouts came when he asked for a mule, but they were quieter than before. It seemed that the armour and weaponry was the most sought-after prize. "You'd be getting more coin for yourself in the long run if you'd taken some good steel," Blackbeard noted. "We've got a few fences on our way, people who'll buy stolen steel for almost as much as the new stuff. But if that is all you want, then take it."
Vol nodded, pleased. Blackbeard motioned with his hand for Vol to go and grab that which was his, whilst he made the rest of the men wait. Though they were pleased by his earlier display – he could see it in their faces – they did not like being told to wait. They were like hounds, watching someone else feast. And like hounds, they saw the weakness of his wounded self.
He remembered the announcement that the System had made. The arrows needed removing. He made sure they were watching, as his fingers wound their way around the first shaft. With a grunt, he pulled, and an electric shock of pain spasmed across his shoulders and back. All the nerves in that area cried out their disapproval. He had no control of the muscles around it, not after that.
But the bloodied arrow came free. It had missed bone, and Vol withdrew it, hiding the pain that he'd felt. That quietened the raiders. He did the same for the second arrow, allowing them to slip from his hands, as they were slick with his own blood.
He could feel both wounds flowing freely now. It needed a bandage, at the very least, to try and slow the tide.
!! SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT
ARROWHEADS REMOVED
ADVANCED REGENERATION ACTIVATED!
47 HOURS 59 MINUTES REMAINING
He needed to take off his heavy coat, and do what he could to stem the flow of blood. He couldn't be experiencing the effects of blood loss, not around such ravenous folk, with such eyes for weakness. But something about the tingling sensation that ran through his body as the System's announcement came, it made him pause.
He wasn't sure if it was mere placebo, but he could almost swear that the tide of blood was slowing already, or at least, around the wound it was running more thickly, and slower, as it clotted.
He dared to bet on the System, as he had bet on it before. He ignored the raised eyebrow that Blackbeard was giving him, and forced him to walk straighter, as he reached into the coat pockets of each of the men that he'd killed.
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