Lucian Dragfall
"Damn, damn, damn! It's going to be easy, Lucian. There's barely any undead left, Lucian. We will be in and out before anyone notices, Lucian. Frogshit! I shouldn't have listened to that idiot." I screamed through gritted teeth, between massive gasps of breath as I ran for all my might down the pot hole-ridden road. "Ah, don't whine so much, Lucian, it's not good for your health. Plus, the bastard and his bitch friend are currently using their very own bodies to ensure our escape, so we can't be too mad at them." A voice filled with nasal laughter came from my right.
Looking over at the fat greaseball of a man who, not to my surprise, was easily keeping pace with me, I could barely contain the impulse to spit in disgust as I replied, "Graff, you bastard. We wouldn't have had to leave them or be running for our lives in this shithole at all if you'd just kept your hands to yourself. Even for you, she was far too young." Graff, with his whole face jiggling as he ran, looked at the man with a sheepish grin. Although the man looked apologetic on the surface, one would only need to look into his rat eyes to see he was anything but sincere.
Just before Graff could reply, a human zombie came trudging out between two buildings, probably attracted by the noise of us yelling as we ran. Graff barely paid any attention to the creature that, upon seeing us approaching, let out a roar and lunged towards Graff. With a casual swipe of his right arm, the zombie's head was crushed into its shoulders and then blown off to the side, smashing through a wall. The noise was like a bomb going off in the dead city. I felt as if flames were about to come out of my eyes as I snapped my head towards Graff, who was looking back at me again with that same sheepish smile on his face.
"Are you demented? Do you want to let the whole city know we're here? If you want to get eaten by a pack of ghouls, then be my guest, but roll away from me first." In a quieter voice, I spat out at Graff. The man rubbed his thinning head, and with a fawning smile, said, "Don't be like that, Brother Lucian. I'm sorry, I'll be quieter. You know the skillset the guild master gave me was Steel Arms. I can't control their strength yet."
Hearing the man's words, which sounded like him flaunting his new skill to me, only made my anger intensify. With narrowed eyes I replied, "If you make any more noise, I promise you, I'll cut your tendons and leave you to be devoured. Just like I had to those idiots. Under...stand?" With the last word, I punctuated by activating my whip skill, sending out an invisible attack that left a thin line on Graff's cheek that began to bleed after a second. Graff's fawning smile was finally put away, while his cold rat eyes finally widened in apparent surprise and the smallest bit of fear.
Ignoring the rotund man, I activated the skill, Sounds of the wind, an essential skill for any thief or assassin, and expanded my hearing range for up to a hundred feet. It looked like all was clear up ahead, at least for the moment, but I kept the skill active for a little longer even though it was swiftly chewing into my stamina. Going over the map of the city I memorized in my head, I knew we were in the commercial district and if we took a right up at the end of the street, we would reach the center road that ran from one end of the city to the other, right through the middle. If we had taken a right and continued running, we would have reached the common quarter of the city. From there, we could head to the city wall and leave this damnable place.
Even though the common quarter was one of two places with the highest volume of walking zombies, it held very few truly high-level zombies. By all information, it didn't even have any tier two's. Which meant, a pair of tier 2's like Graff and I, will find barely any hindrance. Seeing the intersection coming up, a frown that had twisted my face as if I had sucked a lemon finally settled down into my customary flat mouth look. That was all ruined though, as the moment I was about to deactivate, Sounds of the wind, I heard a resonance of several monsters approaching from where I had planned to go. Holding out a hand, I urgently whispered, "Stop." While doing the same.
In a skid that kicked up dust, Graff and I both came to a halt right outside what looked like a temple. Taking a quick glance, I didn't see any symbols that I recognized, and going by the pictures on the stained-glass window, I guessed it was some deity of the knight order the city used to be famous for. "Is there something up ahead? Or is this temple special?" Graff's sleezy voice broke me out of my inspection. Looking over at the man, who was now looking at the temple with greed printed all over his face, I couldn't help but shake my head at the man's idiocy.
"Once again, are you an idiot? Did that Steel Arm skill book cause your intelligence to fall into the negative? Why would I care about looting some old temple? Even though we left those two wastes to occupy that beast. It has our scent, and once done with its meal, it will come for us. Do you have the strength to fight an abomination? Just one scratch and even a man your size will be corrupted in seconds." After speaking, I massaged my temples. It wasn't just the drain on my stamina causing my head to throb; every interaction with this pile of flab was giving me a serious headache. I don't have a clue why the guild master would think it was a good idea to let this lecherous moron come on this job. Entering this city of the dead, one either had to be an expert in one of two things, sneaking or purification. Considering that none of the guild has any of those flashy purification skills, it's obvious that only masters of stealth should be assembled for the job.
