Chapter 47: Blood, Fire & Shadow (7) (Patreon)

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I was tired. So very tired.

But I had to continue on.

Most of my wounds were closed –with ugly, red and black scabs– but the major one’s hadn’t. They continued to weep with fat red droplets that left a trail that anyone could follow, both monsters and people alike. Now that the adrenaline from my battle with Arione had worn off, everything had started to hurt with interest; paying back all the pain I owed my body was a tiresome affair. Yet, I couldn’t let it stop me.

The stumps left on my shield hand hurt like hell, the fingers long gone due to a berserker cutting them off along with a good portion of shield which had been meant to protect them. My arms and legs had been lacerated by my little trick with the Winged Centipede when Arione tried to drop me to death from five hundred feet in the air. There was a stab wound from a mage's dagger when I shadow blinked in front of him. With every step I took, a new wound screamed with pain for attention; adding onto the fatigue.

The sound of leather boots hitting the ground at a full run was all the warning I had before Yulrien burst from the shadows and tried to put me out of my misery.

As much as I welcomed his efforts, I fought back.

Before I knew what was happening, my arms moved preemptively, parrying Yulrien’s dagger strike and countering with a thrust towards his belly. Yulrien skipped out of reach, waited for me to reach the full length of my maneuver and surged forward, accompanying my sword’s return. Luckily, I had kept my shield at the ready and blocked his dual-dagger thrust.

Why the hell was it that everyone was out to get me?

With practiced ease that betrayed his skill, the glasses-wearing elf skidded his dagger along my shield, bright sparks banishing the shadows around us. He shifted his daggers upwards and the angry sparks flew towards my eyes; with my enhanced sight vulnerable to changes in brightness, I felt them close without any input from me. As soon as my eyes closed, the back of my head tingled with fear; I would die if I did nothing. Stepping forward, I raised my shield and stabbed in one quick motion; opening my eyes a second later.

The move saved my life. As I thrusted forward, Yulrien was forced to step back a step; He had been inches away from gifting me two new holes on my chest to breathe through. Yulrien pirouetted on his toe and leaped off of a nearby wall like a martial artist stunt double, pouncing on me with both daggers held in a reverse grip. Mana expelled from his body and waved together to create a silhouette of a snake's head.

My shield-arm screamed as Yulrien bore into it from above; his daggers were encircled by reddish-mana rotating at ridiculous speed. I recognized the ability combination: [Snake Bite] x [Drill Fangs]. The former kept your opponent fixed in place as long as you were attacking from above and the latter was an armor piercing skill. Even now, I heard the metallic shriek of his blades grating into my shield; soon they'd pierce through sooner or later.

I sank into my shadow and appeared a few feet behind him using [Shadow Blink]. He stumbled forward from my sudden disappearance and as all his weight shifted forward. Running forward, I sent half a dozen slashes at him but the man rolled through it, coming to his feet and facing me.

“Slave.” He sneered, lowering his daggers slightly.

I saw the surprise on his face; he hadn't entirely known it was me. Or maybe he was acting. Either way, I wasn't about to give him the benefit of the doubt. Too many things happened tonight for that. I carefully placed my shield into position, the tip of my shortsword pointed towards him.

I had no illusions about my fight with Arione. I had bested him but only because he didn’t want to attract attention from the surrounding monsters and due to his underestimation of my abilities. But Yulrien?

From the clash just now, I had a good understanding of his skill. He was above me in terms of pure skill but in terms of Core Synergy, he had nothing on me.

I could take him.

But I was beyond tired. I was weary.

Of people dying around me and me being responsible for it.

“We don’t have to do this.” My voice was a harsh whisper.

Then to my surprise, Yulrien lowered his daggers, sheathing them. He smirked at me, cocking his head. The wind changed direction, shifting the flames to illuminate his features. “Go then, Slave. No need for us to cross blades.”

“Is he being serious?” Now I was even more wary of the man.

“Go.” He turned around and began to walk towards the temple. A shot of good faith.

I didn’t dare lower my shield, keeping my sword pointed at his back. Instead, I divided my attention into two. My eyes set on Yulrien and my ears to the winds to see if anything was sneaking up on me from behind.

“Ah, before you go, I have to ask.” He half-turned. “What happened to those two women you were with?”

Although I didn’t answer, something must have shown on my face. He just nodded.

