Battle for survival

Alexander's last attempt to avoid a potentially deathly fight by revealing himself as a von Stahl, was too effective for his own good. Instead of scaring them away, it made them feel like cornered rats.

Killing a son of an archduke would surely get them hanged after weeks of torture but only if they are caught. Leaving him alive after practically kidnapping him with an illegal space-bridge spell and revealing their faces, names and intention would sniff out every and all hope of running away.

Having reached this conclusion meant there was no turning back now. For all three of them it became as much a matter of life and death as it was for Alexander.

"Fuck! Let's just talk it out for god's sake!"

His exclaim did nothing, so seeing Ben and Henry rush at him from his front and right side made him feel paralyzing fear for his life.

'Move…'

He had to move to avoid their attacks.

'Move…'

But Dirk's arrow could end his life the very second he neglects him.

'FUCKING MOVEEE!!!!'

It was a last second evasion to the right. Henry, who was a lot slower than Ben couldn't follow up in time causing Dirk lose his chance to shoot since he was afraid of hitting Ben. On the other hand, Alexander clearly sensed something sticky slowly running down his neck.

He knew what it was, without checking. The stinging sensation from sweat entering the cut skin told him clearly. Had he been a bit slower or his opponent a bit faster, this cut would have cause blood to flood his throat and hinder him from properly breathing.

A strong shiver ran down his spine while his brain released unholy amounts of adrenalin into his body.

'I almost died for real…'

This realisation made him shudder, but it also caused a change in his thought process.

While Dirk repositioned himself to have a clear shooting path, Ben and Henry attacked once more but this time Alexander didn't hurry to evade them. The look in his scarlet eyes changed. All those thoughts about not wanting to die and how to get away and survive turned into fighting will.

It was a very simple but extremely effective adaptation to his situation: The winner survives.

The tall, lanky guy, with the dagger, was a lot faster than the dwarf so he would reach Alexander first. Therefor, while moving backwards with quick, light steps, he adjusted the angle towards Henry's position. This led to Ben running in front of his short colleague, effectively preventing a 2 on 1 fight and instead turning it into 2 1 on 1 fights in quick succession, while also bringing as many trees as possible between him and Dirk.

Occasionally some arrows would come into his direction, but none hit him or came even close to. It became clear that Dirk, at the very least, wasn't a trained archer but one who probably picked up a bow by chance.

Once all distances between them had been set up like he intended, Ben reached him first, swinging his dagger in a downwards slash. Alexander didn't have the mind to notice it during their first exchange, but upon paying closer attention, he noticed a few things. For one, judging by his accuracy and lack of hesitation, Ben was experienced with wielding a dagger.

But that was all there is to it. Lack of technique, weak lower body, bad posture and absolutely zero preparation to pull back and or defend.

With a sudden burst of speed, Alexander charged forward and took his opponent by surprise, as he slipped into a very close range that allowed to get a hold on Ben's swinging arm and throw him to the ground in one fluid motion.

"Argh!"

Unlike them, Alexander trained in martial arts for decades, proven by the fact that his [Stahl-CQC] skill was registered by his system as level 9 out of a maximum of 10. It was simply near perfect for a non mana based martial arts.

"You Fucker!"

Henry, bearing witness to the sudden retaliation, screamed in anger, as he swung his battle axe in a mad frenzy. Having been just a couple steps behind his partner, the dwarf arrived when Ben was thrown and swung that battle axe of his, in an attempt to take Alexander's legs.

'Once crippled he will become a sitting duck', was his train of thoughts but and while technically that wasn't wrong, it was the most predictable approach.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

A blood curling scream reverberated through the forest after the sharp metal dug deep into skin, muscles and bone. Anticipating his timely arrival, Alexander, who still held onto Ben's arm, moved like a snake, and put it between him and the dwarf. The result being friendly fire damage.

He could clearly feel his heart beat up to his throat and almost puked right then and there but forced himself to keep it in and more importantly, to keep going.

Taking a dagger from someone who's arm was more severed than attached, wasn't too hard, nor was it too hard to ram it into the dwarf's throat who, because of the shock, stood still a second too long.

[Notice: +10 Exp]

His bloody gurgles and widely opened eyes full of disbelief and unwillingness would follow Alexander in his dreams, of that he was sure, but there was no time to rest. Ben, wasn't able to help his companion, as his mind was overcome with pain from his crippled arm but seeing Henry collapse, while choking to death on his own blood broke something in him.

"BROTHER!!! You… damn bastard! You killed him!"

His eyes glared at Alexander. They were bloodshot, veiled with tears and fury. If looks could kill, then he would be dead 10 times over by now. He rolled to his left, using his good arm to try and stand up but Alexander was ready to stab him in his neck, right then and there, ignoring his inner voice that kept whispering, how wrong killing is.

*PSSHHHT*

"WAHHH!"

Yet, Dirk interrupted him. The big guy managed to approach unnoticed, using their short exchange from earlier as distraction. His arrow pierced Alexander's back, forcing out a tragic, bloody cry.

The pain of skin and flesh tearing and that burning sensation coming from the arrow, that's stuck right beneath his left shoulder blade forcefully flooded his min.

Ben, used this chance to pick up Henry's battle axe with his remaining hand before swinging it madly at the injured Alexander, obviously being none the wiser than before.

