Chapter 22: PvP

  Time Remaining; 712 Days, 18 Hours, 16 Minutes…

  Traveling back to their camp ended up being a lot easier for Alex and Garret than the travel out to the village. No doubt the combined improvements to their stats and their eagerness to get back to their squad made the trip faster. Alex found his body significantly stronger than when he had left. While every part of his body felt like he was at the level of top professional athletes from back home, his dexterity and maneuverability were beyond even that. His balance and control of his movements, even when at top speed, was incredible.

  It took only a couple of hours for Garret and himself to get used to their new and improved selves and begin tearing through the forest on their trek back.

  Garret's physique had gotten bulkier since the refinement he had undergone. His muscles larger, and his overall look was impressive. His size wasn't ridiculous or anything, he didn't appear like one of those immensely buff anime guys. The apparent strength he held was just as impressive though.

  Alex saw his friend dig up stones from the ground with his bare hands. Stones that Alex guessed weighed at least a couple hundred pounds, and then tossed them meters away at the trees. The act wasn't a breeze for the guy, Alex saw him huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf ready for lunch. Regardless it was a feat of brawn that Alex knew Garret could not perform before and would have only been seen in those ultimate iron-strong man competitions back home.

  All in all, they were far more physically capable than they were when they left camp a few days ago. A fact that meant even more than ever that Alex wasn't crazy and imagining all the system screens and stats in his head. It was all very much real.

  The two of them were all smiles and laughs when they finally broke through the brush into their squad's camp. The laughs died in their throats and the smiles waned on their faces as they took in the sight in front of them.

  "Hello there boys," Kate said.

  The squad of Uni's all stood among their tents. Alex's eyes flashed around, seeing that Kate's team stood behind the four figures of Eric, Devon, Allie, and Henry who all knelt on the ground, their hands were tied behind their backs. Alex didn't have to be a genius to understand what was going on here. Based on the fact Garret's knuckles turned white, even he understood the situation.

  "Hello Kate," Alex slowly but deliberately took off his pack and placed it on the ground. He looked to Garret and nodded at him and the scout did the same.

  "Alex, isn't it? I heard a lot about you from your friends here. Seems like you knew what was going on from the beginning and decided not to tell us." Kate held his squad's combat knife in her hand. She twirled it lazily back and forth as she spoke.

  "You got experience points the first night and then ran off without explaining anything. Would have been nice to know, we didn't realize what was happening until the third day." Kate raised her arms, gesturing to the rest of her own squad.

  Zach, the pale guy with the vacant stare that unsettled Alex, nodded along with Kate's words. Holly stood a few feet to the side. She didn't seem like she wanted to be there and refused to look at Alex at all. Cole, the burly black guy in their group simply crossed his arms and let Kate continue.

  "Now we learn you have inside information about a village and went off without us. Once again you were thinking all about yourself. Selfish, capitalist northern pigs, I shouldn't be surprised." Kate kept on with her rant, the knife twirled in her hand as she spoke.

  "Hey Lance. You can come out now. Peter too, I assume," Alex turned his head so his voice carried behind him. With the two men being the only members of Kate's squad who weren't standing in their camp, it wasn't a mental stretch for Alex to figure out they were hiding as backup. He wasn't absolutely certain, but confident enough to call them out on it. A second later, the two men walked from the same direction that Garret and himself had come from just moments before. So, it appeared they had been waiting and set an ambush. Typical strategy, and one that Alex should have seen coming.

  He looked at Lance, disappointed that the man was in on this. He had seemed like a nice guy when he and Holly had run into Alex inside the forest. Now Alex felt betrayed. No wonder Holly refused to even look his way.

  "Oh, he thinks he's smart," Kate laughed.

  "Sorry, Alex," Lance mumbled behind him.

  His apology was too little, too late though. Alex felt his body start to heat up. His breath caught in his throat as he looked between his friends kneeling in the dirt then Kate and her squad standing over them.

  "Toss over the packs, and all the goods you are carrying." Kate pointed at the pouch, which currently contained all their gold, tied to Alex's belt. He should have put it in his bracelet. "That cloak looks nice too, throw that over as well."

  "I will only give this opportunity once," Alex said. He ignored Kate and instead looked at each of the others on her squad in turn. He even looked over his shoulder taking care to catch the eyes of Lance and Peter. "Stay out of this, and you can stay with us, or leave with them afterward if you wish."