“I see.” The smirk returned and he turned around, waving a hand over his shoulder. In front of him were the walls of two separate houses; leaning against each other and creating an archway. He strode into the shadows, disappearing. “If you ever want a job, look for me in the Under Guild.”

I remained there a moment longer, far longer than necessary.

Then I turned tail and ran.

It didn’t take me long to reach the huge gates that led into the narrow canyon pass. In the darkness of night, the divide was as inviting as a serial killer’s basement. My enhanced eyesight couldn’t pierce the veil of shadow; the light from the burning city now behind me failed to illuminate more than the rock cropping around the entrance. I wished I hadn’t sent Kyrian and Skaris so far ahead; or the Black Dogs for that matter. Their [Dark Vision] would be loads better at scouting the path than my own ever could.

I placed one aching knee in front of the other and headed into the pass.

Once I was inside, it wasn’t as bad; I could see a few feet ahead. But it was like the darkness had mass and density; it rolled and shifted like fog. Was there a monster here?

Still I could look up between the two colossal cliffs that hugged the pass from each side, making sure that the moon was visible. I continued my trek, grim and determined. This was the last hurdle before I was out of this godforsaken place. The first thing I’d do was find a way to get this goddamned manacle off of my neck. Then I’d find an actual bed and-

The moon disappeared.

At first I thought a stray cloud had drifted across the sky, covering the moon’s iridescent light. But there were bits of light streaking through the shadows; shadows that were too sharp, too defined and linear for a cloud’s overcast. As my heart hammered in my chest, I looked to see how far I had left until the exit. Too far for me to make a run for it.

I looked up, my senses focused on the bead of sweat that dripped down from my brow to my chin.

The creature dwarfed any other monster I had seen, except for [Mother centipede]. But I had only seen [Mother Centipede] at a distance, not up close like this. It looked like someone took a bird skeleton and ripped off the head of a vulture and stuck it on. Maybe the opposite, stripping away the feather and flesh from the neck-down. Either way, the black orbs that served as its eyes looked straight down at me.

As birds often do, it leaned its head to one side while studying me. It reminded me of the pigeons I saw on the new york subway, perching on the rafters and watching the pedestrians below. If it wasn’t for the aura of fear emanating from the creature, I’d have felt at home. The creature shifted from its position and the moon shone again.

I inched closer to the exit; sweat pouring freely from my neck down my chest and back. This monster was [Skeletal Vulture], a grade-6 monster. But were they supposed to be this big? I hadn’t seen one in real life before and it's sprite version had been no bigger than three times the size of a person. But this particular variant was so large that it could pick up houses with its talons. The sheer size of the creature awed me and drove a spike of instinctual fear.

“Is it a named Variant? Is it going to attack?”

Skeletal Vulture was one of those monsters who had a low defense stat but more than made up for it with ranged attack abilities. [Destruction Beam], [Cloverfield] and [Hear my Who!]... any of those abilities had the potential to fill the valley completely. With the walls hugging me from either side combined with the sheer size of the creature, I’d have no way to get out of its range.

The duration for [Shadow Blink] had run out awhile ago when I felt the danger of battle pass as Arione left. Minutes ago, I had been thinking everything was possible and MSS decided now was the time to crush those thoughts of mine.

The bird-behemoth shoved its head down into the pass, beak coming close.

I pressed myself under a small outcropping of rock. I did not want to touch it.

I breathed out and its beak was so close that my breath fogged up the surface in front of it, its eerie black shell-like bone becoming murky. Then almost languidly, its head shuffled closer to me, dislodging pieces of rock that fell and splintered into pieces. One stray piece hit my shin and I stifled the reflexive hiss of pain.

Then the beak rose out, granting me a view of the other side of the wall.

There was a woman there.

I smelled something insidiously sweet like flowers, chocolate and wine rolled into one. I felt my footsteps move towards her against my will and she smiled like I had never seen before; inviting and playful, shy and coy. I couldn’t tell what her face looked like but all I could see was that her skin was white like snow, smooth as ice and free of any imperfections.

The contrast between the suffocating sensation of her sticky syrupy scent and the liquid-silver complexion of her skin was intoxicating. Like I could drown in one but swim in the other. She slowly parted her cloak, her bare skin beckoning me near and my floppy brain was all too happy to oblige. Her hands gently tugged at my hands, asking me to let go of my weapons.

The woman tilted her head down just so, biting the lower part of her lips and slowly looked up at me.

My desire for her grew.

Her eyes were blood-red. No pupils. No nothing.

