7 Ambush, Hideout

Three men completely garbed in black sauntered through a silent forest, their paces moderate and gaits relaxed. Due to the quietude of the surroundings, their chatter and boot crunching footsteps were quite loud, so loud that they masked the presence of David, who hid behind a tree they just bypassed.

Making use of his new cat-like grace, David circled the four foot wide tree and tiptoed after his targets, dodging and sidestepping every twig and rock that would have alerted them to his presence. All the while, he observed them with cold dead eyes, evaluating the guidance [Killer Instinct] provided him.

He would have loved to take them down one by one, but their walking side by side voided this possibility. To add to his paralyzed discontent, [Killer Instinct]'s method involved a confrontation, albeit one that promised to end as fast as it began. All in all, the success of this endeavor depended on how well he trusted in and used his abilities.

Being in a calm and detached state, any hesitation and protests from his body and mind were silenced. In his eyes, nothing existed apart from the three men. As such, once he reached a distance where his stalking would be detected should he advance any further, he didn't wait and attacked.

He chose the leftmost mercenary as his first victim and lunged forward with a leap. In one swift motion, he reached the oblivious man, yanked his head back, and buried the knife in his neck. This instantly alerted the other two and they spun around to find a knife sticking out of their choking partner and the perpetrator using his body as cover.

Their reactions were immediate. They raised their guns and spread out to take proper aim and avenge their friend. However, even though they had a head start with their aims, David's speed, which extended to more than just running, proved to be the deciding factor of this incident.

Taking advantage of the "cover" and his fast mind, he flipped the safety of his victim's pistol and lifted it, taking aim faster than the soldiers could react.

BANG! BANG!

Thump! Thump!

With no fanfare, the two men each received a bullet to the head that evicted them from the world of the living. That left their partner in front of David, who had knocked on death's door and awaited its opening. David let go of the dying man and took aim as he fell to his knees and pitched forward.

Before he fired though, he remembered something and grabbed him by the head. He pulled off the mask covering it, revealing a head full of black hair that became ruffled and mottled with blood the next instant.

BANG!

Thump!

Holding up the balaclava, [Killer Instinct] took the backseat once more as the world regained its vibrancy. A huge sense of pride and accomplishment then swarmed him, reminding him of those times his jokes made whole rooms of people erupt in laughter.

He felt proud then, and he felt proud now.

The difference was, this situation didn't give him the urge to laugh or relish in the act he just committed. It made him afraid. It made him feel less like a human being, and more like the monsters he read and heard about on the news. The thought of joining the ranks of such people scared and disgusted him at the same time.

In order not to end up as someone who saw taking a life as something to enjoy, he had decided to not give an ounce of attention to these emotions, vowing to never enjoy or celebrate a kill... save for Fyers and Wintergreen. Those two were people he'd definitely enjoy killing, and to deny that would be the height of hypocrisy.

Bending down beside the deceased mercenary, he stored his body and weapons in the inventory before moving to his partners and doing same with them. With that done, he retraced the directions he and the soldiers' came from, committing the latter to memory as he set off in a new direction.

'I have to move. The noise might've alerted someone.'

...

Lian Yu had a cold and humid climate.

It persisted all year round, and only eased up a little during warm and dry seasons. With the time period being the last days of November, one could imagine the chill. Even the almighty sun, which had reached the peak of its ascent, had been obscured by the thick gray clouds that filled the sky.

Unable to feel the low temperatures of the island, David hiked through its jungle, sporting the black uniform and mask of the men he killed a few hours ago. Vapor escaped his mask with every breath as he whipped his head about, scanning the dull jungle for any luminous white.

So far his search had turned up unfruitful, and the frustration had reached a tipping point. Every single "hiding place" he discovered did not fit the criteria. They were often exposed and unsuitable for prolonged residence, such as the foliage of trees. Sometimes too, the places he found were downright inaccessible.

He sighed. 'I can't keep going like this. I need to think of something else.'

Coming to a stop, he climbed a small mound with a minivan sized boulder atop it. He turned off [Eagle Vision] and reclined against the huge rock, exhaling and briefly obscuring his vision with steam as he gazed at the sky. 'Where can I go and how can I get there?' he wondered.

The first question had many answers. Slade's plane. Yao Fei's cave, and even the submarine with the Mirakuru. They were all viable options, but how the hell was he supposed to get to them? He thought about it over and over, but nothing new popped up.

'Welp. I guess I'm sticking with the old plan.'

Moving his gaze to his now booted feet, he used them to play with pebbles and kick them. One such pebble bounced along the ground and disappeared into the undergrowth, just like its counterparts. However, a few seconds after its disappearance, a subtle but echoing clank sounded out, sending David on high alert.

In this forest with the decibel level of a cemetery, that clank echoed in his ears like thunder. Rushing forward in anticipation, he knelt down and parted the small plants and grasses with his gloved hands, searching for the hole the rock fell into. Mid search though, he paused and facepalmed, activating [Eagle Vision].

'Getting used to it will take a while.'

