Ronin's first day in the Land of Stagnation was quick, but the rumors of this place suggest it would be a good one. Stagnante have an extremely high fatality rate in their new arrivals, particularly since only a few will find a tribe to take them in within the first week. A bloody sacrificial arrival like his was far from unusual, yet even then the dangers forced on the eternal inmates of the place are tantamount to a frontline soldier. Survival may be possible but the likelihood of death is drastically higher for the soldiers intended to fight, to the point that many write letters and come to terms with it in the armies of Brogdar if they're part of a formation's main fighting force.

But in the Land of Stagnation, the only formations seen were in tribal warfare; the local beasts are dangerous but lack organization outside of a handful of species. The few beasts that do this led to the eventual evolution of those like the wolfman that rescued Ronin, demihumans capable of actually thriving in this cursed land. Even if he stole the weapon, it was very likely that this beast was the equal of five soldiers in a battlefield scenario. Similarly, Ronin could match between eight to ten depending on the nationality he's against.

This math is based on the formula devised in the Age of Grey Peace; under the Shade Empire's rule, the general formula for a soldier's value is weighed against the "Common Soldier": a level 20 human with 5 Basic-level skills. This left a lot of variances, particularly as the ages passed and skills became more common and levels rose farther, but it has always reflected a common ground for empires to gauge the rough estimate of a soldier. The Land of Stagnation didn't adhere to nor care for this scale but the more intelligent members who arrived do in fact use it for basic threat assessment.

A common criminal sent to the Land of Stagnation would be beneath this standard, yet most of the ones who survive their first week are the equal of two soldiers or greater.

The one thing this equation fails to grasp, however, is the more modern reality of skills: combat knowledge. Basic Skills aren't incredibly dangerous like most Advance-level skills, yet the difference between a veteran soldier and a rookie is the ability to use less-powerful skills opportunistically to catch your opponent off-guard. This is where the value of most Stagnante and Tribe Members comes from: those that survive the first week aren't merely gifted but understand how to utilize their skills resourcefully and opportunistically to avoid exhaustion and thrive.

Under the stars of the early morning, the wolfman's guidance brings them right to the camp of the most likely to survive group: stagnante bandits. Most bandits that survive their arrival on one of the island's many drop-off points are people sentenced together who get lucky on their first day. Once they escape and survive, they band together in defensible locations around freshwater sources and small forests. Blugera meat often keeps them fed for a long time, even allowing them to trade furs to tribes as bribes whilst using the bones to replace weapons that wear out quickly in this place.

[Notification]

Deactivating Bonded Blade: Sword Mend

User Ronin's bonded sword is no longer being repaired.

Ronin's advantage compared to them is his bloodline, making any bonded blade repairable using his SP. It isn't cost-effective nor time friendly in terms of its costs, yet the benefits are undeniable for someone with his sword-style that prioritizes fewer cuts. Only a sliver of the damage the weapon sustained during the Blood Hazing has been undone, yet using all of his SP would make it impossible to call on the sword skills necessary to deal with their foes.

"This is the last chance," Ronin whispers. "It's possible my ability doesn't work; what happens if I can't do what you want?"

The wolfman stays quiet, watching the treeline ahead and below them. The rocks of their position were short but their position allows them to look over the bone-and-stone walled camp with ease. It's the sort of place built over multiple failed settling with countless people trying to build it up, only for the most recent group to flourish. Two guards paced the thin walls with decrepit wooden shields and spears.

That sort of gear may not be dangerous to a normal soldier, but Ronin lacks any sort of gear beyond a burlap sack; a bone-tipped spear is ample enough to kill him if thrust with the right aim.

"Accept," the wolfman finally rumbles back. He sets his crossbow atop the nearby rock, aiming it at one of the guards. The shot can't be much more than fifty yards.

Ronin sets his hand on his sheath. This sort of situation reminds him of some good he faced in his life. "If that's the case... do we wait for them to dispatch a patrol or strike first?"

