《Legacy Of The Prototypes》


 The Proloque

    My name is Alec,and I think I''m dying, but I''ll get to that later. I live on Manhattan Island, not that you would recognize it now. Between the Blacklight virus, the infected, the military, and my dad, this place looks like hell. You might know of my dad though, he''s really popular here. They call him Zeus. The military has been fighting him for awhile, not that its my problem. I usaully spend my time hunting strains(dad says it''ll make me stronger)or making sure the soldiers never find out about me. Its not like I couldn''t kill them on sight like my father, its just too much trouble. Kill a squad here, over there, then they know where to look harder. Not that it would be easy, or impossible, to trianglate my activities in a city full of infected. Its just not worth it.


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    You may be thinking I could hang with survivors, yes there are a few, but I''m not human like them. I''m a monster, or as myfather calls us( myself,dad,and a few of dads soldiers) the Evolved. Its not like I''m ugly or anything like that. I think I look good for a viral parasite. Average height, athletic build, pale blue eyes, and no horror inducing deformaties. Granted I can look however I want to with just a thought. The only time I don''t look 100% human is when I use my powers, or when I consume something. But all this isn''ttoo important, like I said before, I think I''m dying. I was hiding from soldiers after hunting an alpha hunter, when I heard a MASSIVE EXPLOSION.


    Then a flash brighter than the sun, and more pain then I have ever experienced. Everything faded to white. So, yeah. Dying...?

 Ch. 1 Divine Intervention

    "Do you really want me to ask Him?" asked Amatsu-Mikaboshi.


    The worst was they hadn''t even passed the first test, and that was due a thousand years ago! It was simple, you need to save the people from the evil beings on the planet. Sometimes it was a demonking, necromancer, religious zealots, that kind of thing. So I gave them a few pionters from my own experience. Build better armies, bless your lands, use natural disasters, if that fails( though it always worked for a god of choas like myself) summon a group of hereos.


    Those kinds of issues are what led to this unpleasent converation.


    So, here I am. Walking up to God. To be honest I didn''t expect Him to answer when I called ahead. Its not that He''s mean or anthing like that. He just likes to observe His world, and has eveybody else leave him alone. Except me, and a few others that He trained Himself. I remember when I was in His office last time. I had just made my planet uninhabitable, an accident I assure you.


    God Pov.


    So they need my help. These days thats all I seem to hear. I gave the multiverse freedom so they would learn to solve their own problems. But I suppose I kinda owe Amatsu this time. I trained him myself when he was a new god, gave him the fourth planet in my favorite system. Mars is what my children call it. Used to be called Eden, it was beautiful, peaceful, and took a lot of work. So when he accidently vented the atmosphere, I banished him to teaching ever since.


    Holy mother of hell, that hurts! Think I blacked out. But for some reason it was all bright white. I''ll have to ask someone why it''s called blackoutlater though , the pain is fading. Need to calm down, I''m not dead yet. Ahh, I can see know , all that white was super annoying. I look around ....


    World of Agar. Palace of the Gods.


    Amatsu-Mikaboshi pov.


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    They awoke some time later, and I had Gaia heal them. It was good practice for her , and they were in okay, hurting alot, but okay, Now they all sat at attention.


    Alec pov.


    So one right? Hm, tough call. I need to get a clearer picture before I chose. Turning to Amatsu, I ask.


    Amatsu Pov.


    Alec pov


    " Sounds like a lot of work. But I''m always happy to hunt." Amatsu nods to me , then flash, off I go.

 Ch. 2 The Legend Begins.

    Shortly after I sent Allec off, I sent the others to run interference. Earthquakes, storms, stuff like that. I had to buy time for Alec to get his bearings. If I rushed it like they did, he''d be dead in no time. Thats why I sent him to one of my old temples. Of course Gia didn''t like the idea of an apocolyptic virus being intrusted with the fate of the world. But if they''d done their job right the first dozen times, she would''nt have to. The others were informing their people of a new ''hero'', though I made sure that they told them he was MY champion. Gotta get credit when credits due, right?


    Though if he infects the world in order to stop all the fighting , I''ll have to wipe it clean. Man, I hate this job.


    Alec pov


    I notice a large stone platform. Upon closer inspection I assume it to have once been a statue at one time. Taking the fact that it was elevated from the regular floor, this place must be one of Amatsus'' temple. A looong time ago. I find the doors, but they were jammed from the other side. I try to plow through it, that didn''t work. I just bounced of it, with a headache to show for it. They didn''t just reset my powers. They took my enhancements too. I worked very hard for those, damn it.


    I start charging my jump, when I feel I can''t charge it any further I jump like a spring. I grabbed the ledge,and began pulling myself up. Good thing that charging up isn''t an actual power. I found that if I charge my actions they become stronger, jumping, punching, and all of my abilities. I walk towards where the doors was. I take in my sorroundings as I walk. Nothing but forest for as long as I can see. I''ve never been to anything other than concrete and steel. Its more beautiful than the pictures I''ve seen. I reach the ledge , looking down, I see the outer columns have been collapsed towards the door. I won''t be able to move those, for awhile, but I can still use this as a base, if I find anything of use.


    It''s not like I need sleep, but having somewhere to hide stuff isn''t a bad idea. I think I''ll start hunting after I check the sorrounding area. All clear, there''s nothing here. Oh well, lets hunt. I''m actualy not hungry, nor have I ever been. I eat to absorb genetic material for self-mutating improvments. I take to the woods queitly stalking around. I don''t attack anything right off, just seeing who the neighbors are. Who is prey, and who is a predator. I spend a few days and nights observing the residents of the woods. Turns out at night, there are more predators out. I only see a few that would be a problem to me right now, and only if I act stupid. This place has some weird creatures.


    I''ve seen a two-headed dear like animal, a pack of armored looking wolfs. Jackrabbits, horned jackrabbits. I saw them hanging around some normal rabbits, and I thought they gotta be prey. Then I saw some feral dogs make a try at the bunnies. I was shocked to see the dogs get impailed ,and rather quickly too. After they got ran of, the jackrabbits started eating the dogs! Seems not everything is as it seems. Man eating rabbits, who''d a thought. Saw a snake gliding from one tree to another, a frog exploded when a bird tried to pick it up. Not kinding, it just boom. The bird didn''t die right off though. It seems the frog covered it with a scent attack, ''cause it was suddenly attack by a swarm of bees, about the size of a dollar coin. That was one dead bird. Note to self stay away from the frogs.


    Returning to the temple I lay down, and start to think of what to do. As I think I remember home, I kinda miss it. Can''t help it really, this place reminds me of it so much. There are so many weird thing that can or want to kill you just because your there. Ah, home. I remember when I first started hunting, running through the streets, jumping over walls. Best time was when I was hunting a pack leader, man they know how to give chase. Lunge, swipe, dodge, grab an infected, consume, and heal when they hit. Rinse and repeat. Until they called they''re friends, then it got better. Yep, good times. Wonder if those wolfs'' be like that. I''ll start with the jackrabbits first, build up my reflex and speed. Probably won''t get much, if anything, from them though. Unless there is a king rabbit like boss around.


    Returning to the rabbits'' meadow, I notice a few nibbled remain than last time. Feral dogs, and a few rabbits. I notice they had fun last night cause the place is filled with them. The hell man. They must of had a serious population boom, or I''ve interupted a furry convention. As I decide between staying or going, I notice more coming out of the borrows. Must be like cochroaches, preg for life. Well, not gonna risk it today, when I can be smarter tomorrow. As I turn to leave I hear a high squeal. I turn around to see one of the jacks'' has stabbed a bunny.


    Why are they doing this? I have no idea. Food? Space? Some really phsyco mating ritual? Don''t know, don''t care, all I know is ''When two sides fight, the third one wins''. Can''t remember who wrote that, but the meaning was clear. Take advantage of any opportunity you can. I try thinking of the best way to approach this. All the''re doing is jumping into each other, which seems effective, half are dead or dying. Wait a minute.... Thats it! Why try to chase them when they''ll jump to me anyway? You don''t! I''m a genius! I''ll cunsume them as they stab me, may hurt, but I should be able to handle it. Walking into the meadow I cant help but think. Who wants to play catch''em all?


    They don''t notice me at first, so I decided to change that. I grab two furballs that had landed near me, with that I crush their necks as tendrils move from my arms into them. I love this fealing, like you become more than you were everytime. As the last bits are being pulled into me some of the others notice me, and begin moving. What you can murder eachother, but not me? How mean of you. I start moving towards them, when I feel one of the peirce me from the sides. Ouch, that hurts more than I thought. Then another hits me, and another, they start piling on.


    "Fuck, that hurts too much. The hell with you guys. Since your so attached, why don''t you become me instead!" I shout. I start consuming the ones attached, even as I grab more. Yeah, this is the feeling.


    If anyone were to look into this meadow, they''d see rabbits fighting some sort of monster with tendrils, and a changing body. I looked like this because my body was compressing the mass I was acquiring. Grab them, consume, get stabbed, consume, this continued for a while before I decided I had enough. It was clear I wasn''t getting anything from this. A meagre increase in reflex wasn''t worth this time or pain. So I left them. I decided to walk back to the temple, I needed to think some more. I hadn''t thought this much even on earth. Not that I was an idiot or anything, but on earth I moved on hunters instinct most of the time. Here I had time to slow down and think, there I did not.


    I want to hunt everything here, but it might be faster to hunt the apex predators around here. Hmm, decisions, decisions.... I don''t have to rush it I quess. My dad used to tell me about some of his toughest fights, most when he rushed things. Okay, here''s what I''ll do, I''ll hunt the predators here. The bunnies weren''t much of a problem, just a pain in my ass, literally when one stabbed me there. Gotta hunt something worth it, cause hunting the weak is boring. Reaching a decision, I trying my hunters sense( genetic sensor that can find any material, but highlights important specimens for consumption).... Looks like my range isn''t what it used to be. Got nerfed on everything I guess, stupid gods. I''ll just go around using it, I''ll find them eventually.


    Yeah, eventually I found them. Four hours man! Four hours of walking aimlessly around the woods. Killed a few of those frogs along the way, though. Trick was to not startle them, or just throw something really fast and smash them. Back to the wolves I found. There were two of them, one adult and one pup. They had brown fur, with streaks of black and grey. Some kind of armor patches on their backs, sides and legs. With a large plate of it on their chest, only a small bit on the tops of their heads. Not sure if its bone or some kind of organic metal, but I''m salivating at the thought of it. Oh, my goodness, that pup is too cute! Looks like a fuzz ball from heaven, especially when it''s snoozing like that. Okay I''ve decided I''m not gonna kill it, he''ll be my companion. Every boy wants a puppy at one point or another. Manhattan wasn''t a place for it though. Wonder what he''d turn it to with the Mercer virus?


    The adult doesn''t look good. Its covered with slash wounds, and a few arrows. The wound on it are recent, whoever did this may be back to finsh it. So, I''ll consume it so I can protect the pup. I walk towards the two, being as open and non threatening as I can, considering I''m a parasitic being. The mother notices me, alerted she snarls and tries to get up, but she doesn''t make it far. I approach her at arms length, and begin to speak to her.


    Female wolf pov


    It looks me in the eyes and speaks, not that I can understand two legs. The look in its eyes though, I understand it. It wants my pup. NO, I won''t let you, I snarl at it. It says it knows my pup will die without me. I know this two legs. Theres nothing I can do, and that feeling alone is worse than all the wounds I''ve ever have. Two legs speaks again, it says it can make my pup strong, like alpha. No stronger it says. Stronger than an alpha? How is that possible. And it swore it to the free spirit( most animals with enough intelligence know of the gods in some way, usually the feel them, so she knows Alec just swore his intention to Amatsu. Who wild beasts call the free spirit.). I sniff it curiosly, cause what two legs would want to make a predator stronger. We eat two legs you know. What is this, its not a two legs, but it is one? It smells like life, and death but more than it is. Hm....what a strange creature. I look at my pup, and I''m filled with sorrow. I failed to protect it. I know if another pack finds him, he''ll likely be killed. Even if they bring him into their group, it''ll be as filth. I''ve seen it in my fathers pack, its better just to kill them young.


    I won''t condem him to that. If this creature is capable of making him strong enough that nothing will ever bother his pack, I''ll take that over his current fate every time. Even if this creature can''t, he''ll have a chance at least. I know this creature intends to kill me, I see it in his eyes, sense it in his body. Like a hunger of the wild, unquenchable, and ferocious. I don''t feel angry at it, this is the law of life. The weak are food and the strong are hungry. I feel sad that I won''t be able to teach my pup to hunt, to howl at the moon, or be filled with pride as he takes a pack for his own. I turn to the strange two legs creature. Looking in its eyes I convey my feelings as best I can, and I nod my approval. Its nods back, reaching for me with its hands. As they touch my head, I feel a pulling sensation, then nothing....


    Thats why Mecca, the city that sprawled around it, was the current seat of power for the Allaince. It was here, that the three rulers and their staff, where waiting for the three popes'' to appear. They had been informed by the gods that new heroes would appear. But the summons circle was never activated. So a special meeting was called while the headpreists prayed for answers.


    Mecca, Empire of Helena, Star Fall Fortress


    "We have prayed to the gods, and have recieved an answer." said the pope of Leon. Everyone was filled with hope as they heard the news. Except, those close enough to see the priests face''s. They were filled with confusion. What had the godssaid?


    "So, did the demons perform a summons, or was it the Empire?" asked the Empress Badu. Everyone was suddenly very afraid of the answer, because either way they were doomed.


    "No. We asked about that, and they said that both the Empire and the demons can''t use the summoning ritual." said the pope of Gia.


    " Then, who is the hero''s patron deity?" asked King Von. The priests looked towards the floor before the priestess spoke.


    " The patron is Amatsu-Mikaboshi, god of chaos." said the pope of Theo


    "WHAT!?" screamed everyone.


    "Amatsu-Mikaboshi!? What''s he doing, he''s never had a champion before. Search the chaos temples, every one of them! Bring the hero to us!" yelled the two kings. Soon riders were being sent out to the cities with chaos temples. The hero was wanted for questioning. The Empressstayed silent, deep in thought.


    Empress Badu Aala was the ruler of the Empire of Helena. A empire built on fair rights for all, and the pursuit of peace. Worship of all five gods were permitted, but religious fanatisism was not tolerated. Laws held all of the racesequal, from common born to the highest noble. This has always made for more than enough enemies, both in and outside of the kingdom. Its neighbors have learned to accept these differences though, willing or not. Early in its founding a hero redrew its military traditions, to better combat the demon invasion.


    At 10 she controlled the strongest kingdom in the world, with an army of powerful soldiers, each capable of fighting a low demon on their own, and empoweredby the most loyal people a ruler could ask for. This made her a target to some, and a prize for others. At 13 she had survived a dozen attempts on her life, which she answered by conquering the twelve southern kingdoms, who were responsable for the attempts. Becoming an Empress in the process. She killed any who wouldn''t accept her rightful place, nobles, commoners, even her own. If they threatened what her family had built, and the peace they strived for, they died, no exeptions.


    She also possessed the Star Fall Fortress by birthright. The previous lord had been in love with her mother for awhile, and after proving his worth, they married. This caused alot of southern kingdoms to be upset, as they had been trying to marry off their daughters to him. They said her mother tricked him out of his kingdom, but she knew her mother loved him very much. Its said that she got her fathers strength and her mothers beauty and grace. Couldn''t agree more, at 5'' 7'''' with long black hair, chocolate eyes, dark brown skin, and a fine figure. Many considered her to be very blessed by thegoddess herself. She pushed her people towards academic, cultural, and financial prosperity. This and other social policies earned her the ferverant loyaty of her people, and caused others to volutarily cede their territories.


    Then at 16, the demons attacked, once more throwing the world in chaos. The northern kingdoms, who were recieving a large amount of aid in the form of men and supplies, were supposed to be a sheild for the rest of the world. In a years time they had broken apart, with only a few cities and keeps holding out. So once again the mighty armies of Helena prepared to march to war. As the southern kingdoms prepared, and the wall maned, the heroes were summoned to lead them again. Not the armies of Helena though, her great grandmother had caved to the presure of the other kingdoms once, and let heroes led her army in the war. It was the worst defeat they had ever suffered. It was decreed as law that no hero will lead an army of Helena again. Still a law today.


    This war was going better than the ones before it. The demons were pushed back to the mountains, withless than expectedloses of southern armies. Our casualties were also minimal. The leader of the new hero group, a teen called Attius Clausus, was a capable tactician and competent commander. After pushing the demons back to the mountains, the kingdoms celebrated for weeks. The returning armies paraded through the southern kingdoms.


    This led to a period of war within the remaining kingdoms. Out of options and unable to mount a defense on their own many kingdoms united with their neighbors. This brought conflict when two or more groups fought over another kingdom. War spread quickly, no one was immune.


    It became apparent that most kingdoms were content to fight for pety reason and pride, instead of uniting against the Empire, and the demons. At this time Badu was 19, when she realized something about her fellow rulers. They''re all idiots and fools, she thought. So she brought her trusted ministers together to tell them her plan to end the fighting. They agreed her plan was the right one, cruel, simple, but necessary. If they won''t lead they''re people correctly, then they don''t need to lead anyone.


    Launching a coordinated offensive, the other kingdoms fell within a year. This massive mobalization by the Allaincecaused the Golden Empire to negotiate a cease fire. Both sides now watch eachother carefully. Which leads us to the present. Badu now 20, was in the grand hall of the Star Fall Fortress, trying to process what she''d just been told. The gods chose a hero, and we didn''t request a summoning? Whats more the ever quiet god of chaos, chose him? Is this good or bad? Aargh, these idiots are to loud. Gotta get somewhere else to think.


    " You can''t stop her, Von, and you know it! " retorted King Donald.


    "Of course you can. I''ll inform my people to make preparations. Don''t forget to inform the other races about this, King Donald. We may need their help this time." I say, before passing the door. Now lets go get some icecream.


    After the mother wolf accepted my proposal, I absorbed her. Though I didn''t receive any special upgrades, I did receive a rough map of the area and the first step in my armor mutation. It was more like really thick skin, but it was something. I took the pup back to the temple where it would be safe. I fetched some food for it along the way, poor rabbits were petrified when I approached them. Back at the temple,it ate them happily. I also started a fire for it. As the pup sleeps, I too lay down, staring at the stars, I began to think. I should find some worth while specimens soon, all these normal animals are about as worthless as an infected human. Hmm?...


    Maybe there isn''t any in these woods? Amatsu did say it was in the frontier, so maybe the demon lands have more badass monsters. I should probably find a settlement soon, they''re likely to have information on dangerous locations. I''ll stay one maybe two weeks here, then I''ll leave once the pups stronger.


    Looking at my new friend, I can''t help but feel excitment. What will he look like? How far is its potential? He should get infected telepathy right? Should I wait, and if so how long? No. I''ll infect him tomorrow, then we''ll start hunting as a pack. Even with no upgrades for us , the experience of hunting as a pack and consuming should make him stronger anyway. The strongest thing I''ve seen was a six armed bear. Sighing, I look to the stars once more.....


    I''m brought out of my slumber, when the pup jumps on me and starts licking my face. You may be confused, as I stated previously that I didn''t require sleep. I don''t, but I find it give me a sense of peace and comfort. So yeah I was sleeping, till I got slobered on. I push it off ,wiping my face I glare at it, it smiles and yipes at me. Can''t be mad at it as it runs around me barking, its too cute. I spend some time with it outside the temple playing fetch, or watching it chase butterflies and songbirds. After a time I take him hunting, finally checked its gender, he''s weak right know but he doesn''t realize it. I''ll have to teach him what happens when you''re weak. I don''t like the idea of doing this, but like a parent telling their kid why its pet died, I know its a lesson best learned early. Painful, but necessary for its survival.


    I know this all sounds cruel, but its not like I''m gonna let him die. I may be a monster, but I have a heart you know. I take him around the woods, letting him hunt small things on its own, till we come across a feral dog.


    I step back queitly, this isn''t my prey, nor is it my lesson. The feral takes this as a sign I''m scared. Snarling it charges the pup. My pup meets him in the air, colliding in a mess of fur and flesh. They claw, bite and kick each other. Both struggle for the killing blow. The pup bite the leg of the feral, who in turn grabs the nape of the pups neck. It starts to thrash the pup, before throw it against a nearby tree. The pup let out a cry of pain as its thrased and thrown. It hits the tree hard, yips, and tries to stand again. He falls back down, unable to continue. The feral lets out a happy bark, seeing this it moves for the kill. It''s forgotten about me completly. As it gets near the pup, the pup looks like it knows it going to die, but there is deviance in it eyes. ''Good, boy.'' I thought.


    Before the feral can get close enough for the kill, I spring towards him. I kick it at full speed, launching it into a tree, it strikes the tree ten feet up and come crashing down. I can sense it''s still alive, but just barely. Turning to the pup, I kneel down to it. His will still shines in his eyes, but it won''t last long with the wounds he''s got. Taking my hand I stab him, injecting the virus into him. He cries, as it invades his body, consuming and rewriting his DNA. I hold him as it gets to work, I can feel his pain as the virus infects more of him. I cry with him, it hurts to have to harm something in order to protect it. As the minutes past, he loses consciousness, and the forest is quiet. Silence, no birds, insects, not even the trees make a sound. As if the whole forest just witnessed the birth of a terrible beast, nothing dared disturb it.....


    In a village bordering the woods, there was an old man lazily sitting in a chair. If you were from the village you''d know he was a veteran hunter, hardened warrior, and the current village cheif. You''d also recognize the look on his face as he looked to the woods, the look that said something was bothering him. ''What is this uneasy feeling coming from the woods?'' thought the Cheif. For the old woods to be this quiet, something must be scarying it pretty good, and thats not good for us. It''s not like the woods were home to mythical monsters or anything like that. Though it did at some time, they all migrated to the Forbidden Forest long ago. Now the woods was acting like the old legends, the ones that saw rise to great beasts. As he contemplated this, he was interupted.


    ''Why can''t people ever stop fighting?'' he asked himself. Thinking for a bit, he turns to his daughter.


    Pup pov.


    ''What do we do now, Brother?'' I ask.


    ''Most of the time yeah. But a stronger opponent is always more satisfying to consume. Which is what I want you to do for the next few days. Hunt, consume, adapt, and hunt again. When I want you to return I''ll signal you. If you do require help, signal me with your mind, we''re connected. I''ll be hunting as well.'' said Alpha. Nodding my understanding, I take off. The hunts begun.


    Alec pov


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    As I''m thinking my hunters sense goes off. It only does that when something I haven''t encountered is in range. Focusing on the sense, I feel a small group of humans, three to be exact. They''re heading towards the temple. To pray maybe? Hope its not one of those virgin sacrifice things.


    NOT!


    The child became a man of accomplishment, and eventually he too had a child, a beautiful daughter. This child was Nix Verto, accomplished adventurer, brave beauty, and unfortunatley, the only daughter of the cheif. It was the last part that had lead to an irratating past few days. She had grown up on the Frontier, proving herself capable of handling the monsters, bandits and any man foolish enough to attempt to woo her. Her skill in combat, brave spirit , and feirce loyalty, had earned her many friends. Such as the ones that warned her of the Empires'' men marching on her home. Simply because they wouldn''t roll over for them or pay them not to. Hate wouldn''t be a word she would use to describe her feelings of the Empire. It wasn''t strong enough, she loathed the hero emperor.


    They finally made it here. Humans so damn slow. It looks like they found a way up here. Oh, a rope , guess they should be dropping in. Wow, she''s pretty. Fiery red hair, like a sea of flames, with the face of an angel, around 5''9'''' I think, 32B-23-34 from the looks of it. Oh, yeah, she''s beautiful. The lady looks around for a bit, noticing the signs of my camp, she calls out. I can''t understand her, but for some reason, when one of the men she came with spoke, I wanted to kill him. Have you ever meet someone and immediatly hated them the moment the spoke? We''ll, I have now.


    I know she''s probably scared, so I give a moment to steady herself.


    Nix pov.


    I can''t see it! Where is it? What is it? Where is the wolf from earlier? This thing thought it could trick me with polite speech. Not gonna happen! I turn around and I see it, but I''m kind of confused. I see a teen, about 6''2'''', with white skin, and pale blue eyes. His build says he can handle a fight, but the strange clothes he has on are preventing an accurate call.

 Ch. 3 People. Problems. Planning

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more." So, your plan is probably as good as we are going to get for now. But, I''ve never been one to sit quietly while someone''s coming for me. You know what direction they are coming from, and roughly the time they will get here. So, I was thinking, I could attack them along the way. To night, I''ll sneak into their camp, kill some people, and destroy some supplies if I can , then get back here before they march in the morning. What do you think?" I asked.


    "No offense taken, your concern of my capabilities are warranted. I''m alot better at infiltrating than fighting, so this shouldn''t be too much trouble. Gotta ask though, compared to you or your daughters fighting prowess, are the Empires'' soldiers better or worse on average?" I asked. Its kinda of important to know if their peons can cream me.


    " A bit of advice from a seasoned soldier. Target their officers if you can. The legions are normally highly trained groups, but if this is a fresh crop, losing their squad officers will disorganize them. They won''t have experience commanding more than their squad, they''ll be less organized and more prone to making mistakes. If you can''t get the officers, try to cause as much damage as possible. I know you''ll go even if I say otherwise, not like your one of mine anyways, but be careful. You''ll be needed for tomorrow." And with that I left.


    Empire soldiers pov


    Killing the guards, I found their pitch jars. After dumping the contents, I grabed a torch and threw it into the supplies. As I was escaping, the fire begun to engulf the supply tent and was spreading. The camp now alerted, sprung to life. However I was already in the woods, making my way back to the village.Leaving them with a whole mess to deal with.


    After some time my Brother connected with me.


    Thats where some of our supplies were. We started running towards it when we noticed the animals were making alot of noise. More than they should be, considering the fire was no were near them.


    I told my squad mates that we should check on them, make sure the wouldn''t break out of the stokade. Besides what could we do to the fire?


    We gathered a few squads near to us and headed towards the animals. What we saw when we got there made me wish we fought the fire instead. Someone or someones pissed themselfs in fright.


    An Armored Wolf was in the animal pen, but it wasn''t a normal wolf either, some kind of variant. It stood about chest height to a human. Its fur was black with red marks appearing in random patterns. But even with the odd colors, the strangest thing about its fur it seemed alive! Moving, rippling, and when the wolf would get close to one of the animals tendrils would leap from its skin and enveloping the animal. Afterwards the animal would be pullled into the wolve, like it was eaten whole.


    We shook ourselfs out of our stupor after it holwed into the night. I think that howl will haunt me for life after this. It broke the fence into the other pen, and began to kill or maim the animals.We tried to shoot it with arrows, or throw our spears at it, but we only succeeded in harming more horses. By now most of the animals are wounded or dead, so I grabbed a soldier and we opened the gate to the pen. I will probably get lashed for this, but it allowed some of the animals to run away.


    Seeing this the wolf growled and started to run from the camp at a speed that it shouldn''t posses. A few spears found it by pure luck I think, but they had no apparent effect. It killed a few of the sentries who tried to stop it, then it disappeared into the night.


    After it left we tried to find our officers for orders, but none of the officers could be found. Instead we only found blood in their tents, but no bodies. This added to the fears the men were having. So I assumed command of the sqauds near me, and we began mercifull killing the animals that were to wounded to be of use, while I sent some of the support staff to gather the remaining horse if the could find them. As I stabbed the last horse, our glorious commanders aid decided to check on this side of camp. Most likely looking for someone to yell for what happened. Great....


    "Attention! Your orders are as follows. Salvage what supplies you can and take them to the remaining wagons! The rest are to break camp. We are marching to the village today!" The aid said riding to the other areas of the camp.


    Well at least he didn''t yell at us.


    Alec pov


    I returned to the village with Fenris at my side. With nothing to do we headed towards the cheifs place. As we moved towards square I notice a fairly large crowd, all shouting and raising they''re fists. I started moving people out of my way, and before long I was in the front.


    In the square stood the Jarl Url, with a great sword in hand, towering over some fat guy. The fat man was pleading for mercy and sobbing almost to the point of hysterics. We walked along the inside of the circle to get a better veiw of the man. Fat, definantly fat. Black greasy hair, makeup done in a femine fashion, gaudy jewels and rings on his hand, but his smell was horrific. To me at least. Piss and some kind of lilac perfume I think. Blah!


