*
"You..... Bastard... Once I... Get free... I'll kill you." (Thug)
A dry hoarse voice tired from screaming squeezed out with desperate laboured breath. His gaze thickened with murderous intent, never leaving her side. He was already calculating how to kill her in the most efficient, fastest method the moment he shook free of the threads binding him.
"It's true, my magic isn't going to last long. I can't play with you, so I have to execute now." (Lastia)
A slight chill doused his back. Doubling the amount of strings has reduced the operational limit to 2 minutes, thankfully the enemy dove into it at full force, less than a minute has passed. From the front, she hardened the black material into a singular pike, held together by a rather long piece of string coiling further and further into the distance for something secure to coil against. Like a sling shot, the length is going to condense all at once and imitate a sling shot's tension, ramming the pike into his neck at full force.
The operational limit is about to be reached. His eyes bulged with ceaseless anger, his body convulsed violently as blood coated his limbs equally while he struggles. His jaw clenched tight with agony and his crooked teeth was moist with something dark coloured. He would move more rigorously if the strings weren't holding him with tension, he was beginning to ignore the pain in an attempt to prioritise survival. With a wave of her hand, she released all her magic.
"Die!!" (Lastia)
True to her mark, it dug into his throat. His unkempt look now drowned in blood, spilling profusely out of his mouth and neck. Because of gravity, a sickly red keeps flowing slowly over his reddened cherry lips, causing the tangy metallic stench over his chin to glisten under the faint moonlight escaping through a narrow crack.
"Hhhaaaghhh!!!" (Thug)
It couldn't finish the job! He's a bandit, his regenerative power shouldn't be too high. That means he's been persisting on
Even if he's getting out of the binds, she won't let him fight at his full strength. He'll have to live with a hole in his throat if he survives. Just a little more.... Finally, right before the strings faded into the the pike slipped in and crushed the flesh on the other end of his windpipe. Fresh blood splashed onto her face, taking that as feed back she kicked herself off his body, separating some distance from her opponent. She can't let her guard down, she had already begun to gather magic energy passively, she ended the string magic early so she can save up some energy for a counter attack.
The thug was half dead, even if not all the strings dug deep, some were able to reach the bone and cut off his nerves. He had trouble controlling his body, and with every limb and neck bathed in blood, he was also really low on oxygen. His eyes stared decisively as he managed to keep himself standing, enduring the scalding hot agony creeping throughout his body. His teeth never managed to unclench and his eyes only bulged more with popping veins.
He was saving energy too, for one final attack. He couldn't even notice what was happening under him due to all the stimulation. When she released her magic.. That included the pike. He was already drenched, so he couldn't notice that he was bleeding more and more from a hole in his neck, biding his time for one final 'attack'. She started walking towards him, calculations ready for her strings. She had a feeling that he wouldn't lurch until the last moment and she was right. He couldn't do it, he didn't have the energy to walk, he had to put his all into this death throe.
1 foot step away, he pivots on one feet and goes for his fastest left hook. It's nice to know, 40 in the constitution stat already pushed someone to be this superhuman. Being able to fight one step away from death isn't that practical, most of the time you'd die before you were brought that close. Not to mention you'd fight better before then.
Bringing her right arm to protect face, as well as deploying threads to hold back the left hook, she ducked to her left to deliver a straight. Since she was shorter, she struck his jaw, causing more blood to fly out of his neck. His body flew back further into the alley. Not even 5 minutes had passed since the start of battle, each exchange was brief in nature, only a few seconds.
Her breathing grew ragged from using so much magic, she trot forward with heavy steps. Now that he flew into the ground, his thick clothes are only going to act as dead weight on him. When she reach his side, she could hear a few delirious murmurs.
"... So... Rry, A... Liciiia..." (Thug)
"..." (Lastia)
Is it inhumane after beating down someone this much? The battle was life and death due to the difference in stats, in a way you could blame it on her for being weak. No, that's just a fake nicety. The real question she wanted to ask... Was if it was inhumane to treat someone as exp? That's right, her life was on the line but her thoughts had never once left the possibility of killing. The event simply crystallised into destiny, she couldn't escape from this destiny... She wouldn't let it escape her.
Forming a gauntlet over her fist, she brings it down on his skull. The hole in his neck made it hard to scream, he could only lay as he felt his body break down. She didn't have the physical strength to finish him off... So she bashed and bashed. The wet and dull thud of flesh rang into the night, if there were any wild animals nearby they would have ran off.
*thud thud thud... *
Without any resistance, his skull shattered and caved in under mangled flesh, his eyes finally grew lifeless with an out of place fanfare.
*pinpon! *
'Level up!', she could practically hear in her mind. That's great, she can finally grow stronger at a faster rate, with some strength she can keep grinding more monsters, more enemies. For now she desperately needed a place to hide, to rest for the night and to examine her stats. This place utterly reeked of blood, her clothes also made her look like a gutter rat. She was also caked in the thug's blood, sweat and dust. A shower would be nice... But she didn't even get starting capital.