The wolf doesn't look away from the guard, forcing Ronin to look at the large furball. Although wolfmen are demihumans and, as such, are able to heal faster... the bigger difference between them is that the wolf has some level of leather protection. A thicker hide alone makes it less dangerous to fight other stagnante, yet his equipment means that few could face him.

That alone is the reason why a duel between them would end so brutally despite Ronin being flatly a better fighter.

"Fine. If you want, shoot. But if they realize why you're here, it may become impossible to help you even if we do win."

That lures the monstrous man's attention and finally seems to give Ronin a level of respect that was lacking before. As strong as the wolfman and he might be, their abilities would make them roughly able to take on fifteen people in the best conditions; if the enemies numbers were that, they'd need to perfectly execute their attack to win.

"Then... wait."

The bestial savior turns, retreating back down the hill and leaving Ronin on his own. While his crossbow may have range, ambushing a patrol isn't something the crossbow is best suited for if you're not proficient. The best method for taking out scouts, particularly in the Land of Stagnation where most metal armor was absent, was with the use of an unexpected strike.

One of the guards neared the top of their encampment's nearby hillside with one of the spears in one hand and a torch in the other. The sun had started to rise so there'd be little reason to keep it ignited soon enough, yet it provided ample illumination and means to ward off a creature just long enough to retreat. As he paces into the rocks, he isn't going to get a chance to scare off this beast.

Ronin pushes up from his low stance at the man's flank, catching his eye and drawing his panicked gaze. The human's green eyes flood with fear and his mouth opens, attempting to scream before steel fills his throat. The tip of Ronin's blade stops, stabbing into the groove of the man's spinal bones. His arms fall limp and the torch clatters to the grasses, flickering moments before his removal causes the body to fall on and snuff the flame.

Not yet.

He reaches down and grabs the crumpled sputtering man's hair, unceremoniously slashing his weapon across the back of his neck and cleanly severing it. A number in the corner of his vision rises and mentally clicks higher.

Thirty-four.

Ronin kicks the corpse aside and quickly wipes the blood of his weapon along the man's sparse leather protective gear, ignoring the scent of burning material and flesh to properly adjust his grip of the decapitated head's hair. A slinger's pinched hold with his pointer and middle finger tightened to the thumb, relying on the others to merely provide some additional grip strength. The wolfman stays low, watching Ronin charge down the hill with his bounty moments before leaping at the nearby wall.

Wind's Grace.

Mana bursts from his feet, carrying him higher and farther. The wall may have been short enough to climb and walk on, but the distance to it was the true danger in a plains area like this. A stagnante cannot face a fortification like this alone so those without magic cannot dare to oppose these bandits.

But Ronin's wind elemental magic is ample enough to carry him both up and to the wall in seconds, the spell ending and letting him drop on the wall ten feet from the nearest guard. The man turns at the noise but Ronin acts first, slinging the head outward and making him instinctively raise his shield. In the corner of Ronin's eye, he can see the bandits' fur tents and campfires, a few of their lot walking about and immediately catching sight of him. Those within the wall carry knives but lack their armor... making the posted guards at the door into and out of the walls as well as the two wall-guards the true threat.

"What the shi- is that Ed's head!?"

The cry from one of the camp dwellers rings out, Ronin's eyes narrowing and fully turning his attention on the guard just as the head thumps off his wooden shield and rolls down into the camp.

Thundercut.

A thin red line paces out, semi-transparently stretching the gap between him and the guard. It twists, turning and angling.

[Warning]

Obstruction detected; skill failure estimated.

[Confirm] | [Cancel]

The window flicks out and Ronin raises his blade outward and up over his sword arm's shoulder, clutching the hilt in both hands before swinging. His MP bar immediately loses a fourth of its total value, the air between them growing hazy with mana. The shield explodes with a thunderous bang, a massive gust of wind roaring through the area like a clap of countless thunder strikes. Ronin charges forward despite the ringing in his ears from the defeating explosion, watching the disoriented man's face shift from confusion, to anger, and finally to fear as his blade cuts through his left hip and out the other.