    "Please. I beg of you, great Jarl Url, show mercy! I only did it to save the villagers lives. Have I not always shown great care for your people? Coming this far out into the Frontier to trade essentials, when no one else would. Please spare me! " Narsine pleaded as he went to hid knees.


    "I already granted you mercy Narsine. I gave you time to make peace with the gods and present evidence of your innocence. The verdict of the village was death, so you will be executed. However, since I will be taking your goods, I will grant you one more mercy." Url said as a dark look formed on his face. Some of the villagers started to voice their objections.


    "Than--" Narsine began to say, before getting interupted.


    " You may choose your death like a man, or die as a coward. So how do you want to die, Narsine." Url said stopping Narsine and the rest of the villagers.


    "I... I... I don''t want to die! I know let me walk out of here. Yes, take all my goods a-and my jewels. Take everything, but let me leave...." Narsine pleaded and mumbled. He was grasping at straws and he knew it.


    "Its always saddening to see a man turn into a coward." Url said as he turned to the crowd.


    "Narsine, the merchant, you have been charged of extortion, conspiracy to commit treason, and attempted kidnapping of a noble. You were tried, and found guilty in the peoples court. Your punushment is death by execution. You have failed to present a prevered means of death, so by my right of Jarl, I sentence you to death by fire. Take him to the pit, and light him up!" Url yelled with all the might he could muster.


    Narsine began to cry and thrash at the Jarls words. He tried to fight the gaurds that started to drag him, but that ended when one of them punched him hard enough to loose a few teeeth. I followed Url and soon we came apawn a simple hole in the ground, not sure what it was used for, and I don''t care enough to ask.


    the gaurds threw Narsine in, as two serving girls, one I recognized from the previous day, began to pour two pots of oil on him. He tried to plead fr mercy but simply sputtered instead. Nix came up and stood by her father, handing him a lit torch, her face told of how she felt about this man. It was a look that said ''go to hell you filthy bastard''.


    "And so a coward dies!"Url said throwing the torch in, lighting Narsine ablaze. Then he turned and headed for the Cheifs Hold, not even dignifying Narsines death. With everybody doing the same, I decided to follow Url and give my report.


    Heh. I wonder if his fat will make hime burn hotter or not? Meh.


    "I''m sorry you had to witness that Alec, but it needed to be done. Keep this in mind ''A coward will always die with out dignity and with as much pain as can be brought to bear''. But since your here, I assum your trip was a success?" Url said as he sat on his throne and waved for a cup. Nix just sat the nearest table with Fenris.


    "Seeing a human on fire isn''t excactly a new expereince for me. I''ve seen them light up by the hundreds. I''ll keep your warning though, might come in handy. And yes, my trip last night was a success. Their leadership is down to the commander and his aide. Who almost all the soldiers think are arrogant assholes, with no idea what they are doing. About a dozen or so more men are dead,halve their supplies and all but a few of their animals are dead. Not a bad night, but if I was back to my former self they wouldn''t be alive. The odds should be pretty close to fair now though." I said.


    The look on Urls face as I finished my report was like he got slapped for the first time.


    "You did that much? And your not at full strength? What are you, Alec Mercer?" Url said a bit of wariness creeping into his eyes.


    "Relax, dude. I ain''t no threat to you or your daughter. But since your sharing information I share some too. I''m not human, like not even a little bit. I have a human form because I hunt humans and this a most efficent design. As I consume more diverse things I will acquire abilities beyond imagining. But I don''t actively seek out people to eat unless they have abilities I need, I actually have eaten far fewer people than my father or his soldiers have." I explained, after I took a seat on the bench.


    "Look, I don''t mean to so ungrateful or rude. But I''m going to walk around before the empire shows up. Come find me if I''m needed." I said taking my leave. I need to think and so do they.


    Url pov


    Even as I ask these questions, I feel that he truely isn''t a threat to me or mine. He feels more like an old dragon. Give him no reason to kill youand he''ll leave you be. Draining the contents of my mug, I dismissed these thoughts. I can do nothing to effect the shcemes of Gods. But I can defend my people.


    "Come, Nix. We have work to do." Url said walking out the door.


    We had been marching since early morning, so about half a day and we cold see the smoke from the village. We had covered a good amount of ground, but having marched hard all day, the men were near exhausted. Having had to carry all the salvagable supplies on our persons, or taking shifts pulling the wagons that didn''t have animals attached. The men were tired, a few of them had collapsed in exhaustion. The commander wanted no more delays so if they couldn''t keep up they were killed.


    That didn''t help the mood much, but it was mostly the logistic crews. Though they did receive basic training, they weren''t conditioned like the combat units. They learned to maintain equipment, we trained for battle.


    There''s talk amongst the troops that we''ll attack when we get there, so no rest. An hour maybe two, and we''ll be there. Me and some of the men have decided if something like last night happens , we''re retreating back home.


    Url pov


    The traps in the feilds have been dug, the gate''s bottle necked with cartsor other debris, and everyone is gathering in their positions. I sent Nix to find Alec after the bell had been rung. All thats left is to wait.


    Alec pov


    Well I like seeing something change from a base material into something wonderful. Ore into metal, metal into sword. It was all fascinating to me. He didn''t seem to mind me being there very much after seing my virvent curiosity for his craft.


    He even let me try something after awhile. I was hoping he''d let me strike the metal, but he laughed at me. For like 5 minutes. He laughed at me.


    After he caught his breath, he explained no blacksmith worth his hammer would let some random kid strike the metal at his forge. He said I''d have to start where he started, the grinding stone. He showed me how to use it right, them told me to sharpen some spear heads, while another kid would attach them to a pole, then they would be placed in a bundle for easy transport.


    It wasn''t a glorious job, but it was fun to me. I never got the chance to make things on Earth, only destroy them. Besides every spear counts, right?


    It was a little after noon when a horn sounded, we had a dozen or so spears ready by then, but upon hearing the horn sound, the others stopped working. The smith started to kill the fire, while his apprentice started to throw on some leather armor.


    "Alec!! My father wants you at the gate with him, lets go." She said upon approach.


    "Lets go, boy! Grab the cart and get to the gate!" the smith said, running out to us. He had leather with some plate over vital areas. Then he, Nix and the apprentice started running.


    I grabbed the cart handles and followed them. As we ran the other villagers were running around, some in the same direction as us, others to the cheifs hold for shelter. Most able bodies were with us, though I did see that coward that yelled at me earlier running towards the hold as well. Coward.


    We got to the gate and I see that Url has blocked the gate with carts and debris. It formed a V wedge, funneling the empire troops into a narrower space as they came into town. I assume this was done at the other gate as well. I set the cart down, and people immediatly began suiting up and arming themselve, before joining the rest in the defense. Fenris, who had up till had been asleep, walked up next to me and just sat down.


    "Oh, good you''re here Alec. I want you, and Nix on reserve. If you see us falter or an opportunity arises take it. As for Fenris, I''m not sure. So whatever you want, Alec." Url said as he approached us. He was in plate and chainmail, with a fairly large axe and sheild, holding his crossbow with a quiver of bolts.


    Good enough for me. I need to see how strong they are to form a base of comparison to others in this world.


    "Get ready boys, here they come! Archers, fire when you see a gap in their sheilds!"Url shouted as he and other heavy looking men form a line betwen the debris. The empires men marched in block formations of 50, and there is 4 of them. The commander is in the rear formation, with what appears to be personal troops, because their armor looks better kept than the rest.


    The formations were like this, two were regular soldeirs, then the other two were lesser equiped, so logistical troops probably. Wonder where the wounded are? Meh.


    As the enemy troops advanced the archers began to shoot at them. Most shots were blocked by their sheilds, but a few were able to slip through. Not enough to scare them off, but a few less to deal with. The two soldier formations kept coming straight at us, but the other two split off. Probably trying to come in the other side, splitting to the left and right.


    "Jarl Url. How many fighters do you have at the other gate?" I asked him.


    "Only about 30, and their just armed volunters(nice way to say peasents with pitchforks)... They won''t hold againt the empires troops headed their way. You got another idea?" Url said, after a quick glance around him. Most of his men were here with him and it didn''t look like he could spare men to reinforce the other gate.


    "Yeah, I do. Nix, will help hold the rear gate while Fenris and I thin them out in the feild." I said already heading to the rear gate. Fenris was right along side me.


    As we approached the rear gate we heard sounds of men yelling, and metal colliding with metal. The fighting had started, so I guess I need to kick it gear.


    ''Fenris,go out and to the left. I want as few soldiers to make it out alive as we possibly can. The commander cannot be allowed to live , no matter the reason.'' I tell him as I run past the villagers. I stop at the gate, and start running to the right. I receive a mental nod from Fenris, and then he takes off to the left. Nix was explaining to the villagers as she approached.


    The fighting at the first gate will be getting tougher, the second formation of regulars should be there soon. I need to finish this quickly and help Url. I soon spot the men on my side, and judging by how they squared up to eachother I think they saw me. There seemed to be a few less than I expected. Looks like the traps worked on some of them.


    Man, I want my powers back, even one will due. As soon as this is over with I have to hunt something. Maybe ask Amatsu for directions.


    I did a quick check on Fenris,through our hive link, he has already engaged the enemy. Can''t let him show me up now can I?


    I could go into detail about how they move into position, shouted brave things, but I''m not. The only thing they did, that was note worthy to me was this. They were smirking and laughing at me. Not that I didn''t understand the reason. If you were told to attack a town, you would expect casaulties and possibly, your death. Then the only one blocking your path was a teen running towards you with no weapon. Funny, right? The kids obviously crazy, so you go ahead and you laugh. Then you smirk at how easy this will be...


    Yeah. I gonna kill them all now.


    I run straight at them, aiming to smash them. I use my anger to push myself to full speed. Ieasily dodged the spears sticking out between their sheilds and smashed into them. On contact I send some of them tumbling to the ground, as the rest look in shock. Before they start to react I grab the man I collided with, consuming him and taking his sword. With my armored(which is basically hard leather for now) form active I begin to kill all in my way. Now I not the greatest swordsman, but with my strength, speed, and reflexes being far above that of a normal human I don''t have to be.


    I swing my sword faster than they can block, strike with a strength they can''t resist, and move between them faster than they can move. From one man to the next, limbs were severed, heads rolled, and when they actually managed to strike me, men were consumed. This wasn''t a battle, this was a slaughter.


    I continued to kill men left and right, moving among them like an unstoppable hand of death. As their numbers thinned, fear and self-preservation took hold. They couldn''t win, they knew this now. So they began to run, or they tried to. I would throw weapons,or their fellow soldiers at them. Even if they didn''t die, the resulting injuries wouldn''t let them flee.


    As they drew to a precious few, some tried to surrender or plead for mercy. They were consumed none the less. As the last one fled, I threw a spear impaling him to the palisade. In hindshight it will probably take some work to get him down. Meh, at least I''m not on clean-up.


    I did a quick glance around to make sure no one escaped. None did.


    ''Fenris, I want you to go into the woods. Get behind the commanders group. If he tries to flee, I want you to bring him to me alive.'' I thought to him as I made my way to the front gate. Url would probably like some help by now. Even if Nix took the others to help, it would still be close.


    As I approached the front gate I could still hear the clashing of arms, and the screams of the dying. Guess I made in time. I spared a glance towards the enemy commander. He is moving towards the village, but he''s not far from his starting position, so he must of just started to move.


    I didn''t care if the commander saw me, it wouldn''t change anything at this point. I approached the rear of the second group of soldiers, and charged into them like before. I started hacking and slashing into their flank. They began to panic, their attempts to kill me were proving futile. They had been hoping that the front would be wittled down and exhausted when it was their turn. Now they were dying faster than the ones up front. About half way through their formation, I noticed a small group of men break of to the right and head towards the woods. They were about 15, and they made sure not to head anywhere near the commander.


    Weird. I wasn''t even close to them yet.


    As they ran I noticed the commander shouting furiously while pointing towards the deserters. Him and his aide seemed to be arguing as to wheither or not to chase them, or seize the village. Not that they would get to do either one.


    After a few more moments of massacring the soldiers at the gate, the last one fell. A look around me revealed a lot of corpses, body parts, and tired men. Url, Nix and the other men looked pretty banged up. I could see a pile of bodies were Nix was standing. Looks like she''s stronger than I thought. Above the average man it seems. With a nod of approval in their deriction, I turned around and faced the commander. Looks like the aide won the argument, because they were alot closer now. They were all ready in a sheild lock formation so running into them might not work so well.


    Then a thought occured.


    "Url, Nix, and the rest of you, stand down. I got these guys." I said as I started run around. I grabbed the spears that weren''t broken, and I stabbed them into the ground near me.


    Ignoring the confuse glances coming my way, I prepared myself for the next part. Grabbing a spear I looked towards the enemy, after finding what I was looking for, I threw the spear using my inhuman strength.


    The spear went through the gap, skewing the heads of two people, and stabbing a third in the face. Judging by the screaming, it wasn''t a fatal wound. Everyone stood dumbstruck by what had happened. They looked between the now three dead men and me. How could a boy have the strength to strike three men. inside a sheild wall formation, and do it so accuratly as to pass their sheilds entirely?


    Well, I actually didn''t expect it to be so accurate, but this works for me. I grab another spear, and throw it with the same amount of force as the last one. Some of the soldiers saw me grab the spear, and they lifted their spears to cover their faces on instinct. Not where I was aiming. The spear connected with two more soldiers through the midsections.


    I grab another one, and I throw it like the ones before it. Again, and again, grab, throw. Even if they spread out I still killed at least one man per throw. Seeing as the were being picked off, they rushed towards me. Out of spear myself, I charged them head on. As I began to engage them I could tell they were better trained than the ones before. As a result I started taking more hits as they ganged up on me. So I started consuming them anytime I was stabbed.


    After some really painful fighting, and good combat lessons, I had them down to a dozen scared men. They probably couldn''t retreat unless mr. pompous said so. To bad for them, because he had actually started galloping away,aide in tow, a few moments ago. He likely didn''t run earlier because he thought we''d all be to tired to put up a effective defense against his personal gaurds. That changed when I began to kill them one after another with bo sigbs of tiring. Or could be that the sight of someone absorbing a man while he killed another, might have flipped him out a bit.


    As the remaining men looked at me waringly, a scream erupts from the woods, with the naying of horses. Everyone looks towards the woods with fear and confusion. After a short wait Fenris bursted out of the woods carrying the commander with him. I say carrying, but its more like Fenris has him by his armor tangling from his mouth.


    The enemy men scurry out of his way as Fenris runs to me and drops the man at my feet like a chew toy. Some of the mans limbs look broke or dislocated at least. Looking into Fenris'' mind, I see why. Fenris had attacked his horse and sent him into a tree. Smiling he stands beside me before looking at them intently.


    "Good boy." I said patting Fenris on the back. I didn''t have to say it out loud but it let them know I was in command of such a monster. Knowing this, they knew escape was impossible.


    "You men have two options right now. Option one: Meet up with the men that ran earlier and go home. Option two: you die here. I don''t care, but if you don''t pick one, I''ll kill you anyway." I said. Fenris tensed up and started snarling.


    They exchanged glances with eachother before onr of them spoke up.


    "Do we have your word you''ll let us leave and not stab us in the back?" one of them asked.


    "If I wanted you dead, I would have done it while you were looking towards the woods. Get going." I said with a small amount of irratation in my vioce. They didn''t need to be told twice the started running away towards the wood. Ignoring the whimpering man at my feet, I turn towards the village.


    And they looking at me like weird like. Some seem fearful, others in awe, and a few, like Url and Nix, have a bit of both. Oh,right. Its not every dat you see a boy slaughter over fifty men.


    "Hey, Url. Is it okay if I take him or to you need him? He''s the son of some noble." I asked.


    "Huh-. Oh, right. If he''s nobility we could claim a reward for his capture. But you caught him so he''s your prisoner, Alec." Url said breaking from his stupor. He says its my choice but why do I see gold bars in your eyes. Well more money wouldn''t hurt, and if he proved useless I could eat him anyway.


    "You can have him Url, but we split it fifty-fifty." I said.


    "Haha. Boy, you got a deal. Men take him to the healer, then to a cell. Everybody else take a rest, we''ll prepare the dead after words. Tommorrow we join our families, and honor the fallen." Url shouted. Tired and aching everybody began the task of cleaning up. I helped too. To the victors goes the cleaning.Alec pov


    After the battle was over Jarl Url sent a rider to the neighboring village to bring the rest of his people home. Some of the men had found some of the supplies that wasn''t taken by the retreating empires'' soldiers. Url began to sort through what could be used or sold. Myself and others began to gather the dead and sort who''s was who''s. The empire''s men were stripped of their armor, weapons and any valuables they may have had.


    Urls men were gathered up and taken below the hold to await proper burial. The empires'' men were to be burned in a mass pyre like funeral. Atleast their not left to rot or to be desecrated. I''m disappointed the blacksmith didn''t make it, but such is life. Maybe I''ll try learning from dwarfs, if any of them exist? Gonna have to ask Url about them.


    It took us most of the day to clear the dead and debris from the village. By then the rider Url sent had returned. The families were on their way home and should return tommorrow before midday. Apparently the next village was fairly close to this one.


    We sat in the Cheifs hold, eating or resting, but none were permited to drink ale tonight. Something to do with how they honored their dead. Anyway, I was sitting across from Url and Nix, when we began to talk of our previous deal.


    "So... We won. Are you going to tell me about this world? Or should I wait till after you''ve settled your dead?" I asked him.


    "Why can''t you wait till after the dead are honored? Is a reward more valuable than honoring the fallen, in your world?!" Nix said in an angry shushed tone. She didn''t appreciate me wanting to discuss business instead of mourning the dead.


    "Nix, neither the dead nor their honor have anything to do with monsters like me. If this affends you, you need to understand that my world is different from yours. In my world lives are readily thrown away and enevitably all forgotten. It''s just the way it is." I tell her offhandedly, sipping my water and petting Fenris.


    "Alec has done nothing wrong, Nix. He''s just different from us. We can discuss your reward now if you like, it won''t affend our customs." Url said, after patting Nix on the shoulder. Reassurence I think.


    "I''ll start with the basics. There''s only one landmass on Agar, it''s called Pangeas. There are currently three powers fighting for dominance. The Demons to the north of the Gaurdian mountains, its called that because it has so few safe trails that the demons can''t move in mass. Thus they act as a natural gaurdian against danger. We don''t know much about the demons power structure or culture except they attack us for unknown reasons.


    The other two are the Allaince,in the east and the Golden Empire, in the west. The Allaince consists of the Kindom Venneras, the Mcdonald Clan, the Empire of Helena and some smaller kingdoms. Their capital is located at Mecca, the largest city in Pangeas and home to the great Star Fall Fortress.


    The Golden Empire is relatively new though. It consists of most of what was the western kingdoms, with the exception of the Kingdom of Venneras. Its ruled by the former hero Attius Clausus, now Emporer Attius Clausus, and some other heroes that joined him. Their capital is the city of Imperialis Urbs, on the west coast. It used to be a pleasure city of vast excess, Gamorrah I think, but when he took over he moved the city some fifty miles away. Cause he liked the location and he didn''t want trash near him.


    Most in the Allaince worship the five gods, the Demons don''t worship anyone, though many think Dravos is their god. The empire I''m unsure of in regards to religion. Now to money. It''s simple theres copper on bottom, then silver, gold, platinum, and at the end are royal notes. Each one is in denominations of 100, so 100 copper is 1 silver, 100 silver is 1 gold, 100 gold is 1 platinum. Royal notes have no eqauvical value like the rest. With a Royal note you could buy a castle, they''re basically a ''get what ever you want'' currency. Before you ask,I''ve never seen one. Its a king currency.


    You wanted to know about the heroes? Well, most are dead. A few have gone missing, inprisoned for crimes, joined the empire, theres a few still in the capital I think. Inventing and teaching. As for monsters that might be on your level of abnormal, best try the Guild. There''s a branch in Fort Triss. They handle things like monster hunts, requests for aide, and bounties. Fort Triss is about a months journey from here, and its one of only a few forts left in the frontier. Atleast, that are held by humans." Url said.


    "What about other species? How many and were? What are they like?" I asked. A bit more excitited than I meant to sound.


    "Well, there''s Elves in the Veil Woods, Dwarves in Black Rock Mountain, Orcs in the Northern Highlands, which is at the feet of the Gaurdians. Theres feral trolls wandering around the frontier, but they only approach villages in desperate times. Theres rumors of dragons and gaints in the Gaurdians valleys, though there''s supposed to be a dragon slumbering in the Bone lands in the South. Might be some sea monsters out there, or on some of the islands, but I''m not sure.


    The Elves are a bit arrogant, very beautiful, and very cautous of outsiders, usually not allowing them in their sacred woods. Even when trading with others races, they do it in outposts on the edge of the forests or through a trusted proxy. They usaully live for long time, they don''t consider you old if your under 200 yrs old. They take pilgrimage to the outside world so you may get to meet a few. They are natural born genuises with the bow, and are considered the best archers in the world.


    Dwarfs are proud warriors, master smiths, and some of the best drinkers you''ll find on Pangeas. Their home, Black Rock Mountain actually sits on the northern border of the Veil Woods, the elves and them have an allaince with each other. They produce alot of weapons and armor, which they export along with lots of other minerals. They are renowned warrior, despite their shortness, and more than make up for it in spirit and strength. They guard one of the biggest passages through the Gaurdians which has allowed them to sharpen the weapons on


    alot of demons. They''re crazy inventors too, always tinkering with things, or blowing them up.


    Now the Orcs may look like the demonic cousins, the Goblins, but they aren''t demonic. Crazy berserkers who like war abit too much? Without a doubt. Thats why their primary export is soldiers. Though they don''t have vast cultural advances like the others, they don''t really desire one either. They are simple, but not stupid.


    After our talk most of the people were either asleep or headed that way, so he bid me good night, and left the table. I went outsideand climbed onto the roof, Fenris joined me, and I started to think. That was a longer explaination than I thought I would get. He must of been quite the adventurer in his prime, or popular at the bars.


    Now what to do?.... Lets list the things I need to do.


    1. Find information about monsters in the Guild, or wherever I can.


    2.Consume more mutations( dna that will grant powers or upgrades).


    3. Kill an empire.


    4. Make peace with the demons and humans, or kill them, or kill everyone with the Mercer virus.


    5.Gather companions. If your going to be attacking two-thirds of the world help is required.


    6.Make my way to Mecca. Meet Royalty,gonna have to do it eventually, and gain more information.( goverment secrets get).


    7. Find Chaos temple and speak to Amatsu.


    8. Find and free enslaved heroes, if I am able.


    Sheesh, thats a lot of work. Not that I have anything better to do. Should I let Fenris turn some wolfs? Hmm, I could use the help, but I can''t have an evoled running around. Atleast not yet. Eventually I decide to sleep and dream the night away....


    I awoke to horns blasting, though I could sense through Fenris there was no danger, it still isn''t a pleasent way to wake up. Apparently I had slept most of the morning, because they were about done their dead. Through Fenris I saw that they burned their daed too. The difference is that while the empires'' were thrown in a pile and torched, Urls men were neatly lined together, dressed in what I assumed were their best clothes, while their famailies and friends sang some song. I didn''t pay attention to most of it as it didn''t have anything to do with me. Jumping off the roof, I took a seat on the holds steps as I wait for them to finish.


    I always wondered about why humans mourn so much for the dead. Granted I''m not human, but I see it like this. The dead are gone. Move along to more useful things. Like not dying. But, hey, thats just me.


    After about an hour the bodies were ash and the people had begun to gather towards the hold. Most of the villagers that arrived this morning were looking at me and Fenis strangely. Some of the children looked terrified of Fenris.


    '' Way to go brother. You meet them for the first time and they''ll probably have nightmares about you the rest of the year'' I thought to Fenris.


    Snorting at my humor he just stares back at them. Causing a few of the children to hide behind the adults.


    The ones from the battle were trying to convince the others I wasn''t a threat, and to be nice. They still kept their distance though, seemingly unsure whether to approach me or not. Thankfully Jarl Url and Nix had made their way through the crowd by now.


    "Good morning, Alec. We couldn''t find you earlier so you missed the others coming in." Url said. He sounded less sad than I expected.


    "Good morning,Alec." Nix said somberly. She''s still feeling bad about the death of her fellow villagers it seems.


    "Well, I was lost in thought since last night, so I went to the roof. Its quieter up there." I said. Alot of them looked up to the roof with confusion on their faces.


    "You were on the roof? All night?" Url asked.


    "Yes. I like high places. Don''t take this the wrong way, but I plan on leaving today. Soon actually." I answered


    Url looked at me for a moment before sighing." I knew you wouldn''t stay long after the fight was over. I suppose you''ll be headed towards Fort Triss then? Well, before you go we have one more thing to settle. Payment." Jarl Url said.


    "You already paid me Jarl Url with plenty of coins and information. I won''t take more than what was agreed upon." I said slightly confused.


    "We are indeed settled in our deal, Alec. But this is payment to the Amatsu Mikaboshi,Lord of Chaos. He assisted our village through his champion. You. As leader I most give something to him that I cherish as much as I do this village " Jarl Url said. The villagers began mumuring when he said I was Amatsus'' champion. But he wasn''t done yet, he kneels before me. Nix kneels with him.


    " Alec Mercer, as the champion of Amatsu Mikaboshi, I, Url Verto, offer my daughter, Nix Verto, and myself to aide in your divine quest. Till such time that our debt is repayed or till our death."Jarl Url says as he and Nix present me their weapons, like I''m some lord they need to pledge to. The villagers are gasping at what they have just heard. Their Url pledging himself, a nobleman, and his daughter to a strange boy? What was going on? Thats probably what they are asking themselves. Too bad I don''t care.


    But Urls'' pledge presents both oppotunity and problems. On one hand I would have two capable fighters with me. Even if one was a bit on the older side. On the other hand having a presumably known nobleman serving under me would attract some serious attention. Nix being beautiful and a noblemans daughter would also bring asshole who would try to ''free her from my vile clutches''. So hassles.


    Hmm, what to do?...... Got it!


    Standing up I adress the two on their knees.


    "As the champion of Amatsu Mikaboshi, I accept your offering. However, Jarl Url, you would be best serving your people, as you have been. Nix, I would like you to accompany me on my travels. But if you wish to stay with your father, then you may. Under the condition that you train yourselve vigoriously and become stronger, so I may call on you in the future. I will not force this on you. Freedom is chaos, and I have no right to make your choice. Are these terms acceptable, to you two?" I asked. I tried to atleast act the part, you know. They were taking this seriously, so I did too.


    "Yes" said Jarl Url, as he stood up.


    "I will travel with you and be your sheild maiden, for as long as it takes. I will protect you from harm, fight your enemies, and console you to the best of my abilities." Nix said as she too stood up.


    "Good. Say your goodbyes, and gather your things. We leave as soon as your ready." I said. I can''t wait to start hunting worthy game again.

 Ch.4 Money and Power

    After Nix gathered up some supplies, said her goodbyes, we had departed from the village. I was excited to be on the move. A chance to see new things, and to hunt new prey. Nix was abit somber about leeaving her father, but I promised her that we would meet up with them later.


    I say later, because Jarl Url had said he''d been thinking about moving the village south. He hoped he could use a few of his old favors and friends to get his people behind the massive wall. I think its a good idea, not like that village was anything special.


    That was a few days ago, and we''ve been making good progress since then. Nix refused to ride Fenris unless I gave my word that we would not be running like last time. So we settled on a good jogging pace, about the speed of a trotting horse, and we''ve only had to stop when we made camp or to eat. We havn''t ran into any other complacations yet, no bandits or monsters, but Nix said its because we so far out on the Frontier. So as we get closer to the trade routes we''ll probably met some bandits.


    When we would make camp, Nix and I would converse and tell stories, since there wasn''t anything else going on. I told her what I knew about Earth and how I had to live in Manhattan. Which she said sounded like the stories soldiers would tell about the demon continent. Then she would tell me about her travels or her fathers stories.


    Apparently she was a adventurer around here, though she never went more than a few settlements away from the village. She wanted to be able to aid her father should the need be, as was the case when an old freind of hers tipped her off about the empires attack on her village. So she never went near the the northern or the western Edges of the Frontier. Though she would like to see the the Gaurdians, meet the other races, and travel to the famous Star Fall Fortress, if given the chance. Now she has that chance, because all of that is what I intend to do....


    "We should be almost to Bur. Its a small hamlet near Fort Triss. We could restock our supplies there, maybe sleep in an actual bed?" Nix said. She tried to make it sound like it was up to me, but I could tell she wanted to rest comfortably tonight. All that bouncing around probably made her tush sore.


