First Encounter With The Enemy

Under the brilliantly shining moonlight were two people enjoying a shared drink from a flask on a stone sofa. The two men were Benedire and Ritzy, but Ritzy didn't know who Benedire was.

Benedire,

"What are your thoughts on the drink?".

Ritzy,

"It's really great, makes me want to go directly into a Dwarven kingdom and buy all that they have in stock".

Benedire,

"Finally someone shares the same thoughts as me!".

Ritzy,

"Thoughts?".

Benedire,

"Yeah thoughts, the thing is that not everyone appreciates goods things when they are new or unheard. You know, something without a reputation".

Ritzy,

"That sounds ridiculous, who doesn't like to discover something new and amazing".

Benedire,

"I think it's because I've only been surrounded by nobles. You know how they are, all snob like. They think traditions and reputation is everything".

Benedire then looked at Ritzy in his eyes with a serious face,

"This is why I love mercenaries. They don't care about conforming and are always open to new ideas".

Ritzy then took the flask on Benedire's hand and raised it in the air,

"To mercenaries, they never conform to anything".

Ritzy took a swig and passed it to Benedire. Benedire took a swig and raised the flask up as well.

Benedire,

"To merchants, for bringing this amazing drink".

Benedire took a longer sip from the flask and passed it to Ritzy who also took a longer swig then usual.

If anyone was present, they would think they were a duo of tipsy well-dressed men. They acted nothing like people of their status and showed no importance in their age difference. If no one was the wiser, they would think they were only just some rich mercenaries getting drunk off their asses.

...

An hour had passed by and the flask was empty. It was a 12 oz flask so they drank about 4 shots each between the duo. Benedire and Ritzy looked a bit pink on their faces after all that drinking.

Benedire was talking a bit with a lisp now,

"You know Ritzy, you're a good kid. You make me remember my good old days when I didn't want to conform and also being attractive. You know, maybe your a bit behind in the looks department compared to me now that I think about it".

Ritzy talked back with him overusing the "s" letter,

"Aw screw off old man, I would beat you in the look departments anytime".

They weren't necessarily drunk, they mostly talked like this because the alcohol removed any barriers of having to show proper respect. They now saw each other as long time friends that fought many life and death battles together.

As they were enjoying their moment, the sound of wind breaking could be heard. Ritzy recognized the sound, it was the same sound an arrow made when shot.

He knew he couldn't stay still when an arrow is shot so he instinctively moved. Ritzy quickly jumped off the sofa and kept low on the floor crouching.

Ritzy looked around, checking if he could see the person who shot the arrow. Seeing nobody, he looked behind him to see if Benedire was fine.

Looking behind him, Ritzy was a bit shocked. Bendire was holding two arrows instead of the one Ritzy had heard. Benedire was holding one arrow that almost reached his face and on his other hand was holding an arrow where Ritzy's chest was located before.

If Ritzy had done nothing and stayed on the sofa, he would've still been alive because Benedire was able to catch both arrows.

Benedire gave a nonchalant smirk and looked at Ritzy,

"Seems like I didn't need to catch the arrow for you. Well, that doesn't matter anymore, from the angle of arrows I caught. It seems that they came from directly in front of us. Let's go check it out".

Ritzy gave a small nod and started walking forward. Ritzy weakened the barrier he had on himself and started activating his mana presence. With it activated, he could see clearly all around him so if anybody shot another arrow. He could see it coming easily.

Spreading his mana presence, he was able to see a couple of men behind trees and bushes. It was two people with bows, one with a short sword, one with a sword as big as Ritzy, and another with fingerless gauntlets. Though, what interested Ritzy more was that they had animal body parts. They had freakishly bigger than normal sharp nails, tails, and pointed animal ears.

Other then those few parts, they looked human. It reminded Ritzy a bit about a cat cafe he once saw in Japan during a mission.

Ritzy and Benedire were walking closer and closer to the group hiding.

One of the men in the group started talking. It wasn't English like what humans used in this world.