Up close, I could see her face. There was no pale skin, just white fur with a canine snout already stained with blood like a brush dipped in red paint. Her mouth parted and rows of curved fangs greeted me, along with a whiff of rot and decay.

Then before I could react the Shadow Mimic Wolf, Snow White, plunged her claws into my left eye socket and plucked it clean.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH.”

Distinctly I realized that someone was screaming in the background. But there were more pressing concerns that flashed bright red against the part of my brain for pain and hurt. Half my vision was gone, it was replaced by a lightless vista of the black abyss that only happened in the deepest depths of sleep. Out of my remaining eye I saw a thin red stringy… thing hanging off of the opposite side of my face. And by the gods, it hurt.

It wasn’t the physical pain as much as the mental shock of having something as intimate as a body part taken whole out of me. I fell to my knees, scrabbling for my weapons. When the hell did I drop my sword and shield? A swordsman should never drop his swords.

“Ughhh…. Ghk…..”

I heard myself making animalistic growling noises, trying to stifle the scream. I dared a glance at the monster in front of me.

It was Snow White.

Now that I wasn’t [Charmed], I could see the creature in more detail. There was something disturbingly feminine about the monster, both familiar and alien. From the slight curve of its animal body that seemed all too human and its hands ending in fingers. My eyeball was skewered on the dagger it held.

Slowly, almost deliberately like the monster had an ego capable of understanding exactly what it was doing, she brought it to muzzle and tore off a piece.

My wandering fingers finally closed around what I assumed was the hilt of my sword.

Shadow Mimic Wolves were not supposed to have any abilities related to [Charm] unless they copied it off of someone. Could it be that this wolf mimicked the ability and waited in this canyon opening waiting for someone to walk by? How many others fell victim to this monster? It was smart enough to lay traps? How?

My legs shook.

My damage done to my body was over the limit and the psyche assault launched by Snow White had broken something inside. I couldn’t grip my sword hard enough nor think clearly. She had done something to my mind and the after effects continued to linger. Goddamn it all to hell, this was [Mental Fatigue]. It wasn’t just a status bar in the game, it was an indicator that your character literally couldn’t fight anymore.

I used to make fun of it on the forums saying that these characters lacked discipline but now that I experienced in the flesh it was another thing altogether.

My mind was broken.

Was I going to die?

“Lock!”

“Thisss way.”

Familiar voices roused me out of my stupor like someone poured cold water on me. The mounting tension and the invisible threat of death was gone. Whatever magic the creature had cast on me and in this area, the spell was broken. The monster turned its head to one side, like a confused puppy then smiled with its tongue hanging out of its mouth.

It was horrifying.

Slowly, it sank into the shadows using the ability I knew all too well. [Shadow Blink].

My brain ran through what just happened, processing each scene step by step. A detached part of my brain went back to the cutscenes that MSS often provided after finishing the prologue of a preset. Whether you succeeded in becoming an adventurer from a farmer or the son of a knight, MSS put in a cutscene that showed you the sheer size of the game. Raging oceans with no end in sight, skies so blue that you could sink in it and the occasional dragon that flew by. This had felt exactly like one of those, where the game was telling you: 'Welcome to MSS! Suffering awaits!'.

But I'd never heard of one where the character became blinded in one eye.

I gritted through the pain, sucking in deep breaths. Already the pain was subsiding though I was drooling a good amount, keeping my teeth clenched.

“Here!”

Out of my one good eye, I saw Kyrian, Skaris and Kellin break out into a run towards me from the other side of the canyon’s divide. They were well and alive, looking no worse for wear than when I had left them. My heart swelled.

At least I had done something right tonight.

Picking up my shield, I joined them.

***

87 people, most of them slaves.

That’s how many people survived.

After I joined the others we made camp next to the canyons, waiting for any other survivors. I say the word ‘camp’ but define it loosely. Mostly we just sat in the shade that the red rocks offered, rummaging around dimension rings we looted off of bodies on the way here. Sure enough, there were other poor souls that joined us. Slaves, merchants and even Akka Xalud soldiers.

A fight almost broke out but Skaris and I quickly put a stop to it. If we executed these guys for once being Akka Xalud soldiers, that might put Kyrian in a tough position later. Besides, like I had said, I had enough blood on my hands.

I reckon that we all did.

