A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

With hardly a care for the brutal manner he had just ended a life or the blood that splattered from his victim's halved-up carcass, Roran the Bandit raised his large curved sword off the ground and parried Jonas' sword heavily.

*Clang!*

"Hng!" Jonas groaned as he was forced to take a step back but he quickly recovered as Roran charged at him swinging his sword. This time not to parry but to kill.

Jonas clashed with the heavy blade and gritted his teeth at the reverberating force that traveled up his arm through his sword.

Swiftly and with impressive grace, Jonas used the force behind Roran's sword swing to pivot on a spot and swing his sword at the Bandit's side.

With his brows furrowed, Roran realized what Jonas was up to, and rather than catch up with the move with his sword, he struck out a blow at Jonas's face instead.

*Bam!*

The punch hit and, stunned, Jonas was forced back. He shook off the lights that were starting to dot his eyesight, endured the pain in his face as Roran's fist drew blood, and focused on raising his sword in defense.

*Clang!*

The blades made contact but, unbalanced as he was, Jonas could not root himself solidly enough on his feet to avoid getting slammed back into the mountain's rocky surface.

"Ahhh!" Jonas yelled as the jagged rock formations cut into his body. His back was arched and it was going to take him a few seconds to regain a proper handle on his body. Seconds that Roran was not going to let him have.

Roran made to attack when he sensed something coming at him and made a wide arch with his sword to knock a projectile aside. It was half of a sword's blade.

Half of Al's sword blade.

When Roran cleaved Al in two, he had broken his sword too and now Eli tossed it for a sneak attack.

In the space of a second that Roran spent swiping the blade out of the air before it could stab him, Eli leaped out with his sword stretched out for a jab.

"Slow!" Roran announced with a laugh as he leaned to the side to avoid the jab and retaliated with a slash.

Eli's eyes widened and quickly put as much distance as he could between the blade and himself.

"Ah!" Eli cried out as Roran's sword still cut through him and added to the series of injuries he had already sustained today.

Fortunately, Eli's interference had given Jonas the time he needed to collect himself and he was again swinging his sword at Roran who parried every swing with ease.

"Pointless," Roran said before their swords clashed in a powerful *Clang* of metal that turned into a power struggle during which, Roran laughed,

"Hahahaha! Don't tell me you haven't realized it by now. You're too weak to contend against me!"

It was true.

While Jonas did not have the grace to see Stats as Henry could to know the difference in his and Roran's strengths was 10 Points, he could still feel it in each of their clashes.

That being said, what would his considerable experience as a Fighter amount to if that was all that was needed to take him down?

Unleashing his Mana in a turbulent blast that supported his pushback against Roran's sword, Jonas was able to maintain some balance. He couldn't quite overpower Roran but he made sure he wasn't forced further back.

Roran felt the wave of Mana Jonas was releasing for support and let out a chuckle as his Mana began to leak from his body in a surge he could keep up for fairly longer than his opponent could.

And then, Jonas took one hand off his sword's handle to reach back and pull out a dagger he had hidden away.

In a flash of steel and a move whose success was only ascertained by Roran's arrogance and oversight, Jonas stabbed the dagger into the Bandit's wrist.

"AHH!" Roran yelled as pain shot from the wound while blood spilled out of it.

Jonas took his successful stab even further and drew the dagger along Roran's forearm so that it created a long gash.

Roran's strength slipped only for a second but that second was all Jonas needed to lift himself off his lowered stance and push back at the sword that had kept him at bay.

Due to the pain in Roran's wrist, his grip on his sword slackened just a bit. Jonas noticed this while he was pushing against the sword's blade and promptly shifted his focus from strength to Dexterity, twisting and spinning his sword around the large blade of Roran's sword until the weapon fell out of the Bandit's hand.

Roran didn't appear bothered by losing his sword. He also didn't pick it back up, knowing that could prove a costly mistake to make as his opponent could take advantage. So, he just punched Jonas with his uninjured hand.

*Bam!*

The blow connected and, resisting the pain in his forearm, Roran followed up with a series of punches. Each knocked Jonas a step back every time they connected until his back was slamming into the rocky formation of the Mountain base again.

"Ugh—" Jonas let out in pain as he raised his sword arm and tried to take a swing.

Roran grabbed the arm and slammed it hard against the Mountain.

Gritting his teeth at his pain and giving up on resisting the Bandit's strong grip on his sword arm, Jonas made a swipe with his dagger-wielding hand.

Roran grabbed the arm and slammed it against the mountain as he had done with the sword arm. He was just about to deliver a headbutt that promised to crack Jonas' skull when he sensed an attack coming from behind.

Eli had snuck up on him and was thrusting his sword for a deadly jab. As he had been able to do once before, Roran leaned to the side to avoid the sword only for his eyes to widen when he realized something about Eli's stance.

It was never meant for a jab.

It was meant for a cutting slash.

"You—!" Roran started to say just as Eli swung his sword upward, targeting the arm that was holding Jonas's sword-wielding arm against the Mountain.

*Skisch!*

Half of Roran's arm fell to the ground. Leaving him with a stump that let out blood in violent sprays.

"AHH— ACK!"

Roran started to yell but with his sword arm now free, Jonas wasted no time making a jab that stabbed his sword through the Bandit's open mouth and he continued to push until half of his sword's blade was sticking out of the back of Roran's head.

When Jonas pulled out his sword, Roran's large body wobbled once before falling to the ground with a heavy *Thud*.

Eli slumped to the ground after. He couldn't even delight in the win because just a few feet away was the halved-up body of his friend.

And then he saw Henry.

"You bastard! You caused this!" He yelled,

"YOU DID THIS!"

"Shit," Henry let out.

[Quest Completed!]

[You survived]

[You have received 1000 Exp]

'It doesn't feel like I survived though,' Henry thought sullenly.

Henry couldn't care less about the death his plan had caused. He, however, cared very much that his plan had failed.

If only he had finished up with the Archers faster, he could have killed Eli. Without anyone to step in, Roran would surely have killed Jonas. Something Henry couldn't even consider doing because of the Control-Cuff on his Wrist.

With Jonas dead, Henry could have picked off Roran and would now be on his merry way.

Killing Eli was still doable but what would be the point if he couldn't kill Jonas?

Speaking of Jonas, he walked over to Henry, glaring at him,

"All this just to get away?" He asked.

"You underestimate my desire to escape," Henry retorted with a small sad smile just as Jolts of electricity charged into his brain and caused him to spasm because he just thought about something he shouldn't have.

"You're coming to Alvareen with me, you sly piece of shit!" Jonas said,

"But you don't have to be conscious for the journey."

*Bam!*

The pommel of Jonas' sword struck Henry's head, stooping his spasms as he fell backward, hit the ground, and blacked out.