The Devil’s Cage

“The side roll doesn’t seem to consume a lot of energy. Flipping front and back consumed five points of stamina though, and the single hand flip cost me 10 points of stamina per flip.”

Kieran thought about his actions while looking at the skills window.

[Consumed: Stamina]

Without exception, all skills consumed Stamina, but it did not state how much stamina each of them consumed.

“It does not state how much they consume, because I think it differs depending on how hard you are performing the action.”

Remembering the battle before and his actions just now, he drew an easy conclusion.

He looked all over the system log for more information.

It did not state how much stamina his actions had consumed.

But his stamina had gone down for real, just like his [Hunger] status on the character window.

“Is it a hidden message? Or is it…?” he thought to himself, frowning.

He had come across this type of game multiple times, had even read a lot of hidden messages.

They were either totally useless or they held game-changing information.

As he was currently inside the underground game, it was obviously the latter.

He quickly collected his thoughts.

It seemed futile to try to figure it out any further and he didn’t want to waste any more energy on it.

“Kieran, can you teach me martial arts?” Colleen asked him when he came back to his senses.

“Of course, no problem.”

He did not have any reason to decline, so he nodded and said, “There are many types of martial arts, but I am only quite familiar with the dagger.”

Kieran knew a lot about the martial arts, but his knowledge was mostly just common sense and a basic understanding just like everyone else’s. If he needed to put it to actual use to save others, he didn’t think it would be possible.

Except for his [Sharp Weapon (Dagger) (Basic)] skill.

After he had learned that particular skill, it had made him look like a total professional who had been wielding a dagger for years, and even his brain was all of a sudden full of dagger-related information and knowledge.

If that was all he had to teach her, then it was more than enough.

“That is what I want!”

Colleen smiled. She was happy that Kieran was willing to teach her dagger martial arts.

After all, she had witnessed Kieran’s battle with the dagger, and he had not only been fast and precise, but he had also made a killing hit every time that he had striked.

Considering that this was wartime, Colleen knew that she needed the advantage that the dagger wielding technique would provide her.

Kieran explained his technique while performing a demonstration.

The system had not asked him to confirm whether he wanted to teach others or not.

Obviously, Kieran could only learn from others, not teach them.

It might be because of a game restriction, or because his skill level was still too low.

The teaching session lasted from morning till afternoon, and then they rested.

In order to be fully prepared for the upcoming fight, both of them needed to reserve energy.

“Seems like I am not that gifted!”

Colleen stopped and returned the dagger to Kieran while shaking her head.

“You did really well,” he replied.

He did not say it just to comfort her. It was the truth.

But she took it as him trying to comfort her.

“I’m so stupid compared to you!” she sighed.

She had shown her strength though, and had proved it by surviving in this war for four months.

”Don’t worry,” she said, “I won’t be a burden during the fight at night.”

“I believe you,” Kieran nodded with a smile.

Although it was time to rest, they did not waste it, but instead spent it discussing how to perfect their plan.

Colleen even used her finger to draw a layout of the city terrain on the ground.

After a while, they had a whole map of the Villa Garden Area before them.

“This is the Villa Garden Area’s main road. It’s around seven to eight meters wide, with a wide field of vision. We cannot have the fight there. If we get surrounded, we will be dead meat. The best battle position would be around the Villa’s ruins. Not only can they hide us from our enemies, but they’re also full of debris and broken wood. The wall is still intact too. That area can definitely make up for the disadvantage of being outnumbered,” Colleen said in a serious tone while pointing at the map.

“Then we will start the battle there,” Kieran agreed.

For an outsider like him, who was not familiar with the terrain, Colleen’s battle advice was invaluable. Of course he would go with what she said, especially when it came to information about the terrain.

“Other than that, what else should I be aware of?” he asked, trying to get more information for himself.

“There’s another group of thugs in that area, while here...”

Colleen continued pointing at the map while telling Kieran about their enemy.

They kept talking until nightfall descended upon them.

…..

“Jackal” Wurke was the Vulture’s right hand man and his most trusted follower.

At that particular moment, Wurke was marching towards the Villa Garden Area with six more of his men. Every one of them was armed with guns and a bulletproof vest.