  Alex folded up his cloak and set it on top of his pack. He began to unlace the straps to the torso piece of his leather armor as well. Kate looked at him with a confused expression. She was unsure what his intentions were since his actions appeared to comply with her demands, but his words didn't fit with those actions.

  "Did the shock of being here make this guy crazy or what?" Kate knocked her knuckles on Eric's head. The man winced but didn't respond.

  "Just give them all the supplies Alex," It was Allie who spoke up. "None of it is worth getting anyone killed. They already took the rest, so it doesn't matter."

  Alex looked at the medic. He could see the defiance in her eyes. She was pissed about this situation too. Not scared, just angry. She was still trying to be pragmatic though, asking for the solution with the least violence. That wasn't a real option though. Alex knew people like Kate. If they handed over their stuff and surrendered, they wouldn't just be let go. They would be used like prisoners of war. Labor hands, peasants. Maybe even front-line fodder for monster mobs.

  There was an entire den of badgers that needed to be wiped out, and he doubted Kate would even blink at the idea of using them as shields. So no, Alex couldn't just give in and hope to appease this woman.

  "Can't do that Allie," Alex shook his head. Devon looked at him confused. Eric only sighed and let his chin sag against his chest. Surprisingly, it was Henry who held Alex's gaze. The man nodded to Alex and stealthily looked over to Zach.

  Did he think Zach was the biggest threat? The man seemed capable and competent, based on the few minutes Alex was able to observe the Uni squad back when they first arrived. Maybe Henry saw something that Alex didn't?

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  Fair enough, I'll watch him then. Alex said to himself as he began flexing his arms and legs to get the blood flow going. He didn't really think any of them would be a real threat to himself or Garret. He doubted that any of Kate's squad had gone through a refinement. This was going to be a beating, not a fight.

  "Don't kill any of them. Don't maim either. Just go for a knockout." Alex said. He was looking at Garret. The scout nodded and continued looking ahead. No smile adorned his face. He was in his serious mode. Good.

  "Crazy, and full of themselves," Kate said. "Okay then take them out, and hurry up with it. I want to sort the loot and be back for lunch."

  Alex took that as his cue.

  He exploded forward, aimed directly at Zach. The man was just a couple inches taller than Alex, but Alex made up for it in his stats. Alex could see well-defined muscles under his pale skin. Had this been a day earlier, Alex might have hesitated.

  Alex was different now. Higher stats, a refined body, he wanted to ease into combat with the new power and agility.

  He raised his leg and snapped his foot out at Zach's head. The man retaliated by ducking under Alex’s foot and throwing a jab. Alex swiped it aside and threw a jab of his own. Zach pulled back out of Alex’s reach before closing in to pressure him further.

  As the two of them exchanged various punches and kicks in rapid succession, Alex understood why Henry had wisely pointed out the man as a threat. The guy moved in a way that told Alex there was a level of martial arts experience behind his actions. A deflection of a punch here. Pulling just out of reach there. A constant shift of his position to try getting an angle on Alex’s guard.

  It was move and tactics he remembered back in his highschool days when he competed in martial arts himself. Alex and Zach danced for a few moments, neither letting the other gain an upper hand, but it came time for Alex to see what his new stats let him do in a fight. He made his move.

  Alex pulled away from a punch a little too far, almost appearing to go on the back foot. A moment Zach noticed and tried to take advantage of by pressing an advance. Alex immediately countered by stepping forward and aimed a knee at Zach’s midsection. Alex didn’t hold back this time, putting all his refined agility into his movements.

  He took the knee directly in the stomach. Alex saw the man start to double over and swung out with a kick aimed at Zach’s chest. His shin connected with Zach's torso and the collision drove the man's entire body backward in a tumble, almost sending him airborne in the process.

  One down.

  Cole, the well-built black guy, was already stepping towards Alex to help his teammate. Alex eyed him confidently, ready to take the fight up a notch. Cole barely made a second step when Garret barreled into him with a shoulder check. Cole was sent off his feet and to the ground with a loud thud and a pained grunt.

  Kate began to move, retreating now to get back behind one of Alex's squad mates. The combat knife still in her hand gleamed in the rays of sunlight that made it through the forest canopy. Alex didn't know what she planned to do with that knife, either kill one of his teammates or threaten to do it to force them to stop. Either way, he couldn't give her the chance.

  He went after her next.

  Garret thankfully noticed this and intercepted Cole as the man regained his balance and tried to go on the offensive. A rather surprisingly fluid roundhouse kick to the chest by Garret was more than enough to knock the wind from his lungs and send the guy sprawling into a tree. Cole landed into the dirt with a thud.

