"It's true that I want mobs coming to me, but this is just..." Subaru didn't continue his words as he sidestepped a wolgarm that pounced at him.
2 days ago, he managed to find a game...a deer.
While still hesitant, he managed to put it down with his pistol. And that is when he discovered something.
His "Inventory" only stores in-game items.
Having not learning any knowledge about preserving meat, Subaru decided to eat what he could at the evening and the morning. And buried the remaining meat.
At this point, he understood two more things.
1. Is that his SP is at 100% when he is fully fed. And 2, almost immediately after he killed the deer, a small yellow bar right below the "Level" on his status appeared and is currently on 29%.
Subaru realized this: why was his SP bar so low when he's hungry?
If you think about it, this leveling system is almost, if not, a literal existing game's system.
It made him consider one thing.
The player and the character.
Was he the player? Or the character.
He himself is the one who's moving, but the fact that he sees the status panel only gives him a theory.
He is both.
But whether that theory is true or even an inkling of it, he has no other evidence to back his theories. He hasn't even heard or seen a game with similar styles on Earth.
But whether or not it is, he needs to know more regardless.
Speaking of the game, if he plays in his mind how the game with this system works, Subaru could understand the concept of such an immersive competitive game. One that requires tactics, skills and higher level.
His pistol, did so much damage that it completely left a fist sized hole on the deer's head.
And it still wasn't upgraded yet, as it also requires credits.
What does that mean? Simple.
It means upgraded suits has to be damaged by a stronger force, or in this case, an upgraded gun/melee. And not to mention, the Leveling also does something.
What that is? He needs to level up to know.
And in the present day, his chance to level up when a pack of wolgarms appeared. The problem is, he's utterly outnumbered.
And his Cloaking, did absolutely nothing as they just sniffed the miasma emanating from him.
Three wolgarms pounced next after he dodged one.
Thinking fast, Subaru whipped out his energy sword, still hesitant to use the gun.
He swiped right, decapitating one on the far right, whilst managing to block an incoming bite with his armored left hand.
Completely missing the third one.
Although armored, Subaru grunted as he felt fangs trying to pierce his suited leg.
Upgrading his suit to level 3 was a great idea. Despite how expensive it is.
With his free fight hand, he cut the one still latching on his left arm.
The wolgarm dropped unceremoniously, but before Subaru can slice the one on his legs, he felt weight behind him push him down.
That action made him let go of the now disengaged energy sword.
"Gah! Ghrrr!" He kicked as multiple more wolgarms attacked.
He was surrounded.
Like ants converging on a bigger insect, the wolgarms bit every place they can latch on.
Though they still failed to pierce his suit, the pressure applied is hurting Subaru.
"Uhg! Ahhhhhhh!" Having no other choice, Subaru braced himself as he materialized his pistol.
Pointing at the one biting his right arm, he pulled the trigger.
The thunderous bang that came out scared the dogs away, though they didn't retreat but only kept distance.
The one that got shot has a hole on it's head, that same fist sized hole.
With a grunt, Subaru immediately got on his feet. His nasty eyes glaring at any of the dogs who tried to move.
Subaru's eyes landed on his top left.
"Level 2 huh."
He had three kills, and there's a dozen more.
Taking a deep breath, Subaru pointed his gun...
..and yelled.
"Come on! What are you waiting for!?! Come get me!"
...
...
...
3 days after Subaru escaped Priestella, on the Miload Mansion.
A blonde maid could be seen running the hallway, with a letter on hand.
Upon arriving at her destination, the blonde maid composed herself before opening the door, revealing a certain group of people.
A silver haired half elf reading documents, a blonde small girl with a hair on ringlets, a blue-haired clown and a pink haired maid.
"Lord Roswaal, I come with a letter from the Lady Crusch's camp." The blonde woman handed the letter as she spoke.
"Thank you Frederica." The clown who is now named Roswaal said.
After opening the letter, Roswaal started reading. Only for his face to scrunch in a frown, something that was noticed.
"What's wrong I suppose?" The ringlet girl asked, not knowing what the message was yet already knowing how grave the news is.
Roswaal put the letter down, before putting on a smile.
"It would seem that the Sin Archbishop of Pride has escaped."
...
There was only silence once Roswaal uttered those words.
Whilst Roswaal was still smiling, the others around him have various expression.
Ram, the pink haired maid was clenching her fist, yet she shown no sign of anger on her face.
Beatrice, the small drill haired blonde frowned and merely turned to her contractor.
Frederica was shocked, and nervous.
And Emilia, the silver haired half-elf looked visibly shaken.
"I am Natsuki Subaru! Your knight! Please believe me!"
Those words still made Emilia shiver.
"We need to inform everyone I suppose." Beatrice finally broke the silence, already taking the initiative to do something.
Everyone else nodded in agreement, there's no need to say anything else. They all knew what this could mean.
The Sin Archbishop of Pride, proclaimed himself as Emilia's knight, to which they think he only did because Emilia has the same description as the Witch of Envy.
And if following that logic, there's a possibility that the Archbishop will come to them, to Emilia.
Meanwhile, outside the mansion.
"Patrasche! Please calm down!" Yelled a grey haired man in green.
He was trying to calm down a jet black earth dragon, which is currently trying to bite off the leash.
