Spacewalkers

12

For a second, my heart sank. This happens when you suddenly feel the impending danger. The hair on his back stood on end, and his skin was covered with goosebumps. All the instincts of this new body trumpeted my imminent death, and I did not ignore them.

Leaving the pirate, I jumped aside just at the moment when the furriod's mouth closed inches from my hand. His huge carcass flew past, dragging the remaining poor fellow behind him. There was a strong roar, the sound of a muffled blow and a short groan full of pain.

- Do you even feel sorry for your own? - I said, getting to my feet and looking at the wolf.

He stood near the body of a man with a head crushed against the wall, on which there was a deep dent and a red mark with the remains of the insides of the skull.

"They were never 'mine,'" he growled back, wiping his sharp, bloody claws on the dead man's clothes.

The dog slowly walked to the side, avoiding me in a semicircle, trying to keep his distance. I did the same. Tension grew between us and hung in the air like a taut steel string. Time seemed to slow down. Our eyes were riveted to each other.

I was not afraid of him, but I was worried about the strength of the furriods. One Terra I barely managed to defeat, and here is a stronger male. Yes, he is not as agile and mobile as my cat, but it means that he has even more pure physical strength.

- Hey! Phew... Ubfey exfo! - pointing at me with a finger, the pirate turned to the wolf, who bit off half of his tongue.

Blood flowed from his mouth, which he constantly spat out, bending down to the ground, but still found the strength to cling to the fur on the furriod's paws and start exclaiming his requests in an insane voice. But the dog didn't even listen to him. He just squeamishly pushed his hand away from him, and pressed his head to the ground.

- What are you doing?! Help!

A moment later, another skull was crushed like an overripe watermelon. Even for me it's a bit too much. When the enemy is defeated and does not offer resistance, then it is better to finish him off quickly and painlessly. Unless, of course, there is a benefit in his death and so I can avoid problems in the future. But to be so cruel ... Cruelty must be indicative so that others are afraid. And if he wanted to make me afraid by this, then all this is stupid.

- I do not like? he asked with a sly grin.

The facial expressions of the furriods are indistinguishable from human ones. They can also smile, get angry, rejoice. That's just to notice this, you can in other ways than watching facial expressions. Body movement, expression of the eyes, wagging of the tail or ears. Now this dog has a rather wagging tail, and his ears are upright. He was getting high from the whole situation, and it made me a little nervous.

- Yes, do not care, - I replied, going to the sword lying on the floor and picking it up.

"Krill, we're being monitored by on-board surveillance cameras," Atria's voice announced in my earphone, "Should I interrupt the broadcast?"

- No, let them watch how I will torment this mangy dog.

Furriod snarled at my words, crouched down on all fours, running his claws across the metal floor. Which cut through rusty metal with unprecedented ease, like a hot knife through butter. The whole situation made me a little disappointed. I planned to warm up a little on these drunken pirates and evaluate my strength in a real battle. But in the end they were too weak, and this dog will be too strong.

Hope the stats go up.

The dog didn't wait any longer. Scraping his claws on the floor, he rushed in a swift jerk in my direction, aiming his mouth at the throat, and intending to grab my shoulders with his claws and not let go until life leaves me. I grabbed the sword with a reverse grip in my right hand and stood up. Such a direct attack was too reckless, apparently this damn furriod is confident in his own abilities. Maybe he is used to the weak people around him, but apparently he is afraid of the captain. After all, it is not for nothing that he sits here, and does not control the pirates, appropriating all power to himself. So he is not as strong as he would like, and the technomages of the Inquisition are too tough for him.

I just wanted to grab my blaster and fire plasma at that grinning snout that was rushing towards me. Finish everything in the blink of an eye and dissolve the life of the enemy with a bluish flash. But then the meaning of the system? What is the point of my workouts? The blaster will not always be at hand, and you can not rely on it. Good marksmen become corpses as soon as ammo runs out and the enemy remains alive. You either kill everyone, or then they will kill you. That's why I don't really like firearms. Too cowardly weapon.

As soon as the wolf's mouth approached me at a distance of a couple of meters, I turned around my axis on one leg, hitting the other. My heel slammed into the dog's muzzle with all its might. The strength of this blow was added by the speed of the furriod himself, with which he advanced on me and then assessed its painful consequences.

The bones of his jaw cracked as they made contact with the back of the boot's reinforced plate. I still had to carry those cadet boots of the Inquisition, because I could not find anything better and more comfortable on the ship. Apparently not in vain.

Furriod jumped aside with a snarl. The lower jaw of his mouth lost several fangs, and was also turned the other way. He gave me an angry look full of hatred, and then with a sharp shake of his head, he set his jaw with a nasty crunch, from which it penetrates to the very hamstrings. I can never get used to it.

"You are stronger than 'these,'" as he said this, he nodded dismissively towards the dead pirates.

This comparison offended me to the core. I stand in front of him in good shape, trained, and he compares me to these scum. A strong blow to my ego. Very strong.