Without turning towards Dirk, who had already readied his next arrow, the young noble threw away the dagger. He once more, predicted his opponent's swinging motion, and instinctively stepped into a closer range after dodging.

While battling with pain he never felt before, Alexander grabbed his opponent by his healthy arm's shoulder, pulled him in first and used the remaining force of his earlier swing to rotate and push Ben between him and Dirk, resulting in an arrow piercing his chest.

"NOOO!!!"

Ben was as shocked as Dirk. His eyes widely open in disbelieve stared at him before finally collapsing, drawing his last bloody breath of air on the cold forest ground.

[Notice: +10 Exp]

"NO! No, no, no, no, no! This is your fault! This is all your fault!"

He threw away his bow and drew a short sword. Since there were no more arrows in his quiver, they had to settle it up close, but Alexander had no thoughts of battling with someone two weight classes above him, while an arrow was struck in his back.

"[Born from Ash]!"

Instead, he used this opportunity to activate one of his class skills. Clearly the young necromancer would have loved to use this a lot earlier but prior to this there weren't any corpses around and even after killing Henry, Ben kept pestering him up close.

Now however, two enemies were dead in front of him on top of Dirk being left without any more arrows. In short it was a chance that shouldn't be missed.

Familiar scarlet flames burst out of Alexander's body once more, flooding his surroundings like a tidal wave. The searing heat brought by these bright flames let Dirk quickly step back in horror.

An enormous, blood red, fire spread in seconds turning the forest ground into a fire floor. Dirk could clearly feel the heat turning his skin into an unhealthy shade of pink yet no trees or leaves caught on fire.

His brother's corpses were turned into ashes before vanishing completely, leaving nothing behind until an arm rose up from under the fire floor and pulled up the rest of it's body.

It was a tall, thin figure. It's skin was ashen pale, so much so that nearly every vein and artery was visible beneath it. Instead of eyes it had two hellish pits, in which those red flames were burning. It was also the same scarlet fire that danced on his head instead of hair.

Just it's appearance alone, was enough to cause every neck hair of Dirk's to stand up but truly disturbed him, was that he knew that face very well. Until just a minute ago, he was alive and fighting together with him.

This wasn't the only nasty surprise for him. A second figure appeared. It had all those eery characteristics, like ashen pale skins and visible blood paths, eye holes filled with bloody fire, flames as hair, but this one was a lot shorter. It had also a fiery beard, making it look like a dwarf.

"Necromancer…"

He felt like this realization did him more harm than good. What is a necromancer. Someone who commands undead. A being, that is, worshipped, respected and feared.

"How could this be…"

Pathetic last words were left behind. Alexander hat taken advantage of his enemy's shock to familiarize himself with this skills. Both his 'seekers', as they were apparently called according to Ron, could communicate telepathically.

He didn't start hearing voices in his head, it was more like sensing and understanding their wills to express something. Surprisingly that something was an honest plead to kill the enemy quickly and if possible, without pain.

'Did they keep their memories?!'

It was a shocking revelation but perhaps this was for the better. In the end he handed Henry his axe, who approached Dirk, together with Ben.

Now it was him, who felt paralyzing fear engulf his whole body, out of which he only snapped, when both seekers were a few steps away from him.

As an last desperate act, Dirk wildly swung that short sword, and even pierced the dwarves head but… it did no damage at all.

*Splat*

Before he could take out his sword and retreat, seeker Henry threw the axe right into Dirks head. It was over.

[Notice: +10 Exp]

[Notice: Level up!]

The three hired bandits were dead and Alexander alive, on top of that even levelled up! Though he couldn't see it for himself he clearly felt how all pain and stinging sensations vanished. The arrow fell to the ground behind him and his racing heart, as well as his mind could finally calm down.

'Is this an effect of levelling up? Do I get healed every time my level increase-?'

He really would have loved to celebrate and be joyful for surviving but as soon as he saw all that blood on his hands and clothes, memories popped up one after another.

The sensation of penetrating skin or cutting flash with a dagger. That cursed sound of a bone breaking from when Ben's arm was almost severed. Especially this image of Dirk lying face down with and axe still in his forehead.

Before anything else could be done, his stomach churned and got emptied on the spot. Alexander may have gained something from this but it was his first time, having to fight for his life and taking that of others. He knew that it had to be done to stay alive but this violent physical reaction just couldn't be helped. After all, before today, he lived two lives in peace and safety.

(AN: Hey everyone! Well, that was his first fight and first kill! Some notes at the end. Alexander is actually has an amazing martial arts talent, that's how he reached level 9 for his Stahl-CQC skill with just training. Some might wonder why he didn't activate the pressure effect of his passive [Supreme] skill but since he never used it before he couldn't know if or how effective it would be, not to mention that it is hard to remember that while 3 stranger are trying their best to slit your throat. Was the reaction of these thugs too much? Not at all! That just shows how heavy the name von Stahl weights. If he could fight so well why didn't he just beat them from the beginning? Fighting well doesn't mean being invincible, especially while unarmed, caught off guard and in an unknown place. Hope this somewhat makes sense. Regarding the original task of these three and how they ended up getting involved, it will be discussed in next chapter. Hopefully till then!)