Vasko swigged from a battered brown flask, the metal dented from years of ill use. He spat on the dirt and grumbled to the empty air.
"One bullet to the knee and I'm worthless to him."He shifted his weight and squeaked, "Man the tower, Vasko. That's all a junkie's good for!"
Vasko leaned back against the rough timber of the watchtower, nursing his flask and his bitterness. He let out a long, jagged sigh, his eyes drifting upwards towards the snowcapped treetop.
A shadow lunged at him, and before Vasko could even gasp, a leather-clad palm slammed into his face, snapping his head back against the tower wall with a hollow thud. He saw stars, the air trapped in his lungs as the figure pinned him there by his own weight.
Vasko's hands scrambled for the attacker's wrist, but he was too slow. The steel caught the light for a fraction of a second before it buried itself in the side of his neck. There was no scream, only the frantic, muffled scraping of Vasko's boots against the dirt as the blade dragged across his throat, carving deep.
The attacker didn't let go as he held him pinned to the tower, hand still crushing Vasko's mouth shut, watching the light fade from the bandit's eyes until the only sound left was the slow drip-drip of blood onto the dry grass.
Adrien pulled out his kukri before frisking Vasko for some loot, as a frown formed on Adrien's face."Doesn't even have proper loot, tobacco and cheap swill, and a few rifle ammo, a very bad rifle, even the bayonet is making me weep."
"Oh, how are the stats of the gun and the bayonet?"
"Here, check it and see if you like it or not."
━━━━━━━━━━━〔 ITEM IDENTIFIED 〕━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: Rough-Bore Twin
Type: Double-Barrel Break-Action Rifle
Rarity: Uncommon
Level Requirement: 2
--
Attributes:
* Damage: 65
* Range: Short
* Accuracy: Low
* Fire Mode: Single/Dual-Shot
* Recoil: Extreme
--
Handling:
* Weight: 6.2 kg
* Reload Time: Very Slow
--
Ammunition:
* Type: .450 NE
* Capacity: 2
* Compatible Ammo: .500/.450/.470 NE
Vera grimaced as she spoke, "This is useless, it is very likely to kill us than the enemy and the bayonet."
Vera took a glance at it and quickly spoke, "Nope, that rusted piece of scrap is so bad even scrap dealers won't touch it."
"Did you get any food or drinks?"
"Oh, only the finest for us. I've secured a vintage tobacco with a distinguished bouquet of 'Forgotten Cobbler's Boot,' exquisitely paired with a local spirit that boasts a robust, full-bodied finish of 'City Sewerage.' Shall I serve, or would you like to check the vintage?"
Vera playfully punched him, as Adrien spoke up with alarm, "Hey, careful, there is friendly fire in this game."
Vera rolled her eyes as she spoke, "Then don't act like that."
Adrien chuckled as he spoke, "Let's climb up the watch tower and see if we can spot anything."
From the tower, they had a somewhat decent view of most of the bandit camp.
The camp sat nestled in the hills, its front shielded by timbered walls and a sturdy gate, while a sheer stone bluff stood sentinel at its back.
The jagged incline provided the perfect screen, letting them creep to a high perch near the tower. From that height, they looked down upon the camp like hawks, everything finally in plain sight.
"One, two, I can spot three more over there, and five more over that way... hmm, there should be about a bit over 20 bandits"
Vera commented as Adrien agreed with her assessment, before he noticed someone rather large and intimidating.
"Hey, Vera, that big guy over there, he looks kind of strong, not only that, he must be the one in charge, just look at how everyone is reacting to his presence."
Vera squinted her eyes to take a better look."You are right, Adrien, the others look subservient to him, so he is definitely the boss."
"Do you think we can take those bandits and win, or should we leave?"
Adrien let out a tired sigh as he spoke, "Go where Vera, we don't know where we are, the forest is full of dangerous animals, and the weather is cold, we have to take our chances."
"Really, this must be the worst game start I have ever seen or heard."
"Yeah, normally a player starts in rather a safe space, but this... ugh, I am going to add a scathing negative review for it."
