[Book 1] Fighting Prowess

Immanuel set the arrow quiver down leaning against a prominent tree root for ease of movement while he put his cloak on. I've got to make every shot count, even if this quiver still contains lots of arrows. Drag the fight too long in this area and they'll come up with something to take me down.

The arrow that grazed his ear and cheek was still visible from his position, so he followed where its tail pointed to. The shooter should be directly behind me or a bit to my right or left. He took three arrows out of the quiver.

Another arrow came. It hit the tree straight ahead of Immanuel: the shooter was directly behind him. Still, Immanuel nocked three arrows to the bowstring. Then he shifted the way he held the bow, holding it sideways instead of the usual manner. The place had fallen silent since Maddox's death, so he waited, standing and with legs ready for a maneuver.

Then came a third arrow. Like the previous one, it hit the tree straight ahead of Immanuel. But with its tail pointed to another direction, he believed that there were two shooters, and they were positioned far apart from each other.

Unwilling to give the second shooter time to hide, Immanuel emerged, firing all three arrows, which went three different directions. One hit a figure in the darkness that wielded a bow. Another arrow seemed to have merely passed through a bush, but the figure that emerged as it fell down dead revealed to Immanuel the possibility that there might be a lot more of them around.

Following the shot, leaves rustled and twigs snapped in different directions, confirming what he had just thought. He cursed, then set the bow down leaning against the tree trunk. Time to remind them what the real Immanuel Maier can do. They've been around the fake for way too long.

With one dagger drawn, Immanuel moved along the surrounding darkness. As he began his search for anyone who had come for him, he paid no mind to the heaviness of his steps. But upon reaching an area that the unusually bright moon barely illuminated, he slowed down and silenced his steps.

Arrows rained towards Immanuel's general direction, but none of them hit him. Shadows then moved, following him to the deeper darkness. It seemed that the odds have stacked against him, but Immanuel knew from a distance that not all of them had the courage to hunt him down—many of them paused at times, waiting for others to inch a bit closer to the darkness before making a move themselves.

This should be easy, even without a ranged weapon.

Some of the more courageous stalkers turned and walked along different directions, deviating from their intended path. Seeing this happening from the shadows and recognizing their attempt at surrounding him again, Immanuel shifted farther to one side of the darkness while crawling on all fours. When they converge, I will strike. That should make things easier even without a ranged weapon. Then, once he thought he had moved far enough, he waited.

One of the stalkers closest to the patch of darkness displayed a double fist pump gesture, which meant "hurry up," to the rest of the group. From where Immanuel repositioned to, he could no longer see most of the men coming for him, but if the intensifying footsteps were any indication, the rest of the group was picking up speed. Immanuel moved further back on all fours. I should make them believe I had come from nowhere.

Another stalker closest to the darkness stopped and showed the entire back of his hand to the rest of the group behind him. This gesture stilled the footsteps. Then, without looking back at his teammates, he gave the hand signal to crouch. The first soldiers have entered the darkness, breaths held in anticipation of what lay ahead.

A soldier about to catch up with those who have already gone inside the darkness turned to the rest of the group and displayed the double fist pump gesture again. They sure have a lot of leaders among their ranks, huh? Such an interesting approach to military leadership. Then the man entered the darkness in front of him.

"Any one of you brought a torch?" said a soldier that looked to be twirling a sword.

A man approached, saying, "I brought one. I'm lighting it up."

With a hand on his chest, Immanuel activated his sigil. I only have a heartbeat, but that should be more than enough time to eliminate these ones. Then he crawled forward and, with his claws, tore into the chest of the one who asked for a torch.

"Monster!" cried the soldier who volunteered his torch. Before his fellow soldier could fall down, he, too, was dead—Immanuel stabbed his neck with the dagger he had drawn. The footsteps and heavy breathing from another side hinted to an attack coming for him, so he caught the body of the one he had just stabbed as it fell, turned, and used the body as a shield. Two men with swords were about to hit him, and he let go of the body. It was skewered two more times.

With the two needing to pull their swords out of the corpse, Immanuel wasted no time and struck each of them with a dagger to the neck. Then he leapt into the pitch black darkness as more of them were starting to pour in. Were there not more than four of them in here earlier?

