Reincarnation of Audemars - Who Am I...?

Silas Of Strongbow Tavern

I walked down the path and passed by Joan's and Pointus' and saw a sign that looked like a frothy mug with white foam on it and I guess this must be the Strongbow Tavern that was mentioned by Prius.

I walked up a short flight of stair and opened the wooden door and there weren't many patrons except for an elderly guy in the corner tending to his mug of grog and the owner who was wiping the mugs dry with a cloth.

I sauntered over at the counter and stood there and was greeted warmly by the owner. "Hello, my name is Silas Brown and welcome to Strongbow Tavern. People around here called me Silas and what can i do for you, young man? I have not seen you before and are you the one that had just woken up from your comatose state?"

"Good evening to you, Silas. Yup, I'm the one who had just awoken like Sleeping Beauty but I'm not a beauty myself. Hah Hah Hah. Well, I'm here to gather some information, if you may. Could we step around so I could talk to you more discreetly?" I gestured to a spot further away from the elderly patron.

"Sure, what do you need to ask, young man?" he asked as he places the mug he was drying up aside and walked over to the far end of the counter.

"Tell me about the White Hand. I believe you are somehow involved with them." I pointed out to him without any hesitation.

"Err... White Hand? I'm sorry I never heard of that before." he replied with shifty eyes and a slight quivering little voice.

"Aw... Come on. Would you think a man like you would be easily intimidated by that lowly thieves?"

"No, I'm sorry but I don't know what you are talking about," he replied as he tried to avoid my cold glare as I searched for answers.

"Look, here are 500 credits. Maybe it could loosen your wagging tongue a little? Help me out here, man. This is for your own and for the safety of the citizens here. Furthermore, you are helping a great deal with the Keating family. At least they too were not involved in this mess. Here, take this..." I coaxed him into revealing the whereabouts of those thieves who were working in the underground network, hiding after they had done their deed.

Silas quickly recovered the pouch containing 500 credits and he stowed it away in his storage. He reached inside his pocket and produced a small key.

"A key to my house, I don't live there anymore. There's is an opening behind the bookcase, slide it sideways and that's their hideout. Remember, this conversation never took place for my safety's sake. Take them all out. There's 8 of them and their leader. They are fast and cunning so be wary, young man. Thank you." as soon as he slid the key and explained their whereabouts, he slipped back to his place and continued to dry those mugs.

I took the small house key and kept in my pocket and stayed a few more seconds before I made my way out. I noticed the elderly patron was still tending to his drink so he is not a suspect at all. I walked out and wondered where the hell Silas lived since he never gave me the directions.

I looked at my minimal and there it shows the location of Silas House and I walked just a short distance away from Strongbow Tavern. I reached for the key and inserted into the keyhole and turned and it unlocked just nicely.

The house was sparsely furnished, just a bed, a few shelves, a wooden chest that was rather empty and dusty inside and a bookcase. I slid it sideways and it gave way effortlessly. Before I entered, I decided to allocate another 100 points for my Ranger abilities.

After allocating 100 points my DEX had increased slightly.  Damage +200 Dodge +20% Stealth +20%. "Great...its time for action. I changed to quickslot 3 and out came my crossbow. Since I had 20% added to my stealth, I hope to utilise it to the max as I entered the dark passageway.

It was good that I was wearing soft Timberland moccasins as I slowly crept silently and hid among the shadows of the flickering flames of the torches. I saw a head that popped out just near one of the turns and took a quick aim and pressed the trigger.

"Sswwoosshh... Thump"

The bolt flew out and immediately struck the sides of the thief's head. The body was slumped to the side, no gore, no blood except for the protruding bolt. I reached over and collected the spoils and the body disintegrated into the ground.

"Good, no one will miss this guy from his post." It was a +20 experience point and I collected some credits, a sword and a crossbow. "Great... I've got my 500 credits back when I passed it to Silas earlier." I began to think to myself as I cleared the dimly lit passageway as I killed one thief after another.

"5 down, 3 to go..." as I collected the spoils and found a chest that was easily opened and got some credits there as well.

There were 2 thieves ahead and both were facing the other directions and both had his crossbows ready. This self-loading unlimited bolts crossbow would take about a second to reload and it could mean life and death in this type of situation.

I aimed for the furthest one and aimed at his head while I pressed the trigger. "Sswwoosshh... Splat" the furthest thief fell and as soon as the bolt flew past the nearest thief, he turned around and let loose a bolt from his crossbow.

