A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

Gareth pulled his sword out of Henry's heart and let his body fall backward to hit the ground with a full thud. His heart no longer beat.

"You killed him!" Boyle said stating the obvious.

"I said I would," Gareth said unbothered. The bullet wound on his his side, made larger and gorier by repeated shots he suffered still bled but as he wobbled on his feet, the Mercenary reached a hand into a pouch he had stashed somewhere on his person and retrieved a Healing potion he quickly downed.

His bleeding stopped and he regained almost all of the energy he just expended so he could turn his face and assess the situation happening a few feet away.

His expression which had already relaxed having done justice for what Henry and Andor did to the Caravan the night before, became darkened again when he saw only one of his fellow Mercenaries was still alive and he could tell by the blood still dripping from Eloise's sword that she had had a hand in it. Also, she was standing opposite the only Mercenary still alive.

Boyle followed Gareth's glance and froze at the sight.

"Eloise…" he said slowly and glanced at the other Knights and they all looked as shocked. They had maintained their guard around the Clerics and still could not believe Eloise would take up arms against their allies.

Eloise looked over at Boyle when he called her name and the Mercenary took the chance to launch himself at her for a killing strike.

He almost succeeded.

Almost.

But even at her worst —which she wasn't even close to at the moment—, Eloise was far too capable to be caught off guard by a Mercenary. Certainly not one of this level.

She leaned to the side and the Mercenary's sword swung through empty air before she slammed him with a magical beam that forced him a few feet away. Or it should have until she conjured a sting of mana and tossed it like a lasso. The mana string wrapped around the Mercenery's waist and Eloise used to it yank him close before swinging her sword and lobbing his head off his neck so it hit the ground with a full thud.

The Mercenery's knees hit the ground and he slumped to the side with its stump of neck spurting blood in almost violent bursts.

"You're in cohorts!" Gareth said. He had stood frozen in shock throughout the sequence. Too far and reacting too slowly to even get close enough to intercept and stop Eloise's killing strike.

But now that his brain functioned again, he remembered; Eloise had been with these two last night. He (Gareth) had been the one to convince Kayla that Eloise was trustworthy as a member of the Citadel. It was so clear now that she was involved and he felt stupid for not having realized it earlier.

"You bitch!" Gareth yelled and his Mana surged violently. Almost more violently than it had when he fought Henry who still lay on the ground, not breathing.

"Now, hold on Gareth—" Boyle started to say because he knew what was coming.

And sure enough, Gareth dashed forward and stopped short just in time to unleash a powerful arc of Mana blasting toward Eloise.

Eloise stood her ground. Not even conjuring a shield in defense, she just ground her stance and swung her sword so powerfully, that it cut the Mana surge arc in two. The force of the attack still sent her sliding a few feet but she was fine overall.

Gareth was, of course, not content. He made to move forward and charge up another Mana-surge attack when Boyle was suddenly in front of him…

*Clang!*Nôv(el)B\\jnn

… Their swords clashed in a ringing of magical metal that caused the Mana surge Gareth was charging to disperse to the sides in violent torrents.

"Get away!" Gareth yelled and heaved his sword forcing Boyle a step back or so it looked because when Boyle returned with another swing, it was Gareth who was sent sliding away until he hit his back against a tree trunk.

"Enough!" Boyle said. His voice was backed by Mana in a way that hit Gareth and forced his hair back while filling him with a fearful chill.

He knew at that moment that Sir Boyle was not the Knight to piss off.

"How much of your strength have you been hiding?" Gareth asked, momentarily distracted from the matter at hand.

"Hiding?" Boyle asked looking confused, "Why would I hide anything? I've used as much strength so far as required. That is all. Also, did you expect me to be weak? I'll one day be a commander at the Citadel and you expect me to lose to you?"

Gareth pressed his lips tightly together,

"You're a fool if you think you can stop me. That bitch will die. Maybe not now, but once we exit this Dungeon, I will see to it!"

"We'll see," Boyle said, "But while we're here, she is my responsibility and I won't let you near her. Much less kill her."

"Let him come!" Eloise yelled suddenly, "Why wait till till later when we can settle this right now?"

"Eloise, enough," Boyle said firmly, "We'll discuss the matter of your conduct after the expedition…"

Eloise was about to declare how very little she cared about the expedition at the moment when, from behind her, Andor let out…

"Oomph!"

… Before he slammed his back into a tree.

Eloise taking the attention of the Mercenaries and swiftly dealing with them had only slightly lessened the Fighter's burden. The Slaves still outnumbered him and there were gifted individuals among them who had the strength to rival him on their own.

He was about to get sandwiched between two attacks almost destined to be struck by at least one of them when Eloise stepped in, slammed the sword arm of one Slave away, and grabbed the back of her neck to slam her face first into the ground before delivering a chop that knocked her out.

"Thank you," Andor said as he parried the second attack and knocked the slave aside with the shaft of his Spear.

He turned around toward Eloise then and looked past her to where Gareth stood with Boyle in front of him ensuring he didn't go after Eloise. But neither of those was the focus of Andor's attention.

"Henry?" He let out and paused mid-action. He saw Henry lying on the ground, perfectly still, and even from that distance, he saw the large splotch of red on his chest originating from where his heart would be.

"No," he let out.

Eloise had just knocked another Slave out when she also realized, seemingly for the first time, that Henry was not getting back up.

Meanwhile, while the whole discourse following the fatal attack he suffered began, Henry's eyes closed and he immediately knew was no longer in his body. It had happened enough times already that he could tell.

But he also knew he wasn't dead. Yes, his heart no longer beat, but he still hadn't died yet somehow. He had died many times before and this didn't feel like it. Death didn't come for him and glare at him so hard he felt his soul was getting obliterated.

[You have lost 100 Hit Points]

[You have triggered 'Blessing of the Moon']

Henry remembered that 'Blessing'. Before they left the Citadel, he had locked eyes with the Lady from the Temple of Selene and she had said a prayer focused on him. He had received this blessing from that prayer and he remembered thinking then, 'Why him?'

He still didn't know but he knew it was the reason he wasn't dead.

[You have recovered 1 Hit Point]

'Just one?' Henry grumbled greedily.

[Hit Points: 1/290]

And then Henry felt that pull. The pull that wrenched him out of whatever space he had fallen into and returned him to his body.

*gasp*

He let out a gasp as he took in a large gulp of air. His heart beat again and he sat up off the ground as a series of notifications appeared before him.

[Blessing of the Moon;

A Condition received by one who has been favored by the Goddess Selene.

Effects:

- Return from the brink of death.

- Invulnerability for 5 Minutes. I.e You can't die.]

[You have received the Favor of a Goddess.]

[You have received 10,000 Exp]

[Level Up!]

[You are now Level 30]

[Hit Point Maximum increased to 300]

[Hit Points: 11/300]

[Mana Point Maximum increased to 410]

[You have received 6 Stat Points to Allocate]

[You now have 12 Stat Points to allocate]

[Level 30: The System will now undergo a restructuring Upgrade]

The last message meant little to Henry and the ones that came before took all priority.

5 minutes.

For five minutes, he could not die.

Gareth stood frozen in shock. He had stabbed Henry's heart. He was sure of it so how in all hell could he get back up?

"Five minutes," Henry mumbled with a smile.

Again, he wondered Why was he blessed with this but he wasn't going to get the answer to that right this second and really, it didn't matter.

He reached to his sides to pick up his guns from where they had fallen after his 'death', turned them toward Gareth, and started blasting.