We waited for three days beneath those cliffs but reached a consensus that we needed to move. The desert heat wasn’t getting any colder and we’d run out of food sooner or later. The number of mouths to feed was increasing and there was no food in sight. So we decided to head east, towards the Jayu States which was the closest semblance of civilization.

We walked for seven days.

Along the way we’d picked up more stragglers. Now our group numbered near 200.

The Samak Desert was hauntingly beautiful. The scorching sand during the daylight reflected off of the countless grains of sand, creating a myriad of colors that I never tired of looking at. Standing on a sand dune big enough to be the mast of a battleship and overlooking the entirety of the desert, seeing mountains in the distance with clouds covering its peak, words couldn't describe how small I felt. The freedom to walk, eat, sleep and talk without a manacle around my neck was life-changing; I'd never take anything for granted ever again.

But not all was well.

We marched endlessly, the orcs and the Black Dogs looking for tracks and landmarks. There were complaints but none dared stray too far from the group, there were too many monsters for that. We met dozens of monsters heading towards the temple, finally making their trek towards [Mother Centipede], who was long gone by the way. These were the dregs, the weaklings who couldn’t keep up with the speed of their stronger counterparts.

If it weren’t for the strong few, we would have suffered more casualties.

Luckily when we met the merchant caravan, most of us were alive.

“Yousef.” He introduced himself. Looking over the dwarf, I could tell he was the boss immediately. He stood a little bit taller than his two brothers and had the longest beard.

Also he wore the most gold jewelry.

“Lock.” I kept my name short as well.

I carefully walked so that he was withinin my field of vision. Then slowly, I clasped his forearm, exchanging grips with the man; I took special care not to miss.

I was still getting used to seeing out of only one eye after all.

Fortunately, there had been an elven priestess who almost became a slave and she had managed to heal up my fingers. Finally, I had ten fingers again.

But the eye…

She managed to grow back but…

I couldn’t see out of it anymore. I’m sure you can guess what that means for a swordsman or adventurer. Still, I wasn’t one to be dismayed. There was more than one method of restoring sight and I intended to test out all of them.

Yousef looked me up and down, peering out of one eye. Was this guy mocking me?

“Fucker…” I bit back the curse. There were camels hitched to wagons and guards all around his caravan. He had room to spare. It was obvious he came to buy slaves but was leaving without much to show for it. I wanted to get on this guy’s good side; I’d never hitchhiked before but it seemed easy enough.

Just smile and look friendly. So I smiled.

Yousef stepped back, alarm evident on his face.

“Ssstop that, Sslaveborn.”

“Lock, please.”

Skaris and Kyrian chimed in and I dropped the smile.

They told me that I had a scar over one eye that extended past the corner of my lips and down by chin. Plus, I was blind in one eye. So I was always squinting and combined with the scars on my face and on my body… Well, I could forgive Yousef for being intimidated by appearances alone.

“So… you all are looking for a ride to the Jayu States?” He continued and gestured at the caravan. “I’m sure you can see, I have room to spare. But not for free my man! Not for free! T’is the nature of a merchant to find a need and fulfill it! For a price of course!”

I had expected it and was ready to pay.

“Whatever your price is, we’re good for it.” I jerked my chin towards the group of refugees behind me, most of them slaves with no combat skills. “We’ll work for our keep. I’m not looking for a handout here. We can protect you from monsters, bandits and even other adventurers.”

By other adventurers I was referring to possible remnants of the Akka Xalud army, or bounty hunters looking for easy pickings. He got my meaning.

“Well I have guards-”

I cut him off. I had never seen my parents negotiate but being in this world had proven time and time again that overwhelming strength was an undeniable resource in times like this.

“Not strong enough to kill Akka Xalud soldiers… or their deserters.” I tilted my head and looked at him, my tone turning flat. “I assure you, we’ve proven ourselves more than capable.”

I expected Yousef to respond in fear but the dwarf’s eye lit up like diamonds. He stepped closer to me, taking my hand in his and began to look them over. He began to mutter to himself.

“Thick calluses… not bad looking either…” He peered at my face. “Could use a hair cut… hmm, the scar adds character. Attitude could use work…”

His brother, Olopo was his name if I remembered correctly, butted in. “Nope. Leave him as is.”

“Yes, I’m seeing it now.” Yousef nodded, satisfied.

“I’ll give you and your people a ride on one condition.”

“Name your price.” Just until the Jayu States. That’s where I would take these people. Until then… I wanted to watch over them just a little longer.

“Lad, have ye ever heard of the Colosseum?”

 ***