Camp Cleared

Without a hint of wariness, the soldier strutted towards the dark forest, his flashlight aloft and his gun resting flat against his abdomen. Right as he stepped into the darkness, the disturbance ceased, and his relaxed attitude vanished as a result. Now more cautious than curious, he removed the gun's safety and held the flashlight against it before continuing.

In the next few seconds, he located the source of the noise. Two pheasants had somehow gotten entangled within a large bush. Forget the chances of that happening, what perplexed him most was the state of the birds. They were dead still, a behavior uncharacteristic of their nature and what he just heard.

His mind put two and two together, and the implication of this made him recoil in alarm.

'A trap?!'

Waving the gun and flashlight around to scan the vicinity and finding nothing, he spun around to return. 'I need to warn the others.'

The moment he turned, he came face to face with David who was mere inches away. He raised his gun in fright, but upon seeing the latter's attire, he sighed and lowered the gun in relief, the sight of a friend putting him at ease.

Before he could curse at his "friend" though, his eyes went wide as a vicious knife plunged into his chin. He dropped the flashlight and gun instantly, and his "friend" caught the former with his free hand, ensuring that it didn't drop onto the ground and alert the others.

With the torch safe in his grip, David slid out the knife and laid the body down gently, making sure not to get any more blood on himself. He then wiped his hand and the blade clean, slipping on a pair of clean gloves afterwards and completing his already effective disguise.

With practiced and deft movements, he grabbed the gun and gave it a once over, slinging its strap around his neck before sauntering out of the forest.

'Step one complete.'

Step one had to do with infiltrating the camp. Now that he'd succeeded at that, disabling the tower, which was step two, came next.

When he came out of the darkness and entered the full view of the soldiers, his heart skipped a beat as some of them glanced at him. But that turned out to be momentary as they focused back on their patrols the next second.

Reining in his surging emotions, he mimicked their relaxed paces and headed straight for the tower. Nothing untoward happened and he arrived at the foot of its stairs. Without hesitation, he climbed up, sending out soft clangs as his feet beat against the metal structure.

At the peak of the tower, he opened the door of the cabin and walked in, ignoring the glance of the mercenary inside. Even though his actions seemed nonchalant, he was sweating bullets inside. He believed the plan to be full proof, yet something about the execution itself that made him feel something could go wrong at any time.

What if the mercenary had not let him in? What if he'd asked for some secret code? Worse, what if he tried to start a conversation? Worries such as these buzzed around his head like flies, but he didn't give them the time of day and instead focused on the target, never once taking his eyes off the man as he shut the door.

In the same manner his eyes never left the target, the mercenary's own eyes never left the computer screens in front of him. David silently positioned himself behind the man as he watched this, once again thanking his disguise for making things easy.

With nothing else to wait for, he retrieved the trusty combat knife from the inventory and stepped forward. In one smooth motion, he covered the mercenary's mouth with a strong grip and stabbed him in the neck.

Since he was on a clock, he pulled the knife out right after, making sure to remain blood free as he buried it in the man once more, his eye socket this time. As the man's struggles ceased, he did his best to ignore the satisfaction that came with it, finding himself wanting more.

Using the breathing technique with more fervor, he propped up the body in the chair and hurriedly left the cabin as if to run from the ecstasy. Shutting the door and gazing down at the remaining soldiers, he thought with an excited yet disgusted shiver.

'Nine more to go...'

The mere thought stoked his anticipation, fanning the flames of conflict in his mind and heart. In his past life, the pride he felt when he helped people or made them laugh spurred him on to do more of such deeds. His current satisfaction and anticipation could be likened to those times, but there was one distinct difference.

While he found genuine joy in helping others and making them laugh, he didn't find it in the act of killing. During the act itself, he felt nothing, something that made him grateful. It would be difficult to use a killing system if every kill left him a guilty mess. The associated feelings came after the act, and their nature was the source of his worries.

You know that feeling of greatness or awesomeness when you are praised for doing something good and worthwhile? That's what he felt after killing. It was a response that didn't fit the act, like a mother cursing you for saving her child's life. It unsettled him and made him wonder the kind of person he'd become.

And every time, he'd remember Guardian's words about the entity choosing him because was a kindred spirit. He wanted nothing more than to find evidence that he wasn't this guy who gets a kick out of murder, but this wasn't the time. Being in enemy territory, he didn't let this internal conflict blind him.

As he descended the stairs, he used [Eagle Pulse] again. The tower had lost its glow, leaving the power generator as the only thing with a solid gold hue. By killing the tower controller, he had rendered the tower useless. And since it served as the means of communication between this camp and the main one, he had essentially isolated it.