Dismissing these distracting thoughts, I reiterated to myself that once I was back at the guild, I would get this ball of lard severely punished for messing up the job. Graff once again took my berating on the chin, and even though I could see the hatred flash in the man's eyes before they turned as docile as a lamb again, I ignored it and made a follow me gesture while saying just one word, "Ghouls." The word did the trick, as Graff's oily face visibly paled, and he basically sprinted up the small stairs and stood next to the large temple doors, his body trembling as he looked up and down the shadowed street.
Even though I internally mocked the man for his lack of courage, I also didn't waste any time. The ghouls were swiftly approaching, and going by their footsteps, they were going to turn down the street we were on. Running up the steps, I placed my ear on the doors, and the inside noise of the temple was revealed. Besides the sound of what I guessed was running water. There was nothing else. No heartbeats or breath. Even though this city was filled with the dead, there were still plenty of monsters that had beating hearts. Opening the door, I gestured to Graff to enter first. 'Always better to be safe than sorry.' After the man entered, and I saw nothing pounce on him, I entered the temple behind him, closing the door as gently as I could.
With my increased hearing and experience, I could tell that we had made it just in time; the ghouls had turned down the street we were previously on. With bated breath, I placed my finger to my lips and strained my hearing. Checking my stamina bar, I saw that I could still keep my skill active for another handful of seconds before running empty. Which was enough. The ghouls' sharp claws clattered on the road, and their hungry roars echoed as they ran past the building we were in. Sighing in relief that none of them headed in our direction, I stood up from my crouch position. Once again, though, my relief was short-lived.
"Are they gone?" Graff's nasally voice was like a bell going off, as it echoed through the high-ceilinged room. My anger flared so wildly that it felt as if my head was on fire; however, I couldn't lash out at the reason for my rising anger. Even though the pack of Ghouls had already made it a fair distance down the street, two of the ghouls that were at the back of the pack and almost out of range of my skill both paused. I could hear their claws digging into the earth before coming to a halt. After several seconds of waiting, and hearing nothing but silence, a little part of me was praying they would follow the rest of the pack, but it wasn't meant to be. Two distinctive claws clattering on the earth, headed right for the two of us.
Realizing we had no choice but to fight, I turned to Graff, who had gone even a shade paler and spat, "Two ghouls are coming. We will take one each. You'd better fight like your life depends on it, because it does. If we don't kill them quickly, the rest of the pack may very well come back." Graff nodded vigorously, his jowls wobbling up and down, making me feel sick. At least I watched as both his arms, from the shoulder to the fingertips, were coated in a dark ironlike substance.
The first thing I did was turn off my hearing skill, as the stamina drain was making me woozy, and then unwrap the whip tied to my belt. The silver whip, was my prized possession. Something I had saved up for years to attain. It was made of pure conjugated silver links that looked like a series of large V's stacked on top of each other. At the end was a smooth, pointed tip that sparkled in the little sunlight shining through the windows. Loosening my wrist, I dragged the whip back and forth on the ground. The sharp metal digging deep lines into the red carpet below our feet with ease.
Knowing the ghouls were swiftly approaching, I flicked my whip towards one of the door's handles, effortlessly wrapping it around. Then, with a tug, I pulled the door wide open. Allowing the ghouls to enter was better than letting them bash down the doors. The noise would be horrendous, besides the rest of the ghoul pack, who knew what other creatures of nightmare that much noise would attract. "Don't worry about being bitten or scratched; they have very little necrosy, and our low-level sunlight potions will be enough to rid any of the corruption we take." I explained several other things to the idiot next to me. Even though I wanted to personally rip his head off, I knew my survival chances were higher if I kept him alive. Even if it was just to use him as a meat shield. One should never go adventuring without a meat shield.
With in synch wet sound growls, the two ghouls pounced through the open doorway and landed inside the church in a crouch. Their powerful back muscles tensed as we entered a silent standoff. Even though I didn't want to engage first, I knew we were on a timer. So, activating my one battle-related skill, I flicked my whip at the ghoul to my left. My whip flicked out at the speed of lightning and made a resounding crack when it hit its intended target. Unfortunately, the ghoul had managed to leap to the side at the last moment, letting the tip of my whip cut a deep furrow into its shoulder but ultimately doing no real damage. However, my attack wasn't only a physical one, the ghoul soon found another slash had landed right next to my other one, making the gash even wider.
