(Third Person POV)

  The man spat on the ground, "I don't know who you think you are." He said, "But you won't leave this pce alive."

  "What a generic thing to say." Samuel said with a serious expression, "Especially for someone who had his ckeys gunned down in front of him."

  The man began to step to the side, taking in deep breaths as he raised his knife. He was trying to judge the distance between Samuel and him, knowing that Samuel was capable of aiming and shooting at him in an instant. Anticipating this, the man was trying to gauge the amount of speed he would require to rush in and stab him.

  But at that moment, he knew it would be a dangerous attempt. Even if he was aware that he had one bullet left in the chamber, he knew that the st round would cause some serious damage.

  Samuel aimed the gun at him, feinting a shot. This caused the man to rush at him, having stepped to the side to avoid the shot. As he closed the distance, the Man stabbed at Samuel, who simply stepped back and aimed at his shoulder.

  "Bang." Samuel said, pulling the trigger

  The runepowder round hit the man in the shoulder, yet another gss-shattering effect detonated. Despite this, the man's entire body was jerked backwards, leaving Samuel with an opening to capitalize. He swung his left fist right at the man's jaw, striking him hard enough to send him crashing into the ground.

  The man tried to get back up but he was already kicked in the face by Samuel, "Arrgh!" he cried out in pain, "Curses!"

  Samuel had opened the chamber and emptied the casings, reloading his rounds as the Man was getting back up.

  "You're a mage." Samuel said as he looked at him, fully loading the bullets, "And you're using some sort of barrier spell on yourself. A single hit of these rounds is enough to put a hole through a Serpent Demon, so I know that you're using magic to protect yourself."

  The man wiped his mouth, panting heavily, "Fuck...."

  "But judging by the way you react after being struck, the shield you have on yourself only has a certain damage threshold." Samuel continued, "And it also seems it has a certain cooldown to be back up. That's quite a strong ability, if I am to be honest. However, seeing that it is magic, there is a limit to how many times your ass can be saved by that power."

  "Tch...." the man scowled, "And your point is?"

  "All I have to do is keep shooting you until your shield can no longer protect you." Samuel said, "And even if it can, you cannot take the hits, seeing that they still affect you. So what you'll do is try to avoid them....just like...."

  Samuel aimed at him, causing the man to jump to the side, trying to unch himself off the way. A bullet grazed his leg, causing him to tumble down and force him back onto the floor.

  "...This...." Samuel said as he fired another shot at the man, who was nding

  The bullet ran through his leg, blood spttering everywhere as a hole appeared. This caused the man to colpse into the ground, gasping for air.

  "Aghh...." He groaned in pain, "Fuck...."

  Samuel stepped forward, "Hm..." he said, "Interesting. I figured that was going to take your leg clean off. Oh well, let's..."

  He aimed the gun at the man's face, his finger already on the trigger.

  "Wait!" Elena had suddenly cried out, "Enough!"

  Samuel looked at her, "Hm?"

  "That's enough bloodshed for now." Elena slowly step forwards, "You already killed five men...!"

  "But they were going to hurt you." Samuel said, "You heard what they said they were going to do."

  "Killing him won't change anything." Elena said with a frown, "His Boss will still send even more men to do his bidding."

  "Is that so?" Samuel asked the men

  "Y-Yes...." he said with a serious expression, "You will die, seeing you are already marked for death."

  "Oh, how terrifying." Samuel said, his sarcastic tone giving the man a shudder, "You're nothing but a dirty punk that doesn't know anything other than threatening defenseless women. If he has more like you, I am not worried about it."

  "I'll call the guards." Elena said, her face slightly pale, "All of this....it is too much."

  Samuel spun his gun in his finger, holstering in a swift motion as he looked at the man, "This woman's kindness just spared your life," he said seriously, "Best not forget it."

  "You'd do best to kill me then," he said as he spat on the ground, "Because I won't ever think about treating her the same way!"

  Elena looked at Samuel, "Don't let him goad you into killing him." She said, "As I said, there is too much bloodshed already."

  "Hm." Samuel tipped his hat, "Very well."

  As he said this, The System Screen appeared:

  [Current Task]

  - Defeat Two Mages (1/2)

  - Rewards: Relic

  "A relic, huh?" Samuel thought to himself, "Interesting. I wonder what it could be."

  ****************

  "Curse it all." Aryana's father said with a scowl, "To think that we would have another murder right next to our building."

  It was about an hour ter, and most of the restaurant was already empty, save for Samuel, who was eating some roast beef and mashed potatoes. Elena, Aryana, and Aryana's father were standing in front of Samuel's table as he ate, looking outside the door and seeing that the City Guards were cleaning up the scene.

  "I didn't foresee this." Elena said softly, "To think that he would send his men to Dreadwalk.."

  "Tch..." Aryana's father said, "I knew something like this would happen."

  "What do we do?" Aryana asked, "Surely, Lord Urug would notice something like this."

  "The guards will interrogate the man." Her father said, "And if they find out that he is trying to send assassins to the city, it could be a major issue."

  Samuel was taking a sip of his mead, "Who did you piss off?" He asked, "For him to send men over here, collecting a debt, it must be someone important."

  "A dangerous man." Elena said, "And I trust that you got yourself in his sights, should this news reach him."

  Samuel pced the cup on the table, "Is that so?" He asked, "Interesting. With the war going on, you lot have plenty of domestic affairs."

  "You don't know the half of it." Aryana's father said, "Mother-in-w, you must head on home. I'll close up."

  "Right...." Elena said, "Aryana, let's go dear."

  As Samuel watched them leave, the System Screen appeared next to him:

  [New Sexual Task]

  - Have Sex With Elena (0/3 times) (Rewards: New Weapon)