Prey

*Damien POV*

'Holy shit, this kid is no joke.'

I watched him collect his arrows from the corpse of the goblin fighter with a cold glint in his eye. 

Honestly, he looked a bit scary, his previous image of an innocent hard-working kid was nowhere to be seen. 

I got a bit bored after destroying a goblin camp and decided to let the rookies run wild, making sure they made it out alive was my job after all. 

I was worried about the kid, he seemed nice and dedicated but I could tell he wasn't good with people and as expected he was hunting alone. 

Most rookie teams held up, killing the goblins with shoddy yet passable teamwork. 

But none of them matched the pace that this kid was killing them with. 

The image of goblins being turned into mush before they could even react was burnt into my mind. 

His arrows struck true and had a certain destructive force that was unusual for one of his rank. 

However, most frightening was how he acted, almost as if he himself was a beast and the goblins were his prey. 

When he got his first few kills, I saw a menacing gleam in his eye, only for it to disappear right after.

'Maybe I'm just imagining things.'

I did my best to conceal my presence as I followed behind him, the tracker I gave him was false, but I swear he looked directly at me sometimes. 

"Fuck!" 

An annoyed yell broke the silence of the forest as Ajax and me looked towards the direction of the sound. 

He began moving from branch to branch with impressive agility and inhumane flexibility. 

However, as the noise grew louder, he tried to silence his steps, with lighter landings and slower movements. 

He was a bit clumsy at first making some noise, but he was getting better at it as he moved closer, until out of nowhere, after a slight pause he moved with perfectly silent steps.

'Seriously, what is up with this guy?' 

I questioned as I too followed close behind moving to the scene of the commotion.

Once we reached the clearing what I saw brought a smile to my face. 

It was that arrogant brat Seigfreid and a few rookies he'd convinced to join him fighting off against an impressive force of goblins.

'Four fighters, two shamans, three archers and seven regular goblins.'

I counted as I looked at the situation, they were in.

They had probably been ambushed in the clearing, archers stood atop trees and shamans behind the fighters as they cast various Earth spells. 

Looking at the party, I felt a bit bad.

A tank wearing cheap armor and wielding a heavily cracked great shield. 

A mage whose grimoire was no larger than a magazine. 

And two warriors, one fought with a broadsword and the other was Seigfreid with his rapier. 

They were holding up fine, two goblin fighters lay dead, charred with fire spells and cut by swords but their tank was being repeatedly hit by concussive Earth spells as spikes and boulders crashed against his shield.

"Dammit! I'll kill you!" Seigfried's voice broke out once again as he thrust his rapier towards the nearest fighter. 

He was able to wound the goblin fighter but soon an arrow barely missed him, cutting his arm and the fighter landed a heavy punch on him, sending him back.

"Ahh!"

For an F+ rank, he was pathetic, and his group would be wiped out if I didn't intervene. 

I readied a spell but looked over at Ajax first. 

He was perched on a branch and watched the scene below him with cold eyes before nocking an arrow which began to accumulate a terrifying amount of mana.

'That's the right target.' I smiled as I saw him aiming at the shamans. 

They were buffing the fighters, and their spells distracted the tank. 

'Wait, isn't that too much man-'

*FWOOM*

The arrow released with the terrifying sound of a mana pulse as it flew towards the goblin shaman's head. 

*THUNK*

A goblin shaman was of short stature about 4 feet tall and had low defenses, their only ability being magic. 

So, it was safe to say that the arrow was a bit overkill. 

The shaman popped like a balloon, the only thing of his body that remained intact were his feet as the rest turned into red and green jelly that painted the surroundings. 

The arrow kept going before creating a dent in a boulder behind the golem. 

Ajax was a bit taken aback as his eyes widened at the gruesome sight, but he didn't stop as he planted his feet on the branch and release four arrows in quick succession. 

*SWISH*

The remaining shaman and all the archers were relieved of their head and one arrow even killed a poor by standing regular goblin. 

All participants of the fight were shocked by this sudden massacre. 

The party had relieved smiles whereas the goblins grew angry or terrified.

A particularly clever fighter threw a javelin at the direction the arrows came from but hit nothing but air as Ajax had already repositioned. 

'That's how you do it!'

I refrained from applauding at the marksman masterclass before me. 

Seigfried was stronger than Ajax, in a head on fight, he'd probably win. 