    "Sure, we''ll stay the night. How far is it from Fort Triss?" I asked.


    "Well its about a week of walking, give or take. But at this rate, less." Nix said as we continued to jog...


    A few hours later(insert voice of sponge cartoon here)....


    "What happened here?" Nix asked, though I knew she wasn''t actually loking for an answer from me .


    We had arrived at the hamlet of Bur, or what used to be the Bur. All we could see as we walked down the road was blood stains, splintered doors, and strange claw marks on the buildings. I''d sen the marks the hind bears had left on trees in the old woods, but these were massive. Whatever left those must have been at least three times the size of a regular bear. I felt a chill go up my spine, as my heart beat a little bit faster. I had missed this sensation, the thrill you get when you found something extraordinary.


    ''Alpha. I have a scent but its old. A day or two, maybe.'' Fenris thought


    '' I don''t sense any danger either, but stay alert.'' I thought back


    " No bodies. So either it didn''t leave anything behind or this attack happened some time ago." Nix said as see scanned the area. She hadn''t let go of her spear since we got here.


    "So shall we stay here or continue on to Fort Triss? I doubt there''s anyone left here." I told her.


    "We''ll go to Fort Triss. They may know what happened here, if not we should warn them. We''ll have to hurry too, they close the gate at night. And I don''t want to stay out in the open with whatever was here anymore than I have too." Nix said climbing on to Fenris.


    "If we run throw the night we can be there in a few days." I said as me and Fenris bolted out of there. I''m not afraid of it, but I''d rather know what I''m hunting before it starts hunting me.


    All through the night Fenris and I were on high alert, while we ran as fast as we could. And thankfully nothing happened the whole night. We stopped only for Nix to releive herself or to eat, then we were back to running. We did this for two days, then on the third day we saw the walls of Fort Triss approaching. It look s like a walled city with a castle on the northern wall. Facing the direction of the demon continent. There seemed to be only one gate, facing away from the castle.


    ''Slow down Fenris, we don''t need to spook these guys into shooting use.'' I tell him. As we get closer, we both go to a walking pace and Nix gets off of Fenris. Up ahead there appears to be a small caravan at the gate.


    "Anything I should know before we get there,Nix?" I asked.


    "They''ll search your bags, compare your face with wanted posters, and probably have you do something with Fenris. Companons aren''t anything new, but yours is a variant of an armored wolf. Thy may ask you to leash him or a muzzle. I''m sorry." Nix said queitly as we join the line to get in.


    They throw startled and nervous glances at us as we stand there. I wave at them and the turn towards the front, stepping away from us. Rude people. As we approach the gate, the gaurds notice us, or more to the point they see Fenris with us. One of them runs inside the door, he returns a few moments later with more gaurds and what I presume to be some one in charge.


    "Halt, traveller. State your name and business, and explain your companion!" shouted the gaurd.


    "My name is Nix Verto. We''ve come to use the Guild, and deliver news of an attack on Bur. These are my companions, Alec and his armored wolf." Nix said taking the lead.


    "We we informed of the attack on Bur yesterday by the few survivors that escaped. We''ll have to verify that your companion wasn''t responsible for the attack. They said it was a strange animal, so restrain it or we will." said the gaurd as the other gaurds moved their hands to their weapons.


    "That won''t be needed gentleman. Fenris won''t bite unless I tell him to. If you want to get a witness to the attack, go ahead. But the marks left in Bur suggests a larger animal, like a bear not a wolf." I said.


    "Stay here and bind his mouth with this." said the gaurd as he threw some leather strips to me. Another gaurd had taken off earlier, was now returning with some one in tow. It was a teen, he looked starved and exhausted. He looks at Fenris for awhile, then turns towards the gaurds.


    "Thats not it." he said before walking away.


    "Alright you can enter, but cause any trouble and you''ll deal with us!" said the gaurd trying to sound tough. To bad for them, I''ve eaten scarier things for breakfast.


    "Come on, Alec. The giuld is in the center of the Fort Triss, next to the marketplace. There also a nice inn there, we could stay the night, then move out in the morning." Nix said as we passed through the gateWalking through the streets of Fort Triss you could see a noticably deference to Urls'' village. Here there were two story houses and shops. People went about there lives with little fear, conversing and working without care. They had strong walls, a castle full of soldiers, and if there was an attack by the demons, they would have plenty of time to flee. Their distance from the Gaurdians allowed them a buffer of space.


    We continued to walk for a bit, then the number of people around us started to increase. The reason was obvious, we had arrived at the market. Stalls of various things, and merchants trying to entice people to buy. None of it looked useful to me though. As we made our way through the crowds, I noticed quite a lot of stares at us. Brushing those aside, we made our way to a fairly large building. The sign on the front made intraductions not needed.


    "Here we are. The Guild, home to bounty hunters, adventurers, and mercs. If they don''t have information on strange monsters, then somebodies not telling them about it." Nix said.


    *Ting*(bell on top of door)


    We entered the lobby, only to be met with a small room with only a counter and walls covered with parchments. Nix kept walking to the counter, so I followed her. When we arrived at the counter, an older lady approached.


    "Well dont stand there all day! What do you want?" said the grouchy old lady


    "We''d like information on strong or abnormal monsters, and an adventurers license for him." Nix said as she pointed to me.


    "One license and an animal permit. 30 silver. Fill these forms out, the license will be ready in about an hour. We serve meals and refreshments in the back, if you want to wait. All the current monster bounties are on the left wall. Just after the errand requests, any information not provided on the poster will cost you." Old lady said. (monsters being the term used for animals or predators causing enough trouble to warrant an official hunt.)


    After digging threw the bag Jarl Url gave me, I handed her 30 silver, which left me with about 1gold, and 46 silver. Then we headed towards the left wall. Lets see, errand,errand, errand, and bingo. Found the monster posters. We looked through them while but most were for either wolves or feral dogs harassing livestock or bear sightings. No mention of whatever attacked Bur. Maybe they haven''t posted it yet? Guess I''ll check the wanted posters for bandits we may encounter...


    *Ting*


    A few minutes into looking at wanted posters, the door opened. I wouldn''t care about it normally, but the people that entered had me curious. Some city gaurds and an official looking guy came in. They paid no mind to me after a guick glance, and went to the poster board for monsters. After they pinned a expensive looking paper to the board they left.So naturally we went and had a look at it.


    It read: The Lord of Fort Triss has issued a bounty of 20 gold for the monster responsible for the attack on Bur. All are allowed to participate, equipment will not be provided. For details meet at the public square, located in front of the castle gates, at noon tomorrow.


    Score!


    "Well, at least we know where we''re going tomorrow. Can we stay at that inn I told you about earlier.? The rooms at the Guild aren''t very comfortable." Nix stated.


    "So long as it doesn''t cost alot I see no problem with it. Not much we can do today anyway." I said.


    After a while of conversing about what equipment I should get, since I didn''t actually have any. My light armor skin didn''t count as I would try to keep it hidden. She argued for leather armor with metal over vital areas. Light, flexable, most adventures used it starting out. But I told her that with my strength I woulld be quick with steel plate, probably.


    Before we could get into it seriously, the old lady returned with my license.


    It was a small metal bracelet, with my name and ''ADV.'', which stood for adventurer. Fenris got a collar that read like mine did. The old lady explained some of the workings of the Guild. If you kill someone you will be investigated and jailed, if guilty. They collect a fee on all bounties from the people who post it along ith the reward money. So the reward is all yours.


    The bracelet was a means to identify my profession. Because it appears they don''t like beggars, so this will prevent the gaurds from harassing me about it. There were no ranks, no limitations placed on available bounties. If you picked a bouty to kill a pack of wolfs, and you didnt have a weapon? Sucks to be you.


    After getting my bracelet ''license'', we headed to the inn Nix mentioned. Luckily it wasn''tto far from the marketplace. She suggested reting a room before doing any shopping, and I agreed. Walking through the market you could hear everyone talking about the hunt for the ''Fort Triss monster'' as they called it. Some discounted the bounty as a joke from the city lord. Others boasted how they were gona kill, or what they would use the reward on.


    I wasn''t concerned about them trying to kill my hunt, I did need bait after all.


    The inn was called the ''Drunk Bastard'', which I thought was a good name for a bar. Most didn''t pay us much when we entered, other than some leers at Nix, the rest went on about drinking and being drunk. They all however took notice of Fenris walking behind us. Luckily for them they noticed the collar before swords were drawn. Dropping a bar full of bodies probably wouldn''t be a good thing.


    "That yours?" asked the bartender pointing towards Fenris. Seriously? Its obvious hes a wolf, so poor education aside, that is the best you can do?


    "If by ''that'', you mean my companion. Then yes, he is mine. Is there a problem?" I asked.


    "Yeah there is. No animals inside, he goes to the stalls. If he harms the other animals he gets killed." said the bartender.


    "That''s fine. How much is a room for two nights? A nice room." I asked.


    "For a common room its 50 copper. The only room we have better is the minor suite. Its2 silvers a night, meals and baths included. Another 2 for the animal." said the bartender.


    "Okay. Here you go." I said handing him 6 silvers. Which he guickly swipped off the counter.


    "Here''s you room key. The stalls are in the back, to the right of the alley. Have a good day, sir." said the bartender while he handed me the key. Seems after getting paid he''s a much happier man. I handed the key to Nix, while I put Fenris in the stall. Man those animals were freaking out with him in there. I know he won''t eat any of them, I told him not to. He did find it funny when I put him in the stall. Saying '' Is this wooden door really going to save them if I decide to kill them?'' I just explained that not staying there would cause us more headaches, and keep us here longer. He brightened when I told him he could kill anyone that tried something.


    After putting Fenris away, Nix and I went to see an about armors and weapons. I think somethinglike a hammer, for my strength, and maybe a sword as backup. A solid sheild would be nice too. Hm... Maybe some leather with plates? It''ll probably be discarded at some point, as I gain more of my abilities back.


    We found a weapons shop and an armorers shop. They were built together, so you could shop for everything you needed to stay alive. Also because it was ran by twins. The armorer asked what I would like, something strong that wouldn''t make alto of noise when I moved. So after some tests with various weighted armors, he suggested a hardened leather peice that had a chest plate underneath, with some cloth for comfort. ''You have to be comfortable with your armor if your going to be dying in it'' he said. So I asked it to be in dark colors, black preferably. He told me it would be ready tomorrow.We also got some cloaks with hoods, just in case we needed it for the weather. Or to do something shady Mine was black, while Nixs'' was brown.


    Nix told me her armor was still in good condition, so she didn''t need a replacement yet. After confirming our purchuse the total was 80 silver,bringing me down to just 60 silver for weapons. Nix explained that I could have gotten armor cheaper at a merchants stall, but the quality would be much worse. So I would probably be broke after getting some weapons. So after a similar conversation with the weaponsmith, I purchased a plied round wood sheild, and a long sword. Not big enough to be a two handed sword but longer than a short sword. With these I feel as prepared as I can be for the hunt tomorrow. Also, I''m almost broke now. 20 copper is all I have left. Oh the price of quality throwaways. I may get some armor for Fenris at some point. At least till neither of us need it.


    With preparations done, we turned for the night. I gave Nix the bed, and I promised not to do anything weird. I just laid on the sofa till morning....


    The next morning I made my way to the first floor for breakfast, while Nix got prepared. I don''t need to eat, but I can still taste things, and I was bored. The place was busy, but I mange to grab a table. The group of people headed towards it looked a bit miffed that I got there first, but too bad. A waiter came by for my order, a simple breakfast of eggs, sausage ,biscuits, and a fresh milk. I ordered the same for Nix, who arrived shortly after the waiter left.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "I''m sorry for sleeping solate, Alec. I didn''t think I was that tired.'''' Nix said as she sat down.


    "Its fine, you needed the rest.The last couple days haven''t been easy for you. Besides if you sleep to late I would have woken you up." I said.


    "So, we''re still on for the hunt right? I''ll be honest, I''d rather not hunt something that can kill a village." Nix said.


    "Your fear is understandable. You are afterall, only human. I''ll do most of the fighting, I want you with me incase this hunt goes bad. If that happens I''d rather have you there to pull me out. Besides your pretty skilled, you''ll bemore than able tofight it." I said.


    "Thank you for having faith in me. Oh, food." Nix said. The waiter placed our meal before us. And we dug in. Gotta say, for something I don''t need to do. Tasting food is fun and delicious. Add trying food to my to do list.


    After we ate we headed to the square. By the time we arrived it was fairly pacted, and we were abitearly. We made our way to the middle of the square so we would be able to hear the announcment better. Would have moved closer, but the people in front were a bit territorial at this point. As it got closer to noon more people began to show up. Adventurers, mercy, and townsfolk. All here for the large bag of gold this monster was worth. Nix had told me that 20 gold was quite a bit of money. A common man would probably never earn that much in his lifetime. So their arrival was understandable. Too bad their greed driven courage would only get most of them killed.


    *ding ding* *ding ding*


    A bell chined as the front gate doors opened. Guards escorted a fancifully dressed man towards the center of the square, shoving aside those who didn''t move at first. Most were already making room for them, only a few were to slow on the uptake. When they got to the center the guards placed a stand they had carried with them, and the fancy man stood on it. Clearing his throat, he began address the crowd. On closer inspection he seemed pretty average appearance wise. So probably some politician or noble.


    "Good day to you people of Fort Truss, adventurers,and mercenaries. Some of you know who I am,but for those new or passing through, allow me to introduce my self. I am Douglas. Mcnullan, his lordships aide and advisor.


    Now to what brought you here. The monster that attacked Bur was sighted yesterday morning in the woods to the east of Fort Triss. This creature can not be allowed to harm another village, and must be hunted immediately. His lordship is offering 20 gold to the one to kill it. Bring the head to verify your claim. Good luck!" Said Douglas, before he and the gaurds started walking away. After Douglas stopped speaking, everybody began to move away from the sqaur. Some went to collect their gear, others went towards the gate.


    Nix and I made our way to Fenris, and after collecting him, we too made for the gate. We joined the many other groups headed toards the woods,those that had mounts speed off from the rest. Hoping to get a head start on the hunt, or to kill it before any one else. Nix and I hoped on Fenris, drawing some looks from those around us, we thentrotted towards the woods.Faster than those walking, but slow enought to allow the ones on horseback to get there first, thus acting as bait. I wasn''t concerned about somene killing it before us, but I was unsure if Fenris would be able to track it clearly with all the people moving around.


    The woods to the east of Fort Triss weren''t as far away as I thought they''d be. We reached it after only about an hour. The other hunters that ran here were already setting out into the woods. There horses were tied to some trees skirting the woods. City guards were stationed near by as to deter or apprehend any thieves. Also if someone did kill the animal, they could prevent everybody from trying to claim the credit.


    ''Fenris, do you think you can still find his scent?.'' I asked him as Nix and I got off.


    ''If he has been here recently, I''ll find him. I can''t seem to forget scents like his.'' Fenris said, nose all ready sniffing the air.


    ''His?'' I asked curiously.


    ''Yes, he. I could tell when I caught the scent in Bur. Definitely male.'' Fenris answered as he stared into the woods.


    Well, the more you know.


    "Nix, you and I will follow Fenris while he sniffs it out. When we encounter it, don''t risk yourself for me, even if it looks like I''m dead. Go back to town if that happens. Other wise I want you to keep anyone from interfering with the fight. No witnesses." I said, drawing my sword and ready my sheild. Just in case he decides to pop out.


    "What? As the champion of the Lord of Choas, your live is incomparably more valued then mine. I swore to my death to serve you. I have to protect you, with my life if I must." Nix said furiously, before she drew her weapons as well. Thankfully she wasn''t being loud with her disapproval. Even though I told Jarl Url and his people about my status as a summoned, I was fairly certain they wouldn''t go around shouting it out. Or atleast if they did tell someone about me, it would be after I had more of my powers ready.


    I didn''t want people hounding me till I was strong enough.


    "Nix, you swore to obey me, and I gave you your orders. I know this may be hard to understand right now, but have some faith in me. One of the less pleasant quirks about what I am is that I can recover from injuries that are sure to kill most things. Trust in me okay? I haven''t failed a god yet, and I don''t intend to start now." I said, trying to calm her back down. I need her be to follow orders, even the ones that make no sense.


    "Hmph. Fine. I''ll do as you say, but this makes no sense of any kind." Nix said. She was still not happy with the plan.....


    Some time later.


    Fenris had found traces of its scent moments ago, so we were following him as quietly as possible. Most of the others hunters had been in the woods for some time, and they were making plenty of noise. Some trying to draw it into conflic, others were just inexperienced. Fenris said it was faint, but definitely fresh, and blowing on the wind. So either it had some serious body odor going on, or somebody found it and drew blood.


    As we followed Fenris, I began to hear sounds of combat. Shouting, screaming, and I smelled blood. Lots of blood. The sounds of fighting grew louder as we followed the scent, so we picked up our pace. No use sneaking if its all ready fighting.


    We found it! Well, to be fair we weren''t the first. By the looks of it we were the fourth or fifth group to come across it. The numerous bodies littering the small clearing told us this. There was still another group fighting it, but they didn''t look to be very effective anymore. Only four of them were left, and one was clawed badly.


    But anyway, we weren''t here for them. We were here for ''him''. Black fur, six arms, though oneof themlooked to be almost hacked off, and on all paws he could look down on a horse. Beautiful, powerful, and more importantly, he wasperfectfor consumption. But something had me curious. What was that on its back?


    "Nix, do you what that thing is on its back?" I asked.


    "Personally? I''ve never seen it before. But my father told me stories about the last war with the demons. Its some kind of sickness demons have, though they never seemed affected by it. If demon blood came in contact with an open wound, or if an animals ate it in desperation, they get infected. Most die a horribly painful death. But sometimes, rarely, if you survive the infection it changes you. A parasite grows on the body,it can''t be removed without killing the host.You become mindless with rage and pain, stronger too. They used to just kill anyone with signs of turning." Nix said. I could hear the fear in her voice as she told me what her father told her.


    "Atleast we know how it could kill a whole village easily." I said. But I was curious. Could I consume it and remain unaffected? Would I be able to kill the invading virus?.... Guess we''ll see who the better parasite is.


    The hunters keep fighting even though they were geting pushed back . The ones with the spears tried to stab it in the face in an attempt to get it to back off. As they lungedtheir spears forward the bear swipedtowards them with its paws. The spears missed their mark, one found the bears shoulder, the other passed just below the swiping paw. The bear however didn''tmiss, it clawed one of the spearman across the chest, leaving large gougesand an open chest cavity.The other spearman got a slash to his left leg, tearing it almost all the way off. It stayed attached by a few tendons, not that he''d live long enough to care.


    As soon as he started to fall down, the bear was stading above, it lungedtowards the hunter with its jaws open. With a powerful snap, its jaws crushed the mans head with no resistance. Even if he didn''t bite the mans head of he landed two thirds of his mass on the guy. There was enough of mangled corpse to identify as a human , but not much else.


    The other hunters used this as a perfect time to run, they knew they couldn''t kill it by now. The archer in the back fled into the woods, while the axeman , the one that was cut badly, ran towards us. Seeking aide possibly. The bear chased after the axeman, rumbling the dirt beneath it.


    "I''ll take point, you two circle around it, and aim for its legs. Fenris see if you can''t take that mangled arm off." I said, running towards the bear.I grabbed my sheild and tossed as hard as I could, like a frizzbie. I did this because I highly doubt a plied wood sheild would holdup to a swipe of its paws. So I decided to use it as a weapon instead. The bear was almost on top of the axeman, when the axeman ducked. He had been looking towards me when I was about to throw my sheild.


    Smart move.


    As the bear moved its head towards the falling man, my sheild struck its face. I was aiming to break its jaw so it couldn''t bite me, butwith its head down, the sheild struckabove he snout. Right between the eyes. It struct the bear with enough force to stop its forwardmomentum, and itshattered on impact, sending wood fragments into its face. One of those fragments imbedded itself into the bears left eye, blinding it. After the sheild broke, I rammed it with my shoulder, pushingit further back into theclearing.Now dazed, wounded and partially blinded, I knew it would be desperate and dangerous. And it would be royally pissed at me.


    The axeman hurriedly scrambled towards the woods, while the bear was distracted. Nix and Fenris also used this opportunity to circle to the sides. They remained unnoticed by the bear, who was now too enraged to think clearly.


    "Hwuagh! HWAAUUGGHH!!" the beared roared loudly, while it stood to full height. Damn thats one big bear. The roar was probably heard by the other hunters too. Double damn.


    *Thud* The bear lands on its paw, and moves towards me. Swiping wildly at me, its fast, but so am I. I make sure to stay just out of range. Spare a glance, I see Nix and Fenris are ready. With a nodwe strike. Nix had take the fleeing mans weapon, a two handed axe, and she brought it down with an overheadswing, burying it in the bears right rear leg. The bear let out a roar at the strike, and scrambled to attack her. With the axe stuck in the bear she leaped away, bring her sword and sheild to the ready. Fenris lunged at the bears mangled left middle leg, chopping with his pwerful jaws he tore into it. The bear reacted by rolling to the left and using his rear left leg to scratch at Fenris.Kicking Fenris off, the bears was without a middle left arm, but Fenris'' side was shredded.I had to get him away from Fenris. When the bear rolled upright, I found my chance. It swipped towards Fenris, who was still trying to recover from his attack. I brought my sword down and embedded it in his outstretched right arm, severing it off. I rolled forward to aviod its left paw coming to me in retalation. Nix, noticing it was distracted by Fenris and me, moved into the attack again.


    While Fenris pulled back and healed by consuming some poor hunter that was still barely alive. I was dodging its increasingly frenzied swings, and slicing it with my sword. Nix leaped towards the bear, and stabed her sword into the leg she struck earlier. She striked straight into the hip joint, paralysing the leg in the process. This time the bear ignored my attempt to distract it.She couldn''t dodge the back handed paw that came her way. The strike hit her sheild, breaking it, and sending her to the other side of the clearing. She landed with a thud and didn''t move afterwords.


    I ran to check on her, telling Fenris to stay back. I could feel she was still alive, but she wasn''t alright. Her arm was probably broken, not as bad as it could have been. She had braced her sheild with both arms and moved back with the strike. Those acts saved her from losing her arm or cracking her ribs from the impact. If she had gone critical I would have to infect her for her to live.


    The bear roared out, drawing my attention back to it. I could have sworn that roar sounded like one of those ''I won, you pussy'' roars animals do when fighting each other.I could be wrong on that, but I.WAS. PISSED.


    Grabbing my sword, Iran at it with everything I had. It roared in challenge, before it too, started hobbling towards me as best it could. It was missing three limbs afterall.


    ''Alpha! NO!'' I heard Fenris yell. But it was to late I closed the distance between us too fast for him to intercept. When I got close, the bear lunged towards me swiping at me with it remaing front paw. I moved under the swip, and struck my sword into its chest to the hilt and turned it. I''m sure I struck its heart.


    "Hwaugh?!" it roared in pain, before tumbling on the ground and rolling. Its motion dragged me with it bringing me close to the only weapon it had near me. Its powerful mouth. The bear lunged its mouth towards my head. I dodged to the right, avoiding decapatation. I didn''t avoid it all though.


    *CRUNCH* My shoulder was crushed in its maw, rendering my left arm useless. It ripped my left arm off as it rolled to its back and pulled. The pain was intense.


    ''I have to end this.'' I thought. Bring my right arm around, I struck its jaw with all the strength I could.


    *CRACK* ''Whimper''. My fist connected with enough force to break its jaw and mangling the right side of its face. I rolled off while it stayed there dazed. I wouldn''t let it recover this time. ''Fenris grab the other arm. But don''t consume him, it may not be safe..'' I told him as I started to punch the bears face in.


    Fenris latched onto its arm, tugging and trying his best to rip it off. I wailed it, punch after punch, destoying its face. With one last strike I began to consume him as I rip its head off. I feel his essence being absorbed into my being, as tendrils ltch onto its body, pulling it into me. I... I feel... Strength.So much strengthbuilding up in me...


    Swoosh , a wave of pressure exploded around me. As my body finishes adapting the new mutation. Claws now adorn my hands, and the demon parasite was erased. Finally.... I''m back.


    Authors note: Hey just wanted to let you guys know there will be magic in this story. The reason he hasn''t encountered it yet is that its very rare. Only summoned people or they''re descendants can use it, and only if it existed on their home world. Also I know that my chapters are on the short side, and kind of far between. But I usually only get to write on my days off of work. Of which there have been few. So, I apologize, but there''s nothing I can do about it right now. If you like this chapter, leave a comment, review or rate it. Thank you.

 Ch.5

    Alec pov


    The feeling of mutation was diminishing as I flexed my new hands. Man, I''ve missed having powers. Now that I have atleast one of them back I feel better about this adventure of mine. I smile to myself, but something feels off about my mouth. Changing my hand back to normal, I try feeling around my mouth. Huh? What the?... Oh,wow. I didn''t think I would get anything other than the bears claws, but it seems I got an unexpected gift. My mouth now has some seriously dangerous teeth!


    They aren''t like shark teeth or anything, but they could do some damage if I had to use them. Wait. I didn''t absorb the head. How do I have its teeth? Was it the demon parasite? Maybe.... If its the cause of the bears unusaul growth, then it would have a genetic template with in it. Was that it? Meh, who cares. Free mutation!


    ''Brother, are you all right? I can sense that your different now. Stronger.'' Fenris says, sniffing my hands.


    ''Yeah. I''m fine. The bears claws have been successfully acquired, with better teeth too. You''ll love them.'' I tell him. I feel like I''m forgetting something though. What was it?


    Oh, right. People. Better get a move on.


    ''Fenris, you carry Nix.'' I told him.


    Nix was still down and out, so I grabbed her, her equipment, and threw her overhis shoulder. Making sureshe wasn''t going to drop, I grabbed the headand started to run towards the guards on the edge of the woods. I was hoping that most of the adventurers were spread to thin to hinder me, or that they were already out of the woods as late as it was getting. Fenris followed me after grabbing the head. If people saw me and Nix I could explain it given her injuries. But if they saw Fenris with the head, they would try to take it.


    As I ran through the woods, I was using my echo sense to see if anyone was near us. I had forgotten to use it while hunting due to my excitement. Maybe next time.


    We ran through the woods, avoiding the other hunters. Which considering that we could share thoughts instantly, wasn''t very hard. Almost ran into a group at one time, but that was because their were quite a few groups. I could have taken a more direct route, but killing them wouldn''t have gained me anything. If anything it would have attracted attention to us.Although, once we exited the woods and meet with the guards, the is no way to stay hidden afterwards.


    As we exited the woods there was still a few hunters hanging around, watching their horses and anyone that came out. Though with the gaurds watching them, there wasn''t much they could do but watch. With almsot every one staring at use, we walked towards the guards.


    "Would you gentlemen mind escorting us back to town? I need a healer for my freind, and to collect the bounty for this." I asked, motioning to Nix and showing them the bear head.


    They were a bit annoyed when I approached them, but after seeing the bears'' head their attitude changed.


    "Mount up!" shouted the captian. The other gaurds rushed to their horses, even brought me one since Fenris had Nix on his back. One of the guards brought me a bag for the head.


    "To the city, men." said the captain. Taking the reins of his horse, we galloped to the city. Leaving the other adventurers at the woods. They blew various horns, presumably to recall their parties.


    As we neared the city wall, the guardsmen at the gate had already cleared the road of people and had the gate open. As we made our way through the streets we were forced to slow our pace to a walk. People were crowded on the streets, many staring towards us. The guards onhorseback was formed around Fenris and I, and a few more were on foot clearing the way through the crowds.


    After some shoving, we passed through the castle gate.The roads were wider here, the sides occupiedwith various buildings, and house that were better than the ones in town. The people here were dressed better, and by better I mean very rich like. They also looked towards us, but they had that snobby kinda look about them. We must be in the wealthier part of town.


    "I don''t mean to be rude, how long is this going to take? My friend needs medical attention, now." I ask the guard captain. I asked him in an attempt to distract myself from the people I now wanted to kill. Fenris was more cross at them than I, the horses near him could feel his aggression, and they didn''t like it.


    ''''When we arrive at the castle yard, she''ll be taken to the healers for care. The lordmay want to meet with you personally." said the captian. He was patting his horse, attempting to calm it down.


    A tense walk later, we arrived at another gate. This gate was more fortified than the other two were. More guards too. After a quick explanation from the captian had the guards stepping aside for us. Just like before the buildings here were different. Training yards, stables, barracks,and government offices. The people were mostly soldiers, and a few beuaracrats. They looked at us like all the others, but unlike the others, they only stared briefly before going on they way.