In a pained roar, the ghoul staggered to the side before righting itself against a church pew that was still fairly intact. With its claws, the ghoul grabbed one end of the long pew, and, showing its high strength attribute, effortlessly chucked the entire thing at me. With a start, I dove to the ground, just narrowly avoiding the seat, and sprang up after a clumsy roll, showing off my own high agility attribute. As if not to be outdone, the ghoul sprang at me as quick as lightning. Making me dive again. This one, however, was more controlled, as the moment I sprang to my feet, I flicked my whip straight at the ghoul that had crashed into a set of broken pews. My attack lashed across its chest, sending a spray of dark red blood across the floor.
My attack managed to catch the ghoul in an awkward state, as it stumbled back. Capitalising on the advantage, I struck out several times in quick succession. My hand holding the whip did a figure-eight action, with each time it came to the cross section, the whip slashed into the ghoul. Due to my skill still being active, every successful slash was like getting hit twice. Within seconds, I had the ghoul bleeding like a sieve as I whipped it into ribbons, constantly on the back foot. Seeing the life draining from the creature, I swung my arm back wide, and as if I was slashing with a sword, I brought my whip straight across at neck height. The ghoul's head separated from its neck, as if it were connected by paper, and a fountain of blood sprang up.
Not wasting time, I turned around and with a whip at the ready; I was prepared to help the useless Graff. However, to my surprise, I found the other ghoul lying on the ground with its head smashed beyond recognition. But no Graff. Looking towards the open door, I muttered, "Did that fat bastard run off on me?" I didn't get a verbal response; instead, all the hairs on my neck stood up, and my whole body screamed that I was in mortal danger. After years of life and death battles, my intuition was honed until it became a talent. It gave me a special sensation, as if I had a second sight. However, it was too late. I did my best to leap forward, but a fist that felt as heavy as a hammer slammed into my spine. My back sounded like my whip, letting out a sharp crack before I was thrown to the ground.
With my face sliding on the ground in an awkward tumble, my entire being radiated pins and needles, while my body from my neck down went numb within seconds. To my horror, I found I couldn't move a muscle. Even though I couldn't move my head, I could still pull up my profile screen and check my battle log. Reading the damage notifications, my entire soul screamed in rage, as an impending terror began to rise as I thought, 'By a witch's tit! I've broken my spine. I can't even open my inventory space for a health potion.' The soft sound of boots tapping out in the now-silent temple broke me from my thoughts. The boots approached the front doors first and then, after a soft click, the open door was closed, before the boots approached me, coming to a stop next to my head. Even though I had a good guess, who it was that attacked me, after the shoe kicked my frozen body over onto my back, I still gnashed my teeth at the sight of that fat smiling face looking down on me.
"Sorry about that, Lucian, I swear I didn't mean it. I thought you were a ghoul." Graff said as he stared down at me with that same doe-eyed innocent expression on his dumb face. I tried to spit out some choice words of my own at the traitorous bastard, but all I could muster was some blood-flecked dribble. "Oh no, you poor thing. Let me help you." Graff finished the statement by delivering a kick to my face that made me see stars. Not only that, but several of my teeth were broken from the kick, and they fell out of my mouth in a spray of blood.
"Ah, my fellow guildmate, how did you come to this state? It's such a shame, and I'm sure the guildmaster will be so heartbroken once he hears of your valiant death. Sacrificing your own life, just so I could make it back with a Tier three lifecore. I can imagine the whole Delfino Guild will be touched by your noble actions. Thank you, Lucian." Hearing Graff's words, I almost popped a blood vessel as I tried to express my intense hatred for the fat man. Just looking at him, with his innocent, smug smile, aggravated me so much that it felt as if my heart was going to burst out of my chest. 'Ah! This is infuriating. I curse you, Graff. I curse the guildmaster. I curse the whole guild! Screw it all! I curse the unfeeling system as well! May you all be swallowed in a sea of your own blood!' Right, as I was cursing at anyone and everything and Graff's arms had turned back into steel as they rose into the air above my prone figure, a sudden tremor ran through the floor.
The tremor was so abrupt and intense, it even caused Graff to stumble back as the fat man looked around with a wild, predatory look. In times of danger, the bastard always showed his true face. My own body bounced up and down on the hard ground, and if not for losing all feeling, I'm sure it would have been a painful experience. Oddly enough, the tremor was coming from beneath the earth. 'An earthquake? Are the ley lines finally corrupted?' The thought crossed my mind, but I pushed it away. Even with my impending doom, the mention of corrupted ley lines sent a streak of fear racing through my soul.
The tremor was over as quickly as it came; however, the sound of something heavy slamming into a solid surface rang out to my right, near the other end of the temple's hall, sending my mind racing again. The sound of rushing water, followed by the pitter-patter of what could only be rain, sounded out after the bang. Unfortunately, I couldn't move my head to see what was causing the odd noises, however, looking at Graff, who was standing in the middle of the temple right at my feet, I could take a guess that whatever it was wasn't good news. The fat man showed true horror on his face for what to me was the first time ever.
