(TLO) Chapter 101: Come And Try It (Patreon)

A good sniper knows when to move.

“Shut it!” Seth scolded his thought.

Just saying, another objected. That thing’s coming really fast. Do you see all that dust it’s raising?

Seth forced himself to calm his mind as he reloaded his rifle once more. The action was louder than it had any right to be. His hands trembled, surprising him. It was just one reia beast. He’d fought more on his evolution to Iron. He’d fought in more harrowing situations than this, armed with naught more than a sword or two. Three at the most.

So why did they tremble now? There was still a good distance between them, and he had a rifle. A rifle! His shaking hands reloaded the rifle and he stared into its scope again. It didn’t make sense to him that they should tremble.

His gaze wavered, unable to find stability. He brought the rifle down, took his eye from the scope, stared ahead. He could make out the beast, just barely. He raised the scope back and steadied his aim.

There’s really no need to panic, another mind thought. We’re sure we can do this.

Seth still couldn’t differentiate his minds. He’d struggled and tried over the years but had never found success. They were all the same to him. Still, when he spoke his next words, he had never been more certain in his life.

“Shut up, new guy.”

He stared down his scope again, focusing as his minds fell to near numbing silence. The charging boar was an undeniable threat. But he had time to deal with it. There were at least two minutes between both of them. In a fight, two minutes was a lot of time.

He squeezed out another shot, cocked back another round, and squeezed again. The first shot struck the creature right between its eyes. The second took it on the snout. Both did nothing but enrage the beast more.

“One more,” he mumbled, pulling out a single bullet from the pocket of his cassock.

He loaded it, slowed his breath, and aimed. Breath slowed, his hand did not still. However, they’re trembling reduced well enough for their task.

He squeezed the trigger again, threw the weapon over his shoulder without thought for the result, and moved. His shot clipped the beast’s hoof just right and it veered, stumbling into a tree.

Rifle over his shoulder, Seth stepped off the tree. He dropped through the distance and his feet hit the ground with a thud. Pain flared in one of his legs and he knew he’d miscalculated the distance of his fall, miscalculated just how much his Iron body could take. He felt reia flow through him, unbidden, and activated [Quick Step].

The skill carried him over a distance in what seemed a single step. He passed four trees on his way, then hid behind a fifth. By the time the boar was back on its feet, he was hidden somewhere new.

He held his rifle, point to the ground and waited. As aware of his surrounding as he was, a tree stood between him and the boar. It disrupted any line of sight. Also, in his panicked flee—because that was what it had been—he’d failed to keep real track of the direction he’d gone.

So he waited. Waited for the next brother to pull his trigger. Waited for the next person to draw the creature’s rage. For the next five minutes, no one did. No shot rang out. No slight grunts pierced the silent forest. Only grunts and snorts, and something that felt like a silent rumble filled the air. The boar had lost none of its interest in him.

Still, the silence was overbearing.

We’ve never wished for leaves on a tree so badly before, have we? His mind commented.

He was forced to agree. If the trees around them had enough leaves, they would have served to mask his presence on each one. If they had leaves they would’ve rustled gently, undulated in whatever little or stagnant breeze the woods had, made some kind of sound. Killed the eerie silence.

But that was unimportant. He reached into his pocket, fingered the remaining bullets he had.

Three. It was not enough. He’d need far more if he was to take down the boar. But he was not alone. Not in the truest sense. Emriss might not have said this was a team lesson, but she never said it wasn’t.

“Who remembers where Timi shot from?” he asked his minds.

East?

Seth scowled. “Asking or telling?”

Maybe west.

“Someone do me a favor and shut the new guy up.” His back hugged the tree tightly and he shuffled to the side, peered out of the edge of it. “Can someone give me an answer.” He felt the strangest thing, a rising thought.

“Someone who is not the new guy,” he added.

He’s east, another mind answered. Maybe eighteen trees away. Thirty at the most.

Seth nodded appreciatively. “Good.”

At least he had an ally in this battle. If he could get Timi’s attention, then perhaps they could take the boar down. His mind ran through different possible attacks. All kept coming back to a pincer attack. It was almost as if someone was forcing him to the decision unintentionally. His thought always swaying. Each time he thought of coming at it from the front, serving as support to Timi’s hulking form, his thoughts shifted to coming at it from both sides.

“Is this you?” he asked, annoyed.

We’ll deal with it, a mind replied.

“So it’s you,” he sighed. It was like having his minds in the beginning all over again. Rarely ever agreeing. Always distracting. He’d gone through a lot just for them to come to a modicum of teamwork; for them to be little more than a nuisance. “Do I have to go through this again?”

We’ve got it, another mind replied, annoyed.

“Are you talking back, right now?”

Seth, we’ve got a Boar to kill.

A Silver rank reia beast, another reiterated. We don’t think this is the time.

Seth hated to agree but they were right. He peered out from the edge of the tree again and focused his attention.

You best not be trying to—

“Shut it,” he frowned. “I’m not using the skill. Not yet, at least.”

He returned his attention to the world around him and his focus deepened. He caught a swaying branch in the tree beside him, ignored it. He heard the sound of stomping, angry and in pain. He turned to the other side of the tree and watched.

The mist hindered his vision slightly so that he saw less than he knew he could. Still, it wasn’t long when he found the boar again.

As if on cue, his eyes a kind of drone, someone fired. A bullet crossed the distance to hit the beast in the side. It bounced off, only for two more shots to be fired. Each one took the beast in the side. Like all the others they served only to vex it.

A mind chuckled lightly. It’s almost as if he disagrees.

The boar turned its attention in the direction of the shot and Seth rushed forward. Rifle in hand, muzzle pointed down, he ran towards another tree, then took cover. It brought him closer to the beast.

“As if who disagrees?” he asked, pressed against the new tree.

One of our brothers, a mind answered. He wasn’t sure which one.

He cocked a brow, tired of having to ask verbal questions.

We know where Forlorn, Barnabas and Timi are hiding. So it’s either Jason or Fin. The mind paused for a moment. When he was almost certain it would not explain any further, another thought.

It’s as if they’re trying to remind you that you have other allies besides Timi.

“Good for them.”

He turned, coming clear of the tree as he said the words. Uncaring of his brothers’ opinions, he reloaded his rifle, and took a knee. Out of cover, he had a clear sight of his quarry.

He took aim and fired.

Another boom cracked the silent woods.