  Two down.

  Alex had already caught up to Kate with his higher agility by this point. He reached out and grasped Kate's wrist in a vicegrip. He wanted to wrench away the knife, but she must have been putting all her experience points into strength because she resisted him despite his stat increases.

  The two of them pulled against each other for a couple of seconds before Kate tried throwing a punch at him.

  It was simple enough for Alex to dodge the fist with his refined body. He ducked under her punch and sent one of his own into her stomach. It appeared she wasn't putting any experience points into vitality because she immediately dropped the blade and had to keep herself from emptying the contents of his stomach onto the grass.

  Alex tossed the knife to the ground, the blade sinking into the dirt halfway to the handle. He closed on Kate with malice in his eyes and raised his leg once again, ready to knock her out with a kick to the head. She was too distracted to block now and Alex was far too fast.

  He was interrupted.

  Alex had to pull back from another punch that came from his right, and focus his attention on a new target, Peter. Peter followed up his punch by jabbing a hand-crafted spear at his chest. Alex felt a new wave of red-hot anger as he realized it was one of the spears that he had helped craft a couple of days ago for his teammates. Either Devon's or Henry's weapon was now being used against him.

  Alex had to sidestep the spear thrust. He wasn't confident in his ability to redirect it with just his hand like he did Zach’s punches. Even with an agility of five, he didn't know if he was that fast yet.

  Though he was quick enough to step into Peter's guard, and thus making the spear's length now useless at the sudden close proximity. The man dropped the spear to free his hands and only got Alex's fist slammed into his jaw for the effort.

  Alex's hand stung from the blow. He felt something crack and was pretty sure it was Peter's jawbone.

  The man stumbled a step, his eyes dazed but still conscious. Alex fixed that by sending his foot into the side of Peter's head. The guy was taller and bigger than Alex but collapsed faster than a wet paper bag when Alex’s foot connected. Alex was nearly certain he was only knocked out. At least he hoped so.

  His attention went to Lance now, prepared to take on a new fight. The guy whom Alex sat and talked to just a few days ago was standing right where he had been at the start of the brawl. He was certainly surprised; Alex saw genuine confusion and awe on his face. The guy looked at Peter, who was on the ground, and then raised his hands. It seemed that he really wasn't going to enter the fight.

  So Alex ignored him. But, his blood was still boiling and his heart pumped faster than ever. Lance didn't want to fight, fine then, Alex still had other targets to deal with.

  Garret was taking care of subduing Cole at this point. Zach was still writhing in the dirt trying to get his breath back. Holly had now backed away even further than when the fight had started. It looked like she also wasn't up to fighting either. That only left-

  Alex felt something hit his arm like a lightning bolt.

  He looked down to find the combat knife he had thrown into the dirt now sticking completely through his upper arm. Holding the handle to the weapon, was Kate.

  "You motherfucker," Alex yelled.

  He felt her start to pull back, drawing the knife with her. Alex stepped closer, pressing himself against her and grabbing her wrist with his other hand to stop her. He could try twisting her hand to get her to let go, but that would probably twist the knife in his arm as well. That was not a wise course of action for him to take.

  There were very few options for him at this point. He couldn't stop to think and simply acted on instinct.

  Alex slammed his head into Kate's forehead.

  Twice.

  The second time she let go of the knife. Alex pinned his arm against his side to not aggravate the injury further. He just accepted not having the use of his arm for now and pressed his advantage. He lashed out with a kick once again. This time he aimed at her knee. The impact made a popping sound, and Alex knew he dislocated the joint based on the way her leg moved. She screamed from the pain as she fell into a kneeling position in front of Alex.

  "Goodnight, asshole." Alex sneered at her. Then he slammed his knee into her face.

  She was unconscious before she even hit the dirt. A dislocated knee and a broken nose meant she wasn't getting up anytime soon. Alex would look forward to seeing the pain in her eyes once she woke up.

  "Damn dude," Garret said, "Didn't know you were handing out free rhinoplasties."

  Alex only managed a half-hearted chuckle before the pain in his arm refused to be ignored any longer and he fell on the ground next to Kate. His vision went blurry just as the pain in his arm pulsed again and overpowered the fiery rage that still flowed in his mind. He heard Allie and Eric shouting at Garret to untie them.

  The adrenaline of the fight began to drain from his body. The black fingers closed in on the edge of his vision, which Alex was the grasping stranglehold of shock.

  Then he lost consciousness.

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