The Joker, The Trickster, And The Magician

The grenade Wolfram did much more damage than expected, in fact, it changed the tides of battle. The eight soldiers lost two of their comrades had an additional two severely injured, basically, they lost fifty percent of their battle power. As for the goblins, they had overwhelming numbers so the loss of a few did nothing to them.

Spells were cast and bullets were shot, the ground was dyed red from the blood of the fallen, the stench stretched all the way to Wolfram, who took a huge breath before l.i.c.k.i.n.g his lips.

'Yes! I hope you all die miserably. Just like you watched all the prisoners get tortured and die, you shall face the same fate.'

Though most of the prisoners were guilty of atrocious crimes, that didn't give the scientists the right to experiment on them. The thing they did were better left unsaid, some even created monstrosities that resembled humans no more.

Inhuman acts that were regarded as evolution and success and not as cruelty to poor lab rats. No mercy or empathy was given to the prisoners, who were, in some cases, promised freedom for their cooperation.

The fight continued for ten more minutes before all the noise quietened down. With [Light Steps] and [Sneak] activated, Wolfram made his way to where the battle occurred and when he got close enough, he could hear footsteps.

The source of these footsteps were three soldiers, who were checking the corpses of the goblins and finishing any that remained alive. After making sure all enemies were dead, they were going to return to their temporary base when someone of them suddenly said

"Aren't we going to bring their bodies with us?"

Obviously, he was referring to his comrades' bodies, which laid in the ground, piled up next to the goblins. He didn't want his friends' final resting place to be next to foreign monsters and in a bloody place like this one.

Unfortunately, a bearded man who seemed to be their leader, snorted and retorted

"Stop spouting nonsense and follow me!"

His tone was his strict as he glared at the soldier who spoke. The three suffered injuries but they were still able to walk but they seemed to have used all of their bullets. Wolfram, who was watching their from afar, noticed the blood on the tip of the rifles and their red knives and grinned. He searched the ground and found a dozen gun clips, all empty.

'Two with no bullets, one with a few bullets, potentially six or seven.'

Without making any sound, his gaze focused on one of the soldiers for a few seconds before moving to the next. After twenty seconds, he was done with his observation.

'One has an injured knee and a dislocated arm. The second has first degree burns on his neck and was pierced in his back. The leader is the weakest, he isn't showing it but he was stabbed in his abdomen.... pale skin and unsteady walking... most likely severe blood loss?'

The stab-wound the leader received would have killed him if not for the strange system that strengthened their bodies. To be able to prevail over such a large number of goblins, these three are strong fighters, for sure.

Wolfram wasn't over-estimating herself but he had complete confidence in finishing them off. He just needs attack at the perfect timing. Many wonder, when exactly is that?

The answer is easy, it's when the soldiers think they are safe. The closer they are to their base, the safer they think they are. It's an instinctive feeling, even before everything changed.

Any human would feel safe when he's close to his home despite it being as dangerous as any other place. That moment when they are relaxed... when their adrenaline drops and the fatigue starts kicking in.

That feeling should be when they turn right and push the cl.u.s.tered tables and chair to pass through the small gap. It's when their minds are busy with something else, though it's certain that one of them will take guard. At least, that's what Wolfram speculated.

The hallway where the battle occurred is around thirty meters long but since it's a straight path, if Wolfram shows himself, he'll be seen immediately. Though he's dressed like a soldier, there's a strong chance they'll take a defensive stance and even shoot him, either from surprise, fear or confusion.

Using his rifle, it's possible to kill the soldier at the end of the hallway but it'll alert the two others and they'll have time to escape before he crosses the thirty meters distance. They also can come to face him but seeing their injuries, they'll surely opt for retreat.

After thinking of different plans, Wolfram decided to return, or get very close to their base before finishing them off. Of course, there's the blockage they put which will block him from chasing them, however, considering that the roof is three meters above his head and his current stats, he was sure he can make the leap.