    As we near the castle, I notice a small wall, more of a fence, built around the castle. On the other side was green grass, flowers and a few fountains. We trotted along the circular driveway, stopping in front of the castle steps. Waiting for us was some soldiers, somepeople in white robes, and the guy who spoke at the square earlier.


    "Good evening adventurers." One of the soldiers and robed men ran towards Nix. Fenris growled ,and beared his teeth,effectively stopping them.


    " We are trying to heal the girl, peasant. If your mongrel tries anything I''ll have it killed." shouted one of the robed men. He was acting very much like a nobleman. Probably only helping because he had too. I hope all nobles are like this. If so I think I''ll be killing alot of ''important'' people.


    ''Fenris,let them heal Nix. Go with them, if they try anything other than that, kill them.''


    "Then heal her,but he is going with you. If you try anything you shouldn''t, you will die asshole." I tell the robed man, as I dismounted my horse.


    "How dare you! Do you know who I am?!" the robed man shouted.


    "I don''t know, and I don''t care. Heal her. Captain can we proceed with collecting the bounty?" I said cutting the man off as he was going to retort. I really don''t want to deal with people like him right now. Nix needs to be healed, I need to pass the mutations to Fenris, get paid, and plan my next move.


    "Uh, yes. This way." the captain said, ushering me pass the furious man. We climbed the steps to the castle doors, only a few gaurds followed us, Douglas was leading the way. As we passed the foyer the place became more eloquent. Various pieces of decor were placed to give the castle a more beautiful feel. Maids, and butlers moved busily about their tasks, only sparing a passing glance our way. Every now and then soldiers were seen patrolling the hall ways,or idly standing guard. Douglas led us to a fairly large room not far from the foyer.


    "We''ll have to verify the head with the survivor. You may wait in here, Mr?" Douglas asked as I went into the room.


    "Alec" I said looking around. The room looked to be for social occasions, sofas and lounges circled the room, leaving a open floor in the middle. Sensing that Douglas was still there, I turned towards him.


    "Was there something else?" I asked.


    "No, I will be back shortly. Please don''t leave the room."Douglas said, before leaving.


    I took a seat on one of the sofas,which were fairly soft, and I waited.I hate waiting for other people to get their stuff done. I''ll check on Nix while I wait.


    ''Fenris, show me what they have done.'' Ithought to him. theresponse I get is his memoriesfrom when we split in the yard. The robed men had taken Nix to what appeared to bea chapel/infirmary wing of the castle towards the back of the castle.So that made the robed men preists, probably of Leon or Theo. The man that pissed me off earlier was the head preist here, judging by the way the other people acted towards him. They set her down on one ofthe tables, and some of the preistess'' began to remove Nixs'' armor and clothes. After that they had a look at the damage, before draping a sheet over her for modesty sake.


    They had examined Nixs'' injuries, they weren''t good. She had fractures in both arms, as well as one of her hands, her right shoulder had been dislocated. Two fractured ribs, severe bruising on the right side of her body, and a concusion They were dicussing her treatment options now, not that there were many. They had brought over various poultices and potions, but they weren''t ment for injuries as this. One of theyounger preistess pointed towards a case, andsuggested to use the potions inside.


    "Father. Why don''t we use the healing potions over there? They can heal injuries like this with no problem." Said the young preistess.


    "WHAT?! You want to use a Greater Healing potion on her? Do youknow how much those cost?!" shouted the headpreist.


    "But, she needs it Father. Gia teaches that a life is of greater valuethanmonatery wealth. We can save her, so we should." answered the young preistess. Sometimes idealists are great, don''t you think?


    "I will not use such a precious commodity on a nobody adventurer! Prepare for surgery, we''ll amputate her right arm before it becomes infectious." said the headpriest He began moving towards Nix.


    Fenris moved infront of Nix, snarling at anyone that came near her with a knife.


    ''Fenris, motion towards the potions they were talkin about. If they can''t get the message I''ll come have a chat with them.'' I sid to him.


    Fenris stopped snarling, and raised his paw into the air, pointing towards the caseon the wall. Thisconfused the preists till they started looking where he was pointing.


    "How can it know what those are?"


    "Could he understand what we were talking about?"


    "It knows they are there, we won''t be able to avoid using them know. Dammit, those things cost us a small fortune. You go get one of them! You wanted to use them, well now you''ll treat her." said the highpreist towards the younger preistess angrily. He walked towards the chapel, leaving the room. Many of the preists followed, not wanting to risk Fenris killing them or upsetting their superior. Only some of the other preistess'' remained, though they stayed away from Fenris. So they weren''t much help.


    The young preistess grabbed two small bottles from the case, then she hurried back to Nix.It was glowing a faint pink, not like a hot pink, more like agentle pink with a soft glow. Fenris moved to Nixs'' side, allowing the preistess to work. She poured the potions into her mouth slowly enough for her to swallow. Little by little until she had finished one of the bottles.


    "We have to give the first potion time to work. If she isn''t healed enough after a few moments, I''ll give her the second bottle." the preistess stess said. She headed over to the other preistess'', they bagan talking in hurried wispers.


    I finished reveiwing Fenris'' memories just in time to hear footsteps approaching the door. The door opened, Douglas andtwo guards and the survivor from Bur walked in. The survivor looked better now, not by a lot but he was getting there.


    "Alec, this is Ben. Ben was the only survivor from Bur, so he''ll identify the head. If you''d please show it to him." Douglas said, motioning to Ben.


    "Sure, here." I said pulling the head outof the bag. Ben walks towards it shakingly, and stares at it.


    "T-Thats it. I can''t beleive it. You killed it, thank you. Thank you." Ben said, shaking my hand over and over.


    "Your welcome, Ben.So who has my money?" I asked, looking towards Douglas and the guards. Both parties had an expression that looked both sour and suprised. Guess 20 gold was more than they would''ve like to part with.


    "I can have it ready momontarily, Mr. Alec. The lord has extended an invitation to you and your party members to join him for a celebratory dinner. After your companion recovers, of course. In the mean time you are welcome to stay at the castle as the lords'' quest." Douglas said, handing me an invitation from his robes. Not sure about a party, I''ve never been to one before. I''ll see what Nix thinks.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "I''ll think about it. For now though I''ll be with my companions. You can bring the money to the infirmary. If someone can show me the way." I said, making sure not to refuse outright, but not agreeing either.


    "Very well, I will inform his lordship of your decision. The guards will escort you to the infirmary, the money will be there shortly." Douglas said, before he and Ben left the room. I could tell he wasn''t happy about me not agreeing right away, but he knew I was being reasonable. So there wasn''t much he could do about it now.


    I followed the guards to the infirmary, not that I actually needed directions to it. A noticed a few preists looking a bit sour in the chapel, clearly disgruntled about the use of the Greater Heal potion. Or maybe they didn''t like that a preistess of Gia overruled them. I''ll just let them be for now.


    I entered the infirmary, passing the preistess'' who were still talking in the corner, I went over to Nix''s bed. Fenris was still there, silently guarding her. She was already looking better, after taking the first potion. Her arms no longer looked broke, though they were in a wooden splint now. The bruises that had been black and blue, now were turning a shade of green showingimprovement. Thats not to say she would be healed today, no the injuries were better, but they were far from healed.My thinking was interupted by the preistess from earlier.


    " She''s doing better now, her life threatening injuries have been healed. However, she will still need a day or two of rest to fully recover, and one more dose of Greater Heal." she said. Looking towards me she went on to explain the specifics of Nix''s well being.


    "The bones may have been reset to their right place butsome were still fractured. She will have to keep the splint till she''s fully recovered, just to be safe she shouldn''t fight unless her life depends on it. Her internal bruising shouldhave stopped swelling now, the next dose should see ithealing soon.Her concussion wasn''t serious, just enough to put her down. She will be up latter tommorrow, probably. If we didn''t have any Greater Heal here, she would have lost her right arm, and more than likely, her internal bleeding would have killed her. I apologize, but we don''t have anyone here that is blessed with the gift of healing." she said with a slight bow towards me.


    "Its fine you saved her, thats more than the others tried. If there is anything I can do to repay you, let me know." I tell her. I meant what I said too. Her injuries were brought about by me. If I had fought smarter, or harder, she may not have been so greiviously injured. I have one of my powers back now, I won''t have to fight like a human anymore. I''ll be the monster they''ll fear for the rest of their very short lives. And I''ll protect whats mine, no matter who doesn''t like it.


    "Well, the-" "Mr. Alec? Are you here?" interupted a guard.There were two guards standing in the doorway of the infirmary, next to a short man carrying a small chest. The short man, was well short, he only came up to chest height to the guards. His fullbrownbeard, which hung to his chest, was braided in knots. I think I''ve found my first Dwarf.


    "I''m Alec. I assume thats my money right?" I asked.


    "Yes, it is." said the short man as he walked towards us.


    "My name is Tully. I''mthe treasure''s aide, and I have twenty gold coins for you. And thank you for killing that thing. Its atacks on people in the sorrounding areas have really hurt our city." Tully siad as he opened the chest to reveal gold coins, already in a pouch. I took them and counted, which didn''t seem to upset him at all, there were twenty coins.


    "Sorry, always check. Hey Tully, before you leave can I ask yor a question?" I asked as he was turning around.


    "Sure, as long as it isn''t about the city treasury." Tully said jokingly.


    "Are you a dwarf? Not to be rude, I just never ran into one before." I asked.


    "Yes, I am. Its the height and the beard right? And its fine, we usaully don''t settle this far from the Black mountain. So your curiousity means no offense. If you get the chance you should go there. Astrong man like yourself could find good work there. I''m sorry but I have duties to attend to." Tully said. With a polite bow, he and the guards left.


    "Sorry about that, you were saying?" I said turning towards the preistess.


    "Well, you could repay me with a prayer to Gia, and a donation to the church. Of course if you would rather thank lordLeon, or lord Theo, that is your call." she said. She said the last part like she had to, but didn''t want to.


    "I''ve never prayed to the gods before, but if that will square our debt, then why not. Oh, and here. Put it to some good use." I said, handing here five gold coins


    "Never?Oh, thank you so much!Follow me, Alec. Now when you get to the statue of our goddess, kneel and bow your head. You don''t have to speak your prayer out loud, only a few feel the need to do that. Speak itwith your heart and mind, she will hear you." she said. She motioned the other preistess'' to follow while she walked towards the chapel. Which they did, albeit with curious looks on their faces.


    When we entered the chapel I noticed that most of the other preist had gone. All but the assholeheadpreistfrom this morning anda fewpreists. Now that I cared to get a look at the preists, I noticed that their robes indicated who the worshiped primarily. Leons'' preists had gold trimmings down the front of the robe, Theo had blue and greytrimmings, and Gias'' had brown trimmings. The headpreist of this chapel worshiped Leon apperantly.


    The chapel was simple in design, benches were in rows with a walk way leading to statues of the divine. Leon was in the center, Theo was tothe right, and Gia was to the left.A pulpit was to the left for the preists or preistess to speak about their gods.The other two preists noticed us as we neared the statues.


    "Ah, the brave adventurer who defeated the beast! How may we humble preists be of service today? Perhaps you would like to take our potions for the road?" The headpreist asked, the sarcasm on his voice was thick and his tone was mocking.


    "Drop the tone asshole, if I wanted to talk to you I would have approached you. But I didn''t, so go suck on lord Leon''s small pillar of light..... While you still can." I said brushing him aside. The last part was in a whisper only he could have heard. I continued to the statue of Gia.


    The preists and preistess'' were shocked at what I said. I, a mortal, hadinsulted the lord of light and suggested that one of his devote preists should suck onhis small manhood. And I wasn''t struck down for it. The head preist was furious, but before he could do anything, the other preists hauled him towards the other end of the chapel. Though the preists of Leon were saying things like, ''I''ll be smited, I was a heretic, Judgment will come, yadda yadda.'', you know the usaul.


    After the preists had left the preistess'' knelt down to pray, probably for my ''poor'' soul. So I knelt down to say my thanks.


    ''Gia, its me Alec. You know the ''hero'' you gods summoned, can you hear me?'' I asked.


    I felt kinda stupidkneeling to a statue, instead of like a tree. That represents life more than a stone building, right? I waited for a response, but after a moment I neither heard or felt one, so I decide to be on my way.


    Before I could move on that decision though, I felt the familiar tingle of divine energy. Opening my eyes I saw the statue of Gia was radiant with energy, basking the chapel in light. It was so bright yet it didn''t hurt to look at, it felt warm but not hot. Judging by the gasps that were heard, I wasn''t the only one thatnoticed it. It felt like like a mothers embrace, full of love and acceptance, but also of unspoken power and domination. Like it was saying,'' I love you with the purest love a mother can have. But I brought you into this world. and I can take you out of it.''. I didn''t feel it when I was in their presence last time. Must have been God protecting me from His presence earlier. Compared to Him, theseguys were nothing. So I assume the protection wore off on the way down.


    The preistess went fom kneeling in prayer, to standing up startled, to where they were now. On the floor with their heads bowed in reverance. The other preists in the back had sunk to their knees as well. Though they bowed, it felt lacking,reluctant almost. I was the only onelooking towards the statueat this point.


    ''Alec! Don''t go, we need to talk!'' Gai said, with a hint of franticness.Whatever it wasmust beimportant.


    ''I''m not going any where, Gia. Do you want to talk first or should I?'' I asked.


    ''Um.... You first, but don''t take forever.Okay?'' Gia answered.


    ''Okay, sure thing. I was just giving my thanks for your preistess over here forsaving Nix''s arms and her life. She said I should thank you. So thanks, if they couldn''t save her I would''ve had to step in. Oh, are you alright with me changing Fenris like I did?'' I said. I didn''t want her pissed at me for doing things my way. Amatsu said whatever, but it be better if I didn''t have to worry about sneaky paybacks.


    ''Well, your welcome. I try to teach them to value life more than anything else. Doesn''t make me the most popular god on Agar, but if it helps people thats all that matters. And I''m okay with what you did for him. You saved him from death and gave hime a chance. Just don''t go overboard with it, okay?'' Gia said. She sounded sincere, so good enough for me.


    ''I won''t. So? What did you need? It sounded urgent.'' I asked


    ''Well, heres the thing. After you were sent down to Agar, Amatsu-Mikaboshi had us locate any of our remainng champions that weren''t with the empire. So we did, and I found one of mine. The last one actually. She was being held captive by some of Leons fanatics. So I had Leon clean up his mess, and freed her. Now this is were you come in, Alec. I sent her to Junction City. I was going to send her straight towards you, but Amatsu said to send her there instead. Its the only functional chaos temple left in the Frontier. The others are ruins too broken down to use or are in different regions all together.'' Gia said. She was dumping alot on me, but I didn''t see where I came into this.


    ''What do you want me to do? Head towards Junction City?'' I asked.


    ''Well, she has been inprisoned for a long time, like a really longtime, she is weak right now and in danger. Don''t ask if you can help her, she will be captured by bandits soon anyway. But thats the beauty of it, they are going to take her to the border to sell her to slavers in the empire! They''ll be headed your way, she wasn''t far from Junction city when she was caught. I want you to intercept them, follow the road and you''ll run into them. Kill them and free her, she may join you, and she may not. Like I said earlier, she''s been lockd up for awhile. Thres a lot of resentment.'''' Gai said.


    '' Fine I''ll do it. But if she''s useless, you''ll have to fiqure something out because she won''t be coming with me. Hey, do you know where I can find more unusual creatures?'' I said.


    ''Thanks Alec. Oh, I''d be wary around some of Leons followers. They can be fanatical, especially if they see you use your powers. And I''m sorry but I can''t tell you where to find them, but I can give you a nudge in their dirrection But for now head to Junction City. Oh and tell that preistess to goand touch the statue, so I can give her a gift for her devote service. Bye, and be safe. '' Gia said as the radiant light disappated from the statue, there was still a glow to it though.Every one started getting up now that the energy that was radiating around the room was gone.


    "D-did you just speak to Gia?What did she want fromyou?" the preistess asked. Her and the others were looking at me incrediously.


    "Yes I did, though that wasn''t what I expected. She gave me a job to do, and a gift for you." I told her.


    "Me?" she asked confused.


    "Yes, you. I put in a good word for you, so she wants to reward you.Place your hands on the statue, and recieve your reward." I told her while I gently nudged her towards the statue. She placed her hands on the statue, and the energy began to be absorbed into her skin. She didn''t scream so I assume it didn''t hurt. strange symbols began to appear on her hands, four loops feeding back into eachother.( celtic eternity knot ). As the last of the light disappeared into her hands, I turned to leave the chapel, only to be confronted by Leons preists. The preists of Theo just walked towards the preistess'' wanting to see the mark for themselves.


    "What did Gia say to you? Why did she speak only to you, huh? You think your more holy than us?" they said. Clearly there is some issues with their pride here.


    "I''m under no obligation to tell you people anything. Maybe if you got your heads out of your ''holier than thou'' asses, you would hear better. And I don''t think I''m more holy than you, far from it actually. Its just sometimes the gods need monsters tofix whatmen have failed to do." I said as I walked threw them. Moving the one that didn''t want to step aside. They stood their with mouths agape.


    I sat with Nix and Fenris the rest of the day. Servants tried to have me move to one of the rooms for guests, but I would ask for food instead, remaining with Nix. The preistess'' thanked me over and over. Apparently the preistess had been blessed with healing hands, and plants now would grow faster and healthier around her. She asked how she could repay me for my good word to Gia. I told her she could find a Jarl Url, and be the preistess of his village. They had been displaced by an imperial raid, and were without a divine repesentative. She could find him near the Great Wall, were he was going to try to relocate his people.


    Or she could stay here and continue helping that asshole, who was now clearly jealous of her. Not a safe place to be. These forts and towns out here were like city-states, very little in the way of protection from threats inside and out. She actually agreed to leave, well her and a few of the younger preistess''. They thought the headpreist here was a narcissistic ass. Thankfully they left me alone after awhile, and the night passed quietly. As did the next day.


    Nixs pov.


    Ugh.... Damn, I hurt.... What? Last I remember was the bear. Oh, shit. The bear.


    "Alec!" I screamed bolting upright, only to fall down as a wave of dizziness set upon me. Wow. Not a good idea. When my vission returned I noticed I was in a bed. A chapels infirmary actually. Wich explaianed why my arm was in a splint, but not how I got here. I felt a hand grab me, which caused me to jump up again. Turning around I see Alec withdrawing his hand.


    "Don''t do that! You spooked me." I said, trying to calm down. Why couldn''t he have said something first?


    "Well. you seemed pretty dazed and dizzy. So I thought I''dhelp you in case you feel backdown." Alec said, sitting back down on the neighboring bed. Fenris was laying next to him looking at a bird in the window.


    "Where are we, and what happened in the woods? Don''t tell me you gave up the hunt because of me!" I asked, getting more frantic. Why would he give up the hunt because of me? That would be nice, but very unfortunate for him. The bear was a oppurtunity not seen often.


    "Slow down. One question at a time. We are back in Fort Triss, the castles infirmary actually. And as for what happened in the woods, well thats simple. I killed the bear after you bit the dust. Good work by the way, I would''ve had a much harder time without you there." Alec said smiling. Well, I''m glad to hear he thinks that highly of me, though at the moment I feel like I failed. I should have expected it to swing at me. I got hit hard, and left the fight unfinished.


    "How did you kill it? That thing threw me across the clearing! With its back hand." I asked.I know Alec was stronger than he should be, but that wasn''t a normal bear either.


    "Well, I punched. Like alot." Alec said.


    "......." I couldn''t speak. What?! He punched it. That it? The thing that took a lot of effort to hurt with weapons. And he kills it with punching? He is so.... weird?


    "Okay, if thats what you say happened, then it did." I tell him. He smiles at that.


    "Don''t beleive me?" Alec asked.


    "I don''t feel like your lying, but it sounds unreal" I said. Ijust accepted that he was unusaul, even for a summoned, and hoped he wasn''t this crazy all the time.


    "Oh, since your up, I need your opinion on something." Alec said breaking me from my thoughts.


    "Okay. What is it?"I asked.


    "We were invited to a celebratory dinner for killing the bear. I haven''t answered them yet, because you were down and I didn''t trust the preists here. But since your up now they''ll want an answer soon. So, should we go, or continue on?" Alec said.


    "To be honest, I don''t like parties with nobles all that much. Especially ones I don''t know well. But if you don''t have anywhere to be, we could go." I said. I really hope he doesn''t want to go.


    "Good, we''ll head out immediately. Gai, gave me a task to do while you were recovering. Oh, don''t worry about fighting or anything like that, me and Fenris got it this time. You need to rest for a bit, preistess'' orders." Alec siad as he stood up. Yeah, I''m traveling with a demon-bear puncher who does the gods errands like they were a grocery list. So much for not being crazy all the time....

 Ch. 6 Path of a Reaping Preistess

    Authors note. I tried to add a map but every time I try to insert an image all I get is a blank square with an x in the corner. If anyone knows what I''m doing wrong, please let me know. And thanks for reading.


    (The day ofthe Fort Triss hunt, unknown location)


    My name is Morganna Brielle, and I''m currently in chains. Don''t worry though, I''ve ben in these chains for?... Hm, how long have I been here?... Oh, I remember now, 558 years. Yeah, thats how long I''ve been here. Here being some secret temple of Leon the lord of light, occupied by some fanatical order of his. Though I doubt he gave the order or had any idea it was going on. The gods here weren''t really observant of their people. Oh, why am I here you ask? Well, its a bit of a story. But I got time, so here goes.


    My world was calld Zonia, home of the Amazonians, prouddaughters of the goddess Gaia. It was beautiful, and I found it by far the best world I''ve ever been to. The races of myworld were the humans and the treefolk. Amazonians aren''t considered a race on our own, we are a special breed of humans. We are birthed from humans, blessed with powers by the goddess, we serve as the Mothers instruments of judgements and mercy. What does that intell, you ask? Simple.


    When the forest grows rank, and needs cleared for new growth, We set it ablaze.


    When the tree-folk become weeds, choking the life out of the earth they are ment to tend. We cut them down.


    When man becomes arrogant and turn their backs on the Mother, choosing false idols to worship. Or in theirpettiness and greed, they wage wars leaving vast tracts of land scarred. We reap the field of man.


    If we Amazonians too, turn our backs on the Mother. If darkness grows within our hearts and minds, then we too will reap what we have sown.


    When I was a child I encountered my first preistess of Gaia when she killed my parents. They were a part of a cult that had been trying to sacrifice an Amazonian, andsince they knewmy powers recently awoken, I was the next sacrifice. So they had it coming. After the preistess saved me I was sent to a temple to be trained in my powers, and learn of my future duties. I did greive over the memories of what my parents were before the cult incident, but still I served.


    The goddess became my mother in more than a spiritual sense. I felt a bond with her stronger than that I had with my parents, I assumed that all Amazonians felt this way. Which they did, but their love was like a lit candle at worship, mine waslike aroaring inferno of passion. This caused me to push further, train harder than those around me. My devotion was absolute. My loyalty was unquestionable. I proved my self a worthy servant, and was rewarded with the honor of becoming a preistess myself. Becoming a guiding hand of mercy, love and wisdom. Whatever task my Mother needed done, I did. Whoever turned their back on Mother, or meant her harm, were culled from this beautiful garden of hers.


    I did this for many years, we Amazonians are long lived you know, and I had garnered a reputation of being merciless to my enemies and kind to the innocent. I did my duty well, perhaps too well. I hadn''t noticed it , but within my sisters hearts darkness took root. They were jealous of me and my abilities. They were mad and resentful towards Gaia for presumably favoring me above them. Which she didn''t. The Mother loves all her children, even if some have a purpose greater than others. I discovered this darkness when I was attacked on a mission. A cult had sprung up, and I was sent to deal with them.


    But when I got there it was a trap. I was attacked by cultists and my sisters. I felt sorrow at this. The cultists wanting me dead was to be expected, but for my fellow sisters to betray Moher and me? Just because they wouldn''t push to get were I am? I fended off the attacks, and with a sorrowing heart, I did my duty. As I finished the last of my ''sisters'', I felt pity for them, and I hoped that in the next cycle they would learn to love more.


    This devotion, even in the face of betrayal from my sisters, earned me the title of war preistess. I took the fight to the enemy, no longer waiting for them to cause harm, I kept the weeds from growing at all. I became both an example and a warning for the goddess. I was happy for a while, then the war came. I still don''t know all the details, but someone or something had corrupted most of the kingdoms of man. Mother said it was another god trying to take her world, and destroy her. We Amazonians wouldn''t let that happen.


    The war lasted for decades, many sisters were lost, tree-folk were destroyed with their forests and feilds. But in the end we won. The price for that victory was heavy, most of the world had been consumed in the ravages of war, forests were gone, feilds were now barren, man was by a fraction of what they were, and there were few Amazonians left. I was the only Amazonian to survive the front line, I lost count of the bodies left behind me. Mother gave me the title ''the Reaping Preistess'', the sword of judgement. My powers grew, and as Gaia was able to control nature, I was able to control the dead. I would draw the energy of their soul to me, and enfuse their body with my own. They weren''t rotting, but they weren''t themselves. I could bring an army to bear against the next invaders.


    But my wounds from the war were many, so Gaia put me in a healing slumber, to be awoken in her time of need.


    When I awoke from my slumber, I assumed she needed me again, but she was sending me away. I asked why, and she told me I was going to another world to help another nature goddess. I accepted the mission. Another nature goddess was like Mothers sister, so of course I would go.... It was all down hill from there.


    When I arrived on their world, I was told what was needed. Kill some demon lord, and go home. Simple. But these gods here were lazy, they didn''t guide us in our mission or their people for that matter. I was blessed by both Gai and Dravos, the lords of nature and darkness respectively. Their blessings combined with my own powers, making my necroand healingpowers stronger.The humans here were far more petty and arrogant than on Zonia. They made the champion of Leon, lord of light, the leader of our party. He was a selfish pig, which is why he got along with the nobles and church officials well. I was expected to follow their orders without complaint. Which I didn''t. The moment the demon hordes arrived I went straight to the battle field.


    If the goddess of this world wouldn''t let me kill these assholes, then I would vent on the demons. I slaughtered all I could find, and when the hero of light complained, stating that a womans place was behind him, I beat the shit out of him too. I left him alive though. The othe hero wasn''t bad though, Adam, the hero for Theo, lord of knowledge, was a good man. He tried to get the kingdoms to train their soldiers better or teach more of their people, but he was scoffed at for that. The only kingdom that accepted the manuals he had wrote was the kingdom of Helena. A tiny jungle kingdom towards the west. They were similair to us Amazonians, in both looks and spirit, so I helped teach them with Adam.


    After repelling the demon waves we made our way towards the demon lord himself, they assumed it was a male, butno onereally knew for sure. During this time we heores were betrayed by Leons champion. The church had been whispering in his ears, and preaching to the public that I was a servant of the demon lord, sent to betray the champion of light. Destroyer of humanity! Witch! The demon lords whore! They called me all this and more, and eventually I ran. Fuck their quests and fuck the gods here! My only regret is that Adam was imprisoned, though whenhe was freed later he went to the kingdom of Helena. I would have loved to meet him again but I was still running from Leons fanatics. They were really pissed that their champion failed, they lost alot of face and influence of that, and they naturally blamed me for it.


    At first I fought them, but they sent more and more every time. They didn''t care if innocenents were in the way, they trampled them if they had too. So I ran, and ran. Eventually I was caught, and imprisoned. They couldn''t kill me though, they wouldn''t risk turning the gods against them. Apparently they had killed champions before, and thechampions patron would retaliate. One of the few times they probably had no choice but to do it. Even if the gods didn''t retaliate, Amatsu-Mikaboshi, the god of chaos and the only one not to have a champion, would fuck shit up afterwards. Whole countries had been destroyed in the past, they were zealous, but not brave enough to piss him off.


    So in my chains I sat, the years passed me by. I watched my capturer''s grow old and feeble, then replaced by another to do the same. After a time thay grew fewer and fewer. Guess recruitment for fanaticism was dying down. I would live for a long time with all the energy I''ve absorbed in battle, even if that ran out, as long as the world was alive so was I. I also noticed that as time went on Gai never sent aid, never called, she had forgotten about me. Summoning more champions, only to fail again and again. Served them right.


    So here I am, chained to the wall as another day passes.