The six men were looking around while Wurke’s face was filled with rage.

How dare someone challenge the infamous Vulture!

As the Vulture’s right-hand man, Wurke was an undeniable asset to the Vulture’s reign over the area.

Wurke himself felt proud. He was fond of his position.

Especially because of the perks that came with it.

While others were starving, he had decent meals and a full stomach. He also had a weapon and could take out whomever he so much as disliked.

It was the perfect life for Wurke.

If anyone ever dared interfere with it, he would kill them.

Therefore, when he received the news that two of his men had died, Wurke told the Vulture that he wanted to kill the culprits himself.

“They should be around this area. Find them and flush them out! Be careful, don’t go too far away. The bastards have two guns on them. Don’t let your f*cking guard down just because one of them is a woman!” Wurke shouted to his men.

“Yes, sir!” the six of them answered in unison before going into the ruins.

Every one of them held a certain degree of contempt towards their targets.

So what if they had guns?

According to the Vulture’s rules, each time anyone left the base, they got four rounds of ammunition. Between Sixth Broadway and the Villa Garden Area, their dead comrades must have already wasted a shot or two, because it was what they always did. They would open fire to scare away other civilians and thugs. They just liked to watch others fleeing in fear when they fired. It had been their only hobby for the past four months.

Given this habit of theirs, their ammunition must have already been reduced when they faced the culprits.

So what if the culprits had their guns now? What kind of threat could they be with such a limited amount of ammunition?

However, the Vulture was furious that both of his men were dead, and he had sent double the number of men and had given them sufficient ammunition and even a bulletproof vest.

They were all full of confidence and did not feel scared at all.

Although the vests they wore were not equipped against rifle guns, only M1905 handguns, it was still more than enough.

Every single one of them was thinking the same thing. Even their leader, Wurke the Jackal.

Wurke held the guns in his hands while he walked behind his men and scanned their surroundings.

He was itching to kill them both.

…….

Kieran was also itching for some action.

He had been hiding behind some ruins, but from the moment Wurke the Jackal had walked into the area, he had already tagged him.

As a matter of fact, Kieran had expected Wurke’s arrival at their hiding area soon enough.

They might have shaken off their pursuers, but it would not have been that hard to guess where Kieran and Colleen would go afterwards.

Basically, everything had gone as planned.

Now all he had to do was wait for the perfect chance.

Wait for them to come closer so he could kill them with one hit.

It was not an easy task as it required great patience and a certain amount of skill.

The good news was, Kieran was a guy with great patience.

He was also equipped with the [Sharp weapon (Dagger) (Basic)] skill, which made him way better than he used to be.

Patience plus skill made what should have been a hard task fairly easy.

The fact that the men were full of contempt and were completely underestimating Kieran, made it even easier.

The seven of them lined up in a straight formation, while maintaining some distance between one another, and started to search the area.

The one on the side walked past Kieran.

He was moving around arrogantly, not paying attention. He did not even notice Kieran’s presence. He was only looking around, trying to find some kind of hideout or hidden entrance, because he could not possibly imagine that Kieran and Colleen would dare attack them first. Surely both of them would be scared and hiding away somewhere in the area.

When Kieran jumped on him, he was taken by surprise.

Boo!

The sharp edge of the dagger sliced through his throat.

“Ughhh!”

Blood flowed into his trachea, silencing the thug and making him scream in a slurred low-pitched voice. Kieran dragged him into the ruins with an unreadable expression as he died.

[Stabbing: Lethal Attack, Inflicts 100 Damage to HP (50 Sharp Weapon (Dagger) (Basic) x2). Target dies…]

“One down,” Kieran thought to himself while taking away the thug’s M1905.

He inspected the gun fast. It was damaged but full of ammunition. It was loaded with seven rounds.

This made him happy for a while.

To ensure the plan’s success, Kieran had given one of the guns to Colleen along with five rounds of bullets.

He was actually planning on giving her all the bullets, were it not for the thug’s accidental surprise.

It was only mere hours after the lesson with him and her skills had not really been used in a real battle yet.

Now he had a fully loaded M1905, which had been an unexpected gift.

But the best thing by far was the thug’s bullet proof vest.