Beastkin bow 1,

"What do we do? We've been found out!".

Beastkin longsword,

"It doesn't look like they're calling for help, that's good for us. Arufa told us that we need to kill the old man with dual glowing eyes no matter what".

Beastkin bow 2,

"Since they're dumb enough to come up to us, this makes it easier for us. Battle positions everyone!".

Benedire looked at Ritzy and said,

"Ritzy, they're getting ready to attack. Can you handle yourself?".

Ritzy understood what the Beastkin said, their beastkin dialect were incredibly similar to his original world Japanese.

Ritzy gave a devilish smile and said,

"Don't worry, just try to keep up. Remember to not exert yourself too much, we don't want your brittle bones to break".

Benedire said in annoyed but confident voice,

"I'll show you who's brittle".

Benedire suddenly started running to the group but the Beatkin were ready and already in a defensive position.

Beastkin Bow 2,

"Be careful, he extremely fast compared to other humans!".

Benedire ran extremely fast. It was even comparable to a horses speed, it left the Beastkin shocked because Benedire, a human, was as quick as them. Though, Ritzy felt a bit uneased for another reason, he didn't think that Benedire was going at full speed.

As Benedire was approaching the long sword Beastkin, the Beastkin quickly raised his sword and slashed it down with intense might behind it. Benedire showed no sign of retreat, he only raised his left hand. Seeming as if he was gonna use that hand to block the blade.

Unexpectedly, the beastkin showed a terrified face.

Before they attacked, the beastkin could sense great danger from the man but they decided to ignore it. Thinking it was because the old man was a mage. but the longsword Beastkin now knew it was a different reason.

In such close proximity to Benedire, the beastkin felt as if danger was surrounding him. He felt as if he was against many wild beasts and not only Benedire.

Longsword beastkin thought's,

'What happening, why is my body shivering so much?!? What is this feeling'.

The longsword Beastkin then looked at Benedire's eyes and thought,

'I'm sorry Arufa but he is "Death". I can't beat this monster'.

As the sword was about to reach Benedire's hand, Ritzy could sense magic coming out of Benedire palm.

The next moment, the bladed part where Benedire hand was gonna be, became dull. Almost in a spherical like shape.

Benedire grabbed the now dull part and quickly pulled the sword out of the Beastkin's hands.

The Beastkin seeing he had no more weapon, he tried to jump back. One of the bowmen also shot an arrow at Benedire to distract him. Trying to allow the weaponless beastkin escape.

Unfortunately for them, this wasn't an obstacle for Benedire. Benedire grabbed the Beastkin's shirt before he jumped away and pulled the beastkin in to be used as a meat shield to block the arrow.

The arrow landed directly in the center of Beastkin's chest, causing the Beastkin to die instantly.

The bowman that shot the arrow yelled,

"Leader!!! You bastard!! How dare you!!!".

Arrows started to shoot as fast as the beastkin could, even the other bowmen beastkin was firing as well.

Benedire still didn't panic and kept using their leader as a shield.

While everyone was distracted, Ritzy suddenly appeared behind one of the bow using beastkin. As soon as he appeared, he used mineral magic to change his wristband gauntlet into a knife and stabbed the beastkin in its throat.

Ritzy used an old assassin technique, Senza Suono, to hide his presence. The technique allowed him to become completely soundless, no steps or breathing could be heard even if they were inches apart from him.

Blood now could be smelled behind the beastkins, and as soon as they turned around to see the origin of the iron smell, a flying object could be seen. The object was going directly into the other bow using beastkin but the beastkin couldn't react in time. The object was a knife and going directly to the beastkin's throat.

Not being able to completely doge in time, instead of the knife going through the dead center of his throat, it cut through the left side of his neck leaving an opening to his throat. The beastkin immediately died.

Ritzy grabbed an arrow from the beastkin that was dead next to his feet and said,

"Seemed like you need a little help there. Also, it's two to one. Your falling behind!".