    *cough* *gasp* *cough*


    What the?... My newest guard is apparently suffocating,for no reason.


    "Ahgn!... Awk, aawkk!" the guard continued making sound as he grabbed at his throat.I would have thought it funny some years ago,but now I found it weird. The guards'' face began to get red, and blood began to come out of his orifices. He looked towards me begging me to help with his eyes. I looked on motionless, they locked me up for no reason, and besides I was still in chains. Not like I could help anyway.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    *gasp* *SPLAT* Blood and gore splattered all over the room as the former guards head exploded from some unknown force. Ugh, I think some of his brain is in my hair. I''ll have to clean up next chance I get. Now that my only company has died, I guess now I''ll be here alone.


    *FLASH* "Dammit. Now what!" I yell as a bright light envelopes my cell.


    "Hello Morganna, I''m glad your still alive.But we need to talk." said the radiating light. Fuck, I knew that voice.


    "Gai. What do you want after all these years?" I growled out between clenched teeth.


    "I know you aren''t very happy to see me, but-" Gai said as she began to speak.


    "Happy? You abandoned me! Ignored my pleas for aide! AND you didn''t even try to stop Leons fanatics from chasing me and murdering innocents, some who worshiped you! I''m not ''happy'', I''m pissed!" I yell out rattling my chains as I stood. If I could''ve punched her I would''ve.


    "Look, I know I should''ve done better given my responsiblilities. I know I screwed up, but I''m trying to fix things. Things have changed. I need your help." Gai said. She did sound remorseful. Meh, I don''t have anything better to do, might as well listen.


    "My goddess taught me to forgive those that are repentive, so I will forgive you for the neglection of duty towards me when you''ve earned it. But not the people of this world. You''ll have tolive withthat. Now are you going to unbind me or what?" I said. *clank, clunk* The chains were off as soon as I asked.


    "Now what''s changed so much that you had to see me face to face after all this time?" I asked, while rubbing my wrists.


    "Well, here''s the thing......" Gai said as she starts to explain the last few hundred years.


    (A few hours earlier. Palace of the gods above Agar.)


    Gai pov.


    The last few days have been rough. Amatsu has been trying to hammer 1000 years of proper godhood knowledge into our heads. Theo is taking it better than the rest of us, but Leon and Bravos are having the worst time. Though we only had ourselves to blame. The trails to become a demigod, and then a god, should''ve told us it was as simple as here''s a world to what ever. We were stupid, and then we got complacent. But there was hope. If Alec killed the empire, but not the demon king, we would be reincarnated to try again. If Alec killed the demon king we would still pass, but we would stay as minor gods. Basically working for other gods on their worlds.


    I don''t even like sharing with these idiots so no. I have to pass. I asked Amatsu as many questions as I could think of. Given how fast gods can communicate, that meant alto of questions. Thankfully he was able to answer most of them and he wasn''t annoyed about it. He must be tired of watching over us. Taking one of his suggestions I reviewed my past champions journeys. Trying to find where they all failed, or where I failed them. Looking back at your failures and realizing how stupid, lazy or uncaring you were was a tough pill to swallow.


    But I came across something weird. One of my champions was unaccounted for. When a champion dies, the gods feels it, and reminder is left for future reference. But she didn''t die, she disappeared. Her name was Morganna Brielle, a summoned from another goddess of nature, and an Amazon. Amatsu was impressed when she was summoned, I found out why later. She was a monster on the battlefields, not what I thought priestess of nature should be like. And she was always asking to kill the kings and nobles in charge.


    Amatsu said the system wasn''t broken or wrong, so I looked harder. After looking at what was happening around the time she dissapeared, I began to become angry. Leons'' pope at the time spread rumors about her, convincing most of the people to turn on her. Leons'' champion, who appeared to be just like most of Leons'' pompous clergymen, attempted to kill her. She escaped, though I''m sure she could have killed him, she chose to let their arrogance kill them instead. Which it did,and they chased her down, trying to save face.


    Here''s were it gets interesting, when they caught her, they blessed the temple as holy ground, which is what prevented me from seeing her. But that fact just made me angrier! The only way to make holy ground is for the god to personally okay it. You can''t just say yes and it happens. You have to impart power into the area, which is easiest when you touch it.


    Did he not know about their plans? Or did he do it knowing what was going to happen? My champion was better than his, hell she could have killed the demon king. But why damn his own champion to death if he knew? No, it was more likely he just wasn''t paying attention. Still I was pissed.


    I went to the lounge that''s were Leon usually is, and today wasn''t any different. He and Dravos are together at the bar, probably sulking about Amatsus'' lessons.


    "Leon, I want you to have something. A gift from me." I said sweetly asI walked up to him.


    "Ok,sure." He said, a confused look on his face.


    "I want you to- TAKE THIS ASSHOLE!" I yelled as I kicked his jewels hard. *CRUNCH*


    "Argghh!" Leon screamed as he fell to the floor clutching his jewels.


    "Why did you do that?!" Dravos asked. He sat there astonished at my sudden assault.


    "Why? Because he deserved it, thats why!" I yelled back at him. Amatsu and Theo had opened the doors, and were watching, cautious not to get directly involved.


    "He allowed his follows to imprison one of my champions. He even made the temple she was at holy ground so I wouldn''t be able to find her. She may still be alive and if she is, I am going to free her. His followerscan let her goon his ordersor I''ll tear his holy ground apart and kill all his fanatics inside. I will know what has become of her! You have five minutes, Leon." I said before storming out of the lounge.


    " Amatsu, I''m sorry but Leons followers crossed the line. I reveiwed the summons like you said, and I found out that his people are extremely fanatical. They murdered innocents to get to my champion. I know I should''ve been there for her, butthats in the past. I''ll try to convince her to join Alec, though if she alive, she''ll be weak. Amatsu, I''m afraid they''ll try to kill Alec when they find out about his powers." I told him and Theo my concerns. If Leon people become fanatical agains Alec, then Alec could destroy everythingtofinish the mission. Amatsu looked into some of his memories when checked on him last, and he showed them to me. Monster doesn''t come close to what he could become or the things he could unleash.


    "I know. Thats what Theo and I were discussing. The only thing we can do is watch him closely, and guide your people. If his people start a crusade against Alec I''ll have Leon stop them. Or I will. Go tend to your summoned. Theo will be doing the same with his. Oh, if she does decide to join him. Send her to Junction City, Alec will probably be heading thhat way." Amatsu said. Following his advice I went down to the temple. I have alot to make up for, and I know she won''t be thrilled to see me. But I''ll start with her, I''ll do better, and make it up to those I failed. I have to......


    (back at the temple/cell. present time)


    Morganna pov


    "Okay. Let me get this straight, so I know I heard you clearly. This whole thing about the demon king is just a jest for you to become gods. Instead of guiding your people to win themselves, you decided to summon people to do it for you. My group would''ve been able to win if Leons champion and followers didn''t imprison me. Since then, you have summoned more and more groups. All of them have failed. With the last one taking control of kingdoms and causing your people to fight on another front.


    Now your out of options, Amatsu summons someone, and he has the potential. ''consume the world'' as you said it. And you want me to join him, kill the emporer, and kill or make peace with the demon king. Did I forget anything?" I asked sarcasticly.


    "Well, his name is Alec, not ''him''. And if he dies, this planet will be destoyed. But other than that, you got it." Gai said.


    Well this is a bit of a problem. I do want to go home, and I don''t want to support another idiot. But if he fails the world dies, and as a preistess of Gaia, allowing that would be heresy.


    "Fine. I''ll think about it. Where can I meet him?"I said. Gai beemed at me.


    "Thank you, I promise to be more helpful. Now, head to Junction City, Alec will meet you there. Go that way, when you see the road, go left. Here you''ll need this." Gai said, pointing over her shoulder, before dissappearing in a flash of light. She gave me my old armor back, though it was newer now. I also raided the temples pantry, and the guards corpses for supplies and money. Sadly, they had no horses here, so I''ll be walking.Well, lets go find thisAlec.


    After awhile I reached the road, turned left and continued to walk. I stayed away from anyone I seen coming down the road. I sleeped in the trees away from the road every night, then I would continue walking. After a while I realized I was almost out of energy. My reserves were used up during my imprisonment, and the temple prevented me from gathering the nature energy in the area. Now that I''m a fair distance away I should be able to gather it again. So I made a detour into the woods. After I found a stream I began to meditate, breathing deeply and focusing on feeding the energy into my body. This always takes awhile, but I had time....


    ( Hours later)


    *Thunk* Argh.. Something just it my head. I open my eyes an try to look around while getting up. I see boots. before *Thunk* Nothing...


    "Argh" A moan of pain escapes me as I come to. This is why I neverliked runningout of energy, it left you vulnerable till you got enough back. I notice my armour, weapons and the supplies I lootedwere allgone. I still had clothes on though, so I know no one has tried anything yet. Oh, and I''m in chains again. Yeah me.


    Looking around I realized I had been captured by bandits. Ugly, filthy, and they smelled. I need to think of something guick.


    "Well, look here boys. She awake!" said one of the bandits. Looking at him I could tell he was in charge here. The other bandits began to gather around, snickering, and with lust in their eyes.


    "Now that your up, we can play. Not much fun when they ain''t up, is it boys?" the leader said. Laughter, and yells of agreement rang out from the bandits.


    "Sam, Deacon, and Charlie, you lot found her. You get first dibs." said the leader motioning the men over.


    As they approached I prepared a gift for them. When I was blessed by Dravos, his darkess and Gais'', blessed healing merged. Giving me the ability to make illness'' and plagues. I could cure them too, so no worries. I hadn''t used it much, so my skill wasn''t the greatest. But I did manage to make a fast acting, slow killing sickness once. I channelling the energy I had gather as well as a bit of my own life force, I crafted the sickness to myself. The three men grabbed me, trying to wrestle me down. But after just a moment, the sickness took hold.


    "Huh? Ar...Argh! Whats happening? Arghhh! It hurts!" The three men that had benn touching my now glowing green body, were falling to the ground in pain. Lesions, boils and tumors began to spread on their skin. They were also suffering from extreme sensitivity, anything that touched them flt like knifes, a whisper sounded like a yell, and they were blinded by the sun. The lesions would kill them, eventually, but it would feel like years of suffering.


    "Know unless anyone else wants a turn at what my body can do, don''t touch me." I said as the glow dissapated from my body. I hope they don''t try again I only have two more charges left.


    "Put her to sleep, but don''t touch her. She''ll sell for more in the empirethis way." the leader said. *Thunck*


    I only caught the first part clearly, because someone had hit me again, sending mre into darkness once again....

 Ch. 7 The Meeting of Two Monsters.

    We left the castle shortly after Nix was up, though her arm was in a splint, so I let her ride Fenris. She shouldn''t have to do any fighting now that I have some of my power back. A servant had apparently been watching us, because just after we exited the castle grounds, and were at the town square, Douglas came running towards us with a few guards in tow.


    "Stop! Stop, Mr. Alec." Douglas was shouting as he approached. I stopped and waited patiently for him to catch his breathe.


    "Whew. Apologies for shouting Mr. Alec, but you seemed to have forgotten about the lords invitation. I take it your no doubt collecting your things from the inn your were staying at? No need, I''ll have some servants gather it up for you. The lord is expecting you, and we shouldn''t dally." Douglas said. Though he had a smile on his face, his body language was more like this. ''You will be attending the party, so come with me. Like it or not.'', plus I didn''t like the glint in his eyes when he seen Nix. He couldn''t get a good look of her last time with her injuries, and the blood covering her.


    "No, I don''t think I have forgotten about the party. I just didn''t tell youthat I wasn''t going. If that is all, Mr. Douglas, we have things to do. Goodbye." I said, waving as I turned to leave. That apparently wasn''t all, as Douglas ran around me and stopped in front of me.


    "Now, Alec, I knowthat most people from out here in the Frontier,are differnt from those inside the Wall. But when a lord invites a commoner, even one with talent like yourself, they are expected to oblige the lord. It''s easier for everyone that way, safer too." Douglas had said the last part in a low whisper. Only he and I heard what he said.


    "Mr. Douglas, I understand that those born into the upper elements of society believe themselves better than everyone else, but never make the mistake of assuming I''m like everyone else. Besides, we have better things to do than assage the egos'' of some aristocrats in funny dresses. Good bye." I said walking away. As I passed him I wispered quietly, just as he had earlier. "Next time you threaten me, even in the slightest. You better have a sword in your hand, and make peace with your gods. Because you won''t live much longer afterwards."


    Leaving him there astounded, we continued our way. After a quick stop at the armor and weapons shops, had to gett Nix another shield, we left Fort Triss. We did stop by the guild for wanted posters of bandits, known slave traders and the like. Slavery in the Allaince was illegal, though the punishment varied by which kingdom you were tried in. The empire had no issue with slaves trade though. Now if you were to ask me if I was worried about the lord retaliating or the adventures, who by now may know my identity and are after the reward. I would say no. If the adventurers came, I would kill them. If the lord sent people to hunt me down, then Fenris and I would hunt them in turn. I know I can''t offend everyone, not yet atleast, but I will not curry to their whims.


    As we travelled tpwards Junction City nothing of note happened on the first day, the second day however brought about some excitement. Okay , maybe excitement wasn''t the right word, but what happened was we were attacked by bandits. They wanted me to hand over Nix, Fenris, and all my posessions, which didn''t happen. Instead I used them to gauge the improvements I gained from the bear. I gained a lot, besides the claws obviously. Before the bear I was able to break ribs, with a little effort. Thats why I used a sword instead of my fists in most of my fights. Now I could crush a manshelmet with only a bit of effort. My slashes held enough power to cleave a man with chain mail almost in two with a sword. With my claws there was little resistance. A suit of plate would be a bit difficult though, atleast until I upgrade the claws or got the blade arm.


    After most ofthe bandits were dead we continued on our way. I did promise Nix I would explain my claws and sudden growth, which is why I dragged the only survivor with us. So when we set up camp I did just that, I kept the bandit gagged.


    "Okay, so you remember when we first meet? How I told you I ''consumed'' the mercs to speak your language?'''' I asked her.


    "Yes. I remember." Nix said.


    "Well, when I consume something, person or animal, I gain their abilities and memories should they have any. It sounds far fetched, but just watch." I tried explaining it, but she had a strange look on her face. Disbelief, I thnk. So, grabbing the bandit who tried to squirm away. I brought him near the fire where Nix could clearly see what was going to happen. I began to consume him, the tendrils appeared from my flesh, latching onto him and pulling him into me. Nix had done a squeal, stepping away from me, but not running away. As I finished consuming him, I turned towards her.


    "See? Thats what it looks like when I consume. I now have his memories, skills, and I can change into him if need be." I said, while sitting down. Nix stood there, away from me, and for about five minutes, there was only the sound of the crackiling fire.


    "Okay, I have some questions. First, are you a demon? If you''re not a demon what are you? You told me about the fighting were you lived, but not about what the humans were fighting. Was it you? And what do you mean change into him? Like a shapeshifter?" Nix asked, firing one question after another.


    " Well, I''m not a demon. What I am is a highly evolved virus-like parasite, my father was a bio-weapon. Don''t interupt. I know those words are strange to you, but be patient. A virus is like a sickness, but worse. A sickness is caused by bacteria, small organisms that can''t be seen, all things have bacteria. Some good, others bad. Think of it like this you can''t see magic, but you can see what magic does. Bacteria are the same. You don''t see them, but you can see what they do. Now a virus is different, it needs a host to live, unlike bacteria. I am a virus, although I''m different from other viruses. Most viruses latch on to something to live off of, which could cause things like a plague. My father was a bio-weapon. A virus made by alchemist( sceintist ) to destoy their enemies without having to fight a costly war. Just get the enemy people sick and let them die in their streets.


    My father was trying to expose what the goverment was doing, but he was caught and cornered. With nowhere to run, and knowing the truth would never get out, he did something terrible in his desperation. He unlessed the blacklight virus. He was executed afterwards, but the damage was done. People became sick, only a few at first, then hundreds of thousands of people became infected. They didn''t die like what a plague would do, no they changed into monsters. Like those infected with demon blood, as theymutated, they became stronger and faster. Finding other to infect, more and more, they grew. Till the city of Manhatten was isolated to prevent spreading it to other places. They had a leader too. Mother is what they called her.


    Here''s where my father came in. See, when he released the virus it changed him too. But he was infected with a different virus, not the Blacklight that was spreading, the Mercer virus.He became a different kind of monster. Where others were changed on the outside, he was changed on the inside. The virus allowed him to keep his human form, as a cloak to wandering eyes. He looked human, so he could hunt among humans. If he consumed you, he could disguise himself as you, right down to the tiniest detail. Your voice, body, blood, even the clothes you wore, all his. Like this." I said, changing into the merc from the temple. I changed into others too, so she would get the idea.


    "The infected began to change into better predators, Hunters with claws that tore through armor like it was nothing. Hydras could throw large chunks of debris and earth, at anything that could fly. The could also borrow under the earth, ambushing people with their whip like bodies.Juggernauts had hammerfists, gaint hands like boulders. If you thought a wall was going to protect you, your wrong. They were made to break armour and fortifications. These were Mothers weapons against the humans and my father, Zeus.


    My father, being a different virus was seen as a threat by Mother. So he fought them, hunted them, consumed them. Even if they were different, the abilities they had, the claws, hammerfists, and whipfist. All could be taken from them and used. Improved upon in most cases. Zeus also had other power Mothers'' creature did not. Blade arm, muscle mass, but both he and Mother could use devestator attacks. Unleashing their powers in a way nothing could defend against. That is the war the humans of my world fought." I said, petting Fenris. He joined us while I was talking.


    "But, what does that make you? Are you like Zeus, or Mother?" Nix asked.


    "Neither. Both. When two creatures mate, ideally they produce an offspring with the best traits from both parents. No, Zeus and Mother never copulated. Zeus consumed Mother at the end of the war. Gaining the control of her infected army, the hive mind she used to control them and her genetic material. When Mother wanted to make a Hunter, she would collect bio-material, the bodies of humans or dead infected, at Hives. Dens and Lairs for the infected, were their homes. I was produced in a Lair, hidden away by the Mercer virus. I don''t know what it was trying to do, but I have a theory. Zeus was the first of his kind, and Mother was the first of her kind( that we know of&nbsp</img>, both wanted to infect the world for different reasons,I am a child of both. I possess the best of both viruses, but unlike them, I don''t want to spread the virus and kill or change the world.


    See they were hosts to their viruses, advanced infected if you will, meant to carry, spread, control, and protect the virus within them, I am not a host, I am a virus without the need for a host. I consume other beings to adapt myself,instead ofadapting inside of them. They were temporary hosts, I''m meant to be the virus in full form. Constantly evolving myself till I can evolve no more, till nothing can destroy me. I know that sounded pretty pompous, arrogant and more than a little egotistical. But, I wasn''t told what my purpose was, no hints to guide me to a destined path. I was only taught to survive. Now you know what I am." I finished telling her about myself. I had told her of earth before, but not much about myself.


    But you don''t have to worry for your safety or that of your people. I only infect those I have permission to or ifI need to, like Fenris here. His mother allowed me to turn him to save his life. Speaking of which, its time to upgrade him" I said, turning towards Fenris, who was now standing beside me. I had told him to with our link after I was done talking with Nix.


    "What do you mean, upgrade him?" Nix asked a litle worriedly.


    "I''m going to give him the powers I got from the bear. He could''ve got them himself earlier, but I didn''t know what the demonic parasite would do, so I stopped him. But, it turns out I can kill the tumors on contacted." I said. As Nix stood there shocked at the revelation I gather some of the new essence into my hand and stabbed Fenris with it. A slight whimper was all the sound he made. Through our connection I knew it didn''t hurt more than a shot might. Baby.


    I sat back down as he assimilated the new dna into himself. Nix watched transfixed, as Fenris'' flesh rippled and glowed. He started to change, his fur becoming darker, tougher, and a bit more sleek looking. His paws changed to that of a tiger or hunters paw, with the claws becoming retractable. He also grew to the size of a horse, before he was only up to a horses back, now he could look a horse straight in the face. He snarled and chompd his teeth, which now looked like rows of canines and incisors. I don''t think leather or chainmail would stop those jaws.


    "Woah. He got big!" Nix said as said looked at Fenris shocked.


    ''Brother, I thank you for this gift. I feel twice as strong now. A bear like before will not push us around now.'' Fenris said as he sent his feelings of gratitude to me.


    ''Good. As we fight more creatures we will developed more powers. Stronger and stronger, we will become. But don''t get cocky, we can still die, compared to some of the things I fought back home we are weak.'' I warned him.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ''Understood, Brother.'' he replied.


    "I could infect you if you want, you know." I said to Nix.


    "Um.. Thanks, but no. I mean no offense, but I like being me." Nix said with a nervous chuckle.


    "That''s okay. Though if you were about to die, I could save you you know?" I told her as she becane to lie down.


    "Maybe. We''ll see then won''t we? Goodnight." Nix said, before dozing off. The night passed queitly after that.


    The next few days passed quietly as we made our way to Junction City. The lord of Fort Triss hadn''t sent anyone after us, and no adventurers had followed us. Maybe the party threw their timetables off. No bandits or wild animals attacked us, nothing really happened. We did stop at a village to restock on supplies, but other than staring at Fenris'' size they didn''t do much. I did a little asking around about our destination and it turns out people think of Junction City as a city of vice. Most of the money made there was from travelers spending their money in casinos, fighting pits, brothels and various other less than savory establishments. Its position as the central transport hub for the largest merchant houses in the entire Frontier certainly helped it attract plenty of people. No wonder Amatsu still had a temple there, you need all the ''chance'' you can get...


    After departing the village, we resumed our steady pace from before. A comfortable 35 mph. Even Nix has gotten over her phobia of riding on Fenris. Though that could be because we aren''t running right now. We should reach the half-way point soon, probably tommorrow, so we should also be reaching some bandits soon. Nothing happened the rest of the day.( I will skim over unimportant events like traveling, unless its important for the story)


    The next day I had Fenris travel in the woods along side of us, both of use was using our echo sense every now and then, as we made our way forward. Towards the evening we found some bandits hiding along the road. Well, most were hiding, their was on the road with a cart that appeared tobe trying to fix awheel. I told Nix to hang backand hide.She should be fully recovered now, but I didn''t want to place her in anymore danger than was needed.


    "Oh, thank lord Leon, finally someone! Pardon me traveller, but could you give me a hand with my cart? The wheel broke, and I can''t hold the cart and replace it at the same time. I could pay you, of course." said the fake merchant. Even without knowing about the bandits in the woods, this guy acted to nice to people he just seen out in the middle of nowhere. Plus I could smell the filthy stench he had going on. And his clothes didnt hide the blood on his shoes.


    "No, I don''t thinkI will help you. But you could help us. Tell your freinds in the trees to get your boss, I want to have a word with him." I said stopping a short distance from him.


    "What? Sorry, but you must be mistaken, there isn''t any-" the banditbegan trying to convince me other wise, so I grabbed a dagger I took from the previos bandits, and threw it into the woods."''


    "Uargh!" "Billy!" " You bastard, you killed Billy!" screamed various bandits as they rushed from the woods.


    "You are very foolish to antagonize us. Now we gonna kill you." said the fake merchant pulling out a short sword. He tried to rush me, but a side step, and a swing of my sword, his torso seperated from his lower half. Someone tried to shoot me with an arrow, but with a step it missed.


    "If you want to fight me go ahead, you''ll die though. Or you can get your boss out here, and we can reasonably discuss this. Decide." I said while looking at the rest of the now wary bandits.


    "Kill him!" one of the bandits yelled. Innspired by their freind, or probably just trying to swarm me, the rest of the bandits charged.


    *sigh* Why can''t people be reasonable about these things?


    ''Fenris, kill the archers.'' I told him as I began to cut one bandit after another. It wasn''t much of a fight to be honest. These guys weren''t well trained fighters you know, not untrained, just not skilled enough to stop me. I grabbed the last bandit, he and another had tried to run, and I absorbed him. Ah, now Iknow where the camp is, and it appears these are the banditsI''ve been looking for.Fenris got the other one.


    "Well, do you want to loot them, like the last ones?" Nix asked. She had started heading our way when the bandits tried to run.


    "Yeah, we''ll take what we can. If we fix the cart we should be able to take it all. We''ll head to the bandits camp afterwards." I said as I started looting the corpses.


    "Okay." Nix said, before she started looting as well. She had said that looting after a fight was a perfectly okay means of making money for adventurers. I let her decide what to keep since she knew more about what was or wasn''t valuable. I don''t think we''ll make a fortune on the items, but it was here and money was useful.


    A few moments and a walk later, we arrived not far from the bandits camp. I say camp, but all it was some tents and a few carts with cages. The cages had people in them, some did not look well. I only sensed about sixteen bandits at or near the camp. We had killed twelve bandits on the road. And I''m pretty confident we could kill all of them here.


    "How do you want to do this, Alec?" Nix asked as she surveyed the camp.


    "Hm. We''ll kill them all. Nix you head towards the cages, Fenris you take out the archers and support her. I''ve got the rest of them. Oh and don''t die." Isaid before I charged out of the tree line. Nix and Fenris followed me as we charged into the camp.


    "Intruders! We''re under- Agck!" the sentry yelled before I stabbed him in the throat. The other bandits drew their weapons and charged towards us. Nix and Fenris were approaching the carts, and they had both engaged the bandits near them. I beganengaging the bandits near me as well. I slahed bandit after bandit, till the boss actually tried to fight me. He stabbed me through the back while I killed one of the few bandits left. Turning towards him I saw he had a grin on his face, or he had one. As I pulled the sword out of me( using the tendril like muscles to push the blade from the body), his face changed to fear.


    "D- Demon!" He shouted as he backed away. He tripped on the bodies behind him, landing on the ground he tired to scoot away from me. I grabbed him by theback of his neck, lifting him up I tore his armor off ( cant absorb metal.) I threw him down and stopped his chest with my foot. As I crushed his heart and bone, I absorbed his bio-mass. Thankfully, he and I were fighting away from the carts, so the prisoners didn''t see that particular bit. Hm. They had quite a bit of things here...


    But those will have to wait. I make my way to Nix and Fenris, they are now standing by the carts. The people inside are trying to get them to open the cages, while some are trying to stay away from Fenris.


    "Please, open the cage! Set us free! Let us out!" They said.


    "I already told you people, its not my call. Be queit and wait." Nix said, clearly they were annoying her.


    "Well, the bandits are dead. Nix, can we take the stuff they stole or do we have to return it?" I asked as I walked up to them.


    "Well, it depends on what it is. Some things, like rare minerals or armors carrying the marks of a city or house are prepaid items. The guards are likely to confiscate those in order to return them to whoever had them made. Doing this helps insure trade between cities continues, otherwise everyone woulld steal their product back and resale. Though we should get a recovery fee if we return the items. General goods, food, clothes or trinkets are ours to keep. Now what about them?" Nix asked, motioning towards the the cages. Turning towards them I looked them over. Damn, I don''t even know the name of who I''m looking for. Or what she looks like!


    Oh, got it! My hunters sense. I use it, extending it out from me, and bingo! I found her. I walk to her cage door, and rip off its hinges.


    "So your the one I was sent to find. I''m Alec, this is Nix, and that is Fenris." I said to the woman as she exited the cage. As she stood before me we both sized each other up.


    At 7'', she was tall, really tall. Light brown skin, adorned by various tribal tattoos, and covered by what looked like armor, but it was strange. Her chest plate was, welljust that, it only covered her upper chest, leaving hertone midriff exposed. She had no shoulder guards, instead a small metal band with cloth made a pair of sleeves for her arms. Metal bracers were on her arms. She had what looked like a fur skirt with some kind of metal over it. I say some kind because it loks like metal, but moves like cloth, so no idea. Her upper legs didn''t have armorother than the skirt, but she wore a pair of metal greives that came up to her knees.A pair ofshoes with the same metal as the skirt adorned her fet. The strange armorgave her a very beatiful,though ferocious,appearance.


    "If your done staring at each other, we need to decide what to do with the others." Nix said pointing to the cages.


    "We''ll free them obviously. Fenris, you break one, I''ll get the other." I said. I grabbed the door to the cage, and broke it off its hinges. Fenris used his new claw hands to rip the metal cage from the wooden cart. The cart was turned over in the process, but no one was seriously hurt, and they were free.


