NOVEL NEXT Chapter 388 - Preventing Escape
The small-time bandit boss is less than pleased and more than just a bit shocked as Jason approaches him through the flurry of attacks. Not liking what he is seeing, the boss fumbles with his spear to set it against Jason's approach. A little too late, though.
Jason is soon out of range of the two attackers as they helplessly continue onward because of their momentum and inability to handle the speed. Now through, Jason suddenly bursts forward, each step covering more ground than the last and he invades the bandit boss's space. It would be easy at this point to kill the guy, but instead Jason just chops at his arm and leg.
The bandit boss howls in rage, not feeling any pain as he falls to the ground with his spear clattering out of reach. Both his arm and leg feel like they have gone to sleep on him. The other two finally have themselves under control and charge back to help their boss instead of trying to run away. Just like Jason was hoping.
Before they arrive, though, Jason pops the shoulder harness open and allows Lily to hop down onto the bandit boss, ready to take care of the trash as soon as he finishes with the ones still up and about. From his perspective, at least if he takes care of all three of the bandits it will take a hot minute before anyone finds out what happened.
Not that Jason believes either of the two could outrun him, rather he is more worried about if they split up and try to get away. He isn't too worried about people from the last town either. Rather, Jason understands that where there is one bandit, there will be more. Even if they aren't actively raiding this section of road, having a town to offload their goods at is important.
Jason doesn't particularly mind being attacked, but bandits aren't the type of people who would come out and have a fair fight. They would ambush him at all hours of the day to wear him down and once they realize how dangerous he is, simply attack by throwing rocks at him from a distance or some such. Plus, Jason understands he isn't quite at the level of skill needed to beat massive differences in strength.
Sure, it was unlikely any bandits in the area have hit level 100 or higher. It just wouldn't make sense when at that point they could go just about anywhere and have their crimes forgiven if they promise to act as part of a defense force or some such. Still, even someone just approaching the fifth bottleneck, say between 65 and 75, would be a powerhouse in this area. While Jason doesn't gain stat points that doesn't mean he is clueless to how many a person would be getting. From level 50 to 74, each level brings in 18 stat points.
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So knowing that letting these small fries go could bring in some big fish, Jason doesn't give them a chance to run. Lily has the boss, so to prevent the two remaining bandits from running, he steps into the one to the left with a gut punch. This doesn't do much damage, but it knocks the wind out of him.
Then, with another step covering many paces all at once, Jason is beside the other bandit and this time isn't just trying to incapacitate. Instead, as the last bandit standing begins to react Jason unleashes a flurry of his own. Except unlike the bandits' attempt with their knives, Jason is more than able to control himself.
As the bandit raises his knife to block a feinted body shot, Jason's foot rises like a cobra and sneaks in a nasty rib shot. His feinted punch opens into a slap that is suddenly going to the side and knocks the one knife out of the bandits hand.
The bandit's muscle memory and skills kick in as he tries to get some distance while gripping the other dagger tighter. Jason however ghosts along with him, not even taking a step as if he was magnetically attached to the bandit. That and a quick chop to the wrist as his slapping hand reverse directions, leaves the bandit without a weapon in hand.
Another skill activates as a pair of daggers jump from the bandits belt to his hands. Or at least that is what is attempted. The bandit is clearly a Qi user as the daggers are forced to follow close to his body instead of taking a more direct path. Maybe for some, this could be seen as sneakier.
Jason however easily notices the motion and turns his open hands into fists. At that point, the daggers are just barely out of their sheaths and Jason is ready as they move up the side of the bandits body only to be stopped mid way by a pair of hammer fists. Now normally if you press your hand and a piece of leather into a blade, the hand would come out the loser.
That isn't the case here. Jason's cultivation has improved the toughness of his skin to be like solid wood while the bandits leather tunic has seen better days. The bandit is unable to react having been focused on making the skill work and so can't stop it as the tips of the daggers pierce through the leather and dig into his ribs, the only saving grace being that they were flat against his body and so only cutting at the tip.
Being a poor bandit this of course wasn't the first time the guy has had to fight through an injury so as the previous skill cancels, he tries to activate another one. Jason however isn't going to give him the chance. With his fists holding the bandit in place to an extent, he uses the classic self-defense move against a human guy. The ol' knee to the groin.
The bandit might be used to fighting through the pain, but this kind of strike is a completely different matter and he drops like a sack of potatoes. With the bandit now laid out beneath him, Jason quickly finishes the fight, Lily having already taken care of the other two. While the System does provide some protection against insta kills from striking the vitals, there is only so much it can do when a person gets a heel strike to the throat with a razor sharp petal chaser.
{+2 Agility}