Several guards were fighting a large group of bandits on a narrow plateau.

They weren’t surrounded, but they were pinned against a cliff edge with a drop at least a kilometer to the bottom.

The only reason they were still standing was the need to protect the injured comrades behind them. Similarly, said comrades, unable to fight in melee but to a one with eyes containing glowing bright fighting spirit, supporting with ranged spells and ranged weapons, others with rocks and debris.

The vargvir at Krow’s side crashed into the fray.

Krow picked off the ranged fighters first. Given that there were only two, that still left nearly two dozen bandits against six guards still upright, the vargvir, and Krow.

Uneven odds still.

He doublejumped for a higher vantage point. The scrum was chaotic enough that he might plug a darkspear into an ally. He started thinning the bandit group from above, keeping them off those fighting for the caravan.

Seeing as the caravan was behind him, he didn’t expect it.

A force slammed into his shoulder from the back, and he tumbled off his perch. 5% HP gone, even with his pauldrons. Shkav.

Pulling the arrow out, he inhaled sharply at the sting and ache. Even with a reduced sense of pain, that hurt.

He downed two Low Heals before searching the high ground nearby, sending periodical darkspears into the fray when he could.

His HP was 330, currently. 5%, with his defensive rating because of the Rare armor and the B+ Unique that was his Starseeker Travelcoat, was not a small sum.

He frowned at the arrow. [Green Velvet Arrow][B Uncommon]

He heard a rustle behind him, rolled forward unhesitating, into the melee.

He shot two dead before he could turn to face—

“I challenge you!”

[You’ve been challenged to battle!][Arvidane Lvl 10]

What, now?!

An arrow plunged into his gut.

He ripped it out, glaring.

This was a guard, he remembered. One of the guards of the caravan.

“Betrayal!” roared the vargvir when she too, noticed.

Several bandits laughed and pressed their attacks harder. The caravan defenders took a step back.

But the guard – the player was not on the side of the bandits.

Krow dodged a third arrow, jumped away from a bandit sword.

He stepped into the shadow of a bush and triggered Shadowbind. The challenger froze. Krow dodged another bandit weapon – a spear, snapped off several darkspear bullets at the bandits.

Then the revolver clicked empty.

He swapped with another darkspear cylinder, aimed at the player guard.

Too late.

His Shadowbind wasn’t that strong.

Two darkspears of the six he shot hit the player, Arvidane, who grunted and dodged but otherwise was fine.

One darkspear had downed a Lvl 9 bandit. This Lvl 10 player – what Class Skill did he take at Lvl 10? A Defense Skill? His equipment was also not common.

His next two bullets missed, to his frustrated snarl.

He tried to disengage. Two arrows striking into his path sent him back near the melee.

Arvidane laughed. “Rich boy, your armor’s mine. Don’t even try to run.”

What.

Krow’s lip curled.

He understood.

This was one of those who hunted other players for their equipment. One of similar type to those he avoided at Orddet’s.

He was trying to divide Krow’s attention between him and the bandits.

Krow refused.

He triggered Shadowbind again, expending all his MP. The player’s eyes widened. Krow sent three darkspears at him while jumping away from the scrum. They all hit.

He snapped off the rest of his bullets into the bandits, giving him space to swap cylinders again.

Four guards now and the vargvir against the remaining seven bandits.

Better odds.

The player Arvidane furiously shot three arrows at Krow as he got free.

Krow dodged, and shot. Hit.

He was answered by an arrow digging into his thigh. The pain had him drop to a knee, cursing.

Six darkspears and the opponent was still standing.

Krow tore the arrow out of his thigh, dodging as he did. He glanced at his status, grimaced.

25% HP gone and ticking lower from the Bleeding effect of two arrows.

He dodged, dodged again.

“Stay still!” The player Arvidane growled.

Why? His acrobatic dexterity was his main advantage against the challenger’s arrows. Three more arrows and his HP would fall under 50%, diminishing his stats by 10%.

The other had taken six darkspears from a grade A- Unique weapon and was still standing strong.

Krow couldn’t win this, not head to head.

Quickly thinking as he dodged, he blinked.

It was a challenge.

There were three ways to end a challenge: first, you won; second, you lost; third, you ran away.

There were penalties to the third, though less than the second. Either way, the opponent in the challenge would benefit.

The third also depended on leaving fast enough that the challenger could not pursue.

There was a plan there.