    "Alright people, if I can have your attention for a moment! Your free to go now. If you head that direction-" I say pointing behind me "- you''ll hit a road. Left to Fort Triss, right to Junction City. You may take some things from the carts, but you may not take things from the cart by the bigger tent, or anything from the tent. If you do my companion will kill you." I said pointing towards Fenris, who I sent towards the tent and cart. I did this because those belonged to the bandit leader and had the most valued items inside. The other carts had things stolen from others that were of no signifacant value.


    They began to leave after grabbing things from the carts, thankfully no one tried to tag along with us. Too scared I think. Which was fine by me, less people to watch out for.


    "Now that the others are gone. What is your name?" I asked the champion of Gai.


    "Morgana Brielle, The Reaping Preistess of Gaia. So your the Chaos champion? Whats so special about you that Amatsu-Mikaboshi would pick you?" Morganna asked.


    "He''s a monster of apocalyptic proportions. No offense Alec." Nix said absently.


    "Wait. What do you mean by that? I mean all summoned are dangerous on some level, but ''apocalyptic'' seems to be pushing it." Morganna said, clearly in disbeleive of Nixs'' words.


    "Well, I tell you why she said that, but only if you tell me what your heroic skill and powers are. Deal?" I asked.


    "Hm..... Okay, thats fair." Morganna said.


    "The reason Nix said I''m a monster, is because I''m not human. What I am is....." I said, as I began to explain what I was and my mission here. ( I think I''ll skip him explaining it this time, just picturethe conversation he had with Nix earlier. If you think I should type it out let me know in the comments.)


    Some time later, I had finishedtelling Morganna about my race andsome of the things I was able to do. She had remained calm throughoutmy telling, only asking a question here or there.


    "Well, now I see whythe lord of Chaos chose you. You most certainly are a monster. I''m sorry that sounded bad, No offense intended." Morgann said eyeing me curiously.


    "None taken. Besides, its not like being a monster is all that bad. People are more honest in their interactions with you once they know what you are. And food can be found everywhere." I said.


    "I''m curious though. If your goal is thedestruction of the Golden Empire, the death of its emporer, andan end to the warbetween the humans and demons. Then why not unleash the virus you were talking about earlier? With an army of monster, even if the aren''t as strong as you,accomplishing your goal would be far easier. Faster too." Morganna asked curiously.


    "Well, the thing is, I want to enjoy this world a bit more. Which would be harder to do if everyonewas fleeing from the apocalypse. I may need to cause an outbreak if the rulers of this world aren''t willing to cooperate with me. Though, as it is, I think I may have trouble from the Churh of Light ( name of Leons faithful followers. ). But, if they get in my way, I''ll just kill them all. Or until they leave me be anyway." I said with a shrug.


    "I know what you mean, with my powers they labeled me a demon. All because of their pride and jealousy. Oh, I haven''t told you of my powers have I? Sorry. But keep in mind like you, my powers are weaker than what they were." Morganna said apologetically.


    "That understandable. Just tell me what I can expect from you in the future, should you chose to join me anyway." I said.


    "Okay. I''m strong, really strong, and more than able to take care of myself in a fight. My strength may not be what itwas once, but my skill and expereince haven''t changed. I''m a preistess, so I can heal, at my best a lost arm is easily fixed. I''m blessed by two goddesses of life and I also have Dravos'' blessing. My title ''Reaping Preistess'' allows me to take energy from the dead/dying and channel it into recently deceased bodies. This allows me to raise my own soldiers to aid mein combat.


    They won''t rot while they have enegy in them, but they are useless for anything other than fighting. I can also make diseases, like your virus but not. Thats what I used to kep the bandits from taking me, they were dead the mooment they touched me. I can cure any disease I make so no worries there. Oh, and as an Amazonian who can draw the energy of the earth and the dead, I''m practicaly immortal! I can still die but time won''t be the one to do it." Morgann said excitedly.


    Wow. This woman was awesome! If she''s that badass, then I can''t wait to fight her at full power. I won''t consume her though. Amatsu wanted to return the heroes to their own worl so thats what I''ll do. For most of them anyway. If they don''t want to go back, I''l consume them.


    "I''m Nix. Normal adventurer." Nix said slightly sad sounding.


    "Nonsense! That bear in Fort Triss was slaughtering ''normal'' adventurers, but you crippled that thing! Normal my ass, your a great warrior, and one of my friends. Besides if thats not enough, then I could make you far from normal, but I know how you feel about that. Just never think your not good enough to run with me, cause even if your strength isn''t needed, you consul and freindship will always be welcome." I said, trying to cheer her up. Which it apparently did as she sported a smile, instead of a frown.


    "So, Morganna. Do you want to help me end the world as they know it?" I asked her, smiling from ear to ear.

 Ch.8 Junction City

    We set out for Junction City after Morganna agreed to join us. Though she said she would only join if we made seeing the elves a near future priority. Of course I accepted, it was one of my goals anyway. Having decided to take the bandit leaders cart of ill gotten goods, we rode on the cart. Nix took the reigns, and Fenris walked beside us. We talked about our worlds to pass the time. Morganna was shocked at how humans on earth acted towards the planet. I don''t think she would ever want to visit. Her world on the other hand sounded strange, but awesome at the same time. I wonder what tree people taste like? Could I even consume them?


    She insisted that I not visit out of concern I would become a threat to her worlds recovery. Normally one would be offended by that, but lets be honest, she has a point. So no traveling to her world. Probably couldn''t anyways.


    Before we made it to Junction City we spotted a merchant caravan coming our way. It was small, but it haduniformed escorts, so probably a fairly well off one. They were wary of us of course, but after a bit of haggling the merchant bought the cart we had. I did this so I wouldn''t have to worry about a tax for the goods entering the city, or stuff being stolen. With the gold I had left from the bounty, plus all the goods and cart sold, I had 134 gold, 47 silver, and 16 copper. Yeeehhaaa! I''M RICH!!!! Well, sort of. Nix told me I have about as much as a low noble house makes in a year. A bad year that is.So, I''m not rich, I''m upper-middle class? Meh.


    Actually I would have made more selling it in the city, but like I said, lots of hassle. Too much paperwork. And, too many taxes!


    Morganna had some ideas for possible powers, assuming that the creatures she knew weren''t all dead now. There was this one species of turtles that had a shell stronger than steel, and could grow to the size of a house on average. They lived on an Island off the coast of the continent, not far from Elven territory. Of course all the information she has is a few hundred years old, so yah, there''s that. I need information, badly.


    Our journey was uneventfulthe rest of the day and by nightfall we could see the city. Much like Fort Triss, the walls were fairly tall, with towers spaced around. Though there appeared to bemore than onecastle, there were three.The castles wereplaced in atriangle patternalong the city walls, and in the middle of this triangle was a pyramid. A big- no, huge-obsidian pyramid stood dominatingover the city. (Look up the pyramid from AVP for a visual)Also there was a small colosseum not far from thepyramid. Oneguess what the pyramids purpose was....


    Obviously it was a temple, and probably to the lord of Chaos. As we approached the city gates, whichhad a line of people even at this time of day, we could hear the sounds of the city. Loud shouting, laughing, and sounds of partying were easily heard the closer to the gate you got.


    After an hour, or what felt like it, we were allowed in the city after paying a fee of five silver each. Seems a bit expensive, but its not like I''m going to argue with them about it. The guardsdidn''t even bother asking about Fenris either. First thing we noticed on entering the city was that there were alot of inns, and brothelsalong the main roads. As we didn''t want to stay in afilthybed that would probably smell like a mix of various bodily fluids, we ventured further into the city.The further we walked the better each neighborhood seemed to become, from putridinns at the beginning, to decent, then nice. We would have kept going, but the really nice, fancy or outright decadentinns, were behind the inner wall. And the tax to get in there? Well, hows one gold sound? Yah, thats what I thought. I have the money, but all I need is a decent bed and agood meal, so that kind of spending seems unnecessary.


    So fortwo rooms, and a spot in the stables( nice way to call it a cage ) cost me40 siver. Mealsand bath included. The beds weregood, and breakfast was delicious. Theinn included a list of locations within the city. Restraunts, casinos, parks, and for themore adventurers, fighting rings, the Arena,and the Temple of Choas. All of them sounded delightful, but I needed information so we headed towards the Guild first. The Guild was located on the other side of town, so we had a bit of a walk, so following the inner wall we passed by several plazas filled with merchants and goods. Various restraunts, stores, and other inns were dotted along the avenue. The road was filled with people, which surprised me given the amount of partying done last night. Also I''m certain someone has tried to pick my pockets twice. To bad for them my pockets are just part of my flesh, and unless they had a saw, it wasn''t going to change.


    While we were walking I began to think about my plansmoving forward, and my powers. Onein particular was on my mind. The sheild power would be useful next time I''m fighting, but I should be close to getting it. On earth I got it once I consumed enough bio materail, so maybe I haven''t consumed enough? Should I find some people that others wouldn''t care about going missing? You know, drug addicts, criminals, and the sort. Given what kind of town this is, I could probably consume people and anyone would think they left. Maybe the Guild will have some ideas. Speaking of it, we appeared to have arrived.


    The Guild here was more or less the same as the one in Fort Triss, bigger and it had its own plaza, filled with various goods related to the Guilds profession. Weapons, armors, food and other gear were all available for view. We walked through the plaza, and into the Guild. The inside was different from the Fort Triss branch. Here the first room was like a tavern, bar, tables and stairs leading to rooms I assume. A door to the left led to the quest boards, a sign above the door pointed this out, so thats where we went.


    Their guest board was, well it wasn''t a board. It was a board, but it was the size of the wall it rested on.


    "You guys can get somequests if you want. We''ll be in the city for about a week or so." I said looking towards Nix and Morganna.


    "Well, we could always use more money, right?" Nix said.


    "Anything not to be bored." Morganna answered shrugging her shoulders. She didn''t seem to care much letting Nix look through posts.


    "Excuse me. Could one of you help me?" I asked to the recieptionists behind the counter.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Sure, what do you need?" asked one of the ladies.


    "Information. Both official, and the not so official kind, if possible. If not then a place I could get it." I said quietly, leaning towards them whispering.The ladies looked nervously at me and the others in the room, before motioning me towards thecounterat the end.


    "Ask her." was all the lady said, before going back to their papers.


    So, I went to the last counter, and was greeted by a woman with a scarred face. Her face on the right sidelooked to have been ripped off, or severely burned.But her scars weren''t what I found intriguing, it was the eyes. Sorry, the one eye. Oh my, the eye! I''ve seen them on people, and a few monsters that were truely ferocious. The ones that had seen hell, meet the devil, flipped him the bird and made it out alive. I love those kinds of eyes, lets me know what I''m dealing with.


    "Secrets cost much. Pay now,.... or leave." she said. Her voice was raspy and grim like. Itsounded like someone that your spirit would meet after death.


    "How much?" I asked her.


    "20 gold.... Ask questions after." said the scarred lady. I put 20 gold on the counter, and it vanished into her hands as soon as it left mine.


    "I want to know of any strange monsters, variants or rare, either around here or being transported here. Fighting rings. Not the ''friendly tap out when your hurt'' kind, I want the to the death, high risk, high rewards. People or monsters, it doesn''t matter. Do you know anything along those lines?" I asked her. She eyed me for a bit, then she shufled through some papers, before setting some quest sheets on the counter. I took a look atthem.


    An armored wolf pack of aggressive varaints were attacking travelerson the northern roads, near the village of Burke. Heads or pelts of pack needed for verify completion. 80 silver.


    Unknown creature, possibly a ogre or troll,has been spotted near Garisson Point. Has killed/maimed multiple parties sent to investigate, as well has hunters and livestock of nearby villages. 5 gold if troll, 10 if an ogre. If unkown or other creature reward will vary.Bring head to Garisson Point for reward.


    Bandits have become increasingly active, and have begun to hamper trade routes. A subjugation force is being assembled to deal with them. Apply at the Guild or the city garisson. Quests starts in one week. 20 silver or more based on merits earned.


    I guess they assumed the bandits wouldn''t do anything but wait for garisson to show up. Oh, well. Could be fun.


    The rest of the guests were for merchants going out of the city. They were carrying some pretty lucrative stuff, so they would likely be targeted alot. Maybe when I''m done here. Iwas done looking through the papers when I noticedaletter under them.It wasplain looking except the wax seal on the bottom.A black fisted hand symbol on the wax.


    The one with the fisted hand read: If you have received this letter, it means you desire to participate or spectate in sports of the highest violence. However torecieve the locations of such an event, you must first prove yourself worthy. Complete a quest from '' the scarred lady'' in the Guild, and she will provide the rest of the details on completion.


    No indication of who submitted the letter other han the wax seal. Still they seem interesting at least. But which quests to do....?


    "I have a question about this letter." I said to the scarred lady.


    "Ask." She said starring at me .


    "Well, it says I have to complet a guest from you. But I would like to know what I''m trying to prove my self for. Is there anything you could tell me about this ''sport''?" I asked.


    "Of course... The secret about this sport is..." She wispered, before crooking her finger at me, signaling for me to come closer. Which I did, listening intently. "The secret is... It''s a secret, idiot. You play or you watch. But you earn it first." She said, a mocking smile on her face. I was kicking myself now. I mean, was I honestly expecting her to reveal the information I was supposed to earn? Stupid, stupid.


    "Okay. I had that coming. So if you won''t tell me anything, will you tell me what quest I have to do?" I said, still feeling like a moron.


    "Well, since you made me smile, which hurts by the way, you can do all three of the those." She said pointing at the three guests I had read before. I stared at with a dead pan expression.


    ''YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?!'' I thought.


    "Your kidding right. Tell me your kidding." I said.


    "No. Do the guests, come back, get secret. Go." She said before leaving her counter.


    Fuck me sideways! Okay, stop complaining and lets think about this. We would have probably took all three guests anyways, but maybe not all at once. The black letter had me curious, and my insticts haven''t failed me before. The other letter seemed mildly interesting so I''ll check it out first. If its not worth it, on to the others.


    So, I need a regional map, a detailed one, probably gonna be expensive.Or someone I can consume, with a detailed knowlege of the region. Like a guide.If I found one I''ll consume him. Until then I would have to settle for a map, which the other ladies were able to sell to me.Next, I should tell the others about this. But should I bring them along, or split up and tackle the quests faster? No. I can''t risk Nix getting overwhelmed and killed. Though I could send Fenris or Morgann with her. Hmm.....


    If the bandit ''subjugation'' takes place later enough, kill the wolves, kill the bandits and kill whatever is over in Garisson Point. Collect the rewards, prove myself and play a new ''sport''. Yeah, thats a good plan....


    "So you want us to kill someoverly aggressive wolfs led by some kind of variant,then help the army kill a bunch of bandits. And afterwards you want to go find some unknown monster that would be best to take on with a raid size party, with just us four. Are we going to slay the demon king afterwards?" Nix asked sarcastically.


    After wehad left the Guild we had found found a restraunt to discuss our plan of action. Theyseemed suprised I would want to do so much in so little time.


    "Can wecharge the entire emperial army afterwards?" Morganna teased chuckling.


    "Jokes aside. We need to complete all three to get to this''sport'' thing. Myinstict tells me it''ll be worth it, and its never been wrong before." I said.


    "Well, to be fair these quests do seem to be the kinds you would benefit from. But I''m not sure if Nix and I are up for some of them. No offense intended, Nix, but your not exactly a skilled swordsman." Morganna said.


    "Hey! I can fight, you know." Nix responded, sounding a bit hurt.


    "You can fight against low monsters, and newbie recruits. But I doubt your ready to take on professionally trained veterans, or demons above medium strength. You need more training. Maybe you could find someone around here to teach you, with all the fighting rings here there should be someone able to." Morganna said.


    "Maybe. But to properly learn anything would take time. Months of training and muscle memory." Nix said.


    "Well, if its what you need to get stronger, than I don''t mind staying here. I could always keep doing quests around here. Find a teacher and let me know when I get back.'' I told her geting up from my chair.


    "Wait. Where are you going?" Nix asked confused.


    "Fenris and I will take care of wolf pack before anyone else gets to it. I doubt the garisson moves up the raid on the bandits, so we should be able to make it back by then. You two focus on getting stronger." I said before leaving the resteraunt. I fetched Fenris and we made our way around the inner district walls, and out of the city.


    ''Are we hunting again, Brother?'' Fenris asked, he felt brimming with inticapation.


    ''Yes, we are.'' I answered a feral grin forming on my face as we took of towards the village of Burke.

 Ch. 9 First Of Three

    Fenris and I took off as fast as we could towards Burke, much to the suprise of some of the people at the gates, and in lineon the road.We didn''t have to slow down at any point, but lets be honest, if someone was riding an armored wolf the size of a horse, would you try to stop them? No?Yeah, good idea. Judging by the map I purchased, Burke was about three weeks of walking from Junction City. But,we weren''t walking. We ran without rest, without pause. Not that we needed to anyways, we''ve both consumed enough bio-material to fuel our bodies for quite some time.


    Wait. Do we even need to eat? I assume we do, cuase'' we''re alive and all things eat. Meh, I''ll find out if I''m ever starving.


    It took us a week to get to Burke, going around the tiny farmingsettlements along the way, the villagestockade was a welcome sight. Though the absence of people working the feilds around the village was a bit discerning. Heck, there wasn''t even a guard at the gate! In fact thegate wasn''t even open. Locked and barred. I know because I gave it a push. Lets try the other gate, if the have one.


    Damn. They locked this one too.This is not cool.


    ''Over the the wall, Fenris.'' I said, jumping on to the logs. I climbed over the top as Fenris leaped onto the wall, the sounds of wood being sratched and torn was all I heard when I dropped to the ground. Fenris toppling down next to me.


    ''Guess only cats land on all four. Huh, Fenris?''I said jokingly.


    ''Tsk. If I was running I would have cleared it in one go.'' He thought to me.


    ''Sure, sure. Now how about we find the villagers.'' I thought. I used my hunters sense, tuning it to find humans instead of aunique strands, and...... There they are. Hiding in the inn, most are on the first floor. But it seems that the children are upstairs, with some larger signals by all the windows. Lookouts most likely. We made our way towards the inn, the quiet streets were unnerving. As soon as we neared the inn the was movement in the building, a few seconds later Fenris was shot at with three arrows. Two hit him, one in the shoulder, the other in the side of his chest. I caught the third, it was heading for his head. There goes first impressions, these guys are not cool.


    I walked to the door of the inn, and kicked the door in, not at full force mind you. I didn''t really want to kill anyone in the room, as they weren''t the ones who shot Fenris, but a show of strength was rarely a bad move. The door flew into the room, splintering the door frame, before crashing into some overturned tables. They had used them as a barricade of sorts, and they did stop the door from killing anyone outright. One unlucky fellow was hit with the top of the door after the table flipped it, though he didn''t die from it.


    The room was quiet as I entered the room, screams were heard as Fenris walked in. In a panicky fashion the grabbed their weapons and pointed them towards us threatenly.


    "Lower you weapons people, we are here to help. Besides, your previous attempts weren''t successful." I said pointing at the arrow in his side as I dropped the two i had on the floor. As they were looking towards Fenris, he grabbed the arrow from his chest with his mouth, and snapped it in two in front of them. Now I see why he wanted me to leave it in earlier.


    "Now if your done being stupid, I need to speak with someone about a quest that was posted about some wolves near the village. Is there anyone who could help with that?" I asked politely. Fenris just stood next to me staring at the people in the room.


    "You from the Junction City Guild?" a scrawny man asked. Wow, this guy could use a few meals. He must be in the low 100s weight wise.


    "You are?" I asked.


    "I''m William, the villages actingchief, the previous chief was killed by the wolves three days ago." William said nervously.


    "Well, Chief William, I am Alec, thats Fenris, and we''re here about the wolves. Is there anything you could tell us about them that would helpful?" I asked.


    "Well, for the most part the wolves are normal armoured wolves, but if the alpha is near they start toglow and become berserkers. It doesn''t matter if you stab them over and over again, they still fight you unless its an immediately fatal wound. And that just makes the othersmadder!" William said shakingly. He must of tried fighting them at one point. It sounds like some kind ofrabbies or a controlled release of pheromones, causing an induced rage state. How interesting.


    "What about their behavior? How often do they attack? What do they attack first? " I asked.


    "They used to attack only at night, taking some of the livestock until weran out. Then the hunters stopped coming back, so we gathered a group together with some adventurers. At the time it was a simple wolve nuisance, we thought if we put up enough of a fight they''dgo find easier preyelsewhere. Only two boys came back, one we lost to his injuries, the other ran to the Guild to upgrade the quest and get assistance. We haven''t seen him since.


    Now that the livestock was gone, and we stopped going into the woods, they''ve been coming to us, dragging anyone they can out of the village. After the first night we started hiding in here, not that it helped all that much, they stil attack us. But its easier to defend ourselves here, now we were just waiting to run out of food and starve, or for help to come. As for who the attack first, well just about whoever they find first. They aren''t that picky with there being so few of us now." William answered.


    "Which direction to the come from? If possible I''d like to engage them outside of the village." I said.


    "Why? It''ll be easier to wait for them here." William asked, confused at my plan.


    "I don''t want to worry about one of you shooting Fenris by mistake. And if your not near the fight, I won''t have to protect you." I answered. From the looks of the faces in the room, they didn''t like my way of thinking. Oh, that reminds me.


    "One last question. Is the payment for this already with the Guild?" I asked. If its not them fuck these guys.


    "Yes, we sent it to them when the guest was changed, and they usaully come from the eastern side of the woods." William answered.


    "Thanks. I''ll let you know when they''re dead." I said walking out of the inn. Fenris and I head towards the eastern woods, after which we split up, both of us using hunters sense to track them. We stayed in range of eachother just in case. After a few hours of circling the town we came up with nothing. I figured the wolves would have come back by now, but it seems like they aren''t hungry yet. I guess it time for plan B.....


    I sat in a house across the road and to the left of the inn, waiting for the pack to arrive. Fenris was likewise hiding in the attic of a nearby house on the right side of the inn. The way I figured it, if the pack was going to come back for more food, the villagers, then I would have a better chance staying here than roaming around the woods. Itmight not be moraly right to use humans as bait, but I never promised to protect them and they might as well be sheep to me.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    The villagersnever noticed me for the past few hours I''ve been hiding. They correctly chose to remain inside, content to wait for me to bring good news or until the wolves killed them. Wasn''t sure which option they were betting on, but it looks like they''ll find out soon. The wolves were coming. They didn''t howl, bark, yip, or make any discernable noises actually. I only know they were here thanks to hunters sense. I would be in a tight spot if I was human.


    Fenris and I remained motionless,as they leaped over the wall, the light thud sound was barely heard with my hightened senses. There were 14 of them in the village, and I couldn''t sense anymore on the way, so this must be all of them. But when I looked at the leader, he glowed bright, a indication of good material. When he and the others began moving towards the inn, I got a good look at them. The wolves appeared to be of the normal variety, but the leader was a bit bigger. Not as big as Fenris, but still larger than the others. He also had streaks of red fur down his back, and on his face. They moved around the inn slowly, queitly looking at the windows or the sentries in them. They stayed in the shadows until the had encircled the building.


    Since they were in a dispersed fashion, I ended up having one near me. The other side of the window I was hiding by actually. He did''t notice me, so I guess when we want to remain hidden, we don''t even let a smell escape our bodies. Good to know. They hadn''t moved in yet, which meant they or the alpha had some degree of intelect. I think it is the latter option, because the other wolves are starting to get twitchy and restless.. They''re behaving like a drug addict who''s next fix is right in front of him, but has been told not to touch it. I don''t think it''ll be long before they make their move, so I should make mine soon.


    I was right, a few minutes later the wolves bolted towards the inn, the sentries fired a few arrows once they noticed the noise. Caught by suprise, most of the arrows missed, of the few that hit them, only one was lucky or skilled enough to peirce the head and kill the wolf. The rest of the villigers, now alerted to the threats closing in, began screaming and forming a hasty defense. The wolves would soon be in the building, so now was my chance.


    Not all the wolves went towards the inn, four including the alpha remained outside waiting, like the others were fodder, testing the village resitance.I shifted to claws,and I cleaved the wolf near the window, his head and some of his torso were turned into meat chunks. Fenris leapt through the roof he was hiding in, landing near two wolves who were trying to leap into the inn. The noise drew the attention of the wolves on the right side, they moved towards him in their increasingly frenzied state, but not before he ripped the two near him to peices. He eviscerated one with his claws, very little remained except its head and the front of its body, the rest painted the ground and walls with gore. Fenris bit the other wolf''s head off.


    The alpha growled at Fenris, before he and seven other wolves began trying to surround Fenris. The villagers were still fighting the three wolves who had managed to get in the inn. I smelled human blood so it probably wasn''t going well inside.I ran towards the alpha, before I got there he spotted me, and two wolves turned towards me. He howled, as the red streaks of fur began to glow, a hazy feild sorrounded him before rushing out and disappearing. The effects were immediate, the other wolves eyes became red and dilated, foam and spit dripped from snarling mounths, andthey began being more aggressive. They began attacking Fenis viciously, even when it wasn''t smart to. Fenris met their rage with a primal ferocity, ripping them to shreds, it didn''t matter what they treid to do to him, his muscle tissue, flesh and his armored plate were far stronger than the damage they could do. So they tried, the ones that weren''t attacking blindly, to cripple him, biting at legs, paws, his snout or his eyes. If they manged to hurt him he just healed up and absorbed or killed them in turn.


    While he was fighting, the two wolves in front of me had charged at me. One leapt at me while the other went to the side, trying to flank me when I was knocked down. I slashed down at the airborne wolf, then I spun my body around, and brought my leg down on the other wolfs head. Both were dead before they knew it. My obstacles cleared, I rushed towards the alpha, who after seeing myself and Fenris murder his pack left and right, was visibly enraged. He looked to be mostly red now, the glow staying with him instead of dispersing, his body was being pumped with so much adrenaline I doubted it was going to be okay afterwards. Good thing there wasn''t going to be an ''afterwards'' to worry about.


    He and I rushed each other while Fenris cleaned up the other wolves. I was about to engage him when a wolf landed on my back, shortly after it latched its teeth into my shoulder, shattering my collar bone. Pain coursed through my body. The alpharushed closer to me, sowhen he wasseconds away,I used my full strength tohockey check the alpha with his pack mate. The impact of my sudden movement and the alphas drug fueled charge, crushed the wolf on my shoulder. The impact didn''t slow the alpha down but fora second, before it waslunging at me again.


    I punched his the chest, the damage wasn''t fatal in his state, but it created space between us. I checked on Fenris in the second I had for the alpha to get up. He had killed the last wolf around him and moved to the inn. The villagers were suprised when a wolf broke through the wall and grabbed the wolf that had them cornered, in its mouth before shaking it like a chew toy. Its body, broken and snapped in odd angles was soon thrown against wall. Fenris then waited for me in front of the villagers.


    Sorry man, but its time to end this. The alpha lunged towards me again, I side stepped and grabbed its thoat, throwing it to the ground. With its back on the ground, I crushed its throat and snapped its head off , before I absorbed its body. (If the head removal is confusing you watch or play the game. You''ll notice when he consumes things other than humanoids, not all of the body is absorbed.)Its mass joined mine with the usual sounds of mushed fleshed.The familiar rush of energy as I gained a new mutation. Not as powerful as when I got the claws, butmore power none the less.Mmm...Delicious genetics. Exactly what a growing parasite needs. Now, lets see what I got now. Hmm. I was right earlier, the alphas ability was a pheromone that rendered those exposed with a berserker like state of being. Fenris or any other evolvedwouldn''t beaffected, dispite his original dna, because of our mutative disposition.


    But I wonder if I could affect anything exposed to it or would it only work on something I''ve absorbed before? ( If he consumed them its cells know their dna structure allowing for changes to the pheromone to work on that specific dna) An idea came to me when I walked into the inn. I could test it on the villagers that were left. If it worked I got a new toy, if not I felt like they might just be enough to get my sheild. Fenris caught my line of thought, and he left the inn, he would make sure no one escaped.


    "Thank you, young man! Thank yo- " William was saying before he noticed me glowing. A second later I relaesed the pheromone. William and a few of the villagers that had approached me with him, immediatly began acting strange. Scratching at themselves, twitching erraticaly their eyes rolled back as they started foaming at the mouth. Huh. Human rabies, who''d have thought.


    They began to attack each otherand seeing the test was a success, I stabbedWilliam with my now clawed hand. before I consumed him and did the same for the others near me. The other villagers were shocked buttheyquickly recovered,those with weapons rush to me, others went for the children hiding upstairs, two went for any exit they could find. I commended their bravery, but it was for naught. I moved from one to another, slashing stabbing, or cleaving as I absobed without pause. It reminded me of raiding military bases back home, way easier but close enough. The villagers offered little resistance , but thefew that went towards the children had got some of them out through the windows and onto the roof awning. A good plan, if you could stall me long enough. Too bad that wasn''t happening....


