Chapter - 14
"This is a small forest," Grendel looked around the thick, dense forest and told Leo, "This is pretty safe. We will reach Auravale in about half an hour."
"You said the same about Blackfangs," Leo casually said from ahead.
Hearing him, Grendel could only grin in embarrassment. He was sure Blackfangs don't attack in the daylight, and it was pretty safe, but they soon came across a bunch of them.
Meanwhile after an hour of continuous walking, Aliana was completely exhausted and miserable. She stumbled a few times, but somehow managed to keep herself on her feet. What started off as a clash of egos had been left behind on the road long back. She was waiting for just one word from Leo to jump on the cart even if it meant being tied down, gagged and thrown beside Brena, the girl who betrayed her.
But Leo wouldn't even pay attention to her. He hadn't even checked once if she was still following them or she had been eaten by some wolf. If not for the caring and affectionate Grandpa talking to her, giving her food and water, her veins would have exploded from all the anger.
Then suddenly Leo felt a change in the atmosphere.
The Predator's Instincts had sharpened his senses. The growing darkness did not bother him. It was as if he could feel the forest breathing around him, he could listen to the faintest of smiles, and smell the changes in the air.
So he stopped when he smelled something foul in the air. It was something pungent, so bad that he felt like puking. Leo's eyes darted around, trying to find the source of the smell, but there was nothing in his sight to the distance he could see.
At the same time, the system chimed in his head.
DING!
A sharp, blood-red notification flashed in his mind's eye.
[PREDATOR'S INSTINCTS ACTIVATED: DANGER!]
[Warning: Multiple hostile signals detected in the shadows ahead. Strong scent of decay and bloodlust.]
He raised his hand, "Stop the cart," he commanded, his voice a low, urgent hiss.
Grendel pulled back on the reins so hard the mule grunted in protest. The cart screeched to a halt.
"What is it now?" Aliana whined, her patience completely gone. "I swear, if you are stopping to relieve yourself in a bush…"
"You can join me if you want. We can both relieve ourselves together," Leo snarled, not even bothering to look back. His eyes were scanning the impenetrable darkness ahead, "I am sure you must be leaking after you saw your maid and that bandit making out."
"You bastard…" Aliana snapped, anger flashing across her face, but a low, guttural snarl cut her off mid-sentence. It was so sudden that she almost leapt onto the cart in fright.
And then, out of the darkness, shapes began to crawl out in front of them. And they did not look human. Not anymore. Their bodies were hunched and unnaturally thin. They looked like skeletons draped in scraps of skin.
They were twisted, rotting things. The flesh of their skin barely hanging off their body. If one looked closely, they could even see bits of bone poking out of their open wounds.
They gave off a smell of flesh, blood and wet soil mixed together. It was heavy and choking.
They moved slowly and dragged their feet along the ground. Their heads jerked around at odd angles, as they limped forward towards them. And when they locked eyes on the group, their hollow sockets flared with a sickly, green glow.
"Gods preserve us…" Grendel whispered, his voice shaking as all colour drained from his face, "These are bloody Grave Stalkers… they were once men."
"They must have gotten the smell of blood."
As soon as Grendel finished speaking, the system also confirmed Grendel's words.
[Hostiles Identified]
[Grave Stalker (Level 2) × 5]
[Grave Stalker Alpha (Level 3) × 1]
[Description: These Grave stalkers were once human. But now they are cursed by hatred and bloodlust. Grave Stalkers are born from those who died with grudges so strong they refused to rest. They have basic intelligence.]
[Their rotting bodies are driven by lingering rage, and they are drawn to the scent of spilled blood. They can smell blood from up to 5 miles.]
[Behaviour: They hunt in packs. They are relentless once they mark their prey. Severing the head or burning the body is the only guaranteed way to stop them.]
Leo's stomach twisted as he read the lines, 'Perfect,' he thought bitterly, 'Because this night wasn't already bad enough.'
It was a full pack. And they were closing in slowly. They had already spotted the cart and as they moved towards them, they began to fan out, to surround the cart.
Aliana finally had a glimpse of what was coming their way from behind the cart, and the sight of these undead Grave Stalkers scared the shit out of what was left of her noble composure.
No sound came out of her mouth as she stood rooted to her spot, her legs about to give in. She had just somehow escaped the clutches of those savage bandits and now she was face to face with flesh eating undeads.
Leo, however, was only annoyed. There was a hint of thrill as well. Because the way these Grave stalkers moved, it was just another mob to grind for EXP.