"May the goddess protect me." In a shaky voice, Graff whispered a prayer that echoed around the church. "Arghhhhhhh!" As if in response to Graff's prayer, a roar that shook the very earth rang out. The sound was unlike anything I'd ever heard before. I had once heard the sound of a dragon's roar when on a scouting mission with the guildmaster and had originally thought it was the most terrifying noise I would ever hear. I was wrong. The dragon's roar held a lofty majesty to it, and although it instilled a natural fear in the ones who heard it, it lacked the utter brutality of the roar now ringing inside my head.
There was a warped malevolence instilled in the cry, which was mixed with a pain so twisted, I felt my vision become blurry while my consciousness tried to shut down as if to protect my mind. However, before I could succumb to the darkness creeping in, Graff's terrified voice brought my focus back onto the trembling man who was now on his knees. Tears and snot had begun to run down the man's face, as a river of sweat gathered on his forehead as if he was trying to withstand a severe pressure but was ultimately failing. The man could no longer conjure words and instead let out a shriek, like that of a dying pig.
Before I could even make sense of what happened. Graff's shriek was cut short as his kneeling form was suddenly enveloped by a rush of red swirling liquid. It was as if a river of blood had engulfed the fat man, obscuring my view. The dark red liquid revolved in the place where Graff was kneeling for several seconds before rising into the air. The sounds of rushing liquid covered all other noises; however, just on the periphery of my hearing, I could make out the man I had known for years' despair-riddled voice. However, the man's voice was stuck on a loop and only kept repeating the same two words, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." As if being drained of energy, his voice got softer and softer before disappearing, leaving only the sound of the revolving ball of liquid.
With my body numb, and feeling on the verge of death myself, a sort of calm took over my mind. The intense horror I was currently feeling melted away. I just watched the ball of red as it spun in place, its red crystalline surface sparkling in the rays of the sun coming through the windows. The scene was actually quite beautiful. The calm was short-lived, though, as the ball's revolving stopped and then, as if something was pushing against its surface from the inside, it began to expand. Growing larger and larger until exploding with a bang, that sent the liquid flying everywhere. I even received a spray of red that tinged my sight red before running down my body, revealing the scene that was previously hidden.
Standing well over eight feet tall, it was a monster in every sense of the word. It had similar ghoul characteristics, with long pointed ears and an elongated jaw filled with sharp teeth. Along with their pale skin. However, that's where the similarities ended. This creature was a pile of muscles, from head to toe. With hands ending in dangerous-looking grey metal claws that also sparkled under the sun. A pair of wings similar to a bat but covered in an odd, nebulous haze kept the creature afloat. Its eyes were like a snake's, with a split for a pupil that was blood red in colour. And unlike ghouls, this creature sported a mane of dark red hair atop its head that ran down to its waist. Equipped with its own sparkling luster, like a river of liquid ruby.
One of the creature's trunk-sized arms held aloft Graff's twitching form, while its needlelike teeth were clamped on the side of the man's neck. The once-fat man was now nothing more than skin attached to bone. His steel arms hung useless at his side, while his eyes were rolled back so far that I could only see the whites. I have seen plenty of monsters over my long career that drained the blood of their enemies, but what the creature was doing to the now skinny Graff was something else entirely. It looked like it was not just draining his blood, but his entire being. In my blurry vision, I thought I could even see wisps of mana rising from Graff's body. 'But that's impossible, isn't it?'
With every passing second, Graff's body shrank further into itself, while the aura radiating off the floating monster became heavier. Oddly enough, it also looked like its clearly monstrous facial features were smoothing out and becoming more human. 'What the hell is this thing?' While I watched the macabre style before me, my thoughts became hazier and hazier, while warning notifications kept ringing inside my head. The creature's eyes held a sort of blank look, as if it were in a state of half-sleep. But as if noticing my gaze, the murky dark eyes locked onto my own. Releasing its grip on Graff's corpse, which hit the floor in a boneless heap, the creature hovered for several silent seconds before the softest of words emitted in a snarling growl came out of its mouth, "Hungry, so... very... hungry."
With a flap of its wings, the creature hovering form, surged towards me, covered in a film of hazy red. With its dagger-like claws leading the way, the creature reached me in a flash. Before my vision was encompassed in a tinge of sparkling red mist, and my foggy brain finally decided it was time to let go, one thought passed my mind as the unknown creature's elongated jaw opened wide, 'Shit on me!'