Click.

The bisected legs fall away while the man's torso tumbles free from the wall to the outside field, blood pouring all over Ronin's feet. A retaliation finally comes as a spear snaps into the stone wall near him, the other guard leaping from the other wall and thrusting his weapon at Ronin's chest.

The enemies below me can't hit me this soon effectively. Focus.

The blade snaps up, parrying the stabbing lunge high enough that it grazes his shoulder. Ronin immediately releases his main hand's grip and grabs the shaft just behind his shoulder, pulling down on it to trap it. The bandit pulls but when the weapon doesn't return he immediately raises his shield to parry the offhanded retaliatory swing. Ronin grits his teeth moments before turning his blade to avoid the counter shield-charge pushing the sword flat to his body and hitting him.

Bandits aren't entirely foolish; stagnante have to adapt to fighting one-on-one and those who make it long-term use their equipment to its fullest. Battering your opponent's body with a shield tires them out while wearing full armor, but in this situation, it's a tactic to inflict damage or cripple their ability to strike. Ronin is far from your regular fighter, yet this simple pitfall isn't something he can easily evade.

A wooden bolt cracks into the side of the bandit's skull, immediately making him fall away and relenting his pressuring so Ronin can recover. The wolfman immediately starts descending the hilltop and reloading, his own hunting instincts telling him that now is the time to attack. Without guards on the walls, no one can see or identify him to reveal the reason for the attack.

Ronin quickly tosses the spear aside now that its owner is dead, kicking the man from the wall moments before from the wall and landing within the campground.

No tribal members... just stagnante?

One of the bandits approaches with a rusted sword, forcing Ronin to parry the blade's slow swing. Another guard rushes at that exact moment with a knife, trying to flank the camp's attacker. A swing to ward off the sword-wielder morphs halfway, Ronin grabbing the sword with both hands to bash the bandit's knife hand and shatter his knuckles. The man recoils and drops the weapon seconds before Ronin turns and continues his first combo to cut a clean groove through his head and slay him instantly.

Click.

Blood and bone fragments shower the sword-wielding bandit giving Ronin a window to step forward and kick him off-balance. Another bandit rushes from a nearby tent, throwing a skull that batters Ronin moments before he can finish the sword-wielder off. HP sinks and his vision blurs, yet the swordsman immediately grabs the blade's sheath and tugs it off his hip.

Bladeless Form!

SP floods over the sheath, making it slam into the skulltosser moments before he can tackle Ronin and smacking him into the nearby wall. Stagnante aren't bad enough to go down in a single strike like this, but the man's stagger keeps him standing at just the right height for Ronin to turn and execute a one-handed mancutter slash. The man lets out what sounds like a scream and slides down the instantly-bloodied wall, falling into halves.

Click

The sword-wielder panics and steps backward, desperately trying to wipe the gore from his eyes.

The other bandits were still collapsing whilst the gate remained closed. The wolfman hadn't arrived yet but Ronin didn't care; this may be an equal exchange for his aid, but Londelians only need to be in battle for a moment to feel at home. The graze's bleeding, the pulsing pain of where the skull hit him, and now the adrenaline in his veins are all the same stimulants driving him into a frenzy.

Ronin grins, turning his blood-coated face toward the sword-wielding bandit and his two newest allies rushing to join with shields and spears.

"All this time I've been rusty," he murmurs. "During the Blood Hazing I felt just how sloppy my form has grown."

His sword tilts, instinctively spattering the building blood and leaving it mostly clean. He drops the sheath, once more taking the sword in both hands.

[Notification]

Sword Bonding progress gained...

1 of 100%

"Time to feed my bond, sharpen my skills, and return a favor all in one go."