No way was he giving that bastard any benefit from his challenge.

He flung himself behind a rock pillar, swapped the darkspear cylinder with the single one he’d loaded with shieldburst bullets.

Peer out the pillar. Dodge again.

He shot a bullet at Arvidane’s foot. The shield, blooming from the bullet, knocked the player off his feet. Negligible damage.

Another shieldburst between them stopped an arrow.

Krow exhaled relief.

He shot another shieldburst at the other’s feet, glanced at his status.

Weeping graves, his MP recovery was so slow.

He just needed 110MP.

To get that, he needed to stall.

Shieldburst, dodge, and stall.

The other was enraged enough that Krow braced himself for a charge, when his MP ticked past the 110 mark.

Finally.

He shot a shieldburst at Arvidane again.

Waited a second, then shot at the foot of one of the bandits. The shield threw the Bloodcrow into two others.

Krow dodged an arrow, edging backward.

Come on, come on…

An arrow struck him almost at the same site as the first wound, only this time from the front.

He winced.

65% HP remaining, and another Bleeding debuff added.

He pretended to flail.

Another arrow struck below the first, into the upper portion of his heart.

[Critical Hit!]

Shkav! That wasn’t in the plan.

The force of the strike tipped him backward, off the edge of the cliff.

He fell.

Krow’s left arm felt paralyzed. He flicked his revolver into the Inventory, not having the coordination to holster it in midair. Then ripped the arrows out.

48% HP.

It was fine, he reminded himself. This was still the plan.

Wait for it…

[You have left the challenge area.]

Yes!

He twisted to slam a foot into the cliff face, enough to get some air, triggered Doublejump and aimed himself downward.

He was lucky the cliff was steep and not sloping.

Or he’d hit the slope and tumble all the way down to the bottom.

He probably wouldn’t survive that.

The Doublejump Spell was only enough for a single change of direction in air added to a brief burst of momentum. Seeing as he was going downward, he didn’t think that momentum would bleed off as quickly as the instances when he jumped against gravity.

Big problem. The cliff was high, but not high enough for his MP recovery to allow him another Doublejump. And he was going slightly faster than freefall.

Krow pulled himself into a ball, took out a grapplehook, tried to angle himself into a gentle slant. He crashed boot-first into the treetops.

He pulled his limbs and head in.

He was lucky the ground sloped.

The twiggy thin branches at the tops of the trees slowed him down without too much injury apart from countless lashings and the grapplehook caught and took even more of the force of the fall.

He was stopped, hanging from the rope, before he went splat into a tree trunk or a large branch that was less squishy than he was.

39% HP.

He groaned. The realism of Redlands had him spit bubbly pink blood. That was a nicked lung.

He laughed a little, despite himself. That was too realistic, right?

95% realism.

Great.

He probably should’ve waited until he had enough MP for two Doublejumps, Krow thought faintly.

He slowly swung until he could deposit himself onto a large enough branch. His stats were diminished; he needed to be a little more careful.

He tugged on the rope. The hook didn’t come loose. With a frustrated sound, he tossed the rope away to hang from the canopy like a knobbly vine.

He climbed down to a branch much more comfortable in supporting his weight, and slumped against the tree trunk. His body was full of aches.

He glanced at his status.

Major Bleeding. Minor Poison. Major Exhaustion.

When did he get the poison?

Krow started quaffing vials of Low Heal until the Bleeding stopped and his HP recovered. Then he did the same to Low Revitalit potions, letting the empty vials drop uncaringly to the forest floor, still far below him.

These weren’t grandshield trees, but they were large and tall.

Minor Poison.

Ah, damn. He’d forgotten to buy Antidote.

No wait, the Starseeker Extended Traveler Kits should have some. He took a Kit out of his Inventory, opened it to the potion compartment. Three vials of Smallpoison Antidote. Three vials of Bonebreak Ease. Three vials of Burncure. Three vials of Low Heal. Three vials of Revitalit. Three vials of Parasite Purge.

He chugged an Antidote. The debuff disappeared.

Then ten seconds later, he blinked.

Minor Poison.

It had returned to his status.

What.

He thought he’d been scratched by a bandit’s poisoned blade or something similar.

He looked around.

Weeping skies, the trees were poisonous?!

Then on a large arrow-shaped leaf, Krow saw a sight that sent a slow chill down his spine.

It was a caterpillar, fully black from head to claws, with two large golden frond-like antennae.