Chapter 08 (Patreon)

Disciple System Activated.

In that moment, clarity washed over her. It was as if a hidden reservoir of strength had been unlocked. She knew what she had to do. Her instincts guided her, and she found herself in sync with something, some mechanism that had been waiting for her touch.

Disciple Biscuit has been given a unique Template: [First Disciple of the Demonic Sect Elder]
Disciple Biscuit has been assigned a unique Path: [Path of the Obsidian Star]

[Path of the Obsidian Star]
A Path centered around the Obsidian Star That Once Shone Brighter Than Every Sun. You draw upon the power of the nearest star, but instead of merely crushing opponents with this power, you seek to outshine them completely, rendering them powerless in comparison.

Unique Abilities:

[Outshine] — When activated, you unleash a radiant stellar aura that outshines all forms of darkness and diminishes the powers of your opponents for a brief moment of time.
Note: This Ability shines brightest at midday. Weakest at night. Beware of the Solar Eclipse, where its supremacy may temporarily wane but shall rise again in resplendent glory.

You are the first to ever gain a Path before the Third Realm, The Heaven’s Will gazes upon you.

Bis Ke knew not what any of this meant, but one thing was for sure… she had just found out a way to strength. She let out a hiss and with a mighty push, cast aside the pain that had dared to slow her down. She stood tall, her furry chest puffed out, and her head held high like the true young mistress she was. Her mind was like a growling thunderstorm, brimming with insatiable, mind-numbing fury. The very air around her seemed to shiver and vibrate.

She knew exactly the person to direct it at!

Bis Ke dashed towards her Great Master’s room, her heart pounding in her chest. The interloper had run there the moment she had fallen against the floor so disgracefully. She knew deep down in her whiskers that this intruder spelled trouble for her beloved Great Master.  He would hurt her Great Master. Fear gripped her, but it only fueled her resolve to protect him at all costs.

Normally, her Great Master was a force to be reckoned with, and she took comfort in the strength she knew he possessed. However, this time was different—he was injured, and weakened. He was not back to strength. It pained her to acknowledge it, for she was no fan of admitting vulnerability, but the truth was right before her eyes, and even as distaste overwhelmed her tongue, she had to admit it. He was… weak. At the moment.

Bis Ke understood that this was precisely why it fell upon her shoulders to protect him until he regained his strength! She couldn’t bear the thought of danger befalling him while he was in such a fragile state. After all, she was his loyal and devoted Disciple!

So, she pushed every ounce of strength into her nimble paws and leaped through the door like a warrior on a mission, slamming right into the interloper as he loomed over her Great Master, catching him off guard and sending him reeling.

She knew not how, but she used [Outshine], and her whole being rumbled. A yowl tore out of her throat as a bright light sprang forth from inside her—it was weak, she knew it could be stronger, way stronger, but for now, this would do it. She was using her own Gu to power this one use of [Outshine]; one use that might put her in a dangerous physical situation, but she cared not.

He yelped loudly, his voice betraying panic when his dirty tricks proved unusable. She had truly outshone him for a moment there! Now, she wouldn’t let go of this opportunity!

He started thrashing like the wretched creature he was. Bis Ke knew fury. He dared sneak up on her Great Master? He was courting death!

Her tail fluffed up like a majestic plume, eyes ablaze with righteous fury, and whiskers trembling with intensity, she leapt and gouged at his eyes, drawing not only blood but his eyeballs out. Her teeth bore down on his neck and she tore while her clawed paw made its way inside the creature's head through his eye socket. He was truly powerless at the moment. Bis Ke’s hair stood on end and she gripped him tighter as he screamed in agony, falling on the ground with a loud thud as he tried to yank her away with his hands.

Fingers dug into her, it pained, but she cared not. She did not stop until there remained nothing left, her mouth made quick work of his neck, and she spat at the disgusting taste. Her vision spun but she didn’t stop, she didn’t stop until he was truly motionless, dead.

She stood there with shaking legs, her head held high as she stared at her Great Master who had woken up from all the uproar. His eyes wide as he stared down at her. Her chest swelled in pride and her nose went even higher. Though she did wonder why she felt hazy, and why her vision spun.

Before she fell down, though, her Great Master caught her and brought her to his embrace, his tender voice calling out to her, probably asking about her state.

Finally, she had succeeded in keeping him safe. He did not have a scratch on his body.

As she drifted off to unconsciousness, Bis Ke knew peace, pride, and happiness as a small smile crept up on her snout.

***

Holy shit.

Man, that wasn’t anything I’d expected. I’d drifted off to sleep, content with my place and everything else, wondering what I’d do tomorrow, how I’d train my Disciples, and whom I’d hire from the townsfolk… but this, this wasn’t how I’d expected it to be.

