Chao Wei stood with the Hunters, his eyes glowing with courage. The Bandits laughed.
"You!? A CHILD!!?" All the bandits burst into laughter.
"Have this, what Hunters become!? Children!?" A bandit says as he decides to bust down a door, Chao Wei reacts almost instantly, he bit the broken shaft and removed it with his teeth, dropping it once it had been removed, for a moment, a Phantom, a Flicker of the past, the phantom will and embodiment of Nakama Hiroshi, for a minute, Chao Wei was Nakama Hiroshi again, the boy found himself once again back in high school, back on the baseball field, back on the same mound he found himself on time and time again. His eyes dilate, his mouth utters one word: "Fastball". The node of Fastball on his wrist glowed, it burned, and he assumed the same stance he had done it time and time again. His knee raised, his arms tucked, his hands folded around the arrowhead, one hop forward, his finger on the hole in the wooden arrow shaft was torn from, his knee kicked out, landed on the ground, sliding into place, then...release.
The arrow flew through the air, empowered by Qi, a headshot. The Bandit's hand reached, then stopped, and dropped dead on his side.
Dead silence. Chao Wei stood there, same stance from the release of the arrowhead before he slowly rose, his eyes still in that state.
The hunters had a look of dawning realization, then the Bandits looked at him in rage.
"COURTING DEATH!!!!" The Bandits forgot about the other Hunters and immediately went for the child.
"NO!" The Hunters tried to shield him, but just as the strike landed, the boy stood there, unfazed. He looked the bandit in the eye, unflinching.
"You Missed." The boy said, with a voice and tone that didn't just belong to a child, not just a high schooler, but to someone who had steeled their resolve. Three of the Hunters had held the bandits' arms, but he took three arrows from their quivers, snapped them over his knees, then pulled the wooden shafts.
"The odds have been evened. Play Ball." The boy said, dashing away.
"Y-YOU!" The Bandit said. The Hunters put their bows away and drew melee weapons, the fight was on. The boy kept running, as if he were running bases. Two bandits attempted to block off his exit, then he turned around and ran away again.
"First base," He uttered, as if it were natural.
"Kid...YOU TALK TOO MUCH! WHAT ARE YOU RAMBLING ON ABOUT!?" The Bandit
He slid, and through pure intuition, he jumped up, activating the fastball skill. His body twisted midair as he activated Fastball again.
"Fastball"
"Hey Kid! We can't have you showing us up!" One of the Hunters said, mid activation, two hunters took a knee and took out their bows, all three hunters knocked three arrows and aimed at the second bandit chasing Chao Wei.
"Triple Tri Shot!" They shot the distracted Bandit, however, he noticed and raised his large blade, blocking the arrows, but pushed back from his partner, allowing Chao Wei to take down the Bandit he was focusing on. He was able to stop running for a while, panting and tired.
"How...hah hah hah...Despicable... What would I expect of honorless heathens?" Chao Wei asked the bandit in front of him, who barely looked worn out.
"We're Bandits! Honor ain't mean nothing if it means you survive and crush everyone el-" He was cut off mid-sentence by an arrowhead between the eyebrows, dropping to the ground.
"You're right. I'm sorry. Bandits have no honor, and in a way, I can't afford to fight with honor either. I was hypocritical." Chao Wei told the bandit, looking at his glazed over eyes before grabbing his second arrowhead, noticing the hunters fighting the larger Bandit, he palms the arrow.
"Curveball." The arrowhead goes flying, at first it was straight enough to attempt a dodge, however, it made a sideways arc from the moment it went flying. Seconds after it left his hand, the bandit dodged, but not before getting grazed above the eye, blinding the bandit temporarily.
"Get him! Don't let him go!!" Chao Wei yelled, palming the last arrow. "Last one...Make it count...!"
"Kid!" The hunters continued shooting arrows, while Chao Wei took some distance, then got ready, locking on to the Bandit's head. Just as they avoided arrows and blades, the arrowhead glowed in Chao Wei's hand as he wound up the pitch.
"Let's finish this...!" The arrow was released, and the sound of a large "POW" was heard; then the bandit fell on his back, dead. The last bandit, the Hunters, looked at Chao and walked up to him.
"Kid...that was dangerous...But Thanks." The younger hunter said, Chao looked at him and nodded.
"You've got an arm on you!" A slightly younger hunter exclaimed, putting his arm around Chao Wei's shoulders.
There was an older and more pragmatic hunter who prioritized the people first. He yelled out, "EVERYONE! BANDITS ARE DEAD!!"
The people came out of their houses, cautiously, slowly, but surely. The people cheered for the hunters and Chao slowly went toward the body and pat the clothes of the bandits. They had a few items on their person. A few containers that had the familiar sound of pills inside, from Takuma's past life from hearing pill bottles being shaken up at a pharmacy.
The pragmatic Hunter turned to Chao, "You. Boy. You're one of us now."
"What?" Chao asked, confused.
"A Blackrock hunter. You wear our tunic."
An old man with a cane and hunchback touched his arm.
"Hmm...interesting...interesting indeed, boy...come with me." The old man said, wanting Chao Wei to follow him. He took a gourd bottle and took a swig. Chao followed the man to his humble home.
"May I know your name?"
"Shen."
"I'll give it to you straight, young man...I'm surprised you're not dead."
"What?" Chao recoiled as if offended.
"Your meridians are in chaos, your qi is running rampant, and your foundation... it's rubbish. Fix it."
Chao couldn't exactly disagree, he's in the body of a child who copied some breathing technique without understanding it.
"Tell me what I have to do." Chao was ready to change.