“And you are not very strong, it turns out,” I said honestly, realizing that in fact he is not as strong as Terra.

Terra was terribly strong in those final moments. If I had delayed any longer, she would definitely have won or I would have had to kill her. Alas, that's just the way it is. But this dog was just strong. One blow from me made him fly off to the side and set his jaw back. And now, after my words, he is even more angry.

He jumped at me again, waving his huge long arms with sharp claws at their fingertips. He was afraid to try to bite me.

I went down, bending my knees, and then in a short, swift lunge, I landed a straight punch into his stomach. My knuckles met the muscles of his abs, and for a second it seemed that it would be impossible to penetrate him. But pushing harder and leaning forward a little, I strained my muscles to the full five points of strength I had. If the force of the blow had long been leveled by the muscles of his body, then my push to the stomach finally made a breach, forcing the dog to move a couple of steps.

But he did not just break the distance, tried to strike with his claws. Dodging at the last moment, I felt like my shoulder was burned with hot metal, and then my skin was also torn open. Hissing in pain, I slashed with the blade of my sword, trying to damage the attacker's hand. But he managed only to make a minor cut, which was hard to distinguish under the thick black fur. Only drops of blood dripping onto the floor were proof of my blow.

We both grinned and then clashed again. Attacks, dodges, counterattacks. The dog's claws whistled through the air, as did the edge of my blade, its mouth clattering dangerously close to my face and throat. 

The system happily notified me about the increase in performance:

Endurance increased to 5 lvl.

Agility increased to 4 lvl.

It pleased. Because I had to dodge as hard as ever before. Jumping, rolling, somersaulting back and forth, once I had to run along the wall, from which, of course, I was indescribably delighted. After all, after this run, it was possible to hit the furriod with his knee in the face and knock him to the ground. But with the increase in stamina, I realized that I was approaching my human limits. It will be very difficult to overcome them, and I don’t know if I will succeed. If in the past, the system allowed you to do this effortlessly without limiting anything except five points received per level, then here everything is different. It seems simpler, but at the same time more difficult.

Dodging another blow, I swung the blade inflicting deep cuts. Then he dived under his arm, leading the blade along its entire length to the very forearm. When the sharp sting of the sword stuck into the shoulder of the furriod, he howled in pain. He tried to backhand me like a hunted animal, but it didn't work. I climbed onto his back and grabbed the hilt of the sword protruding from my shoulder and pulled it towards me with all my might. Resting my feet on his arm and scruff, I, straining my muscles to the limit, felt how strong skin was torn under the onslaught of a sharp blade. Yes, it was unusually sharp, it's even amazing how these pirates managed to keep their swords in such a state, but this did not help much either. The skin of the wolf seemed to be impenetrable or very durable to cutting and stabbing blows. If it wasn't for my strength, I'm not sure I would have been able to break through it at all.

- Yes, cut yourself already, the filthy creature! - I growled with an effort.

- Enough! growled the furriod.

He grabbed me with his other hand and then threw me aside. Dodging in the air, I slammed my feet into the wall and jumped away, landing neatly on the floor.

Furriod is looking at me with undisguised hatred and intent to kill. He drew his sword from the wound and then turned to me holding his hand.

- What's your name, man?

"Krill," I replied, trying not to use the full name of the previous owner.

- I will remember this name, - he growled, - You are the second person to defeat me ...

But he didn't kill.

“I can’t kill you so easily, and most likely I can die myself!” I don't need it, I haven't finished my business yet, - he grinned, but then sharply looked at me with wariness, - But if you want to continue the fight, then know that you won't finish them either. I will do everything so that we die together in this place ...

"So why were you here at all?"

“I was looking for my mistress,” he said with some reverence in his voice, while bending back the collar of his armor and showing a slave collar.

"Then why did you set these pirates on me?"

“They interfered with me,” he answered, shrugging his uninjured shoulder, “And the witch could control you… Where is she?”

"You don't have to worry about her," I said, walking towards the nearest pirate corpse and removing the sword sheath from his belt.

I defiantly turned my back on the furriod to check the veracity of his words. He says he won't fight anymore. But who would ever believe such a thing? I definitely don't. I don’t know how the word of this race is valued there and how much they trust their promises, but I am from a different era. The one where people smile in your face and then stab you in the back. Where you can pretend to be weak in order to kill the strong.

But he didn't attack. Even when I pretended to hesitate with the scabbard strap, although it was already automatically hooked on my left leg.

- Did you kill her? he asked hopefully.

- Yes, he killed, and left it on his ship as a trophy, - I lied, trying not to give myself away in any way.

The main thing is to speak confidently and to believe in what is said. This is what guarantees the plausibility of a lie. I don't need to tell everyone I meet that my mission is to save witches and help them save the universe. Especially those with whom I recently had to fight. There is no need to call everyone about it. They might start causing me big problems in the future. It is enough that Terra is aware of the first witch. For now, that's all.