Day.
A clearing in the Germanian forests.
Zhang Huolong goes through his ax drills. Sweating like a horse he draws his saber at fixes it to the matchlock musket that houses an axblade at the ass. Now it becomes a combination Guandao and battle-ax and Huolong starts practicing staff techniques. He suddenly stops as he hears the sound of someone clapping. Taking off the saber he sheaths it and points the gun in the direction of the sound. "Who goes there?" He calls out.
A woman clad in dark purple leather with platinum hair and wielding a sword walks out from some bushes. "You are the mercenary Zhang Huolong yes?"
Huolong checks his aim. "And if I am?"
Ivy smiles. "I want you to get rid of some of my competitors. 3000 for the job-how about it?"
Huolong points the gun at her chest, which wasn't very hard. Ivy calmly says, "Half up front, half when you finish the job. Agreed?"
Huolong nods. "All right then. Now where do you have the money?"
Seung Mina, Sophitia Alexandra and her sister Cassandra trudge through a Germanian forest. Sophitia stops and feels a chill, as if something evil was in the air. They make tracks towards a cave and are surprised when a Chinese man holding a matchlock approaches them. Sophitia feels traces Soul Edge coming from the man. "Who are you?" Mina asks, drawing her weapon.
"Whoa, hold your horses. You searching for that sword, what's it called, Soul Sipher? Soul Edge? That's it, Soul Edge. By the way, my name is Zhang Huolong."
Sophitia tightens her grip on her gladius. "Why do you search for the blade?"
Huolong smiles. "I'm a merc. Some Arab dude paid me, so here I am, looking for the damn thing."
Sophitia draws her blade. "I feel something in that cave. Let's go."
"These caverns are extensive. You could easily lose your way in here." Huolong remarks. He takes out a bit of charcoal and scrapes it along a wall. They approach a fork. Huolong pauses, then goes to the left entrance. They walk for a while longer, then Sophitia suddenly feels the pommel of a sword nail her in the head. She hits the deck.
"What the f-" The others turn around. Mina is about to lunge at Ivy, sword in hand, when a well-placed whack from the stock of Huolong's gun knocks her out cold. This leaves only Cassandra. Huolong turns towards Ivy. "She's yours."
"Getting soft?"
"She's a f*cking kid. Remember my policy. I don't work with mutants, gods, semi-divine beings, or children."
"Very well." Ivy suddenly lunges towards Cassandra. The Greek woman puts up a good fight, but Ivy's technique proves stronger. "We'll take them into the dungeon. You can have them for the night."
One wonders how Ivy could sleep, what with all the screams coming from the cave that night.
The next day Huolong approaches Ivy. "You got my other half?" Ivy points to a door. Huolong walks up to it. He suddenly sidesteps and, reaching out with his gun, hooks the door handle and pulls it open. A hail of arrows comes flying out. Huolong slowly does a left face towards Ivy.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Ivy smiles. "Defense mechanism. You know, in case someone breaks into it." Huolong humphs and is about to step in when suddenly he stops. He takes a short iron hooked stick from his cloak. After a few twists the stick lengthens. Huolong gropes around. The stick latches on to a small box, which Huolong proceeds to pick up. He opens it to find- nothing. Huolong looks at Ivy with an annoyed expression. He draws his sword and slices the box in half. "Try any sleight of hand with my money and see what happens." Huolong ventures out of the cave.
Ivy silently draws her sword and whips it at Huolong's back. She is surprised when it makes a loud clanging noise. Huolong calmly does an about face.
"When you're a merc, well into your 10th year in the profession, you pretty much have an idea of all the dirty tricks someone can pull on you. At the 15th year you start adding your own." He takes off his cloak. A shield is strapped to his back like a turtle shell. Huolong clubs his rifle. "Bring it on, bitch."
Ivy withdraws her sword. Whips are not very well suited for close- quarters, especially in a cave. Huolong bellows a war cry and charges, bringing his clubbed rifle down like an avalanche. He hits the deck as Ivy sidesteps and jumps over a sweep kick, then brings the gun horizontally. Ivy blocks several more strikes, then kicks Huolong in the face. Huolong reels back, then starts running like a mofo around the caverns. He finds a hole and dumps out all the stuff loaded in his musket. Taking out a small piece of paper he pours powder in it, then rolls it up like a taco and bites off the end. Then he takes out the ramrod and pushes it down. Huolong next takes out an iron ball and crushes it with the butt plate of his gun. Scooping up the pieces he empties them down his gun, then cocks the weapon. He suddenly rises up and fires. Ivy manages to block some of the buckshot but other fragments hit her, and the little fragments of metal dig into her skin.
