Both William and Osric were surprised by the sudden appearance of the four strangers that didn't seem to have good intentions.
William whispered to Osric.
"Osric, what should we do? They look like bandits."
William had never fought a person with a real weapon before, so naturally he was scared.
Meanwhile Osric was distracted by what he was seeing in his mind's eyes.
[System Challenge Triggered]
Objective:
Survive the encounter.
Failure:
Death
Reward:
???
Osric could hear his slowed breath while his body felt anxious.
He quickly understood that he would have to take a human life for the first time.
'Can I do this?'
The bandits approached them slowly with weapons drawn and Osric shook his head internally.
'No. It's us or them. I need to focus.'
"Osric?"
Osric realized that he hadn't answered William before.
"Right. Get ready and be prepared to kill them. Just stay calm but guarded until I give you a signal."
William gulped nervously.
'Are we really doing this?'
A bald man with a few small scars across his rough face — clearly the leader — spoke first.
"Look here kiddos. If you hand over that wolf along with all your possessions, we will let you go unharmed."
He grinned and his rotting teeth showed.
"No need to be scared. So what is your decision?"
The three men beside him who looked just as rough and worn, started chuckling.
"Hehehe."
"Look at that red head. He looks like he's gonna piss himself."
"Hahahah!"
William started sweating.
He had never faced bandits before despite how many there were in Ashbrook.
It was mercenaries that took care of bandits, but most mercenary bands didn't take their work seriously or were doing other work for the Baron.
Osric saw how nervous William was and decided to whisper something.
"They won't keep their word even if we agree. I'm sure they'll try to kill us, but remember—
We are both E-Rank adventurers who have faced monsters. They are just weak humans with bad weapons. Believe in your abilities William."
One of the men walked up to Osric.
He was very tall but thin. The man who looked to be in his thirties and had a starved and ugly face, was holding a cheap spear in bad shape.
Osric calmed down and focused.
'This is it. I have always known that I would have to kill someday to achieve my revenge as well as to gain power. That can't be done without dirtying my hands.'
He resolved himself.
The tall bandit laughed while getting close to Osric.
"Hahaha. Look at that pretty face looking all serious!"
As he said that, he turned around to look at his friends.
'Idiot. He came so close while holding a spear while I am holding a sword.'
Osric swung his sword sideways with minimal movement.
The swing wasn't perfect — slightly off-line — but close was enough.
The blade cut through.
The narrow head separated cleanly from the body.
Osric didn't waste time.
The other bandits were only a few meters away and would react in a second.
"William, take the small guy to the right. Charge!"
He was already moving towards the bandit leader when William quickly reacted after half a second of hesitation.
'Shit. Screw it, I want to survive this!'
William charged with full speed.
While this was all happening within a second or two, the bandits were still in shock.
The leader yelled.
"Spinner! Fuck, kill them!"
He lifted his blade and was ready to block Osric.
But Osric's sword was already swinging down at him with full force.
"Clang!"
He barely holds onto his weapon and tries to regain his balance, but he was wide open now.
Osric immediately followed up with an upwards swing to leave a big cut across the bandit leader's body.
"Shhhht!"
He screamed in pain.
"Arghh!"
And then fell on his back.
At the same time as he was falling, William's axe crashed down and splintered the short sword in a single blow.
The short bandit was shocked and terrified.
William was about to cut him down, when the bandit got on his knees.
"No please! Don't kill me!"
"I surrender."
William hesitated and decided to lower his axe.
But he was surprised when the bandit took out a dagger and stabbed it into him.
Unfortunately for the bandit, he didn't realize that William was wearing a sturdy leather cuirass under his coat.
William looked enraged.
"You bastard!"
He swung his axe and beheaded the bandit.
On the other side, Osric was attacked by the last bandit when the leader dropped to the ground.
But it only took seconds for him to parry the blade and counterattack with a clean thrust into the bandit's chest.
Osric turned around to look if William was okay and saw him standing over a headless corpse.
'Good. I was slightly worried whether he could do it.'
'Although the same could be said for me.'
He then looked down at the bandit leader and saw that he had already succumbed to the slashing wound and wasn't breathing anymore.
The adrenaline slowly wore off for both Osric and William.
Osric's hands started shaking and he dropped his sword.
'What's going on?'
Breathing was also tougher than it should have been from the movements he made.
'I thought that I could stay calm.'
His heart was beating strongly and he asked himself.
'Will it always be this way?'
When he looked at William, he saw that his companion was kneeling on the cold ground and shaking.
His eyes looked terrified.
William was shaking harder than he was.
Osric looked at his hands that were still shaking when he got the system message that he had completely forgotten about.
[System Challenge Completed]
Reward:
Swordsmanship (F) —> (E)
New Skill unlocked!
Composure (F)
The message steadied him — not completely, but enough to think clearly again.
'Right.'
'This was a necessary step.'
'Even if I have to bloody my hands, I will do anything to survive and grow.'
He decided to look at the rewards again later.
Osric then turned and walked up to William.
He grabbed his shoulder gently.
"William."
William looked up with a scared expression.
"I understand how you feel. This was my first time as well and it was terrifying."
"Then how are you so calm Osric?"
"Because I know that we did what we had to."
"We will only grow stronger from here. You know just as well as me just how dark it is in Ashbrook."
"It won't be the last time."
"So we get stronger."
"Strong enough that this stops being terrifying."
Osric held out his hand.
William wiped off a couple of tears.
He looked more determined than he had ever been in his life.
"You're right. I will follow you Osric."