There is no way for me to block it and I managed to swerve slightly as I dodged the incoming bolt. It ended up like bullet time as the bolt zoomed ahead and hit me squarely in my chest. My armour rating was more than 1k and when the bolt hit my tunic, it deflected and disintegrated into pieces.

"GODDAMMIT... If this bolt penetrates me, I'd be dead for sure since the bolt was directly heading towards my heart...!!!" My crossbow had reloaded and I shot it from my midsection and I can see the bolt flew out and slowly hit and penetrates the side of the chest.

Another bolt was unleashed and it entered the thief's body and it took another one more bolt to finally bring him down. It all happened in bullet time and I could see every single bolt slowly penetrated his poor leather armour and into his body as he was thrown back with every single shot and finally lay still.

I was down on my right side and I looked at my clothes and fortunately, there was no penetration but a small mark left by the bolt. I wiped the cold sweat that had formed in my forehead and was thankful the bolt was not directed at my skull. "DAMN DAMN DAMN... I'm lucky if I could survive this. It is not as simple as it sounds because right now I'm still 'Naked' without proper body protection.

I cleared the two bodies and they disintegrated into the ground, swallowed down as if the earth was expected to perform that way. "SHIT... I'M GOING TO FUSE SOME ARMOUR AFTER THIS." I thought aloud in my head as I made my way in the search for another one more thief and his leader.

After searching for the one more thief and the leader, I managed to find some chests and while some are locked, the rest of them opened up easily and I've gotten hundreds of credits that were stored in them. Once I got proper armour, I would visit here once more and do something about those locked wooden chest.

After scouring the passageway, I reached a narrow path that opens up into a clearing and I saw the last remaining thief with the leader. The leader was wearing such magnificent garb and was dressed in white from head to toe with intricate gold coloured trimmings and designs from the sides of the hood, down to the tunic and pants.

I saw that the leader was holding on to a heavy set of crossbows that fires 3 bolts at a time...!!! This is serious s**t, man. I have to take down the leader first. I have to worry about the remaining thief later. But this leader really means business...!!!

I aimed and let my bolt fly after pressing the trigger. Thinking that the leader could be brought down with a single shot, but I'm totally wrong...!!! That white garb he was wearing was like a charmed armour to him. The bolt disintegrated when it reaches his head and he immediately turned around, saw me in a kneeling position and fired his crossbow. 3 bolts rushed at me and this alerted his remaining thief.

"Intruder... Get him... Don't let him escape..." I barely managed to dodge the 3 incoming bolts when I stumbled backwards and fell on my back. My crossbow took a while to reload as I saw the remaining bandit was trudging after me.

"Damn... If I do not have any tactical shooting experiences and training, I don't think I could pull this off..." I placed the crossbow just at my knees area and fired when the lumbering thief was just within range. Since I was down in my back, I could only estimate the trajectory of the bolt. If this is a pistol, I won't mind letting loose a few rounds and I'd surely hit some parts of the body.

"Sswwoosshh... Thud!" I heard my bolt fly and hit a soft target in front and once my crossbow was reloaded, I fired another one. The first arrow hit the jugular of the thief and when he was holding the bolt with 2 hands, another bolt entered his chest cavity.

I quickly lifted myself off and waited for the crossbow to reload before I did a crawl and saw that the thief was down and I used his body as a cover. Another 3 bolts flew from the crossbow but this time it landed in the body I was shielding from. I looked up and fired my bolt and I saw it hit the lower extremities of the leader.

After a few exchanges, I heard the leader shouted, "Hit, Hit, Hit" as he raised himself from his hiding spot with his crossbow and his hand raised in the air. I stood up and entered the clearing. The leader was walking away and I shouted at him, "HOY... WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING...???" but he took little notice and walk away offscreen, raising his crossbow and hand indicating that he is unable to continue the confrontation.

"COME BACK HERE... I'M GOING TO FRISK YOU..." I hollered and started to run after him when an umpire raised a red flag indicating that the opponent has taken a hit and have to withdraw from the shootout. "Awww... I want that OP weapon of his lah... Come on lah... It looks pretty awesome, you know... Please lah... Did I win right? Can I have at least his crossbow?" I pleaded as the leader walked over to the safety zone and placed the crossbow on the table and checked himself out from the confrontation.

"Bah...!!! So much so from a 'paintball' type of last man standing match... Hmmph..." I snorted as I collected the spoils from the last thief and I discovered a wooden chest and when I opened it up, I found a glittering red ruby.