So why was Ajax so much more deadly against monsters?

His marksman capabilities made him incredible against unprepared weaker targets and he used this to his advantage, killing the monsters before they knew what the hell was going on. 

Repositioning was an important part of this tactic, staying in one place was the best way to lose your advantage. 

Ajax was now on a branch directly above the party and aimed an arrow at the confused fighter. 

Once again, a terrifying amount of mana gathered at the tip before being released.

'Bullseye! or Goblinseye?' 

The arrow pierced the eye of the sturdy looking fighter and dug into its brain killing it instantly. 

The remaining goblins fell easily to the party led by the semi competent Seigfried. 

Once everything had calmed down and he was sure there were no more threats, Ajax jumped down, landing on the ground silently. 

'Oh boy, this'll be good.'

I thought as I looked at Seigfried turn towards Ajax. 

Wait. Was I being a stalker right now?

Eh who cares?

"You! I didn't need your help! If you want to join my-"

Seigfried began his typical arrogant third-rate villain bullshit but stopped.

Because Ajax ignored him completely, going towards the corpses to retrieve his arrows. 

"You! Answer me!" 

This brat really has a fragile ego huh? 

However, not minding his temper tantrum, Ajax simply picked up his arrows with a cold gaze. 

As he pulled out the one stuck in stone that he had used on the goblin shaman the group flinched in fear. 

Having had enough fun I removed my cloaking spell which immediately caused Ajax to snap towards me, arrow ready to fire.

"I surrender!" I said jokingly raising my arms in the air.

"Mr. Damien?" Ajax said as he lowered the arrow.

"Oh! Mr. huh? I like it! I wish all mercenaries were as respectful as you." I said casting a glance at Seigfried and his group. 

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Seigfried asked in an angry tone. 

"I was here to save your sorry ass before he did it for me." I said teasing Seigfried. 

This time the brat didn't say anything lowering his head in shame as he looked at Ajax who was now done collecting arrows. 

"Well anyway, looks like everything's fine now.

If you want to earn more money, you better hurry up, only two goblin camps left and most if not, all wanderers are dead." 

"What about you? Are you just going to sit back and watch?"

The brat said with an angry expression.

"Of course, if I got involved no one else would get any kills, it would be over in a matter of seconds."

The group of young mercenaries looked unsure of my claims, but I didn't really care.

"Come on then! Hurry up! Our marksman friend is already gone." 

I urged the party to move because while they weren't looking Ajax, had simply left, not interested in watching me and Seigfried argue. 

I was kind of hurt but I could understand.

He was oddly very eager to kill goblins, contradicting his usually calm and rational personality. 

Seigfried and his group looked around and grew anxious as they began running towards the closest camp. 

"Time to enjoy the show."

*Ajax POV*

'There it is.'

I reached the camp and surveyed it from above watching the goblins get ready to defend themselves as they had figured out, they were being hunted.

The camp wasn't bad. 

Covering an area of about 15 kilometers, it was about the size of a park.

The perimeter was marked with walls made of roughly chopped wooden logs and a twine like material and the huts inside were made of stone, dirt and leaves.

Goblins armed with spears, swords and even stone gauntlets stood on guard, watching for any disturbances. 

Looking for targets I found a group guarding the south side of the perimeter, only one fighter and two goblins.

They were a bit far away about 60 meters, but I couldn't find a better position and was confident in making the shot. 

Perched on a branch, I stood up hoping that my new trait would help me kill them before they made noise.

===========================================

Assassin- Enemies unaware of vessels position take increased damage from attacks.

===========================================

*TWSS* 

I released three arrows in quick succession, the regular goblins died instantly, the fighter stayed alive for a moment but was unable to make noise before falling to the ground. 

Like this I picked them off.

Southeast perimeter, 2 shamans and 2 fighters. 

West perimeter 5 regular goblins. 

Northeast 4 shamans. 

Naturally, the goblins noticed now, and I couldn't kill all the witnesses before the alarm went off. 

A loud battle horn alerted the goblins as they tried to figure out where the attacks were coming from.

I started to reposition as I heard a familiar voice come from underneath.

"Fuck! He's already here! You! Burn down that stupid wall!"

Seigfried commanded the beastkin mage as she complied, a basketball sized fireball flew at the wall before exploding, sending burning splinters and ash everywhere. 

"GRAAH!" 