This isn't the first time that the earth dragon did this. Sometimes she would make a crying sound in the middle of the night, sometimes she would just lash out at the ones trying to feed her, and even not touching her food.
No matter what the man did, the dragon seemed upset, yet when he asked why, she only responded with "I don't know!"
"Patrasche..."
Not knowing what to do, the man tried to pat the dragon's head, only to retract his hand before it got bitten.
...
...
...
The gun's weight is heavy, both literally and figuratively.
No matter how many times Subaru thinks about it, holding a gun gives him some sort of feeling.
The feeling of power.
Yet behind that feeling, was the weight of responsibility pushing his hand down.
The booming sound it emits, the smell of gunpowder, the recoil of every blast. Once the trigger is pulled, one could die, get wounded and even maimed.
And Subaru doesn't know if he can get used to it. Same with swords even.
But the current Subaru knew, that hesitating won't change a thing. Moving forward, that's what he has to do.
Looking around, Subaru could see the 2 dozen dead wolgarms lying around. Until his eyes stumbled upon his disengaged energy sword.
He approached it then bent over to get it, only for an arrow to land a few inches right beside his reaching hand.
"Don't move." A cold androgynous voice called out.
With Corin.
She didn't know what those weapons were or what that grey armor is, but judging from the tracks she followed, she understood that this was the supposed "Sin Archbishop" she has been following for 4 days.
When she heard loud thunder-like explosions, she immediately ran towards the source. There, she found the armored man blasting the wolgarms with a black L shaped thing.
'A metia?'
"Drop that noisy weapon on your hand." She ordered.
The armored man complied and even raised both hands.
She looked for any signs of weapons, and when she found none, she relaxed a bit.
"Make a move and a knife will be embedded on your head." She warned as she approached, now with a hunting knife on her hand, her bow strapped on her back.
She was confident on her skills to subdue the Archbishop, seeing as the man seemed amateur in using that metia.
And the other metia that looked like a sword's handle... she has no idea what it is but for now, the man is his focus.
She was only a few meters away when the man spoke.
"Who are you?" The sound of his voice had an odd scratchy sound to it. Maybe it's because of his helmet?
"That's none of your concern, all you need to know is that you're coming back with me." She made sure she had a commanding tone on her voice, the last thing she wanted/hated is to be underestimated.
Just like those in the village.
However, the reaction she got didn't match those that she predicted.
In her mind, the man will either scoff and call her out, or curse at her and retaliate. But this man, the supposed Archbishop, merely hummed and said..
"I see. Thank you."
When she was about to ask what he meant, the man dove down and took the two metia's.
Not intending to let him go, she sprung forward with a clear intent to kill.
Yet, despite her intentions to kill him, she hesitated.
Corin has taken lives before, but that only ranges to livestock and preys of the hunt.
A human? She never intended to.
Her mentor and her idol, Ermita, spoke of these kinds of situations.
People with a good heart hesitate when they were put into situations where they must kill another person.
She had played this kind of situations on her head where she would always do it, but being in one only snapped her out of her fantasies.
Reality was cruel, and she must do what she has to do even if it means killing someone. After all, this man or her mentor, she would choose the later.
Still riddled with guilt, she lunged forward, her knife aimed and the man's head where his temple resides.
She knew her speed was enough to close the distance between them. And sure enough, when she struck as he was standing up, her knife was mere centimeters away from stabbing his brain.
But to her surprise, instead of diving into his head, her knife was stopped by a hexagonal shaped light.
It's protection however, wasn't perfect as she clearly heard him grunt in pain as he was pushed back, knocking him down.
She could win this.
With Subaru.
'That actually hurt.' he thought.
A few moments ago when he heard an androgynous voice, his mind already raced on what to do.
Never would he have thought that there was someone here, but when he heard his(?) words afterwards, he understood.
Whoever this hunter was, came from that village. And he's (?) here to take him back.
When he heard him approach slowly, Subaru checked for his status for anything.
And he found out something, something that could help.
The "Energy Field" function was another capability that the suit has.
But rather than a module, it was a built in function that requires a certain level for it to be enabled.
And that is level 5, the current level Subaru is in.
Upon activation, Subaru asked the question. Thinking of buying time to think more.
When the hunter replied, Subaru smiled.
His answer clearly meant that he was from that village. And he's here to take him back.
Subaru could only theorize that there was a bounty put on his head, and this person was some sort of a bounty hunter.
Nevertheless, he had to move.
So Subaru dove, managing to take his pistol and energy sword.
He had a plan, and that is to use both of his weapons to threaten this hunter.
But his plan failed when he saw his hunter.
Subaru admits, when he heard the hunter's voice, he assumed it was a man due to how low it is, but that's not to say that he didn't notice how unnatural it is.
He caught a glimpse of what he could definitely, 100% label as a "tomboy" in a ranger's outfit.
He surmised that "she" tried to look and sound like a man.
But those thoughts proved to be foolish as it gave his hunter the very few seconds she needs to struck him.
His enabled Energy Field did protect him, but he still felt like he was punched hard in the head, dazing him.
And that brings him to his current situation.
Though his weapons are still in his hands, he put both of them in his inventory and took out his combat knife.
And glared at his opponent.