He could go ham and attack without any fear of discovery but he chose to stick with his plan. After all, even though these men combined were not his match, they had guns. Engaging in open battle with them would definitely earn him more than a few bullets. And while they could not kill him, those things fucking hurt.

With the end so close, he didn't stop after descending the tower and ambled over to the shed where the soldiers kept the electric generator. Already impatient and irritated from the annoying emotions, he powered it down the instant he arrived.

The surrounding darkness swarmed into the camp like a pack of hungry wolves, plunging the airstrip into an uncertain and charged atmosphere. As an extra resort, he disconnected any cables from the device and stored it in his inventory.

He then reactivated [Eagle Pulse] and kept it active this time. Unlike other assassins, he possessed 50 percent concentration of Isu DNA. Maintaining it for an indefinite period of time posed no problem to him.

The soldier's reactions were superb as they pulled out flashlights and converged on one another. One of them however, being in close proximity to the generator, moved towards it, probably to determine the issue. David saw this and took it as a chance to test his full strength on a human being.

Rushing towards the oblivious man with a clenched fist, he swung it with every ounce of his strength.

WHAM! CRACK!

A loud and audible noise reverberated throughout the camp as the unfortunate man's head spun to an impossible degree. In addition to this, the force shattered his cranium and propelled him backward a good distance before dropping him in a miserable heap.

The novice killer paused after this, glancing at his bloodied gloved knuckles before huffing and clenching his fist.

'This is nothing to feel good about...' he chastised with a shake of head.

Shaking his head, he refocused on the mercenaries, whose red hues had become more pronounced in the darkness. Despite what he felt at the act he just committed, thinking about the slaughter about to unfold made him more excited than he'd ever been.

Something about all this spy-like sneaking around got his blood heated and heart beating like a war drum. He wanted nothing more than to rush over and kill the remaining soldiers. If this anticipation was a person, it would be shouting in his ear right now.

But, he hated loud noises, and loud emotions more so. He wanted it all to vanish. Thankfully, he had something to remedy this unpleasant situation, and he used it without hesitation. Letting go off the leash on his emotions, he bathed in the overflowing excitement and let his killing intent run free.

Like a police officer on the prowl, [Killer Instinct] caught the wild emotions in the attempt and promptly restrained them, handcuffing all their unnecessary and distracting derivatives before tossing them in the backseat of his mind. As this internal lock up took place, his face mirrored it and fell flat like a board.

With this new detached lens, he gazed at the converging soldiers and formulated a plan to end them. A few seconds later, he had the perfect plan. He grasped at empty air with both hands and two combat knives settled in them. Tightening the grips on both of them, he executed the plan instantly.

Most of the soldiers had gathered, leaving only two still a distance away. Choosing to start with those two, he rushed towards them, not holding back on speed.

One had to know that, pre-hybrid David became as fast as a top class athlete by adding just two points to agility. And before he set out tonight, he added the three available points to that same attribute, bringing it to 11. This made it more than double the pre-hybrid amount.

To paint a clear picture, Usain Bolt's top speed was now his normal cruising speed. These men wouldn't even know how they died.

David's first targets, the two mercenaries who had joined up and stood back to back, only felt a brief rush of wind before a pain in their individual necks made them drop their weapons and flashlights. They fell clutching their bleeding throats, and their dropped lights sent a clear signal to their comrades, who killed their own lights and scrambled for cover.

Some lay on the ground and others hid behind the objects closest to them, be it crates or barrels. However, by turning off the lights, they served themselves up on a silver platter. Like a wolf among a flock of lambs, David continued the killing spree, rushing up and terminating all six remaining mercs in cruel succession.

Some of them tried to fight when he drew closer, but their efforts yielded no results. They were just too slow. He dodged their futile struggles and death throes with ease, dispatching each of them with one swing of his blades. When the final swing reaped the last unfortunate soul, [Killer Instinct] left the driver's seat and uncuffed the unwanted feelings, leaving them to barge in like rude customers.

As he stood over his final victim, David wondered as he gazed at the corpse, 'They may be bad guys but…it's sick to enjoy this…'

This peculiar-trait-he'd discovered about himself, gave him countless sleepless nights. Well… it's not like he could sleep anyway. He'd meditated and brooded over this question for days, but he failed to find an answer. Is this something he was born with? Or did the god do it to him?

So many worries, yet, he knew that should he get another chance, he would kill again without hesitation. In fact, while he brooded over this, a part of him looked forward to his next stop for the night, conjuring images of the mercenaries dying under his blade and the massive influx of points.

These mental images alone fueled his excitement as if they had actually happened, like a hobo who had a vivid dream of winning the lottery.

Shaking his head, he decided to take a break. He needed to calm down and regain focus. Sitting in the darkness at the foot of the tower stairs, he brought up the system to see the changes, having received a notification during the slaughter.