30 The hunter

"Why did I let this kid into Astar,".

Darius was a little self doubtful. Originally he wanted the A.I. to help him, but now he was unsure of this Gemini construct. The open ended question he asked was answered like a regular citizen of Astar would say, not some crazed test subject or a spy. His A.I. was definitely self aware. However what should he do with him.

"Well he had no malice for Astar state so I guess I'll just let him be and observe him. And with that closing statement, he packed in his aura and chased after David.

"Hello I'm David Lee, here is my ID,".

Dragon had already talked with the old man with wireless signals so much of the standard process had been fleshed out.

The clerk looked wary as he couldn't see the kid's information because the clearance level was B one level below the top A. A console held all the available missions as David sat there looking at them.

"I choose this one," David said.

[Quest: Clear sector C of Bandits. All kills reward 100 extra XP. Bandit leader rewards 1000 extra XP]

The clerk was even warier, as this mission was avoided by nearly everyone, because it was so dangerous. David paid no mind as he accepted it and moved to the gate leading to the outside. Sector C was not so far away, however the Astar state had never taken care of the bandits, because they were sponsored by the nearby Riloth State. Politics made it so only mercenaries could fight the bandits. David walked into the forest, then started to run. He zig zagged into and out of cover as he vanished into the line of trees. Eventually he came to sector C. A patrol of two bandits could be seen walking along the outer layer. Evidence for kills were the IDs of the bandits. David laid in wait on top of a tree. He patiently stalked his prey. With Dragon providing the most likely route they would take, the patrol accurately walked right into a kill zone. David dropped from the tree and stabbed the first guy in the neck and grabbed the other on the throat.

The man screamed out in pain, before his eyes went lifeless as his soul was sucked out of him. He then turned his left arm into a shovel and buried one of the bandits. David morphed his face and body to that of the bandit he hadn't buried and changed his clothes too. He then ran towards the camp yelling intruder. More bandits rushed out as they pulled out their weapons in frenzy. David pulled out his pistol and got the initiative by firing off rounds. Dragon gave a cross hair on his hud. His experiences from the chip started to shine as he accurately hit shot after shot. The advancing bandits were cut down like wheat, and the bandit fort became active as men manned the battlements.

Darius watched all of it in shock. "That doesn't seem like a normal boy, what did Gemini do in their experiments. This feels like one of Alyssa's experiments,"

David hid in the shadows as he contemplated his next choice. He took the bandit's gun and started to take pot shots from the shadows. Using the sun and his shapeshifting ability he took out man after man. Eventually everyone in the fort had retreated behind cover allowing David to rush up and climb the walls. As he peered over the top he saw the remaining bandits huddled up.

"Perfect," David said a little eerily as he was still not completely sane after absorbing his first soul. It was like a drug as it empowered him and his senses to the max. An overwhelming amount of energy was coursing through him as he had sucked the soul out of every man he killed before it dispersed.

{Rerouting power to Time Crystal}

Time slowed down. Every second in the outside world was ten seconds for David. He jumped onto the ramparts, and ran towards bandits. They fired in a mass concentrated cloud of metal, but a haze of blue energy leaked out of David as he created a magnetic field out of his Elms by charging nearby metal pieces with electricity. As the famous saying went, there are no useless spells, just useless mages. As David stepped closer a bullet hit him on the side. Amazingly it barely went in creating a bruise. His nano bots went to work as they healed the small wound. Eventually, it was just pure skin, painted by red as the first victim was slashed, along with his soul gone. The bandits pulled out melee weapons as they circled David. A brawl occurred, as men lost limbs, lives, and their souls. David was growing stronger by the minute as he sated his gluttony for souls by reaping the bandit's lives. Eventually, David was alone surrounded by unrecognizable bodies. He saw one final person who watched all this madness.

"I went away for a few days, and when I finally come back a little brat decided to destroy the base, prepare to die,".

The man pulled out a machete as he slashed his way towards David.

{Hostile Melee class detected, with 86 percent chance of being grade 1 human, Host be advised to have caution}

The advice fell on deaf ears as David charged ahead. The two slashed and stabbed each other. Both dripped with blood. David was utilizing his Time ability, while the other man used his superior strength. Their techniques were even causing both to sustain cuts. David slashed the man's left arm, but received a stab to his abdomen in return. It followed a saying where the loser of a knife fight dies on the street, and the winner dies in the ambulance.

They both suddenly paused as they took a deep breath. David was regaining more of his sanity as the energy from the souls depleted. They charged at each other for the final strike. David put his max power into the time crystal causing time for David to slow down to a twentieth of real time. The enemy's machete was headed in a straight path, bu David detected the feint and relayed it to Dragon who created a path highlighted by yellow for David's knife arm to travel. However David tackled the other man after exploiting the opening and pulled out his gun and pointed it to the other man's head.

"Come on lets not end this with another person not having to die,"

{Host this is ill advised}

The man smiled and said," Yeah sure,".

As David put down the gun, the man turned around for a final slash. However this one had blue light imbued in it.

{ Class Close combat specialist detected; skill focus strike. DANGER DANGER}

Darius was about to intervene as he was a 2nd grade superhuman, but stopped dead in his tracks as he watched the next sequence of events. David let the blade stab into his side as it cleaved his skin like a hot knife through butter, instead of dodging. Then David grabbed the man's shoulder and sucked his soul out while stabbing his heart while using the hand on his shoulder as leverage. The man crumpled to the ground, while David's wounds healed. David muttered

"I know the world is a crappy place, but I have to try when I can with impunity, right Dragon?".