"Spawning in the middle of a forest, in a cold place with no proper clothing, who thought of this kind of start?"
"Someone who needs a solid kick, but for now, let us focus on the problem at hand, and..."
Adrien's eyes narrowed as he spoke, "That area looks like a warehouse area, and... hey, Vera, that thing outside its boundaries, doesn't it look like the top of a steam engine?"
Vera's eyes widened as she spoke with awe, "You are right."
"Well, we can look into it, but for now, we have to deal with these bandits."
"Do you have a plan, Adrien?"
"Kind of, we will go down stealthily, and if we get noticed, we will use that narrow path over there as a choke point. It has perfect cover, and the narrow path will make it so that they come after us one by one."
Seeing Vera a bit sceptical, Adrien spoke with a sigh, "Well, this is the best plan I can come up with in the current scenario, and if you have anything better, please feel free to suggest."
"Okay, we will do what you suggest, but I do not like doing this kind of thing in broad daylight; there is a high chance of getting caught."
"Alas, Vera, we do not have any other options, we lack food, water, and we cannot wait till nightfall, cause sooner or later someone would come up here to check on the guard, and we would be exposed, and once the camp is on high alert, it will be tough."
"Also, remember to gather as many guns, ammo, and, if any explosives, as much as possible. We might need them, after all, we are low on everything."
Adrien crouched as he slowly moved towards a couple of bandits, who were busy gossiping, while Vera closely followed after him.
He stopped and pointed Vera towards one of them, and made a cutting motion near his throat, and Vera acknowledged with a curt nod.
The duo slowly made their way behind the bandit, and then they quickly clamped their mouth from behind before slitting their throat, and then they dragged and moved the corpses where they would not be noticeable.
A quick search yielded them with loaded pistols and more ammunition, which they quickly pocketed.
"I just levelled up to level 3," Vera whispered to Adrien.
"Congratulations."
"I think I will hoard the stat points for now."
"Me too, but the next targets are a bit tricky as there are three of them."
"So, what is the plan?"
"You take the one on the far left, while I take on the other two, just make sure to time the attack properly."
Adrien closed the distance, like a ghost, and as the two bandits leaned in to share a whisper, he struck. His left hand clamped onto the crown of the nearest man's head, slamming it violently into his partner's temple. In the heartbeat of stunned silence that followed, the Kukri sang.
It was a single, continuous motion, as a deep, horizontal shear through the first man's throat, followed instantly by a heavy, downward hook into the second. No gasps, no struggle, just the heavy weight of the blade doing the work. He held their weight for a second, easing the bodies down to the dirt just as Vera finished the third man with a muffled thud nearby.
"You are unreal, " Vera whispered, "where did you learn all that?"
"Movies, books, internet, games, a bit of my martial arts knowledge and a healthy dose of intuition, it feels as if I have done this countless times, after all, I am amazing."
Vera snorted as she spoke, "Yeah, right, keep stroking your ego and your head will swell up enough to be seen from the moon."
The duo quickly dealt with a few more of the bandits, but alas, all good things would come to an end as the duo dealt with another bandit, a scream came to their ears.
"Enemy!!!" followed by a loud gunshot.
Like a loud and angry hornet hive, the camp rose as the duo ran with their head low towards the choke point."Damnit, those bastards caught us."
Adrien chuckled as he spoke, "Well, it was inevitable, though I would have preferred if we could have stealth killed a couple more."The duo dived behind a rock cover as bullets whizzed past their head.
'Thank God that they have junk guns with deplorable aim,' Adrien thought.
"Well, Vera, it is time to put your shooting skills to the test, aim for their heads, and if the devs really made it closer to reality, it should deal massive damage and, if not, outright kill them."
"You do not have to tell me, just make sure to fight well."
Adrien chuckled as he heard one of the bandits charging towards them, and the world seemed to slow down, as Adrien aimed his gun towards the bandit's head and squeezed the trigger. Instead of a roar, the internal gears gave a sickening, gritty clunk as the rusted cylinder seized midway, leaving him staring owlishly at the face of the roaring bandit, as his revolver failed to fire.