A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

"Are you alright?" Andor asked the Cleric behind him.

"I'm fine," she said and he was surprised by how stable her voice was. It wasn't like the stability of someone who now felt safe but like that of someone who had never been in danger in the first place.

"I'll heal him now," she said and gestured at the Slave with the gash on the side of his head.

"Of course, I'll protect you," Andor said and allowed himself a glance back before she turned her face away to heal the Slave. She was pretty.

"Andor," Eloise called out gently. She now stood about two feet away from him in an attacking pose while her sword was pointed at the Orc she had hobbled but was now back to its feet.

"Hmm?" Andor replied to the call with a raised brow.

"Focus," Eloise said.

Andor flushed.

The caution was not entirely out of place. He had been out of it twice already. However, they had taken down three Orcs in total —one by working together— and Andor was starting to feel complacent. And he couldn't really be blamed. After all, Eloise had injured this Orc already. This couldn't be any harder than their other kills had been.

And then…

*BAM!*

… The sound came from off to the side. Andor allowed himself a glance and saw the head of a Slave get completely shattered by a slam of the flat side of an Orc's Ax. A Mercenary was decapitated the very next second and her head hit the grassy ground and bounced once twice before rolling to a stop.

Besides those deaths, all others had only been struck down. The only Mercenaries and Slaves close by and still standing were the ones who were entirely on the defensive and backing away with two Clerics whose eyes were widened at the horror that had just happened mere feet away from them.

Three Orcs stalked the defensive group who were futilely seeking an opening to make a run for it but one soon broke away from the others. The blade of its Ax was covered in the blood and brain matter of the Slave whose head it just shattered and it had its eyes on Andor. Or maybe those eyes were on the Cleric behind Andor who was currently chanting a healing spell/prayer.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Either way, Andor was a target.

"Eloise," he called.

"Yeah, I see him," Eloise answered. There was only a second before the Orc she had injured stopped sniffing at her and charged,

"Can you handle it?" She asked Andor.

"I—" Andor started with furrowed brows and then he raised his Shield defiantly in front of him and gripped his Spear tighter before taking a deep breath to say confidently,

"Of course I can."

"Good," Eloise said and smiled lightly before charging at the Orc who awaited her with an Ax swing.

*Clang!*

"Ngh—" Eloise let out almost surprised by the physical night the Orc put behind the Ax swing.

"You cut me," the Orc said.

"I did," Eloise replied refusing to be thrown off by the chatty Orc.

"You'll regret it," the Orc said and took on a pose like someone charging up an attack.

"I don't think I will," Eloise said with a beam attack already charged. She fired the beam and the Orc swung its weapon to deflect the beam.

"This is nothing," the Orc announced confidently but it was its turn to be surprised at how, despite a successful deflection, the beam still forced it to slide back. Discover hidden stories at empire

Even worse, after the second he spent resisting the push of the beam, Eloise had vanished.

"Behind me," the Orc mumbled to itself as its slightly long-tipped ears twitched.

And sure enough, Eloise came at it from behind and leaped into the air so that her sword jab was targeting the Orc's neck.

"Too slow!" The Orc announced with a laugh as it leaned its head to the side and the attack missed. But, determined for a 'win', Eloise changed her planned jab into a swing that cut a gash across the Orc's shoulder.

The Orc's shoulder bled and when Eloise's feet hit the ground, she was about to swing her sword for her next string of attacks when the Orc's large hand wrapped around her neck and tightened.

"You—" The Orc let out through gritted teeth and leaned its face so close that Eloise could tell it was truly upset that she had managed to injure it for a second time.

Choking and struggling for breath, Eloise clawed at the Orc's large hand but quickly noted this was a futile attempt. She lacked the strength to pull free but strength was not really needed when she still had her weapon and so she stabbed her sword into the Orc's arm.

Letting out a groan of pain, the Orc gritted its teeth even harder and its extra-long canines appeared even more menacing as It raised its Ax and brought its blade down toward Eloise's head that it was holding in place with its hand around her neck.

Eloise ignored the coming Ax attack. She kept her attention on her sword. She retained her tight grip on its handle which was difficult with how close her neck was getting to being crushed.

Eloise yanked her sword as hard as she possibly could, cutting through muscle, and veins while damaging all nerves that made it even possible for the Orc to even clench its hand around her neck.

"ARRRGHHHH—" the Orc yelled out in pain, Eloise pulled out of its now loosened grip and leaped away because, even as it mourned the loss of the use of one hand, the Orc still swung its Ax with the intent of cleaving her head open.

The Ax hit the ground instead of her head but before Eloise could revel in the breathing room she had gained, as well as the lack of constriction around her throat, a massive foot came at her, connected with her blood-splattered chest, and sent her slamming into a tree trunk.

*Bam!*

"I WILL KILL YOU!!!" The Orc yelled out in a vow and came at her, now one-armed to swing its Ax at her where she lay against the tree, looking vulnerable.

Eloise's ducked out of the way just in time and just as the Orc's Ax cut through the trunk of the tree, she swung her sword at the Orc's leg —The one she had only slightly sliced through when she first attacked it— and this time she ensured she cut clean through to turn it into a bleeding stump.

The loss of its leg seemed to send the Orc over the edge. The pain seemed to be so intense that its red eyes turned even darker and widened in rage-induced madness. It let out a long string of profanities —most of which Eloise didn't understand— and swung its Ax with even more vigor than ever before.

Alas, with a stump for a leg, the Orc was not at all mobile enough to survive Eloise's expert maneuvers with her sword. She dodged every single one of its swings, parried well enough to send it spinning out, and ended it all soon enough with a sword stab through its heart in a fatal attack it could not resist or endure with rage.