Reiji walked through the forest, the all too familiar sound of snow crunching being his only company.

  He didn't know it yet, but he was deep in the Frost people's territory.

  It was common knowledge not to go here because of the weird disappearances caused by the Frost people.

  But Reiji Kurozuma had no way of knowing that.

  He kept walking, not expecting to encounter any Frost people because it was day time.

  His calm mind got pulled back into reality by a terrible feeling. Something like sensing danger without there being any signs of it.

  That feeling was confirmed when eight arrows flew towards him.

  They were shot from positions that were in front of him but he didn't see anyone.

  The arrows hit Reiji, or they should've at least. Instead, he was comfortably sitting in the snow in front of where they landed.

  He seemingly dashed forward and slid across the snow, avoiding all of the arrows.

  As he sat in a casual, almost care free way he tried to process what just happened.

  Those arrows were definitely faster than the ones I'm used to facing but why was I able to dodge them so easily?

  Reiji sat there, thinking. He suddenly stood up and hid behind a tree. Right as he hid behind it, a few more arrows were fired, all missing him.

  That meat I ate tasted terrible but could it be the culprit behind this power? What are its limits? Is it permanent? Are there any side effects? Geez, too much to figure out.

  He peeked around the edge of the tree, trying to spot the archers. He didn't know if it was the Frost people.

  That feeling came back and he took off to sit behind another tree, moving just before a few more arrows were fired from different locations.

  “One thing is for sure, I feel better than ever.”

  From behind the tree he was using as cover, a Frost person ran at him with a spear.

  He rolled out of the way before he could be stabbed through the neck and turned to face it.

  He knocked the spear to the side using his right hand and punched the Frost person right into its mask with the same fist, shattering it.

  He quickly ducked again, avoiding more arrows. He took the spear into his right hand.

  Remembering where one of the arrows came from, he throws the spear and thinks he hit the mark.

  He then runs into the direction where two arrows came from. He makes sure he's always near cover as he runs.

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  Some arrows are fired but they miss. At a certain distance he sees the two Frost people and they turn and run.

  He follows after them. As they run past a small bump in the snow a frost person stands up from the bump about 30 meters in front of Reiji.

  It runs at Reiji with a stone knife. It jumps into the air and Reiji grabs it but the force causes him to fall with the frost person and slide a short distance in the snow.

  He punched the frost person in the face until its skull caved in and blood stained the snow.

  He took the knife and turned around, still on the ground. Just then he saw an arrow fly at him.

  He ducked but the arrow cut a straight line from his elbow to his shoulder on his right arm.

  He stood up and gripped the knife by its tip and threw it right in-between the eyes of the archer that shot that arrow.

  Just then he saw the other archer pull his bow back.

  Reiji quickly jumped to the side and rolled behind a tree. He looked at his bleeding arm, checking if it's serious.

  After determining that it's nothing to worry about he got an idea.

  If he could steal a bow and some arrows he could be on equal ground with the Frost people.

  He stood up and ran towards the frost person he punched to death. He grabbed the corpse by its coat and used it as a meat shield.

  He ran towards the other archer in a way that used the trees and corpse as cover.

  After firing an arrow the archer turned and started running away, leaving the dead archer behind.

  Reiji ran all the way to the dead archer, throwing the meat shield into the snow and dropping down to take the bow and two arrows.

  He quickly got into a crouch, pulled the bow back and fired an arrow at the other archer.

  The arrow hit its back, causing the frost person to drop into the snow.

  Reiji quickly took cover a good distance from the two bodies. He had just one arrow left.

  “Three archers down, I think. Where are the other five?”

  He readied his last arrow. After a moment he put it back into the quiver he took off of the archer and made a run for the two dead bodies.

  He took the archer’s body into one hand, the stone knife still in-between its eyes, and the one he used as a meat shield into the other.

  He ran back and hid behind the same tree, leaving the bow behind.

  He used the bodies as meat shields, trying to cover himself as much as possible as he looked for any movement.

  The stillness was broken by a frost person who came from behind the tree with two stone knives.

  The Frost person tried to stab Reiji but ended up stabbing a dead body. It tried again but to the same result.

  Reiji stood up as the bodies were stabbed and headbutted the frost person.

  It stumbled back for a few steps and then jumped towards Reiji. All that was heard was a shing and two small thuds.

  Reiji pulled out his katana and cut the frost person in half. He swiftly put it back and took the two stone knives, placing them in-between his kimono and obi.

  Why didn't I sense this guy with the gut feeling I had before?

  He just stood there, focusing on the surrounding area again.

  There it was, that feeling of danger. He saw a small movement before five arrows flew at him.

  Three from in front of him, one from the left and one from the right.

  Reiji hit the deck but one arrow had the perfect trajectory and hit his side.

  The arrow didn't go too deep so he just pulled it out and took a knife from his obi and threw it at a moving archer, missing.

  He took another one and killed an archer that had the perfect position for another shot, making it a stationary target for Reiji.

  Reiji ran behind another tree, taking the bow back in process.

  He readied the arrow and watched the space in front of him where the archer that shot at him from his left side should be.

  And then he saw movement, he aimed his bow, pulled it back and fired. It looked like it hit.

  An arrow flew at him from his right, missing him. He quickly ran to where it landed and took it. He readied the arrow but as he pulled the bow back the string tore off from the wooden frame.

  He dropped back down, putting the arrow into his quiver.

  “...Shit.”

  After a moment he made a run for the archer he just killed, using the trees as cover. Of course, using the same tactic again and again wasn't a good idea.

  An arrow flew at him from his right, hitting his shoulder.

  He slowed down for a moment before he started running at full speed again. He grabbed the arrow and snapped off the wooden body with his thumb, keeping the stone head in his shoulder.

  He made it to the dead archer and took its bow and arrows. This one had three arrows.

  I need to more mindful of the bows limits.

  He looked in the direction he got hit from, trying to spot any movement. He moved around the tree he hid behind so his back was covered.

  He glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone was behind him. His glance got met with an arrow that destroyed the bark and some of the wood in the place of impact.

  He readied an arrow, aimed and fired. It was a miss. He hid behind the tree again.

  Three archers…three arrows.

  He took a quick look over his shoulder again, not seeing anything. He turned the other way to see if anything was in front of him.

  That unpleasant feeling arouse, making him run towards a tree to his left, closer to the frost person that shot at him from behind.

  As he ran just then an arrow impacted the tree and another one was shot at him from the opposite direction.

  He hid behind the tree.

  One…two…three…four…five. The one i took the arrows from had three on him. And he shot…once…twice…thrice…a fourth and…did it shoot a fifth time? They either have seven or eight arrows each. The one behind me shot five but they might have stripped the dead ones of their arrows so who knows how many they have.

  Reiji then realized that he's being shot at by two of the three remaining archers.

  Where could the third one be?

  As this thought crosse

  d Reiji's mind he saw an arrow fly towards him from the corner of his eye.

  No time to dodge, no time to block. And the arrow? Aimed directly in-between his eyes.