Chapter 50: Real ’Training’ Part Three

’Don’t let him catch you.’

Cashel had barely digested the thought when another intense wave of energy hit him. He grabbed his weapons from the ground beside him, tightened his fists around them, and ran.

The ground behind him erupted almost instantly.

BOOM!

Cashel didn’t even bother looking back. He jumped over a broken section of the flooring, twisted his body in midair, and landed on the other side before sprinting between two enormous rocks.

’Well, fuck me, I pissed off her uncle....’ he thought, a bit excitedly, trailing off at the last word when he spotted Wolf in the corner of his eye.

He turned his head slightly and saw a large rock heading for Wolf at an abnormally fast rate. Before he could even think about it, his body was already moving.

Tightening his hold on his sword, he focused his energy on the blade and slashed upwards the second he passed Wolf.

Zing!

Slash!

The rock was cut cleanly into two and crumbled to pieces almost instantly.

Cashel froze, his eyes wide behind his mask at the sudden burst of energy. Lionface made a sound behind the comms, and he could spot Amia not far away, with a smile on her red-stained lips.

[Ding!]

[Player has instinctively Activated Swordsman Skill]

[Current Skill Level: 2]

[Continuous use of the skill would increase the level and would eventually need maintenance and constant usage to avoid expiration]

Cashel’s eyes narrowed. ’I could do that?’

[Yes]

The System’s voice echoed in his mind without relaying the messages on the screen already before him.

Cashel sighed, a small smile appearing on his lips before he blinked back to focus and dismissed the screen, only to see Nathan a few feet away from him.

He visibly flinched, his blood running cold. Not because he was scared, but because he was terrified.

’That fucking cross!’ Cashel thought before leaping backwards and spinning around, instantly picking up his heels.

He glanced back and saw one of the Unaffiliated hunters sprinting towards him with his gun hanging uselessly from one hand.

Behind the man, Nathan was casually walking through the damage, releasing shockwaves that pushed the poor hunter even farther and made him more clumsy.

There was one thing Cashel was curious about. Despite the barrier protecting Nathan, how was it that he could land hits and keep the barrier up while releasing such shockwaves filled with energy?

That and the fact he still looked effortlessly good doing it.

"Bishop! Move!"

Cashel looked up. Wolf was now on one of the higher rocks, looking down at him.

’Move.... why?’ he asked, and like slow motion, he turned his head. Nathan was looking at him, those cross-shaped irises glowing sinisterly as a disturbing expression appeared on his face. Then he raised his hands.

Cashel’s eyes widened. Before he could even push onto his legs to move, another shockwave with more energy exploded outward from Nathan and under Cashel’s feet.

He clenched his jaw, crossed his hands to protect his face, and ducked. The compressed burst of energy ripped over his head and slammed into the rock behind him, blasting it apart.

Nathan clicked his tongue. "Seriously, stay still, would you?"

Cashel raised his head, beads of sweat on his forehead. He couldn’t even imagine what would have happened to him if that had hit him while he was off guard.

Wolf slid down the rock he was on, with the falling dust acting as a smoke screen. He grabbed Cashel’s shirt and leaped back onto the rock, landing with a thud before letting him go.

"You could die if that hit you, you know that, right?"

Cashel dropped onto his butt....buttocks and groaned, his swords lying on the ground on both sides. "How are we supposed to run from that?"

Wolf peeked over the edge. Nathan was still moving and still releasing shockwaves in short bursts.

"Do you want to try beating him?"

Cashel shook his head. The thought of that gave him a headache. They wouldn’t realize it, but everything he did to Nathan would come back to him the moment he went home.

He could drop his guard, and heavens knows what he would do to him.

After a moment’s rest, Cashel got back on his feet. He put his gun into his waistband, dropped his mana output, and shuddered.

’I don’t even have any proper skills to counter him,’ he thought tiredly as he peeked over the edge of the rock.

Then Amia and the two BMM hunters landed quietly behind them.

She let out a heavy sigh before speaking. "The rule was to attack, and now run, and we can’t even run away from him without getting caught up in those blasts."

Cashel shook his head. "Is he always like this?" He found himself asking, and Wolf shrugged.

"He does have that skill, but maybe the thrill from letting go after a while is getting to his head."

"Yeah, no shit. We’re going to get killed before the mission." The BMM hunter with a grasshopper mask spat beside Amia. "I’d say we attack and see if we can bring him down, or he reduces everyone to dust. Let’s not mention the Unaffiliated hunters getting their asses handed to them down there."

’Yeah, why are they even here?’ Cashel wondered, scanning the ground for the Unaffiliated hunters, but they were literally out of sight. Perhaps hiding.

"Why exactly are Unaffiliated hunters going on a job with BMM hunters?" he asked, not sparing any of them a look.

The grasshopper mask stepped up beside Cashel, also looking down. "Half of them want to die, and the other two are training to join," he answered simply, and Cashel nodded.

’Suicide, huh?’ he noted.

"After this, can you tell me which ones want to die?" he asked, earning himself a look from Wolf.

The grasshopper mask hesitated before answering.

However.....

"NATHAN!"

A panicked voice came from across the room, on another high point. It was one of the Unaffiliated hunters with a rifle, and he was hanging off the edge of the rock. When Nathan lifted his gaze, already raising his hands to attack, the man looked right at the BMM hunters.

Cashel flinched.

"Run.... run!"