(Third Person POV)

  The man pulled his hood down, revealing a thin and pale face, with dark brown eyes. He had a few scars on his cheek, with an "x" tattoo above his eyebrow.

  "And who are you supposed to be?" He asked, gring right at Samuel, "Huh?"

  "Me?" Samuel said, "I'm just a guy passing through. Who are you supposed to be?"

  "You know this woman?" The man gestured at Elena, "Hm?"

  "Just met her today." Samuel said, "What's your point?"

  The man snapped his fingers, and suddenly, several more figures darted from the rooftops, nding around Samuel. Three were standing behind him at the entrance of the alley, while the others were between him and Elena.

  Elena stepped back, clearly afraid, "What is..?"

  The hooded figures straightened up, looking at Samuel, who seemed unfazed by this. He counted six in total, now that the others had appeared out of nowhere. Samuel could only feel a shift in the air with them in his presence; he assumed it was the magic power inside them.

  "If I defeat them, would that count as completing my Task?" he thought to himself, "They are considered mages, right? Hm....guess we'll find out."

  "If I were you." The first one started, looking at the others who drew their daggers, "I would turn around and walk away."

  "Hm, is that so?" Samuel tilted his head, "I do wonder what this woman did to get on your bad side."

  "She owes our Boss some gold. And not just that, she owes him something more." The man spat on the ground, "You'd do best to stay out of this and fuck right off."

  "Is your boss a Dread Lord?" Samuel asked

  "N-No...." Elena started, "They come from out of the city. Their boss is-"

  "Shut your mouth!" The man snapped, "Don't you speak another word, woman."

  "Hey now, that is no way to speak to a dy." Samuel tipped his hat, "Especially one who hasn't done anything wrong yet."

  "You know nothing." The man said, "If you don't walk away, we'll have no choice but to skin you alive."

  "That a promise?" Samuel smirked slightly, "Don't stand down now."

  "You're going to die for a woman you don't know?" the man asked, a serious scowl on his face, "Huh?"

  "No." Samuel merely replied

  "Fuck off then," another one said, pointing his knife at him, "A smart man like you is hard to come by."

  "Oh, you misunderstand." Samuel said seriously, "I'm not going to die at all. You understand what I am saying?"

  "There are six of us and only one of you." the first one said, "Do you like those odds, you fucker?"

  "Well, I got six bullets." Samuel said, a challenging tone in his voice, "Have you kissed your loved ones goodbye?"

  They all stood there, gring at him while not moving a muscle. Samuel's hand was hovering over his holstered gun, adding more tension into the air. Elena was trembling in pure fear and shock, not knowing that things would escate to this point.

  "Kill him." The first one said

  The three that were behind him immediately lunged at Samuel, aiming their daggers at his back. Within this split second, Samuel had drawn his hand-cannon, firing two shots and hitting the two men in front of him right in the chest. Their chests had burst open with blood, causing them to drop down into the ground.

  After the second shot was fired, Samuel had ducked down, avoiding the back-stabbing. He aimed his revolver at one of the men, opening fire and ripping apart the left side of his skull. Blood and brains spttered all over the wall as Samuel rolled backwards.

  He straightened up, appearing behind the remaining two from behind, spinning his revolver in his finger before aiming at one of them and pulling the trigger.

  "BANG!!!"

  The heavy caliber runepowder round pierced through the man's back, opening a rge and gaping hole that sprayed blood everywhere. As his body colpsed to the ground, Samuel had aimed at the other one and fired a round at the side of his head; he had crouched down and turned to the side to avoid any bullets, clearly failing.

  Five corpses dropped into the stone ground, causing Elena to let out a soft gasp of pure shock.

  "W-What?" She trembled, clearly taken off guard by this

  The first of the men was staring at this with widened eyes, clearly shocked by the dispy of gun-skill. Before he could even twitch in response, Samuel had already fired the st round at his head, between his eyes.

  The bullet struck the man in the face, but instead of blowing his head apart, a gss-shattering effect detonated, fshing a white light. He was staggered, however, stunned by the attack.

  "The fuck...." He said as he stumbled back

  Samuel narrowed his eyes, "Hm...." He said, "Interesting."

  The man rushed at Samuel, jumping forwards and hitting him with a spinning heel kick, which struck him right in the chest. Samuel was sent flying back, but he was able to compose himself, sliding on his feet.

  "Well..." Samuel said, "That didn't hurt as much as I thought. What's with my body?"

  The man narrowed his eyes as he raised his dagger, "You're tough." He muttered, "And that skill with a firearm...."

  Samuel patted his chest, "You get dirt on my clothes, I'll have to charge you for the cleaning." He said, opening the chamber of his revolver and emptying the cases, "Well, never mind. How can you pay for anything when you're six feet under?"

  He began to load the other rounds from his gunbelt, causing the man to rush at him with blinding speed. Samuel, however, was able to react to the swipe of his dagger by stepping to the side.

  "What's with these reflexes?" the man said, clearly astonished

  Samuel had fully loaded his bullets, spinning the chamber before closing it, "You're just too slow, bud." he said, aiming the gun at him, "You have to be quicker than that."

  The man raised his arms in front of him in a cross, a magic circle appearing in the middle of the air.

  "Barrier"

  A circur barrier made out of light appeared in front of the man, resembling a gss panel. Samuel looked at this with intrigue in his eyes.

  "Magic, huh?" He said with a smirk, "You're a mage."

  He pulled the trigger, firing three rounds into the barrier. It was able to withstand the first two rounds, but the third one immediately shattered it. The man immediately ran to the side, jumping into the wall and unching himself right at Samuel who was already aiming at him.

  Samuel pulled the trigger, firing a single round and nearly hitting the man, who spun himself in the middle of the air to avoid the projectile.

  "Conjure Bullets"

  Samuel filled his bullet holders with the runepowder rounds, stepping back as the man nded in front of him. The man, having closed the distance, immediately swung his dagger at him, trying to cut his throat.

  Samuel avoided the bde, feeling the pressure of the swing, "Not bad." He said, "You almost got me."

  He aimed at the man's stomach, holding his gun by the hip, pulling the trigger and firing a round. The round struck the man in the stomach, causing another gss-shattering effect; he had protected himself yet again with some sort of barrier around his body.

  Samuel gritted his teeth, "Okay...." He said, "This is getting annoying."

  "I ought to finish this already."