Once the world went dim, a spot not far away lit up like white Christmas lights bundled together. With expectation present on his masked face, he crawled over and gazed down the hole, serving himself a generous amount of white light.

"No fucking way…"

What he assumed to be just a large hole, turned out to be a living room sized underground cave/chamber. A number of things were scattered inside it, and though most of them were downright rubbish, they didn't decrease the quality of the room one bit.

In fact, they upped its quality, or so David thought as he eyed the deformed skeletons and the tiny gold object in their midst. The miracles that thing led to could turn his situation around in an instant. Hopeful of his luck staying this way for the rest of this life, he scrambled to his feet and searched for an entrance.

He scrutinized the van boulder on his way down, finally recalling the episode he saw it in. 'I knew it looked familiar.'

It didn't take him long, and soon he found the entrance, hidden behind a thick curtain of moss and entangled plants and vines. Lifting the nature-formed tent flap, he went low and entered the chamber, giving the room a proper scan.

There was a bamboo ladder, a suitcase from a time period he didn't recognize, and a katana that looked like it could use some water. None of these things kept his attention though as he strode over to the skeletons, his gaze trained on the gold light like a laser.

Pushing down his unease at touching human bones, he made haste and retrieved the gold object. He then turned off [Eagle Vision], revealing the object to be an arrowhead shaped rock with a black string tied to it. Something had been inscribed in Japanese on one side while the other had a set of numbers.

He knew they were coordinates, but he had no idea how to comprehend and use them. He didn't let this bother him though and instead relished in his newfound luck. He had the location of the Mirakuru. It was just a matter of time before he got his hands on it.

"As long as I have this, the Mirakuru is mine," he affirmed, tightening his grip on the rock.

...

[One hour later…]

A fire crackled inside the underground chamber, its radiance and warmth chasing away the darkness of the room and the ever-present chill of Lian Yu.

After storing the hōzen in the inventory for safekeeping, David tidied up the cave and packed every ruined and unusable item in a secluded corner. This left him with a suitcase and a dull, rust covered katana that he swung about a few times to satisfy his dimension slicing fantasies.

Seated on the ground near the fire, he arranged a number of items in terms of category, relation, and lastly, ascending order of size, his minor OCD manifesting itself.

Apart from changing clothes and taking their weapons, he didn't have the time nor place to take proper stock of the mercenaries' belongings. Now that he'd acquired a safe haven, he saw no reason to wait.

"One pen, one small notebook, three pistols, three assault rifles, three combat knives, two lighters, three digital wristwatches, three bulletproof vests, six rifle mags, six pistol mags, and whatever this is…" he trailed off and reached for a thick piece of folded paper.

He unfolded it and held it wide open, his expression morphing into an incredulous grin once he set eyes on its contents. "A goddamn map! Finally, no more walking around blind!"

A quick once over of the map made his grin grow even wider. "Hahahaha. Is this what it's like to have good luck?"

Someone, presumably the previous owner, had used a black marker to note various locations on the navigation tool, and one of them made him glad for his paranoia. Not only did the person circle the locations, he wrote their names beside them.

When he read "monastery," beside one of the locations, he felt vindicated. His caution and paranoia has saved him, and he finally assumed something right for once. 'If only it worked all the time…'

He brushed that unrealistic thought aside and focused on the marked locations. They were an old and abandoned prison, the mercenaries' rest camp, the staging area with the missile launcher, the airstrip, and last but not least, the monastery.

With the help of these landmarks and mental images of the path he took, he deduced his current location in no time.

"Now that I have this, I can formulate a better plan."

His initial plan was to wait out the bloodline transformation and go after Fyers. First, he would retrace the steps of the men he killed and start from there, killing his way to the leader himself. Now, with the help of the map, he could go after the mercenary leader with a more precise and thorough attack.

Giving it a final once over, he folded the map and stored it. Next, came the timetable of activities for the one month period.

He had [Ultimate Regeneration], [Eagle Vision], and [Killer Instinct]. They were powerful abilities, but the first two only ensured his survival, leaving [Killer Instinct] to increase his lethality. The ability took his physical abilities, skills and the enemy's weaknesses into account to create the perfect guide on how to kill said enemy.

If he wanted to take down Fyers, he had to go through the dozens of men under his command. As such, his lethality had to increase to match the task. This meant improving the factors [Killer Instinct] depended on. He had to work and improve himself.

Thankfully, he had everything he needed to realize this goal. His mind had been branded with the skills of a legendary assassin, and they waited on him to begin their assimilation. His body could sustain itself and repair any damage incurred in the blink of an eye.

Meaning he could exercise without limit and make significant progress in a short amount of time. What he needed now was a structured regimen to follow and ensure he milked this month for all it was worth.

Grabbing the ugliest katana he had ever seen, he turned it over a few times and placed it down with a sigh. He then picked up the notebook and pen, opening to a fresh page in the former before putting the pen to it.

"Meditation (body and mind), physical training, hand-to-hand combat, sword training, and gun assembly training," he wrote, jotting them all down before starting the time allocation.

"This is gonna be a long fucking month."