Ethan wanted a long view, so he looked up at the tippy top of the hill he was sitting below. He channeled the lightning in his foot, from his tippy toes to his whole foot.
[Skill learned: Pace Merchant]
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Marcus asked, backing away a bit, the PTSD from before kicking at his nerves.
"You wait here."
[Pace Merchant active]
[Charge: 100% > 99.99%]
And blowing away from where he stood, he ran. Fast. Very fast. Trying to step ever so carefully, dodging the trees and bushes, but the bugs slammed into his face, some entering his mouth as he spat them out, irritated.
Yaaakk, don’t open your mouth while you’re running. Noted.
And within seconds, he reached the top. He jumped onto a tree, reaching the very tippy top. The view came in nice. The birds, the mountains. He took it in, breathing in the fresh air, which was ever so rare nowadays.
"So where are you lot?" He voiced, as the timer kept ticking and ticking and ticking.
When finally, he saw the craft hovering silently behind the giant treeline. "Bingo, found you fuckers." He said, seeing one soldier after another roping down.
"One, two, three, four, and... five." He said, as his system was accurate indeed. Five B-grade soldiers coming to get him, a normal cadet. Or did they know? He couldn’t figure it out, because if they knew, it meant Marcus had told them.
He looked below, watching Marcus trying to make peace with the bear, throwing some jerky at it.
"What game are you playing, Marcus?" He voiced. But that wasn’t the issue at hand. The issue was the soldiers. Soldiers who were good at killing.
No, great at killing. They weren’t called the Leviathan crew for no reason. That title was earned, going through rigorous, mind-melding training.
"Will my power be enough?" He asked himself. All he had was lightning and a little bit of speed.
[02:56]
AAAAHUUUUUUU!
Wolves howled from behind. He turned to see them: dire wolves, chasing an antler.
"Poor antler." He said, when a sudden idea popped into his mind. "Oh, Marcus is gonna love this." He voiced, as he jumped down branch by branch.
He ran, ran directly toward the antler. His speed caught it off guard. He looked back at the wolves and stuck his tongue out.
The wolves growled, running even faster. But Ethan was faster. He left a few tracks behind, reaching the cave once again.
"We have company." Ethan said.
Marcus, who had been patting the bear, saw the white-haired man holding an antler by its horn as it tried to escape his grip.
"What the he—"
"No time to explain. Leviathans will be coming in from 12 o’clock, and a horde of dire wolves at our six."
"Wait, wh... what, how..." Marcus stuttered in confusion.
Ethan threw the antler to the bear. The bear grabbed it by the neck and put it down.
"Marcus, remember the training. Art of war. Confuse the enemy and then strike. Not before, not after. Right then and there. Just like in our training." He said, clapping his cheeks.
"You understand?" Ethan asked. "I’m giving you a chance here. You got your gun?"
Hearing those words, Marcus snapped to attention. "Okay, okay. I got it. Just like the training."
Ethan let go. Marcus looked around, eyeing the pitch darkness inside the cave. "I will be in there." He said, as Ethan nodded.
Ethan nodded back and turned.
[00:36]
[00:15]
[00:01]
The bushes started to rustle. The bear, snacking on the deer, suddenly growled. But it wasn’t the growl of a predator. It was the growl of prey.
The bear knew that what was coming from the bushes was ready to kill, ready to slaughter. Something far more dangerous than itself.
So the bear could only back away, cautious.
And from the bushes, two of them appeared, pointing their guns at Ethan.
"What? What is this? Wasn’t our target a black-haired and yellow-haired cadet? Over?"
Yes, that is the data we were given. Over.
The soldier looked to the side at the captain, the captain giving a hand sign, which Ethan was completely oblivious to as he put his hands up.
"I mean no harm, fellas. What’s happening here?" He asked, gambling on the fact that they didn’t recognize him, since his hair and eye color had changed.
Come on, what’s taking them so long.
He thought. He didn’t know if they had followed or not, but if they hadn’t, he was actually in trouble.
The soldier took off his goggles. "Boy, who are you and why are you here?" The captain asked.
"Just... hunting?"
Looking at his disheveled clothes, the antler, and the bear growling at them, those were reasonable words.
"That your pet?" Another one asked, pointing at the bear.
"Who the hell has a bear as a pet?" The soldier from the back asked.
"Come on, he looks foreign." The front one voiced.
"Silence." The captain said. "Boy, did you see two people? One black-haired, another yellow-haired."
Ethan played innocent, shaking his head. "Sorry, sir. I’m just minding my own business and all that."
The one in the back took out a device, scanning the area. When the scanner captured Ethan’s face, the facial features matched to the tee.
"Wait, he’s the one! He’s using a disguise!"
The captain heard it. "Shoot! Shoot!" He ordered everyone. But Ethan smiled, hearing the rugged pace of the dire wolves coming from behind.
"Too late." Ethan said, sparking his hand bright, blinding them. "Marcus, now!"
Shots were fired, the soldiers shooting at empty air, their eyes blinded by that spark of lightning. When they opened their eyes, somewhat cleared, the mouths of the wolves were already inches away from their faces.
"AAAaaa!" One of them screamed, getting their neck seized by the many giant dire wolves.
Marcus, with his training, patiently, breathing slowly, shot right at the thin space in their armor at the neck. The one holding the scanner took the blow, choking on her own blood.
The captain, eyes still blurred, pushed away the wolf coming at him, but he already knew two were down.
"Retreat, retreat!"
Marcus smiled, actually having fun watching the confusion. "I won’t let you." He said, pulling the trigger.
The captain, on instinct alone, dodged at the last millisecond. The bullet hit the armor. "There you are..." He growled, unloading all his bullets into the cave.
"Die!"
He unloaded everything in there, catching some wolves and the bear in the mess. Blood spattered everywhere.
"Fuck!" Marcus cursed, rolling to the side as the bullets hit the ground where he had been lying. "Shit, what the hell was that?"
Ethan appeared by his side. "They are B-grade soldiers. The element of surprise could only do so much."
"Use your powers then?" Marcus asked.
"No, not now. Only when they are on the run." Ethan whispered with a smile.
"You devious fucker."
And they fell back. Two of the enemies lay on the ground, one without a head, getting chomped by a few wolves, the other already dead from blood loss.
"Let’s go."
"Yeah, I’ll go first. Take the gun and keep sniping them." Ethan said.
"Roger." Marcus voiced in excitement, reloading the gun from a dead B-grade soldier.
Ethan’s foot sparkled, and boom. He was gone. Pacing forward. While Marcus climbed the nearest tree. The tallest one.
"Hunters to hunted, bitch."