"Buckshot. Gotta love that." Huolong kicks Ivy, knocking her over. He then runs into the dungeon and frees Mina, Sophitia, and Cassandra.
"Here are your weapons. Little bitch tried to kill me. Now run."
Several weeks have passed. Huolong is wandering in the Ottoman Empire, looking for work. He suddenly meets an old acquaintance.
"Yu."
"Yes, me."
"What are you doing here?"
Yu smiles. He whips out a pike. "Let's go."
Huolong fixes his saber to his gun. He suddenly gets a bad feeling in his gut and starts off with a sidekick, just as a huge crossbow bolt whizzes where his head used to be.
"Bastard." Huolong slashes at Yu's legs. Yu jumps over the strike and attacks down. Huolong blocks with his gun and Yu narrowly avoids a kick in the balls.
"You're getting slow." Huolong takes a whack to the side. Grabbing the pike pole Huolong leaps at the younger man and punches him in the face.
A volley of crossbow bolts suddenly comes at Huolong. The merc was unable to dodge all of them. Deciding that retreat is the better part of valor, Huolong runs. Yu throws his pike, which bounces off the shield on Huolong's back. He is about to give chase when Huolong fires. Yu barely manages to dodge the blast and sees Huolong steal his horse and make off.
"Damn!"
Night.
A man stumbles into a village. Several crossbow bolts are lodged in his leg. He leans on a door to help support his weight, and then knocks. A woman answers. A blonde woman, carrying a gladius and a small round shield.
"You!"
Huolong looks up to see the form of Cassandra Alexandra. "Is it true what they say about Greek hospitality?" Huolong asks.
"Yes it is. Come in. What happened?" Cassandra points at the crossbow bolts lodged in Huolong's leg.
A clearing in the Germanian forests.
Zhang Huolong goes through his ax drills. Sweating like a horse he draws his saber at fixes it to the matchlock musket that houses an axblade at the ass. Now it becomes a combination Guandao and battle-ax and Huolong starts practicing staff techniques. He suddenly stops as he hears the sound of someone clapping. Taking off the saber he sheaths it and points the gun in the direction of the sound. "Who goes there?" He calls out.
A woman clad in dark purple leather with platinum hair and wielding a sword walks out from some bushes. "You are the mercenary Zhang Huolong yes?"
Huolong checks his aim. "And if I am?"
Ivy smiles. "I want you to get rid of some of my competitors. 3000 for the job-how about it?"
Huolong points the gun at her chest, which wasn't very hard. Ivy calmly says, "Half up front, half when you finish the job. Agreed?"
Huolong nods. "All right then. Now where do you have the money?"
Seung Mina, Sophitia Alexandra and her sister Cassandra trudge through a Germanian forest. Sophitia stops and feels a chill, as if something evil was in the air. They make tracks towards a cave and are surprised when a Chinese man holding a matchlock approaches them. Sophitia feels traces Soul Edge coming from the man. "Who are you?" Mina asks, drawing her weapon.
"Whoa, hold your horses. You searching for that sword, what's it called, Soul Sipher? Soul Edge? That's it, Soul Edge. By the way, my name is Zhang Huolong."
Sophitia tightens her grip on her gladius. "Why do you search for the blade?"
Huolong smiles. "I'm a merc. Some Arab dude paid me, so here I am, looking for the damn thing."
Sophitia draws her blade. "I feel something in that cave. Let's go."
"These caverns are extensive. You could easily lose your way in here." Huolong remarks. He takes out a bit of charcoal and scrapes it along a wall. They approach a fork. Huolong pauses, then goes to the left entrance. They walk for a while longer, then Sophitia suddenly feels the pommel of a sword nail her in the head. She hits the deck.
"What the f-" The others turn around. Mina is about to lunge at Ivy, sword in hand, when a well-placed whack from the stock of Huolong's gun knocks her out cold. This leaves only Cassandra. Huolong turns towards Ivy. "She's yours."
