BXBX NOVEL Chapter 120: A Gunslinger Vs Archers
[You have Lost 15 Hit Points]
[Hit Points: 105/170]
Henry\'s eyes were wide. He had sensed the arrow coming close. His Perception had warned him of that much but before his mind could even process the warning his senses had given and transfer that to his body to move even an inch, the arrow made contact.
Had the Archer been far more precise, Henry worried his head might now have an arrow sticking out of it.
\'How is an arrow that fast?\' He wondered and then saw the shaft sticking out of his body glowing with Mana.
"Ah, I see," he said with a smirk before looking up just in time to see more arrows make their way toward him.
Making use of the principle that had served him well to dodge bullet shots, Henry reacted to the hands of the Archers. He moved just before they let go of the strings of their bows and with his Perception as sharp as it currently was, he was away from the spot about seven arrows came striking at the very next second.
With a slight *chink* sound, Henry raised his guns toward the Archers and fired.
He wasn\'t surprised to see most of them leap back just far enough to not get shot. He had seen their Status screens with <Insight> and knew Agility was their best stat with strength only capable enough to handle drawing their bow\'s strings.
What helped the Archers avoid Henry\'s shots the most were the mountain peaks and the jagged rock formations that were all over it. All they had to do was duck out of sight while the bullets struck and broke off pieces of rock, leaving them relatively unarmed.
\'Relatively\' being a deliberately used word because the few shots Henry fired with \'The Hydra\'s Sting\' punctured harder through the rocks and grazed some body parts.
Had Henry been close enough to them, he would have heard those grazed by the bullets let out pained groans but they were otherwise fine.
Because the bullets had merely scratched the targets and had not gotten lodged within their bodies, there were no ghastly acidic combustions. At least not for this bunch.
However, Two hadn\'t ducked away fast enough to survive Henry\'s assault of bullets and had not been lucky enough to just be grazed.
One suffered a headshot that had his head lolling atop his neck before he fell off the peak and hit the ground with a crushing sound.
[Kill-Reward: 150 Exp]
There was no \'first-time\' Reward because the Archer, according to the System was technically still a Warrior.
Anyway,
Henry\'s other victim also suffered a headshot but it was from \'The Hydra\'s Sting\'. His head turned into a cauldron of bubbling acidic goodness, that swelled to at least twice its size before exploding in a burst that splattered against rocks and sizzled violently as the acid burned through while other bits hit other Archers standing relatively close by.
"AHHHH!!!" They all cried out in unison.
[Kill-Reward: 150 Exp]
Henry might never have felt the pain those splashed by the acidic bits were feeling but he remembered Triss suffering something similar and he could not help but sigh like he pitied them.
The injury caused by the acidic splash was a \'living one\' according to Elminster. It would continue to fester and since Henry doubted they had a Healer as capable as Yelena on their side, he assumed the Bandits were in for many weeks of agony bound to end in death all the same.
"I\'ll just put you out of your misery," he mumbled and readied to fire more shots when he had to stop and leap away as more Arrows came flying at him.
The ones who had survived were quick to draw their bows again and Henry could have sworn their arrows traveled faster because they were angry at him.
"Ngh!" Henry let out as an Arrow pierced his back and caused his movement to stumble.
[You have lost 20 Hit Points]
[Hit Points: 85/170]
Henry recovered from his stumble soon enough and leaped towards the base of one of the many mountains that bordered the Mountain Path, making it difficult for the Archers to aim at him.
Of course, with there being Archers on the mountain peaks on the other side of the Mountain Path, Henry knew he was not actually safe. Said Archers were already drawing their bows and taking aim but Henry saw it as an opportunity and in a flurry of shots, he picked three from the bulk and shot them dead.
Two out of the three had their heads explode causing more cries of pain from others getting splattered by the acidic sizzling bits. The third victim, however, froze in place as his mouth opened wide and he let out the green cloud of <Numbing Gas>.
[Kill-Reward: 150 Exp]
[Kill-Reward: 150 Exp]
[Kill-Reward: 150 Exp]
As the notifications of his Exp gains from the three kills sounded in his head, Henry watched the Archers breathe in the <Numbing Gas> before they had the good sense to get away from the cloud.
At least four of them managed to resist the paralytic effect of the gas and got away from the cloud to seek cover behind rock formations so they didn\'t get picked out by Henry\'s shot.
However, three Archers who had been splashed by the acidic bits from two of their exploding comrades were far too occupied with their paid groans to think to resist paralysis.
They endured their pain enough to try and shoot their arrows at Henry but their muscles locked in place and they twitched while Henry raised his normal Revolver and picked them off one by one.
[Kill-Reward: 150 Exp]
[Kill-Reward: 150 Exp]
[Kill-Reward: 150 Exp]
Those who had avoided getting paralyzed rose from behind their rock formations now with their bows drawn and Henry had to roll away to avoid getting punctured all over by their arrows but within the second they took to notch more arrows, another fell to Henry\'s <Acidic Combustion> shot.
[Kill-Reward: 150 Exp]
Having learned from the death of others, the Archers knew to get away from the victim with the garishly swelling head but they made sure their running did not stop them from shooting their arrows.
It was a good idea. Unfortunately for them though, they were not faster than Henry.
And in three shots, all backed by his {Marksmanship Skill} like the other shots he had made so far, Henry had the three falling back or off the mountain with holes in their heads.
[Kill-Reward: 150 Exp]
[Kill-Reward: 150 Exp]
[Kill-Reward: 150 Exp]
"Fucking Hell!"
The Archers whose sight of Henry had been blocked by him sticking by the base of the mountains on their side of the Mountain Path watched with their eyes wide in awe mixed with horror as their fellows fell to a single man\'s attacks.
And then, Henry kicked off the Mountain base with every bit of strength he had in his body focused on his legs to give him the longest \'leap\' possible.
The Archers, despite their awed horrors, were ready and let their notched arrows fly but even as a couple struck Henry with the arrowheads cutting deep into his body, he gritted his teeth, knowing the pain would pass in a second, and fired his guns in retaliation.
He aimed for those who had been splashed with the Acidic bits first. Putting them out of their misery just as he had planned to do a few minutes earlier.