A few of them stopped to investigate the four who had fallen victim to Immanuel, while the rest looked around, struggling to see in near-absolute darkness. One of them cursed upon knowing that a soldier's heart was torn out of him, and their formation tightened, with those still investigating at the center.

"This man kills fast and can somehow see in the darkness very well. We better adapt if we don't want our hearts torn out of us too," said one of the soldiers.

Immanuel reached for a stone to his left and let it bounce on his palm. Perfect. I could throw this far enough. Then, from where he was crouching, he tossed the stone to a faraway tree. The impact resembled the sound of a twig stepped on, and every soldier snapped towards the source of the sound, swords raised in preparation for combat. For Immanuel, it was the best time to attack.

He flipped one of the daggers so he held the tip of its blade instead of its grip, then tossed it at the soldier closest to him. It struck true and dug deep into his back, felling him. When they caught a glimpse of their comrade who just fell, Immanuel was already standing between two soldiers. They both moved to strike, just as what the rest of the soldiers were doing, but Immanuel's dagger was faster, killing them one after the other.

A sword came swinging at him from above. This he sidestepped, and once the blade fell, he struck the man's midsection with the remaining dagger and redirected his body to shield him from incoming attacks. When he had done this, the others stepped back, rethinking their strategies.

Given that there was enough room for them to move around, Immanuel backed himself a little so he could see whoever stepped forward to surround him. And just to keep that idea from crossing their minds, even for a short while, he kicked the corpse forward. A good number of them flinched, thinking that they might need to catch the corpse, but it landed with a loud thud just in front of them.

The time they spent reacting to the corpse kicked towards them turned out to be enough time for Immanuel to blend back into the darkness, leaving only a faint hint of himself and his footsteps. Silence then followed.

"WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR?! AFTER HIM!" yelled one of the soldiers. He plus a number of others scrambled forward to where they last saw and heard hints of Immanuel. But he was no longer there.

"HE'S TOO FA—" A dagger that ran straight to the throat reduced to gurgling the screaming of the same man who had just given the order to go after Immanuel. As he had done with some of his other kills, Immanuel pulled the man he had just killed to use his body as a shield. He spun away in response to a thrust that was about to clear the dead man's shoulder, and countered with a push of his dagger through the side of the attacker's neck.

Immanuel intended to circle the soldiers who had scrambled to the area, but a third soldier moved right in front of him, thwarting his plan…

But only for a moment. A punch to the gut cracked a few of the man's ribs, and he doubled over and wailed in agony. A dagger to the back of his neck followed, bringing him to his end. Then Immanuel kicked his body to his fellow soldiers, sidestepped, and thrust his dagger at another soldier who failed to move just as the body flew their way.

Ah, fuck. He suddenly found that the soldiers were just steps away from surrounding Immanuel. If I keep fighting the way I had been doing, they would not hesitate to kill me where I'm standing. He dropped down and planted his dagger into the ground, then got back up and raised both arms in surrender.

"I yield," Immanuel said before placing his arms behind him, ready for any number of them to tie him up.

"Stow your weapons," said one of them in the darkness. And every soldier complied, including two muscle-bound soldiers, who, when they had stowed their swords into scabbards strapped to their backs, stomped with confidence and authority towards Immanuel.

But before the two could even lay a finger upon him, Immanuel launched a fist to the face of the one to his left as he sidestepped left to avoid the possibility of a counterattack from the right. Then he moved behind the same soldier, who was already in a daze and about to fall, and pulled the dagger strapped to his waist as he caught him and kept him from falling. This man's dagger had a similar weight and length to the ones he had taken from the hunters, but felt more suited for throwing. Knowing this, Immanuel grinned as he stabbed the man's neck. Perfect. Then, with a simple adjustment to his hold on the dagger, he tossed it to the second muscular man across him. It dug deep into his chest, killing him.

Looking to put himself on even footing with the other soldiers, Immanuel let the large soldier's body fall to one side. He then drew the man's slightly curved greatsword off its scabbard, stretching his arm upward to completely pull it out. This sword's lighter than I expected!

"I am giving you this one chance. Come, all of you, and fight me," Immanuel said with a conversational tone and the gesture to match. At that moment, the soldiers did nothing but look at each other. Even after all this time, they never recognized me. Indeed, there is not enough light here.