A particularly fierce roar came from the camp as the smoke cleared. 

A giant goblin stepped out, almost 13 feet in height with leathery green hide that resembled stone and a massive spear in its hand that was more than half its height.

"You! Wherever you are! This one is mine!"

Seigfried said while looking around. 

The tank and him advanced as the mage kept throwing fire arrows and bombs at the giant. 

The other warrior stayed behind looking for an opportunity. 

"You think he can take him?" 

I pulled out my dagger and sliced it behind me by instinct as a whisper appeared from behind me. 

"Woah! Fierce, aren't we?" Damien said as the dagger stopped before his throat.

"Sorry." I sheathed the dagger as I calmed myself.

"Nah, it's my fault for sneaking up on you like that, but hey, this is how a lot of groups counter marksman." 

I wasn't surprised he had snuck up on me, I knew he was following me to some extent, and he was a very capable mage. 

I just didn't expect him to be so close, as I was on top of a particularly tall tree which didn't matter to him, I suppose as he used a small stream of water to levitate.

Looking back at the fight, I saw that the part were already on the losing side. 

The tank's shield was all but gone as a single punch from the goblin giant sent him flying back.

Seigfried used precise strikes with his rapier to disarm the goblin, but he was being pelted by spell and arrows along with the bare-handed attacks of the giant.

I looked behind the giant to see archers and shamans and began to dispose of them as I talked to Damien.

"He might be able to beat him alone but not like this." 

Damien let out a brief chuckle as a familiar sight played out, with goblins losing their heads.

*CLINK*

I was surprised as a goblin shaman with a more intricate looking staff and a wooden mask painted red blocked the arrow with an earth barrier.

I immediately ran to a different location, perching on the wall of the camp as Damien followed.

"Oh! Chief Shaman, those things are rare! Kill it, but don't harm the staff or mask."

I reached into my quiver to find only two remaining arrows. 

The shaman cast a lightning bolt at Seigfried causing him to be paralyzed momentarily and get hit with a kick as the impact caused him to cough out blood. 

"Damn, it's smart, it knows it's harder to find you so its aiming for the easy target."

I nocked the arrow as I poured as much mana as I could into it.

The whole arrow was coated in darkness as wind gathered on the bowstring. 

*FWOOM*

I released the arrow as a black line traced its path. The shaman once more threw up an earth barrier. 

*CRRK*

However, it cracked instantly.

It tried casting another barrier, but the arrow made contact with its torso.

*THUD*

The staff and its head fell to the ground as most of its torso was torn apart by the arrow releasing a stream of blood dying the hut red. 

"Nice shot." 

Damien whistled as I jumped towards the camp taking out my dagger. 

Only a few archers remained who now focused on me as the goblin giant was distracted by losing it's magical buffs, Seigfried and the mage got two good hits on it. 

The goblins were of no note, harder to kill now that I was confronting them head on but not difficult.

Most had a bow and arrow, attempting to shoot me from mid-range, I simply side stepped before ripping them apart with a dagger.

The three remaining shamans gathered up to try and fight me as I ran towards them. 

They cast a lightening bolt and a fireball consecutively, trying to catch me off guard. 

I picked up the corpse of a goblin as I dodged the faster lightning bolt and threw the corpse at the fireball as the headless body grew charred. 

The shamans grew enraged by my actions, but I dropped the burnt corpse and continued onwards not giving them time to cast another spell. 

The three seemed to collaborate to create a sturdy earth wall to block my approach. 

I simply jumped over it. 

I used wind mana to accelerate my fall as I crushed the skull of a goblin with a dropkick as its eyes popped from the force. 

Lunging at the closest one I swung my dagger, slicing its neck before it could chant another spell. 

I turned around to see a fireball pointed at my chest from the remaining shaman. 

I didn't have time to properly dodge and slid underneath as some of my hair was burnt off. 

Catching the last shaman in a slide tackle, I grabbed its ear as it fell before stabbing the dagger deep into its eye. 

The blood on my body slid off without being absorbed my clothes due to the water veil. 

"GRAAA!"

The last remaining enemy was a goblin fighter who charged at me viciously from a few feet away, weapon raised, eyes red with fury. 

*THUD*

It fell to the ground as my last remaining arrow punched a golf ball sized hole in its skull.

"God damn!" 

Damien stood to the side with a crazy grin on his face.