    I took no pleasure in consuming the last villager, the ones that tried to flee were women and children, so I did my work as painlessly as possible. Making it quick, and quiet. I normally wouldn''t do this, but I need that power, and I figured a small number of people was an acceptable sacrifice. I am having to save their world you know. After beheading the alpha and a few of its unconsumed pack mates, Fenris and I ran towards Junction City. A dead and bloodyvillage left behind us.

 Ch, 10 Second of Three pt.1

    AsFenris and I made our way back to Junction City, I decided that I wouldn''t tell the others about Burke. They probably wouldn''t approve of my choice or with the reason behind it, and knowing about it would only distract and displease them. Morganna would likely not care to much that I killed alot of people, but the fact that they weren''t combatants or an actual enemy might. I don''t know if Nix wouldbe okay following me if she knew I would so easily murder children, all to gain something I wanted. So I decided to just not find out, and hopefully they would never know.


    I also shared my newest mutation with Fenris along the way to Junction City. He now had dark crimson stripes on him, like a tigers stripes, but due to their color, they blended well with his black fur. They only became obviously apparent when he would use his powers , or when he was feeling very aggressive.


    Oh! Almost forgot it, but I found out that Fenris is also able to affect humans with his berserker pheromones! Poor hunters. But I don''t think they had enough time to realize what was happening,because they immediatly started stabbing each other with their skinning knifes.We did find out that it had a duration limit, though it varied on how close or ar away you were from the relaese point, of about ten minutes. After that time the last surviving hunter was in a state of complete exhaustion, he couldn''t move more than a twich here and there, and it looked like it hurt him alot to do even that. So even ifa group of people managed not to kill each other, they wouldn''t be able to fight backwhile they were recovering from it. This is awesome! The range is rather short though, but its something I can work with. I honestly can''t wait for the bandit subjugation, this pheromone is going to be awesome to use on them.


    I need to get the reward from Burke when I get back, thentalk to someone about the planned subjugation, I think they said someone at the Guild or the Garrison would know. Oh, and I need to talk to Amatsu when I get back. Can''t believe I forgot about that, but I''m sure he won''t be mad or anything about it. I am curious as to what he wants to talk about though....


    We arrived at night, so there wasn''t a line to wait through, I did have to show my adventurer license to the guards before they let me in though. Given how late it was they were more than reasonably, especially since they didn''t have to let me in.The north sideof town wasn''t as busy or noisy as the rest of the town appeared to be. Guessmost of thepartyplaces werein the southern parts of town. The streets were fairly empty, exceptsome drunks and late partiers,as I made my why to the inn. After confirming that Nix and Morganna were alright, I left the inn for the Guild.


    The sigh in front of it had said it was open all hours, so I ssumed it meant at night as well. If not then I would just visit the temple earlier than expected. The plaza in front of the Guild was empty, the stalls of merchants, and the crowds of mercs and adventurers were gone, retired for the day. But the Guild was indeed still open, empty save one receiptionest, and guess who it was. The scared lady. I should probably ask her what her name was. ''Whats up Scarface'' probably wasn''t a good way to say hello.


    "Oh...You''ve returned, and so soon. Given up?... Or maybe you were victorious?" Scar lady asked. Her raspy voice was still somewhat grating, but its not like I expected it to be different.


    "Yes,I was successfull in Burke, here''s the heads, and here''s my guest card." I answered, placing the bag of heads, and the guest card for them on the counter. Scare lady checked the bag, and after confirming the alpha as a variant, she accepted the guest card. She then took the bag through a door behind her, and came back with a pouch. After she handed me the pouch, which after checking did indeed have 80 silver, she returned to sitting there and staring at me.


    "One of three done... Two of three to do. Will you continue?" She asked.


    "I see no reason to stop know, though I have a few questions if you''ll answer them." I said to her. She only smiled at me before nodding for me to continue.


    " First, whats you name? Calling you scar lady doesn''t seem like an appropriate name to call you." I asked her.


    "My name is... a secret. Unimportant for now... Finish and I will tel you." She said smiling like a cheshire cat. Scar lady it is for now.


    "Okay, fair enough. I also wanted to see when the bandit subjugation was taking place, and if you might knowhow they plan to proceed." I asked. I don''t expect an answer on th last part, but she might know a secret or two.


    "It starts the day after tommorrow.. They will marchto them in that morninng, and will likely try to suprise themlater that evening... The city commander doesnt want to take on a large group of bandits without the aide of expendable soldiers( adventures )." She said. Well, thats good to know.


    "Lets say someone killed the bandits before the army got there. Would there be a reward for such a feat, and how would one prove it?" I asked her.


    She quirked her brow at that, studying me hard for a bit, before she smiled at me. Let me tell you it wasn''t a pleasent smile like the humurous oneearlier, this was a ferile and predatory baring of fangs.


    "Well, aren''t we savage.... If you could accomplish such a thing, you would only need to sign a contract for the feat. The Guild doesthis kind of thing from time to time. A challenge of shorts to find or attract talent. When or if, you succeed, all you have to do is wait for the army to show up and present your license. They will not likely beleive you at first. You will be arrested and held in jail till the Guild vouches for your actions. Which won''t take long at all. Such... skills are an invaluable asset in these times of uncertainty, one that would be fostered and guarded well. As for the reward... The Guildmaster would likely offer you something from the Guild vault. Something very difficult to acquire any other way, and coins as well." She said, and I could swear her raspy voice sounded excited/scarier when she said it. The f**k is with this lady? I would consume her to sate my curiosity, but I''m a bit wary of what I would find.


    "Would there be anyway to find the camp?" I asked her.


    "A man named Darvy is a informant for the bandits. He has been staying at the Rat and Bones inn in the western section of the city. He''ll be able to tell you where the camp is." She answered.


    "How come the city guards hasn''t arrested him if he''s a spy." I asked curiously.


    "Because they don''t know he is. Secrets have a cost, and they never want to pay it." She said smiling again. Seriously, stop smiling. You look scarier when you do it.


    "So whats the cost of what you just told me?" I asked. While I signedtwo copies of the challenge guest card, I keeped one and the Guild keeped the other.


    "Free of charge.... With a promiseof death, and a return for more, it is yours." She said smiling.


    And on that note I left the Guild. As I was walking towards the inn I came across a guard patrol, thinking they''d be the ones to ask about the temple hours I made my way to them.


    "Excuse me, I know your probably busy right now, but could you answer a question for me?" I asked politely. I was met with some annoyedsighing, and a bit of cursing from the patrolmen.


    "All right, but make it quick." answered thelead patrolman. Probably a captain or squad leader.


    "Of course. I was wondering about the temples hours? I''m new and would rather not get thrown in jail for trespassing on temple grounds." I asked.


    "Well,thats areasonble question. Sorry aboutour slight attitude, you wouldn''t beleive how many people ask stupid and repetitive questions around here! The temple is technicaly open at all times, but most of the time unless the need is dire, the doors are closed by late evening. Thats not to say you still can''t pray or speak to a preistess or preist, it''s just the ones that are there this late are few. Oh, and there''s a mandatory donation, its not much, one copper. Is there anything else?" the patrolman asked.


    "What if you don''t have any money?" I asked. I had plenty of money, but I was curious. I wouldn''t take Amatsus'' religion to be taking from the destitute or the poor, or refusing to help them should that be the case.


    "Well, they usually know if you do or don''t have money. Don''t ask me how they know, they just do. Bensen over here tried to bug them without paying the donation, when he was drunk once. Got his pockets and purse cleaned out before they threw him out to sober up. Ain''t that right Bensen?'''' the lead patrolman asked, looking towards the patrolman on his left.


    "It ain''t my fault! You all didn''t tell me about it before hand. And Capt. Jones said I couldn''t join if I didn''t do it!" Bensen answered, by his tone he clearly didn''t find it as amusing as his compatriots did.


    "That was your fault trusting anything Capt. Jones said. You should''ve known he was bat shit crazy and loved to fuck with people, before you joined the guards. I''m sure they warned you before hand. Sorry about that. Got to give theboys a hard time you know. So keep in mind to just pay the donation, and don''t waste their time. The Chaos temple does alot of good and important things around here for the people. Mess with their duties and you may find yourself on the wrong side of the population." said the lead patrolman sternly. The threat of becoming enemy number one was clear in its intent.


    "No problems from me, I promise. Thanks for your time gentlemen, goodbye." I said before leaving them to their patrol.


    The temple was indeed still open, and afterasking some guards the told me that I needed to use the second floorentrance, which happened to be the actual entrance most people would use. Which was located on the top of a really long set of stairs. When I asked why the entrance up there they explained that the tunnel they were standing guard of was used for deliveries of goods to and from the temple, but it was shut at night to deter theives. They also said that the more stairs you climb, the higher the entrance corresponded with the level of assistance you required or the level of urgency you had. If you needed to speak with someone of high authority, you would go up the third set of stairs. Though the third set was the last set, it was also the longest, going as high as two thirds of the temple. You could only go higher through stairs on the inside after being allowed access.


    When I asked why the temple was built like this, they said it had to do with one of the principles of the Apocrypha Vedic( I looked up words meaning religious text, and found a couple I liked so I combined them. I have no issue with the religions these name represent or the people who follow them. I just liked the names), the Chaos religions holy( or unholy ) text.''The faithfully deligent are rewarded. If your need is grave enough, you''ll have the strength to earn it''. So no pain no gain.


    When I reached the first terrace I looked behind me out of curiosity. From the ground the stairs looked to to be rather high, and now that I''m looking down, the perception was true. The first set of stair ended with the same height as a four story building, the next set of stairs appeared to be the same height as the walls of the city, both the inner and outer walls being roughlythe same height. After climbing the stairs, I began to walk into the temple. The two guards at the entrance asked me what my business was at the temple this late. I told them I was here to thank Amatsu-Mikaboshi for a fortutious encounter I had on my recent travels. The accepted this as a good enough reason, and told me to walk down the staight corridor till I met the end, then turn left, then right. They said it would take me straight to the temples'' main assembly room(not suure what the actual word for it is).If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    I followed the directions from the guards, and after exiting the hallway, I found myself in a large room. It hadthree open floors filled with benches, besides the first floor, that extended around the entirety ofthe massive room in a circular fashion. (Like a colosseum if that helps you.) They all had been built in a way that allowed you to see the first floor fairly well, wherever you sat. I don''t know about hearing anyone down here if you sat o the third row up, but I''m sure they had a way.


    As I was looking around, I noticed a distinct lack of symbols or idols in the temple. The temple back in Fort Triss had statues and paintings of their deities, but there were no symbols of any kind to be found here. The only thing I saw was a well like structure sunk into the floor.


    ''Smart to have access to water in case your stuck in here.'' I thought to myself.


    I walked around for a bit looking at the room, trying to find something to speak with Amatsu through, or atleast someone to ask about it.As if answering my prayers (ha)I sensed a personenter the room from one ofthe hallways. I say sensed because I had beenuse ''hunters sense''at regular entervals since I returned to the city. I would have sensed the person approaching or anyone else for that matter, but something about thematerials this place was made oflimited my sense to the room I was in.


    "We usaully don''t get any visiters this late. Have you come to pray or seek favor?" Asked the preistess. It was hard to describe her appearance. Probably due to her being covered hed to toe in a dark purple robe, the only thing you could see were her eyes, and a litle bit of skin. I honestly never expected to see a hijab on this world. I wonder if its a culture thing or a temple thing.


    "It''s not polite to stare, you know." the preistess said with a slightly annoyed tone.


    "My apologies, preistess.I found your attire unusual, andforgot my mannersmomentarily." I said, sounding apologetic. I really wasn''t, but she didn''t need to know that.


    "Is this perhaps your first time to a Chaos temple?" asked the preistess.


    "Indeed. I''ve never been to a functional Chaos temple. I''ve seen some old ruins though." I answered her.


    "Then I''m sure my attire is somewhat strange or confusing to you. Hehe." said the preistess with a chuckle. "Was there something I could help you with? You seem like you have questions. Go ahead, ask me. I''ll do my best to answer them."


    "Okay, sense you asked. Are the robes a cultural custom, or a temple custom? Why is the temple so big? And what''s the temple made of? What''s at the top? Are there any more Chaos temples? Do you know where I can get a map of their locations? Or one of the Alliance territories? Or a world map? Where does one pray at here? I don''t see any religious symbols." I asked excitedly. I may have been born a parasite, but human curiosity is apperantly quite infectious.


    "Mm...Well, that''s quite a few guestions to answer at once, but I''ll do my best to answer them. Lets take a seat first, I''ve been on my feet all night." she said motioning me towards a nearby bench. After taking a seat, she began to answer my questions.


    "The robes are a custom of the temple, though it doesn''t have a religious meaning. The reason we wear these robes is because it helps hide the identities of those inside the temple. We are usually seen as a last hope for desperate people. That''s how it started actually. The specifics of the story change from time to time, but it mainly stays the same. A group of women was seeking a place to hide from some noble and his soldiers, and since no one else would risk the nobles wrath, they went to a Chaos temple.


    The head priestess took them in, and after she pleadng with Amatsu-Mikaboshi to render aid. Amatsu sent her a vision of these robes, and no matter how powerful the noble might be, he wasn''tbrave enough to lay a hand on any of the temple priestesses. So when the noble finally tracked them to the temple, he wasn''t able to find any of the women he was chasing. All he seen was the temple priestess in strange robes, everyone assumed they were for some strange ritual as the inner workings ofChoas temple were unknown at the time. The noble left thinking that the women had continued to run elsewhere. So we wear these robes to provide sanctuary to those that need to hide."


    As for the temple... Well, I''m not really sure what its made of, or why its so big compared to other temples. Even the Cathedral of Light isn''t as big as this place. Much to the Popes displeasure, I''m sure. The head preistess may know, but I''m not sure. The Temple has been here long before Junction City was built around it." said the preistess with a shrug of her shoulders, before she continued to speak.


    "There are in fact quite a few Chaos temples left, but they are located in Alliance territory. As for any of the maps you were asking for, there is a shop insidethe inner district. ''Lost and Found'' is its name. Though the maps there are fairly detailed, and very expensive. And as for where you pray here? You may pray anywhere in here and the lord of Chaos will here you. Our lords symbol is in the ''well'' over there. However there have been attempts towards it recently so its locked away at the moment." said the priestess pointing towards the sunken hole in the floor. So not a well, who would''ve thought.


    "If there have been attempts towards it, why are you telling me this? I could be after your religious idol." I asked her slightly confused by such a seemingly foolishish thing to do.


    "Oh, its no problem. If anyone else were to have asked about such an important item at this late of an hour, they would''ve been told to come back tommorrow. But you.... Well, there''s an aura about you. It''s difficult to explain, but its like the lord of Chaos has an interest in you. Besides the guards would likely kill you before you evennear the exit." said the priestess. She sounded amused at the idea of me being a threat. Huh, not sure how to take that.


    "Okay... I thinks thats all the questions I have so far. Do you mind if I go ahead and pray?" I asked her.


    "Certainly. Let me know if you reguire further assistance." said the priestess, and with a curt bow she left me be.


    I went over towards the ''well'', and sat on the steps.


    ''Hey, Amatsu, you there?'' I asked. No sooner had I had the thought, I felt a hum of energy. Nothing as bright or noticableas when Gaia spoke to me, and it was so faint, like a whisper in the wind.


    ''Yes I''m here. Good to see your making progress, some summoned have difficulties adjusting and stall at the beginning. Now, as much as I''d like to have a long chat with you, there are rules I have to abide by, so listen up. I, or the other gods will only be able to directly speak with you when you''re in a temple or near a powerful conduit of faith. We can however send you subtle signs, but its up to you to see and act on them.


    Oh, and good job linking up with Morganna! If only you could have seen her when she was at full power, she was like walking catastrophy. Gaia was SUPER pissed when she found out what happened to her. Wish you could have seen it.'' Amatsu said. I could fell him smiling as he apparently found the last bit very funny.


    '' While I''m sure whatever happened toLeon was funny, that couldn''t have been what you wanted to tell me.'' I asked.


    ''Right. Well I wanted to thank you for saving Morganna, again. I''ve been in contact with the goddess of her home world, she says thanks by the way, and you''ve gotten me a bit of ''god favor'' with her. And some of the other gods who have missing champions have also contacted me. They want their champions saved as well, if possible, and are willing to provide payment for the safe return of their champions.'' Amatsu said.


    ''.....Seriously? Now they want their people back?'' I asked stunned.


    ''Well, they ask every time a new group of ''heroes'' arrive, and I promised them that if the opportunity presented itself, I would help their champions return home. Since most heroes tend to die orare forced tostay on the world they were summoned to, asking me to get them back is one hell of a favor to ask. See its a rule among gods that a summoned may not be returned to their world, unless they complete the task they were assigned. Or if extenuating circumstances arise. And since this world isn''t an officially designated domain for any god, that rule could be bent a bit here.'' Amatsu stated.


    ''So why not teleport them to their world, it can''t be that hard to send them back.'' I asked curiously.


    ''Well, here''s the thing, I can''t. It''s against the rules of my position to teleport anyone off this world myself. One of the few rules that have no loopholes. However, if I were to have a champion who could bring them to a location with a massive amount of divine energy, then the gods who summoned them could send them back.'' Amatsu answered.


    ''So, if I come across any heroes who want to go home, I need to find a holy place corresponding to the god who gave them a blessing. Right?'' I asked.


    ''Yes, if you would. Now, I have some other things to tell you. As you may have figured out, usaully the heroes are summoned when a demon king starts to march on the the rest of the world. The heroes have a bit of time to train, and then the hordes start to attack. However since I want this done right, I flexed a little muscle, and killed the demon king. And no, that doesn''t mean you can go home, so don''t evenfinish that thought. I killed the demon king. but it only bought you time, if a hero or a denizen of this world doesn''t kill the deomn king, then it''ll just respawn after a time.'' Amatsu said with a serious tone.


    ''.....So, how long until it''s back?'' I asked tiredly. I hated stupid restrictions likethese. IF it needs to die, then anyone should be okay doing it.


    ''Well it varies, but Theo and Idid some calculations, and it should appear about a year from now. Give or take a month. Probably.'' Amatsu said questionally.


    ''Whats with the uncertainty?'' I asked curiously.


    ''I hate math! And Theo isn''t a full god of knowledge, he can only make highly educated guesses. But even if it''s back early, you''ll have plenty of time to get stronger.'' Amatsu answered.


    ''Lame reasons aside, was there anything else you wanted to tell me?'' I asked.


    ''Actually, I do have one more thing to tell you. The Allaince has been aware of you existence since the summoning, and nowthe Empireis aware of you as well.The restof Agarwill find out about the new hero at some point too. So just a heads up, there may be trouble brewing with your name on it.'' Amatsu warned.


    ''Dammit. I was hoping to remain hidden until I was at full or almost full power.'' I said angrily.


    ''Well, the summoning ritual alerted the Allaince to the fact there was a new hero, and they were told a summoning was to occur anyway. But my times up here. If you need to speak to me again, you''ll have to wait a month for another window. Sorry itsa rule I can''t break.''Good luck.'' Amatsu said.


    The energy that wasin the roomfaded as soon as Amatsu finished his sentence. Now I was alone in a stone room, left only with the crackling of torches and my thoughts. The fact that powerful organization were aware of my existence troubled me. Even if they didn''t know what I looked like, it still didn''t make it any less troubling. Course with me being a shapshifter of sorts, any detailed form of identifacation was useless. But they would probably start looking for people that stood out from everyone else. Meaning those that did something impossible.


    Well it''s not like I could just stay quiet till the demon hordes showed up, I''ll just have to stay ahead of anyone looking for me while I gain as much strength as I can. I left the temple, thanking the preistess on the way out, and headed towards the Rat and Bones inn. I had an appointment with a rat apparently....


    Finding the Rat and Bones wasn''t difficult by any means, it was on the main road through the northeastern section of the city. The slums was what this area was called, and I agreed with that statement. The place was filthy, starving, sick ordesperate people and animals could be seen throughout the alleys and side roads. Some begging for aide, or trying to take want they needed from others. Fights weren''t uncommon here, and no one bothered to break them up. On the other hand, the bars and inns on this side of town were far rougher than the ones on the main avenues.Like the beggars in he alleyways, drunks or rowdy adventurers fought with eachother, but unlike the beggars, they did it for laughs.


    After entering the inn I ordered a drink and tried to get information from the bartender.


    "I don''t know you, so I don''t know nothin." was the response I got.


    So I waited for the bartender to take a break or slip away from the room. After about twenty minutes he switched places with someone, and headed towards the door. Ifollowed behind him closely, and the moment he walked next to the alley, I jumped him. I grabbed him by the back of his shirt, and threw him into the alleyway. He hit the wall of a neaby building, as he tried to stand up dazedly, I curbed stomped the back of his head. With a satisfying crunch/ squish sound, I absorbed him. A flash of memories fly threw my mind until I find what I was looking for. Darvy, comes in regularly, drinks a lot, tips well, and always asks about the next shipment of dwarven whiskey. Also currently sleeping it off in room 4 with some cheap whore who left after he passed out without having done anything.


    Poor bastard, lucky girl. I made my way to room 4, no one cared to take note of my presence, as a fight was starting in thebar. I entered the room after breaking thedeadbolt lock, and true to memory, Darvy was passed out on the bed. I walked over to him, and without a word, I snapped his neck and absorbed him. Looking through his memories I felt he should be thankful he died in his sleep,cause he deserveda worse ending than this.


    But thats not my problem. My problem is that the number of bandits.There are about 350 bandits and mercs,some are split into smaller raiding parties, but thats not what bugged me the most. The raiding parties were capturing people to sell as slaves, and while this wasn''t an unheard of thing to happen, the fact that the had a specific trade route andperson they were trading off too was. These guys were tradinganyone they could find, and they weren''t getting caught. Something didn''t smell right here, and it wasn''t the stains Darvy left behind.


    They were being lead by someone named ''Blaze'', and appeared tobe receiving help from some organization. Because their numbers had steadily been growing as smaller bandit groups and others began to join them. Who, or why, Darvy didn''t know. The only reason he knew any of this is the guy he reported to liked to talk too much when they drank together, and a few peices of conversations he had overheard.Now I know where to find the bandits, and as a bonus I know where Darvys'' contact is, Mich,for more information.


    I left the Rat and Bones inn, and spent the walk back to our inn in thought. By the time I got there I had a decent plan in mind, but first, I need Morgannas'' help. And then, I''ll need some bodies....

 Ch. 11 Second of Three pt.2

    After arriving at the inn I made my way to the room we had rented, I was aware of how early in the morning it was, but time was of the essence. After unlocking the door, I looked at the room or at least what I could see in the dark. It was a nicely funished room withtwocomfortable looking beds, anda table with chairs located by the window. The decorations, color of paint on the wall, were all homey feeling, but otherwise I was uninterested. What did interest me was the sleeping form on the second bed. I silently moved through the room and when I stood over the slumbering form of the Amazonian, I intiated my evil plan.


    *poke, poke*"Hey, Morganna. Wake up." *poke, poke* I whispered queitly while poking at her. She remained unresponsive to my pokes, so I gently nudged her shoulder.


    *Shunk*( not sure how to spell out a stabbing)


    Or I tried to nudge her, but before my hand made it to her, I found a sword impedded in my chest. And if the penetration of saidsword meant anything withit was sticking out my back, it told me she had regained some of her strength. And fuck did it hurt! Not enough to yell in agony but I felt it all the same.


    As I was marveling at my new chest peice, Morganna had already produced another weapon from somewhere, a large knife, and was about to stab me with it as well, when she appeared to realise who I was. She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes, and looked at me.


    "Alec, what in the infernals do you think you''re doing approaching a lady when they''re sleeping! Your not supposed to do that! Oh, shit! Did I stab you? I''m sorry!" Morganna said frantically. She was worriedly trying to think about how best to remove the sword she ran me through with.


    "Ouch." I said as I removed the sword. Note to self don''t wake an Amazonian from their beauty sleep. " You know, had that been Nix, she''d be dead right now."


    "Well, luckily it was you. Besides, Nix knows how to wake me up, and not trigger a harmfulresponse. Was there something you needed? And what time is it?" Morganna irritably asked looking out at the still darkened sky.


    "Well, I have some questions to ask you, but should we take this somewhere else? I''m suprised Nix isn''t awake, what with the stabbing and all." I said looking towards Nixs'' still sleeping form.


    "Oh, don''t worry about her. She sleeps as hard as a treant, nothing short of throwing her out of bed will wake her. Lets take a seat." Morganna said dismissively, moving towards the table and chairs.


    "Okay, what was you wanting?" Morganna asked after I took I seat.


    "Well, How many bodies can you currently control, and for how long?" I asked. I made sure to keep my voice at a low level, even if it didn''t wake Nix, it was still a courtesy to do so.


    "I can control about twenty right now with my current energy levels,add a few more in a couple of weeks. I''ve been trying togain my energy and recharge itup to were it was before the imprisonment, but it''ll take months for me to be theReaping PreistessI was before. Why do you ask?" Morganna asked curiously.


    "The bandit quest, it may be more difficult than I originally thought. I''ve learned that there are around 350 bandits, possibly more by the time the city commander engages them. And I believe they are being aided and protected by someone, so the soonerwe start theeasier it''ll be." I said. Morganna looked trouble that so many bandits were gathered together. And I agreed. Based off the memories I''ve consumed since I got here, bandits were usaully wiped out or forced away before they even got close to the 100''s.


    "Thats not good, but whats that have to do with my minions?" Morganna asked.


    "When I done the quest in Burke, the armoured wolf varaint had a berserker pheromone it could unleash. I now possess that ability along with Fenris. I plan to use that, my naturaly infiltration skills, and as many minions as you can safely use, to kill all the bandits." I answered her.


    "Wait, most of what you said made sense. But, all of them? Even withmy minions, we couldn''t take on that many of them on our own." Morganna said. Oh, ye of little faith.


    "We won''t be doing it by ourselves. With my new mutation. I can get them to fight themselves. The number of men they have will just turn into more swords at their throats. So long as we can inflict enough damage, and kill the leaders, the rest should disperse before the soldiers arrive." I said.


    "Why can''t we just join with the city soldiers and attack them then? The risk is less, and the rewards aren''t going to change. Though if your conscerned about the loss of human life, its touching. But why?" Morganna stated.


    "Well, theres a reward for getting it done without the help." I answered with a smile.


    "What kind of reward?" Morganna asked, her eyes sguinted with suspicion or it could have been curiousity.


    "They only said it would be from the Guilds vault, and it would be very hard to find items like those in the vault anywhere else." I answered, shrugging my shoulders." I figured it was worth the effort to atleast try."


    "Fair enough. We''ll go with your plan on this one. When do we begin?" Morganna said.


    "Now."


    ( A short skip here. )


    After waking Nix up, which almost earned me another stabbing, I explained my plan to her. LikeMorgann, she was sceptical at first, till I told her what the reward was. She was shocked and when we asked about her reaction, she told us this. The Guild vault, depending on the location of the office, usually contained items that were very rare, highly sought after, and almost always incredibly dangerous. Both toanything you used it on, and those that possessedthem. Some were cursed, or believed to be cursed. Others that weren''t cursed often brought endless duels and assination attempts from those wanting it.


    And it was it was considered impossible to hide the fact that you had such an item. After all who would weild such a thing and never use it?


    She agreed that the reward was worth the risk, but she asked if I would still get it if she and Morganna helped. I assumed so, I never said that the ''somebody'' was alone, and the quest wasn''t excluded to myself. They just needed to be done and turned in by me.


    Morgana also filled me in on the details of her controlling of the dead ability. It goes like this, she absorbes the energy of the fallen(soul or essence), then converts it into her own energy. This usually takes some time depending on the quality and quantity of the souls consumed. She can thenimplant a body with that energy, and control it. The newly arisen minions still have their skills(muscle memory), and enough smarts to obey simple commands. But don''t expect a noble peace prize, or any form of higher thinking from them.


    She also said that the bodies she controls won''t rot, as there is energy inside them. They will rot away when she releases them or if enough damage is done to the body, and the body becomes inoperable.


    We gathered our things and headed out of the city. The bandits camp was in a nearby wooded area.