"Getting soft?"
"She's a f*cking kid. Remember my policy. I don't work with mutants, gods, semi-divine beings, or children."
"Very well." Ivy suddenly lunges towards Cassandra. The Greek woman puts up a good fight, but Ivy's technique proves stronger. "We'll take them into the dungeon. You can have them for the night."
One wonders how Ivy could sleep, what with all the screams coming from the cave that night.
The next day Huolong approaches Ivy. "You got my other half?" Ivy points to a door. Huolong walks up to it. He suddenly sidesteps and, reaching out with his gun, hooks the door handle and pulls it open. A hail of arrows comes flying out. Huolong slowly does a left face towards Ivy.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Ivy smiles. "Defense mechanism. You know, in case someone breaks into it." Huolong humphs and is about to step in when suddenly he stops. He takes a short iron hooked stick from his cloak. After a few twists the stick lengthens. Huolong gropes around. The stick latches on to a small box, which Huolong proceeds to pick up. He opens it to find- nothing. Huolong looks at Ivy with an annoyed expression. He draws his sword and slices the box in half. "Try any sleight of hand with my money and see what happens." Huolong ventures out of the cave.
Ivy silently draws her sword and whips it at Huolong's back. She is surprised when it makes a loud clanging noise. Huolong calmly does an about face.
"When you're a merc, well into your 10th year in the profession, you pretty much have an idea of all the dirty tricks someone can pull on you. At the 15th year you start adding your own." He takes off his cloak. A shield is strapped to his back like a turtle shell. Huolong clubs his rifle. "Bring it on, bitch."
Ivy withdraws her sword. Whips are not very well suited for close- quarters, especially in a cave. Huolong bellows a war cry and charges, bringing his clubbed rifle down like an avalanche. He hits the deck as Ivy sidesteps and jumps over a sweep kick, then brings the gun horizontally. Ivy blocks several more strikes, then kicks Huolong in the face. Huolong reels back, then starts running like a mofo around the caverns. He finds a hole and dumps out all the stuff loaded in his musket. Taking out a small piece of paper he pours powder in it, then rolls it up like a taco and bites off the end. Then he takes out the ramrod and pushes it down. Huolong next takes out an iron ball and crushes it with the butt plate of his gun. Scooping up the pieces he empties them down his gun, then cocks the weapon. He suddenly rises up and fires. Ivy manages to block some of the buckshot but other fragments hit her, and the little fragments of metal dig into her skin.
"Buckshot. Gotta love that." Huolong kicks Ivy, knocking her over. He then runs into the dungeon and frees Mina, Sophitia, and Cassandra.
"Here are your weapons. Little bitch tried to kill me. Now run."
Several weeks have passed. Huolong is wandering in the Ottoman Empire, looking for work. He suddenly meets an old acquaintance.
"Yu."
"Yes, me."
"What are you doing here?"
Yu smiles. He whips out a pike. "Let's go."
Huolong fixes his saber to his gun. He suddenly gets a bad feeling in his gut and starts off with a sidekick, just as a huge crossbow bolt whizzes where his head used to be.
"Bastard." Huolong slashes at Yu's legs. Yu jumps over the strike and attacks down. Huolong blocks with his gun and Yu narrowly avoids a kick in the balls.
"You're getting slow." Huolong takes a whack to the side. Grabbing the pike pole Huolong leaps at the younger man and punches him in the face.
A volley of crossbow bolts suddenly comes at Huolong. The merc was unable to dodge all of them. Deciding that retreat is the better part of valor, Huolong runs. Yu throws his pike, which bounces off the shield on Huolong's back. He is about to give chase when Huolong fires. Yu barely manages to dodge the blast and sees Huolong steal his horse and make off.
"Damn!"
Night.
A man stumbles into a village. Several crossbow bolts are lodged in his leg. He leans on a door to help support his weight, and then knocks. A woman answers. A blonde woman, carrying a gladius and a small round shield.
"You!"
Huolong looks up to see the form of Cassandra Alexandra. "Is it true what they say about Greek hospitality?" Huolong asks.
"Yes it is. Come in. What happened?" Cassandra points at the crossbow bolts lodged in Huolong's leg.