"Old man, stay on the cart! Keep the girl behind you! Don't move, no matter what you hear!" he ordered Grendel and drew his iron sword. He didn't wait for them to attack. He charged forward full speed.
Unlike with the bandits, this time it was not a desperate struggle for Leo. It was just a one-sided slaughter.
Because of the Shadowweave Tunic Leo blended into the growing darkness, and he moved faster than before thanks to the +3 Agility bonus.
But he was still not completely invisible. A Grave Stalker lunged at him, its claws aiming to rip his throat out. But his Predator's Instincts had already warned him.
He sidestepped the lunge with contemptuous ease, his sword flashing out in a clean, horizontal arc. The creature's head flew from its shoulders and black ink like foul-smelling blood sprayed all over. The body of the Grave stalker took two more running steps before collapsing in a heap.
[Grave Stalker Defeated. +20 EXP]
As one of the Grave Stalkers was killed, another two came at him from the sides. He spun, his sword a whirlwind of death. He ducked under the arm of the other Grave Stalker from the left, stabbing his blade backward into the creature's head. The sword emerged from his mouth.
But the other Grave Stalker was not afraid, seeing the end of his "friend". He jumped at Leo from the right.
And seeing the other Grave Stalker pounce at him, Leo ripped off the sword from the head of the Grave Stalker skewered to his sword, he parried the claw from the right, then followed up with a brutal downward slash that severed the Stalker's arm at the shoulder.
"Eeeghhhh!" It shrieked, a sound that tore through the forest, scaring the birds off their branches. It was horrifying, but it was soon silenced by a quick thrust to the skull.
[Grave Stalker Defeated. +20 EXP]
[Grave Stalker Defeated. +20 EXP]
But this was still not the end, in another few breaths, he killed the other two Grave Stalkers as well.
[Grave Stalker Defeated. +20 EXP]
[Grave Stalker Defeated. +20 EXP]
From the cart, all Aliana could see was a flicker of shadows and the flash of steel, followed by the sickening dying shrieks of the monsters. It was a terrifying sight, and the "commoner" was a reaper, harvesting undead lives with the casual ease.
Finally, only the Alpha Grave Stalker remained. It was larger than the rest of the Grave Stalkers, its muscles thicker under its gray skin, and its eyes burned with a malevolent intelligence the others had lacked. It did not move when its pack was getting decimated, but when they were all dead, it let out a piercing howl and charged, moving significantly faster than the others.
It feinted a claw swipe and then lunged low, its claws scraping loudly against Leo's tunic. The new clothes held, the claws screeching across the magical fabric but failing to break through. Still, the force of the blow sent Leo stumbling back a step.
[HP: 176 / 1000]
Aliana gasped, thinking the tide had turned. But Leo just smirked, wiping a fleck of black blood from his lip, "My turn."
The Alpha lunged again, aiming for a finishing blow. This time, Leo didn't dodge. He stood his ground, then, at the last possible second, he used its momentum against it. He sidestepped, letting the monster rush past him, and pivoted, driving his sword with all his strength into its exposed back.
The blade punched through skin, muscle, and bone, erupting from the creature's chest in a massive spray of black goo. The Alpha froze, its glowing green eyes wide with shock. It let out screeching noises, painful for the human ears.
Leo did not want to wait till his ears were bleeding. He pulled out his sword and brought it down again, beheading the Alpha Grave Stalker.
[Grave Stalker Alpha Defeated. +100 EXP]
Silence returned to the forest, now thick with the stench of death and ichor. Leo stood amidst the six mangled corpses, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. He wasn't even breathing heavily.
He turned back towards the cart. Grendel looked like he was about to faint. Aliana was pressed so hard against the wooden side of the cart it was a miracle she hadn't phased through it.
Her face was ashen, her eyes huge, her body trembling from head to toe. The spoiled, arrogant noble was gone. In her place was a terrified young woman who had just stared into the face of true, horrific violence and had been saved by the very man she despised.
Leo walked slowly towards her, his sword still dripping black ooze onto the dirt. He stopped right in front of her, his expression unreadable in the dim light.
He didn't say, "You're welcome." He didn't say, "I told you so." He didn't say a single word.
He just looked her directly in the eye, a cold, knowing stare that communicated everything. It said, This is the real world.
This is what I am. And I am the only reason you are still alive. He had utterly and completely shattered her perception of reality.
And with that, they continued the journey, and after about half an hour, a few faint, flickering lights became visible. They had arrived.
It was Auravale.
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Author's Note:
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