Luke fixed his gaze on the system message, he did not know what it was, but given the situation, the adrenaline running through his body would find a way to adapt to the advantage given by the system.
The attacker sighed.
"Shall we start this again?"
"Yes"
"Yes"
"Great then."
The three moved toward the same meeting point, pushing off the ground with absurd force. There were only a few seconds to think, they exchanged looks, they knew someone would make a mistake, misjudge the distance.
They were waiting for a failure.
The impact happened, steel met steel. Luke and the man collided blades, the man held the attacker's crossbow, while the attacker held Luke's remaining wrist. All of them had their movements restricted, the only one who still had a weapon available was the attacker.
Their gazes shifted toward her sheathed blade.
She released Luke's wrist to grab the blade, but the two reacted faster, a frontal kick to the attacker's stomach, throwing her off the rooftop. Her short sword slipped from her during the impact.
She fell from the rooftop.
The man looked at Luke.
"We were well synchronized just now, right?"
"Let's put that to the test"
Both already knew their skill with blades was similar, and an extra sword was on the ground, at a practically equal distance from both of them. Whoever grabbed it would win the conflict, and only the injured attacker would remain.
They knew that.
They moved horizontally, keeping the distance, until they reached the blade.
Between the two of them, there was only the attacker's short sword, equally distant from both, the two began to move in circles, in a synchronized and periodic manner. Both were too closed off for any attack, they only stared at each other, deep within their eyes.
Luke noticed the man's face, he was a little old, the wrinkles and dark circles on his face were visible from a distance, how could a man that age fight on equal terms with a young man like Luke?
Suddenly Luke remembered the message that the system had sent, about a new ability.
'Executioner's step... how do I use this'
The system activated.
[Executioner's step: A movement technique, with one step, the user reaches behind the target, ready to apply a single merciful strike.]
[When using Executioner's step:
+Speed
+Strength
+Insight
+Dexterity with handheld weapon
If the merciful strike fails, a penalty will be applied: 1 second without moving.]
Luke understood.
But it was risky, a strike that could execute his opponent right there, or could end up executing Luke himself. It all depended on the mastery with which he would perform the strike.
[Threat detected, projectile]
[Advantage: Agile]
The attacker recovered from a distance, while the two were in a moment of tension, and fired at both of them, the man had not yet noticed, but the advantage allowed Luke to predict the situation. He only needed the man to shift his attention toward the shot, even if just for a millisecond. The projectile would arrive in moments.
The shot was coming, time passed so slowly for Luke that the arrow seemed not to move.
He waited for just one signal, for his gaze to shift toward the arrow.
It happened. The man's eyes turned toward the arrow, that instant was minimal, but it was more than enough for Luke to execute the enemy, like a ruthless executioner.
One step.
Luke was behind the man, he had not yet noticed his presence, he only focused on adjusting his posture so that the arrow would pass straight by his shoulder. He would die without knowing what struck him.
The advantages that the system gave Luke acted like a drug in his body, the effect was immediate.
A clean cut, the blade came out without a single drop of blood.
The arrow struck the man's head, however it had already detached from the body, the shot pierced the severed head and pinned it to the ground, like a war trophy, the enemy's head displayed in the shame of his defeat.
The man's body fell to the ground, limp, like a large piece of meat, his cut began to spray and spill a large amount of blood, forming a massive pool on the ground, one beneath his body, and another beneath his head.
[Threat detected, projectile]
[The advantage "Agile" is still active]
This time he managed to perceive exactly the place from which the projectile came, a slightly taller structure, to his right.
Luke simply tilted his head downward, causing the arrow to graze his neck, taking with it a few strands of hair. The system was adapting, as if it was adjusting itself to the rhythm of the fight.
"Don't hide, I already know where you are"
She jumped onto the building Luke was on.
"I thought hiding was my strength..."
"It doesn't seem like it. Now, I suggest you break your contract and get out of my way"
"And if I don't?"
Luke was close to the blade that the woman had dropped, he walked to it, picked it up and threw it away. The weapon fell away from where they were.
"There's no way to fight up close anymore, if you try anything I'll cut you in two, but I'll let you choose where the cut will be."
The woman hesitated, lowering the crossbow.
"Indeed, I would be foolish to continue, I suggest a truce."
"How do I guarantee you won't try something?"
"You don't, that's how things work"
Luke did not understand, but accepted it that way.
"You're not going to ask who sent me to kill you?"
"No... that is not part of my objective."
"And what is your objective?"
"I do no-"
The system activated.
[Objective altered, variables changed]
[Objective: Discover the attacker's motivations]
'What? How does it change so abruptly'
Luke processed that information, and hesitated before responding.
"Hey, I asked you a question, what is your objective?"
"To discover your objective"
The woman's expression changed, she was surprised, she did not know how to respond to his statement.
"So you want to know who sent me? You could have said that earlier."
"Tell me."
"I don't know."
Luke was shocked, in his mind the information was with her, it made no sense for her, the woman who had been hired to kill Luke, not to know her own objective.
"What do you mean?!"
"This contract was different, usually I sign them personally, but this one was sent by the system itself... normally the system would not send any kind of message."
'If normally it doesn't send messages, what is different about mine?'
"If you don't know, who does?"
The woman who had only been observing before, stepped out from the shadows.
"I think I might have an idea."