2 KiLL

[Challenge complete! Survive 24 hours in the Devil's Respite Labyrinth. Reward: Hooded trench coat, rations, and water.]

Nathan welcomed the new day with a prompt. Last night's fire laid in pitiful ashes a couple feet from him, leaving him a small remainder of the warmth he felt last night. Sitting himself up, he blinked away the drowsiness. His cold limbs protesting it every step of the way. By his side laid five loaded magazines of .45 ACP and an unloaded 1911. The worn pistol looked kinda pitiful among the wrecked tower's clutter.

Last night he found he didn't need to bring up the menu to bring or take items. He only needed to will out what he wanted, or have the item in his hand and will it into his inventory. It was a strange sensation to adjust to, but it was convenient none the less. It, however, couldn't load the magazines for him. This left him having to load each magazine individually. It was an uneventful night of him loading magazines before he went to bed by the dying fire.

Dismissing yesterday's events, he opened his inventory and brought up the newly gained items.

[ Oversize black Trench Coat (Black/worn)]

[A stylish coat made from a cotton-polyester mix. A modern take of the WW2 army jackets.]

Seeing the coat in his inventory, his body screamed at him to hurry up and put it on. With a thought, the jacket appeared on him. It felt perfect and he could already feel his body warming up - aside from his legs. But that was okay at the moment. At least one part was staying warm. The jacket wasn't new and had seen better days, but it was a precious thing to have right now. He shook his shoulders and moved his arms around to warm up faster.

He looked at the fire longingly one more time and figured it had just gone out recently. Which would explain why he hadn't frozen to death over the night. Nathan loaded one magazine into the pistol before putting it back down. He put the spare magazines into pockets on his left side and summoned out the holster. It was a black piece of polymer, but it would hold the gun in place at his hip. He fumbled with it for a few minutes before he was able to figure out how it went on.

It slipped onto his pants and he slid the pistol into it, hearing a satisfying click of the safety device. He tugged at the pistol, finding the holster holding it in place. He slid his finger around until he found the safety release and drew the 1911 with one hand. He repeated the process until he was satisfied that he could at least remember not to shoot himself in the leg when drawing.

Afterward, he summoned out the supplies that he was rewarded for surviving the night. Though it was all thanks to Lily guiding him to the tower. He found 1 gallon of water in a jug and 20 beef jerky bags in a variety of flavors; 10 boxes of crackers and 20 jars of mangoes. Thinking it was an odd assortment to hand out and a questionable diet choice, he was happy none the less to have food as he opened up some jerk and dipped into a jar of mangoes. His stomach pleased with his first meal since coming here.

...

Nathan eyed the tower's entrance nervously. Grey clouds still plagued the skies overhead, only now fog hung thickly between the buildings. The ghostly wisps obscured his vision in every direction, only granting him thirty-something feet of vision. As a small mercy, the rain had let up earlier this morning - leaving only the gentle sprinkle. He pulled the coat's hood up and ignored the cold air that slithered through the rips in his pants. Just being thankful for the hood that covered his head.

He patted the spot where the 1911 was holstered through the jacket. His eyes darting around as he tried to move as quietly as possible through the street. After a while, the tower faded into the misty, leaving him with the feeling that something... or someone, was watching him from within the mist. He had caught a few glittering eyes on the fringes of the mist, but he could never make it out. Nothing approached him thankfully, but his nerves were beginning to short circuit.

He felt miserable as dew ran down his cheeks, his limbs felt heavy, and each raindrop that managed to land on him let out an almost inaudible "pat". It was close enough to his ear that it was unfortunately audible to him, often forcing him to turn his head in the direction of the sound before relaxing. Distant thunder could be heard overhead, but he didn't mind it as much.

After nearly an hour of walking, he heard what sounded like grunts and curses. Though he was walking nearly silently, he took even more care to keep his footsteps quiet. His hand slipped the right flap of his coat away before placing his right hand on the grip of the 1911. His finger rubbing the latch nervously - ready to draw. The grunting slowly became louder. Closer. Until on the edge of his vision, he could see a figure doing some odd dance against the floor, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he moved ever so closer. Ten more steps.. made him regret he had ever done so...

A man slender man, dressed in tattered street clothes with his pants unbuckled and down. His pale ass frantically moving as he grunted, insulting the corpse of his victim. It was a beautiful woman's body, pushed over onto her knees, and pressed against the wall with broken arms legs. From Nathan's angle, he could see everything. The girl wore a stereotypical mage robe, but it was flipped over her head, revealing her bare petite body for the world to see.