Just like that, the three soldiers passed the blockage and hastily returned to where their base is. Just as the three were safely on the end of the blockage, Wolfram swiftly ran through the hallway, bypassing the scattering corpses and even stepping on some goblins.

As he was in the middle of running, a red card popped in front of him but vanished almost instantly as if aware he didn't have the time to read it.

*[Run] Lv1 acquired! +0.09 Card Points.*

Due to the few obstacles along the way, it took him around five seconds to cross 30m. Without even bothering to hide behind the wall and see where his targets are, he charged toward the wall like a bull and made use of his past experience and flexible body to step on the wall and make use of his momentum to make a high jump which allowed him to bypass the blockage.

Just as he landed, he felt a slight pain through his whole body, probably due to the injuries he received from the torture. His body was supposedly healed but the electrocuting chair really did mess up his body, no wonder its use was banned.

Though he tried to be as soundless as possible, his landing still caused some noise which caused the three soldiers ahead to turn around. They were a fair distance away from him, approximatively twenty meters.

Without any hesitating, Wolfram retrieved his rifle from his back and while he's still kneeling, he readied and aimed at the leader before pulling the trigger.

Just his sudden appearance startled the three of them, furthermore, his attire was of a soldier so when he aimed at them, they became even more surprised.

Unfortunately, the leader, who was Wolfram's first target, couldn't dodge or block the bullet as two penetrated his c.h.e.s.t and one went through his neck.

Just like that, the first of the three fell on the floor with blood gushing out of his neck and mouth. His body convulsed for a few seconds before turning into a corpse.

Although they were shocked by the turn of events, the two remaining targets were still seasoned soldiers, so, knowing they had no bullets left, they chose to turn around and make a run for it.

A wise decision made in a moment of desperation. Were it another person, he would have missed one of the shots aimed at them, unfortunately, Wolfram was an assassin and shooting far away or moving targets was his strongest skill.

The two of them fell after running for ten or fifteen meters, their faces were full of fear and despair.

After killing the three, Wolfram quickly returned to the previous hallway. He wanted to go check their corpses for any cards but that'll be for later. The number of soldiers on this floor declined drastically as he and the goblins killed too many.

'There are at most three, no, two soldiers left. All the rest went to battle the goblins. So, two fighters and the rest are sheep.'

Though he only paid attention to the soldiers, he still tried to avoid unexpected encounters. For example, people who had special abilities or an unknown factor that may ruin his plans.

The bloody battle from before did leave a considerable number of bodies, which means it's a great harvest for Wolfram, who picked the scattered cards with a wide grin on his face.

He was done looting in just a minute so he entered a room near the intersection and sat up to rest. He heard no footsteps coming from the survivors' base. The goblins are inactive too, probably due to the death of leader.

*You have killed a human Lv3 ; +0.2 Card Points.*

*You have killed a human Lv3 ; +0.18 Card Points.*

*You have killed a human Lv4 ; +0.32 Card Points.*

*You have killed a human Lv2; +0.15 Card Points.*

*You have killed a human Lv2 ; +0.19 Cards Points.*

--

Wolfram Sakimoto

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Race: No Race

Class: 1 Star Trickster

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Cards Control : 3

Cards Sharpness : 3

Cards Speed : 1.75

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Strength : 3.08

Vitality : 2.4

Speed : 2.15

Perception : 3.11

Magic : 2.41

Magic Control : 1.33

Magic Resistance : 1.19

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Card Points : 1.42

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Skills: Sneak Lv2. Dagger Mastery Lv2. Sensor Hearing Lv1. Lightsteps Lv2. Search Lv1. Gun Mastery lv1, Run Lv1.

Though there was an abundance of Stat Cards, they didn't increase his stats by a big amount. Nonetheless, the slight increase is much needed in Wolfram's case. Twenty goblins and five humans died, from twenty-five corpses, he looted 14 Stat Cards. Moreover, his grenade killed two Humans and four Goblins. The CP he acc.u.mulated was dumped into Card Speed. He wanted all card-related stats to reach 3 points to see the results.