My peaceful sleep had been interrupted by a yowl of distress from Biscuit and a bright light that penetrated through my eyelids and broke me out of my sleep. I sprung up, and what I saw had to be nothing short of unbelievable.

My cat, my furball, my Biscuit, was gouging out a man’s eyes. Blood sputtered near him. The man screamed in pain and terror as Biscuit's sharp claws tore into his eyes and teeth sank into his neck. The man kicked around as he tried to free himself from her. Biscuit dug her claws in and let go of the man's neck. Her teeth ripped into the man's right ear as the paw made quick work through the eye socket and into the skull itself.

The man, his back arched, screamed bloody murder as he went for the dagger on his belt, but Biscuit didn't let go, instead, she ripped the ear right off the side of the man's head and tore it. Blood spurted from the fresh wound. She chewed at the fleshy ear with blood dripping. She spat it out, and then sunk her teeth back into the man's neck and ripped his throat open.

The man’s hands flew up to his neck and covered the hole where his throat was supposed to be. The man choked on his own blood as his body writhed in agony. He continued to make noises, the dagger forgotten as he thrashed about in the pool of blood, tears and snot streaming from his face mixed with his blood. It went on for a bit until the man stopped moving and went completely still.

Only then did she let go of him. She padded her way over to me, and then purred softly, rubbing herself against me. Her face was drenched in blood. It splattered across my legs. Picking her up, I held her to my chest and stroked her. She looked up at me, her golden eyes boring into mine as though she was making sure I knew what she'd done was to protect us both.

A Red Flag of Death avoided!
Luck shines upon you!

…Great.

The image of her face in the blood, the way she purred as she snuggled into me, that was what I had awoken to.

What a way to start the day.

I made sure to take her to the town’s doctor, or whoever was the closest thing to it. I left the body to rot there for the time being. The doctor... or whatever, was an old woman, and had turned out to be the same old hag who’d tried to sell me some stuff yesterday. I let her treat Biscuit.

“She’s poisoned,” the old woman told me.

“Poisoned?” I repeated.

“Yes. The blood. It's toxic to her. What was it anyway? She'll need some time to rest and recover from this.”

“It appeared like a halfling, some serpent.”

The old woman made a noise of surprise. “That’s rare, for sure. Not in these parts... Anyhow, I’ve given her something to heal her. It’s not perfect, but it's good enough for now; I want you to go get some Vipervine from the Gorge’s outskirts.”

Shit.

“It is quite essential for a number of important Anti-Venoms, and Bleak Town’s running quite bleak on ‘em. Heh.” She chuckled before sighing, “Not to mention Month of the Mists is on the horizon… How are we to tend to disciples once they come rushing here?”

The Month of the Mists, a full month when the crimson mists get thick. It is precisely in said month that Disciples, both inner and outer, of the Crimson Mist Sect, come running to Bleak Town and then Rush straight into the Bleak Abyss Gorge. To hunt Beasts as well as train and venture forth into the mists in search of treasures hidden in the Gorge.

“Anyway, the cat should be fine. She'll recover on her own in due time. I removed the poison, but I can't do anything about the damage done. Vipervine would help in the recovery that’s why I say get it. It’s not deep into the Gorge, though I doubt an Elder such as yourself would find it a big issue even if you had to venture deeper.” She smiled, her face wrinkled, and her eyes tired. Suddenly, her smile deepened, morphing into a grin, her yellow teeth glinting - though she seemed to be missing a few. “Also, you owe me one.”

I sighed, staring at the backroom where someone seemed to be working. There was silhouette of a kid there. I spoke up, “As long as it's something I can do, and isn’t unreasonable.”

She nodded at me approvingly. “Now, go, shoo, let an old woman have some space!”

I left her be, and returned back home, putting Biscuit on a bed. Leaving her comfortable, I made my way to my room and opened the door; sure enough, the man was there, his corpse lying in a pool of his own blood.

“Hmm, let’s see.”

I searched his body, but sadly found nothing but a piece of cloth—a handkerchief if I’m not wrong. I put it away in my inventory for safekeeping, I was certain that it would provide some clues as to who it really was behind it all. I used [Identify] on him but as it turns out, the stupid perk didn’t work on the dead. Annoyed, I stripped the man and stored his clothes as well, I left nothing on him. Everything was taken inside my inventory, and now, I needed to dispose of the body.

Actually… Why not send a message to whoever was behind this shit?

I dragged the body outside and hoisted it up near the wall, for all to see. If they dared do it again, it wouldn’t be nice. Well, not like I could do something, but bluffing wouldn’t hurt if it could save my life even by a small percentage.

Not wanting to wait for the townsfolk to gather and possibly start questioning me, I went back inside and took a bath. Changing into new clothes proved nice enough, and before long, I faced my new Disciples.

I will be teaching them some of the basics today.