In this case, this degenerate of a human that was currently having his way with her.

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing?!" Nathan couldn't help himself say out loud, anger rushing into his head. It wasn't until the man yelp before pushing himself off the girl and grabbed a wooden staff did Nathan realize her messed up. He could have just shot the man from his spot. He was obviously raping a dead body. No one would have judged him. There would have been no one to judge him. There also wasn't anyone to judge this man.

No. Nathan was there with a beat up piece on his hip. He could and was going to be the judge. The jury. The Executioner. Finally thinking straight, Nathan was about to draw his sidearm when a ball of blazing fire raced at him. He tried to dodge, only to trip backward onto his ass. The fireball did end up missing, but the man was already charging at him with a wicked roar. His eyes were crazed. Nathan pulled at his pistol, but his finger failed to find the latch in his frantic state.

Just when he found the latch, the man jumped at him "I'm gonna kill you, pretty boy! hahah! No one can stop me here! This is my dream you fucking piece of shit!" The slender man was pale, his face covered in pimples, and brown crooked teeth. He sounded no older than 20, but he was clearly out of his damn mind. "Fuck off!" Nathan roared as the rapist tried to strangle him. Nathan tried to bring the pistol up only for the man to hold his arms down. Despite his looks, the man had strength.

"I never dreamt of fucking a man, but you're a pretty boy!" The rapist licked his lips, scaring Nathan. He knew at this moment, he had to kill this man. It was either him or them. The man released his right arm as he reared his arm and brought it down onto his face in a punch. Nathan had been in plenty of brawls, but something about it being a do or die situation elevated everything. It was a normal 'Star seeing' punch, but he took it in stride. He felt his nose being crushed as the adrenaline stemmed the pain. He brought his pistol to the man's chest blindly as the man landed another punch while bring his left arm to choke Nathan.

"I'm going to fuck you dead, kid!" Nathan managed to press the barrel of the gun to the man's chest, but nothing happened when he pulled the trigger. "Shit, shit!" Nathan screamed in his mind as his face was beginning to turn blue as he tried to kick the man, only to find that he had pinned his legs down with his body. With only a few more seconds of air left and his windpipe being crushed, Nathan finally racked the slide and pulled the trigger over and over.

PO-PO-PO-PO-PO-PO-PO!

The hot casings flung from the slide and flung randomly onto his chest. Some landed rolled against Nathan's neck where it began to burn his skin. Some laid on his chest while the rest flung away. Nathan no longer heard the world around him, only a loud ringing in his ear that disoriented him. He didn't have the luxury to hawk at it though as he looked into the man's eyes as his gripped loosened. He felt a sick, terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach when he saw the man's expression.

Terror. Utter terror upon realizing this was not a dream. It was the reality as warm blood dripped from the bullet wounds in his chest. The man tried to say something but only ended in with the man blowing blood bubbles as the blood pooled in his lungs. It was only a few moments later did the man slump over lifelessly, pinning Nathan down. Free from the freakish man, he rolled the dead man off and heaved his second lease on life. The 1911's rack was locked back, smoke dancing out of the chamber and barrel.

He looked at his sidearm before looking at the man's chest. All seven rounds went into his lungs, probably into his spine. A few even went into his heart or many just bounced around in him and hit it. He wasn't an expert, but he knew bullets often bounced around into the people they entered. Nathan took deep breathes for a few moments to steady his heartbeat before he dropped the magazine in the gun and loaded a spare from his side pocket. He grabbed the empty one and threw it into his inventory to load later.

Still shaken by the brawl, he got to his unsteady feet while holstering. He kept his distance from the man, should he come back to life like some twisted villain from a comic, he checked on the dead girl's body. Her skin was flawless and her rear was actually quite... big. Disregarding the disgusting smell of the man's discharge, he pulled the girl's robe back over her rear to keep at least give her back her dignity. What he found was a blonde-haired beauty with a small pool of blood under her.

He almost felt some pity until he found that she was actually still alive! He could see his body slightly rising and falling. "Shit!" He quickly picked her up and found her surprisingly light. He wasn't about to think why as he tried to retrace his steps back to the tower.

[You've killed Berserker Wilfred (lvl 12), EXP Gained!]

[You're now level 7!]