    I changed into Darvy, when we got nearer the camp. Just in case there were lookouts or patrols near the camp. I had Morganna and Nix proceed to their part of the plan. Corpse snatching and body jacking. If Morganna could get enough men, Fenris could proceed with his part, while I got to work in the camp. Oh man, this will be fun!


    So, after we split up, and I continued to the bandit camp. I found out that there were indeed patrols in the woods around the camp, but after they seen Darvy they paid me no mind. I made my way through the camp, a collection of tents, leen-twos and makeshift shacks, I did my best to ignore the odor most of these bandits seemed to possess.


    I made my way towards Michs'' tent, which was slightly larger than most of the grunts. Entering through the flap, Mich turned towards me with a annoyed expression. Mich as it turned out was short, but not a dwarf, and a bit round.Black greasy hair had grown to his shoulders, and looked like it hadn''t been tended to in forever. He wiped his bangs out from infront of his eyes, reveiling his face. While he would never win any beauty contests, he wasn''t horrifying. No he was just ugly. Pudgy face was riddled with warts and scars, and was adorned with a scragly beard as unkept as his hair.


    "Ya'' not sapposta be her'' Darvy. Whatcha you want?" Mich growled in barely intelligible speech. A quick look around the tent and Darvys'' memories, and I realized I had interupted his usual drinking habit. Meaning no one should be bothering him for a bit.


    "Got some new targets for the boss. Here take a look at these." I said, making like I was going for some notes I had wrote.


    With a grunt Mich made to move away from his endtable he was drinking at. But before he could finish his drunken attempts to stand, I grabbed him with my left hand andpulled him towards me. I then swiftly stabbed him in the throat with my right hand, and absorbed him before he could even stutter a sound.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    I took a seat as I looked through the fresh memories. So the boss of this camp was called Blaze, which I already knew. But what I now know, is that he''s called Blaze because he somehow learned to throw fire at people. Luckily he couldn''t throw firballs or comets at people, yet, for now all he could do was a flamethrower like spray of fire. Mich knew him from way back, and back then, Blaze didn''t have this magical gift. He was just some slightly more intelligent bandit with unrealistic ambitions. And Mich had some ideas on how he came to possess this magical ability.


    Whisperer. Thats what the man in black robes called himself the first and last time Mich had ever spoken to him. He showed up with Blaze about six months ago. Blaze wanted Michs'' bandits to join his, and a few other groups he had gotten together, thus forming a sizable group of bandits. This Whisperer had contacted Blaze with a business proposal, the Empire would help him in his ambitions for power, in exchange for acting as their muscle in this region. Mich didn''t know how he did it but he was sure That man was behind it.


    They had been attacking merchant caravans headed to and from the dwarven lands carring weapons, minerals, and the famous dwarven whiskey. Raiding a hamlet here and there, kidnappings, attacking military patrols, anything that would destabilize the region, they did.Ofcourse there was no way they could attack an established or fortified city, not yet any ways, but they were growing larger every week. They would trade the people and goods they captured in exchange for gold, weapons, and other things with the Empire. This drew the attention of bandits, thugs, and other low lifers wanting a share of the good life.


    They were being used, andMich didnt like it . So he decided he would drink some of the worries away. Now, he didn''t have to worry at all.


    So the Empire is covertly active in the region huh? Oh well, I''ll just have to deal with them if given the chance. Unfortunately, this Whisperer guy wasn''t in the camp at the moment. He had left yesterday, and probably wouldn''t be back for a few days, if he followed his usual routine. But I best get back to work.


    There was no way I would be able to get to Blaze right now, he was in some kind of meeting with his captians, and Mich wasn''t invited. So I''ll have to wait for an opportunity. Or will I?


    ''Fenris.'' I said, sending my thoughts out.


    ''Yes, Alpha?'' Fenris responded.


    ''How are things on your end?'' I asked.


    ''Slow, Alpha. The girls have managed to kill, andadd six bandits to her pack, but it won''t be long before somebody notices their disappearence. I have also killed a group of fifteen bandits that were returning to the camp.'' Fenris said. He was right about the gils side of the plan, they would eventually look for the missing patrols or sentries. But they would have no idea of Fenris killing groups that had been away from the camp. I may be able to do something with this.


    ''I am going to start my part early, you guys continue what you''re doing.'' I said to him, as I left the tent.


    I went towards the kitchen tent, there was bound to a group or two of bandits there. I absorbed bandits as I went, makining sure not to be seen, and only targeting those by themselves. I wasn''t able to absorb a lot of them, only a few, but it was a few less I would have to deal with later.


    When I got to the kitchen section of the camp, I was glad to see there were a fair number of bandits here, about twenty, more than enough for my plan. A cauldron was over a fire in the middle of a small clearing of tents, with a larger tent behind it. I assumed that was were the food was prepared or stored. Bandits were sitting on the ground loosely around the area eating or conversing with one another.I made my way to the cauldron, acting like I too was there for some food, but when I neared the middle of the area, I released my rage pheromones. I went towards the kitchen tent with a brisk walk, making space between me and the soon to be raged killers.


    The bandits began to attack one another quickly, using whatever they had near them. The sound of fighting drew other bandits that were nearby, some were watching the bloodshed, seeming to approve of the actions the enraged men were doing. That is until some of the ragers started swinging at them with their weapons, killing two in the sudden confusion. They had thought this was some kind of disagreement between rival groups, so a fight and some blood seemed natual in this case. But now that they were being attacked, they didn''t give a fuck and drew their weapons, killing the ragers in front of them.


    More bandits arrived, drawn by shouts of an attack and yells of help, but there wasn''t anything they could do. The first group of ragers were starting to come down from their exposure, this caused most of the ones left alive to be killed in their now weakening state. Two people had survived their little trip, and now lay on the ground in pain from the extreme exhaustion their body was experiencing. But twenty-eight bandits were dead, and a few more were seriously wounded.


    Assuming someone with authority was on their way here to investigate the disturbance, I released another burst of pheromones.I movedthrough the crowd that had gathered here, either in curiosity or because they wanted to loot the bodies. I released my pheromones as I briskly walked away from the crowd, making sure to spread as much of it as I could, as quickly as I could. By the time I had made it to the end of the crowd, the first burst had taken effect, and the crowd once more bursted into chaos.


    Those not infected were unsure if the ones around them would soon turn, so even some of those not infected becane to attack eachother. All the while the raged bandits were attacking anyone they could find. Someone had hacked the arm off one of the ragers, only to have the rager lunge at him, and start biting chunks out of his face.


    While this tactic worked on small groups, it would be woefully ineffective in a camp this large. I wasn''t sure what my next move would be after I consumed Blaze. That is until I remembered something from earth. I could use all the stored bio mass to fuel an area wide release of my rage pheremone. Sure the effects might not overcome some of the bandits, but it would infect most of them.


    I made my way to his command tent, only to see the ruckus earlier hadn''t drawn the meeting to a close. Must be something important going on in there, or a fight breaking out wasn''t an odd occurence here. Well time forplan B.


    I went around consuming stray bandits that no one was watching while I waited for the others to complete their preparations. A dozen or so bandits later I was contacted by Fenris.


    ''Alpha, Morganna wishes to tell you that she has gathered her full pack. She will engage at your signal.'' Fenris said.


    I don''t think she said that but some words probably translated easier for him. My signal being a lot of fighting or any large or abnormal disturbance. Untill then she and Fenriswould elimenate all the remaining sentries.


    ''Good, be ready to chase any straglers. I want no survivors.'' I said to him.


    With the others in position I went towards where most of the remaining bandits were. My attack earlier had most of the bandit gathered in groups, likely discussing what had happened. I stopped walking when I reached near the center of camp. I gathered all my bio-mass and began pouring it into the pheromones. My body doubled over as my skin writhed with tendrils. The bandits saw this and shouted warnings, screams of fear and demons. Some moved towards me, trying to strike down the abomination in front of them, but before they could move more than a few steps I released my power.


    A wave of red fog bursted out of me with the force enough to knock over tents and nearby bandits to the ground. The wave of red spread guickly, spreading out it covered the camp in seconds, then it dissapated. Like it was never there. But the bandits frothing at the mouth would prove that assumption otherwise.


    Within seconds of exposure the camp errupted in a mad fit of violence and savagery, as bandits started doing their best to kill everything in sight. I grabbed a bandit near me and consumed him.I activated my claws, and my armor form, and started hunting those not under the effects of my attack. Those that were affected would be easy prey after it wore off. As I was slicing into one man after another, a sudden eruption of fire from the command tent drew my attention. I moved towards the tent cleaving anything in my way.


    Blaze was burning everyone near him that seemed crazy or if they weren''t listening to the orders he was shouting.As I neared him I realized he didn''t seem to be able to do much with his ''fire'' magic. All he seemed capable of was a flamethrower like spray. While his magic seemedeffective atsetting things on fire, it waseasy to read, and if one could move quick enough it was avoidable.


    I cleaved my way to him, moving quickly through his men, I had to kill him before the effects wore off. He spotted me coming towards him, though I think the arm flying passed him might have tipped him off. Helooks horrified, bothat the mutilated bodiesaround me, andmy appearance.


    He got over his fear quickly, rage was now shown on his face, my claws flexing as I smiled in anticipation.


    "Die! Demon, die!" Blazeroared, ashe thursted his arms towards me,fire spayed from his hands. I ranthrough the flames, I''ve been hit by napalm bombs before so I doubt I''ll die from this, but just in case I sheilded my head with my left claw. The fire burned and seared my flesh, causing quite a bit of pain, but my regeneration rate is pretty good, so I wouldn''t be seriously harmed. Blaze kept the fire on me, expecting me to be burned to a crisp, but I kept running toward him. By the time he realized I wasn''t burning , I was a few steps from him, the flaring nature of his fire actually helped concealed me. He tried to reach for his sword, but I was too close to allow that to happen.


    Still on fire I slashed out at Blaze with my right claw, slicing through his arm and leaving large gashes in his torso. He screamed out in pain, Islashed out withmy still flaming left claw, and cleaved his head and some of his right shoulder from his body. Blood spayedaround his body ashe lifelessy fell to the ground. I stabbed my claws into his body and absorbed his remains. A flood of memories came to me but I''ll dig though them later. I still had bandits to kill.


    Nix, along with Morganna and her new minions, had attacked the camp after the fog dissapated, while Fenris ran circles around the camp to ensure no one escaped. After the effects wore off, the bandits weretoo exhausted, or too injuried to fight back effectively. Some tried to, but were cut down immediatley, this continued till the camp had been cleared. And while Morganna had lost a few of her minions, there were no serious injuries to any of us. With Fenris and I using our hunters sense, we made sure all the bandits were dead.


    After a quick check, we all gathered at the center of camp, in what was left of Blazes'' tent.


    "So, are we going to just wait for the city guards to come here?" Morganna asked while she and Nix sat in some chairs around a table. She had her minions gathering weapons, armours and any thing of value,from around the camp. They were thankfully smart enough to do this.


    "I hope not. You said they would be here sometime tomorrow afternoon, these guys are going to start smelling awful way before then." Nix said, as I pulled up a chair and took a seat.


    "Well, how else are we going to prove we did this?" I asked them. We sat in thought, or atleast Nix and I were in thought, Morganna was humming some weird tune while smiling. Must be reaping the souls.


    "Why don''twe just take their heads as proof? You know like Orctrophy hunting?" Morganna asked.


    "Orcs head hunt?" Nix asked her.


    "They used to, yes. Not sure if the still due with them being part of the Helenic Empire." Morganna said, shrugging her shoulders. Her idea wasn''t bad, it was pretty good actually. So we began the laborous, and dirty job of beheading the bandits. We piled them into a cart the bandits had stolen, armours,weapons, and anything that wouldn''t fit in our one cart was leftwere piles at the camp. We didn''t need them, and taking them with us would have been to much trouble So if it wasn''t information, a head, or coins, it stayed.


    After we were done, we headed back to Junction City, and the reward that awaited us.

 Ch.12 Reward

    As we rode our cart back towards the city, Nix and Morganna were telling me what they had been up to while I was away. Morganna really didn''t do much aside from meditate and train.Nix found a trainer from the Guild to improve her sword and sheild technique. Apparently the Guild could provide trainers or teachers for certain fields or professions, if one could pay for them. Ofcourse you could train with a none Guild master, these independent masters usually study a specefic style of their trade.


    And they were notably more expensive, their reguirements were very high, and the training was hellish to some people. Nix said the best place to find them was at the Arena, they could find potential disicples there or by recommendation of scouts. Neither of them had been to an Arena fight yet, though there was one a week most of the time,excluding special events.


    Most of the Arena fights were between criminals, bandits, adventures, mercs or debt fighters. The first two fought for a chance at freedom, or as a sentence for their crimes. Everybody else usually fought for other reasons, money being the likely choice. Sometimes they would have fights with animal, monsters or rare variants.


    We also discussed what we would do once we got to the city. We all agreed to attract as little attention to ourselves as possibly, a monumntous task considering we were hauling about 200 heads in a cart. The only thing we could come up with was to do our best to hide our features, so we put on cloaks and hide our faces as best we could. People would still be able to make out some of Morganna''s features, but given her height there wasn''t much that could be done.


    We also decided to discuss how long we planned to stay at Junction City, and where our next destination would be. Since we didn''t knowwhat was going down in the other area''s of Agar, we would hold off and do some research.I told them about the map shop in the inner district, and that I would see about getting some maps.


    We passed a few other travelers when the roads started merging near the city, they saw what we were hauling and what our attire was they scurried away. Sometimes after they lost their stomachs or fainted. So needless to say getting to the front of the line at the gate was easy.


    The guards were startled and very suspicious, so it took a bit longer to get inside than I would have liked. But after showing them our adventurer ID''s and the bandit quest card, they agreed to let us in , we even got an escort to the Guild. They ended up taking us to the back of the Guild building, to a warehouse of sorts, where goods and other bulkier items were stored for/by the Guild.


    There were Guild guards there, so the city guards left us while we waited.


    "Are these for a quest?" asked a guard, motioning towards the cart.


    "Yes, they are. Though this is my first time completing such a bulk quest. Could you tell me howwe proceed from here?" I responded. We had dismounted from the cart and were just kinda standing there a bit uncertainly.


    "Sure.You wait here, till one of the administrators check your quest card, which we''ve already called for. If yourcargo checks out and is in the appropiate amout, yourquest is then validated. They''ll take you inside to finish the paperwork and payment. Any questions?" the guard asked.


    "No, but thanks." I answered. The guard went back to standing around.


    A moment later the scarred lady came out,followed by a kid scribbling on a peice of parchment. The guards and other Guild staff stopped what they were doing, and silentlystood at attention. She was apperently either very important or very scary to them.The scarred lady asked the guard some questions, nodded towards the kid, who scribbled even faster,and then approached us.


    "Well,well the hunter returns... and he brought such a wonderful trophy back. Oh,and you broughtfriends too! Tsk,tsk. The quest was to be done alone, you know?" She said seriously,shaking her head. She must of done something since our last chat, she was speaking with less difficulty, and her vioce, while still whispy, wasn''t as harsh on the ears.


    "Technically, you never said I had to do it all alone. All you said was for me to complete them. I checked the quest out, I''m turning it in, so technically I completed them." I answered just as seriously. We stared at eachother for a moment, the other glancing between the two of us nerviously and with confused expressions. Then she smiled again, causing the staff to cringe a bit, and began to lightly chuckle.


    Well, atleast whatever she did to her vioce didn''t mess with her lovely smile.


    "That is all true... Come, payment is inside. Youmen take the heads to the city lord, and inform him the bandits will no longer be problem." she said to the guards, who snapped to and began escorting the cart out of the Guild complex. She motioned us inside, and so we followed her through alot of hallways. Fenris obviously stayed outside.


    We soon found ourselves going down a couple flights of stairs, until we arrived at a heavy looking metal door. If the sight of a big metal door doesn''t scream vault, then the dozen or so guards did. unlike the guards up top who wore leather and mail armor, these guys wore full plate armor. And my hunters sense told me there was others in hiding.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    The guards gave a nod to the scared lady before stepping to the side of the door, she however walked to the door and fumble through a key ring with a lot of keys. The sound of several large bolts being triggered souunded out from the door, as well as gears clanking, after she found the right key. The guards that were to the side guickly pulled the door open for her.


    The room beyond the door was dimly lit, but the gaurds entered and began lighting torches along the walls. Bathing the room in a new light. As we entered I looked around, the front of the room was filled withchests thatsaton shelfs in row after row. Each had a paper nailed on the front of the self, a list of numbers, the chests had those same numbers engraved on them. So it would be easy to find what was where.


    We continued further into the room, following the scared lady and the guards, till we came to a round table with six chairs. There were three doors around the little sitting area, one to the left, the right, and one behind it. The words above the doors were, Knowledge, Tools, Rarities.


    "Now here''s how this works, Alec. You may pick one item from one of the rooms, or you may take four of the chests behind you." the scared lady said, pointing to the rooms, then the chests we passed by.


    "Whats in the rooms and the chests?" I asked. One choice, gotta pick something really good.


    "And if we find something, could you tell us about the item?" asked Nix. Well thats a good question.


    "Fair questions, the both of you. The chests you passed by contain gold, gems, and other monetary items. The rooms contain items that fall under a specific category or perform a certain function. Knowledge contains, books, recipes,and scrollscovering a vast array of subjects. The knowledge to be gained in there is much, few, if any of those items could be found elsewhere.


    Tools contains , well just that, tools. Weapons, armor, and tools crafted by master craftsman, all madefrom many different materials. Strange designs and rare materials, its all in there.


    Rarities, is a bit harder to explain. Generaly most of the items sold or recovered by the guild fall into the formentioned categories, but the items in there are the execptions. They are either so rare that there is only one or the are too powerful/dangerous to be with the others." said the scarred lady.


    "But aren''t all weapons technically dangerous?" asked Morganna.


    "Technicall, yes, if placed in the right hands. But these items are on a different level. All their previous owners are dead, or pleaded with us to take them away. But you may still pick them if you desire. I will do my best to inform you of the items bring to me." said the scarred lady. She took a seat while we talked amongst ourselfs. It was decided that we would look at the three rooms before deciding on something. The chests of gold were ignored, money being something we weren''t short of.


    We looked through the rooms, starting with Knowledge, the Tools, and finally Rarities. Knowledge wouldn''t do any of us much good, as none of us had a professions other than killing. Still some cool things though.


    Tools was where things got interesting. Enchanted armor, flaming sword, knives that are always sharp, and so many others. The amout of expertly crafted, and dangerous weapons were tempting. Of course there were some things in there that were of a silly design, or inpractical in nature. Still we would be coming back here if the other room didn''t have anything.


    Now our browsing has brought us to Rarities. How to discribe this room?... Oh, right. It had a weird feeling when you went into it, like there were eyes watching you that you couldn''t find.


    Most of the items were behind cases or in cages. When I asked why, the scared lady said it was to prevent people from grabbing them on accident, and getting cursed afterwards. Still we split up and browsed around, asking questions about things, but nothing in here stood out as something that would be worth the risk of carrying it around. That is until we heard the sound of metal being ripped apart. I ran to where the sound was coming from, only to see a orb of liquid metal rip the cage it was in and launch itself at a stunned Nix.


    I activated my armor form as I leaped toward Nix, but as I reached toward her in an attempt to move her away from the orb, it let loose an inhuman shriek. Not even a second after that it shot a condensed black bolt at me. I was unable to dodge it, its speed was so fast I barely could see it anyway. The bolt of energy sent me flying into the far wall of the room, it also disentegrated my right arm, shoulder and most of my chest.


    ''FUCK! THAT HURTS!'' I screamed to myself.


    Morganna and the guards were moving towards Nix, but there wasn''t anything they could do at this point. The orb of liquid metal was now attached to Nix, squirming around as Nix tried to pull it off.


    "Stop! Don''t go near her!" the scarred lady shouted from the door.


    Everyone(not Nix) turned towards her, wondering why she would stop Nix from getting help.


    "That item is cursed and extremely dangerous, but for some reason it seems to have choosen your friend. It will kill you if you try to stop it." she said. Hearing her words everyone stood alert while watching the orb squirm around. Nix too seemed to be less distressed, and was no longer fighting it. Though that was probably because she seemed to be in some kind of trance like state.


    " Though that doesn''t seem to be a problem for you does it?" she whispered while looking at me. She had walked towards me as I was regenerating my arm from the elbow down.


    "Yeah, quess it isn''t." I said as I stood up, my new arm having regrown the last missing fingers." So, is this the part where I either threaten you into silence or kill you outright, just to be sure?"


    "Neither, I think. As both one touched by Choas, and a follower of Choas, I would never be stupid enough to try and hold something over his champion. Though I would advise showing others such gifts. Oh, the item seems to have finished whatever it was doing." said the scarred lady.


    The formerly liguid orb had now solidified into a simple cuirass and pauldron set. The only thing that made it stand out was its ashen like color, and a vampiric fang emblem on the front. But even that was only visible because of it glowing, a glow that was dampening by the minute. The few seconds it took for Morganna to get to where Nix was kneeling the mark had faded.


    "Nix? Nix, are you ok? NIX!" Morgann asked, worry was evident in her voice. Though the shaking of Nix may not have been a smart choice.

 Ch.13 Cursed or Blessed? Both, actually.

    Time felt weird here, I wasn''t sure how much of it actually passed. Seconds, hours, days, or more? I gave up on trying to get out as it were, you can''t run if you can''t move or see. So when I finally calmed down I started thinking about what lead up to this moment.


    So when we actually went into the vault and began looking around , I was shocked to find most of those far fetched tales not to be that far off. There was enough wealth in the first room to let a family live like kings for generations.

 Ch.14

    Far from Junction City, three people sat in a room. Each had a dissatisfied expression as they read reports sent from all over their kingdoms. These three were the leaders of the Allaince, and for the past few weeks they had been recieving reports regarding various problems. The lack of finding the hero, dispite searches of all choas temples or affiliated places or further insights from the gods, was among them. Even having the few choas preists and preistess'' within the kingdoms ask their god for answers or insights into the heroes location, yielded only one answer.


    ''The hero will reveal itself if and when it''s ready to do so. Do not bother me again.''


    That was the one and only answer the god of choas gave. King Von was not satisfied with that response, so after he offered to pay one of the choas preists an immense sum of money if they asked for a clearer answer. Most of them immediately turned him down, but one of them swayed by the massive fortune agreed. So he prayed for answers and more knowledge of Amatsus'' plan.


    He immediatly turned to stone and soon after crumbled to dust. Everyone agreed the first answer was perfectly fine and got back to work. Which leds us to three people sitting around a table, reading reports and making plans. The entire Allaince was being mobolized for war, but it would take time.


    Ambassadors were being sent to the Elves and the Dwarves, but it was unlikely they would be able to aid them. The continued fighting with the Empire, and the conflicts in and under the Guardian Mountains would likely prevent any effort going towards the Allaince. And even if they were able to, human relations with other races weren''t at their best. Sure they still traded with each other, but thats as far as it''s gotten in ages.


    Speaking of the Empire, they too have become more active, more legions were being assembled and deployed. A few skirmishes have broken out in the Frontier, normaly this would be seen as the Empire simply flexing some muscle. They hadn''t made any serious attempts at conquering the Frontier before, mostly because it would spread troops away from the Allaince front and they would be the targets for demons when they invaded again. That was actually the same reasons the Allaince didn''t try to take control of the Frontier either.


    But this time was different, they seemed to be preparing for a major offensive into the Frontier. The discovery of these preparations made sense after several Empire spies had been captured attempting, presumably, to relay information regarding the circumstances of the summoning. Which leads us back to the room the leaders were in and another of their many discussions they had had.


    "Anything new from the spies we caught?" King Von asked as he shifted through report after report.


    "No. But I think we should act on the assumption they managed to pass on whatever information they were carrying." Empress Badu replied.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Aye. Their spies usaully aren''t so sloppy in their operations. In thier haste they made mistakes, but it would not be wise to assume all is well. Their spymaster is too crafty for that." King Douglas said with considerable frustration. Being a man of action he hated this boring paper work, even if he understood its importance.


    "What about the Black Temple Preistess? Have we sent messengers to her? She could help right?" King Von asked nervously.


    "Hah! I knew you were still sour about earlier. I knew it! HAHAHA." belowed King Douglas.


    *sigh* "Von, we sent a messager with the riders going to the Frontier, it will take time for them to relay a response back. Besides, it''s not likely she will aid us." Empress Badu explained. Unlike Douglas she did not find Vons continued attempts at agitating the chaos god to be even a little funny. It was annoying, reckless and more than a lttle pointless.


    "In all of recorded history the Black Temple has never fallen to demons, though the city itself is always razed. Knowing this why would she leave such assured safety, just to come all the way beyond the wall for us?" Empress Badu asked as she passed a series of reports to King Douglas.


    "We are the Allaince! Why wouldn''t she come when we summon her? We''re Kings, dammit!" King Von shouted angrily. He was so flustered and upset that he threw his wine glass across the room.


    "We are leaders of a coalition of kingdoms that sentenced everyone in the Frontier to essentialy be a meat shield against the demons. All the while we squable with the Empire. So, as I said before, there is no logical reason for her to come here. Now settle down and finish reviewing the reports, we need to be ready for what ever coming our way." Empress Badu said calmly, passing the last of the reports to him. King Von eventualy settled down and read through the reports.


    "Is this accurate?" King Von asked, looking to them both.


    "Yes, it is." King Douglas said, nodding his head in affirmation.


    "Our fighting strength is roughly equal to the Empire, but they hold some advantages right now. In terms of manpower we are superior, but we also have more land and the a larger section of the Great Wall to defend, so we even out there. Also my armies are not at full strength at the moment, the Orcs began their mating season not long ago, all those eligible have left to attend various rituals. It will be some time before they are finished. And no, I won''t order them to postpone their matings or rituals. They wouldn''t listen anyway."


    "The second advantage they have over us is heroes. While we have heroes, most of ours are older or not of a combative nature. The Empires'' are more combative in their roles and gifts, so that tips their battle feild power considerably. If they weren''t also used as a means of public order(police), then we would have lost a lot more ground in the war." Empress Badu said in a very serious tone. The odds were against them, but not so much as they would lose, just that victory would come at a heavy price.


    "It''s not all that bad though is it? Their war with the Elves and Dwarves have cost them men and supplies, both to fight and to watch their borders. And their ambitions towards the Frontier are also going to cost them. So with all of our men, wealth and supplies, I''d say the odds are fairly decent for a world war. But this choas heros'' appearance and the demons being so quiet, I''m concerned everything going to get as ugly as a trolls baby real fast." King Douglas said in a concerned voice.


    No one in the room could honestly say they thought any different.

 Questions.

    I would like to hear your opinion on some questions. If you would comment below, I would appreciate it.


    Should I name every chapter?


    Should I go back and cleanup previous chapters or continue writing new ones?


    Is the current pace of the story too slow?The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Would you like a chapter from the Empires'' point of view?


    And since I have to have a 500 characters,..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

 Ch.15

    After Nix woke up, we left the Guild, and returned to the inn. Nix began to explain her dream or vision, whatever you want to call it. From what she explained, the suit was meant to store energy passively and then use it to heal any injuries inflicted. Sounded cool to me, but Nix was more wary of it. It being cursed and all, well that and the fact she now had an appetite of several large men. She was complaining about it while she ate her third plate, something about her figure. I told her not to worry about it, money would likely never be a problem between the three of us. But Morganna was interested in see the armor in action, so after Nix was done eating we left for Garrison Point.


    Fenris could carry all three of us with ease, but I decided to run with him instead. Being in the city meant I had tt hold back, so it''s nice being able to let loose out here. And since I lost the last race with Fenris, he decided to cash in on it, and I was carrying all of our supplies. A tent and other essential camping gear, as the journey to Garrison Point would take us about five days.


    Garrison Point was actually a ways north of Burke, the village with the wolf problem, so it would be a bit of a tavel. On the way Nix told us about Garrison Point, or atleast what she knew. Garrison Point was an old keep from before the Great Walls construction, and like most of the keeps built by the now dead northern kingdoms it feel to the demons. It was built along one of the few still maintained roads going to the Gaurdian Mountains and the Dwarven lands within. In its hayday it was an impressive fort with a bustling trade town built near it, now the keep was mostly in ruins and the town a mere village, making Garrison Point little more than a resting point for travelers going north.


    Who knows, there might be a thriving community built around the castle again. We''d see when we got there.


    And it being one of the few (if but barely) maintained trade routes to the Dwarves, bandits were a problem, which is why most caravans are in groups with armed escorts. We ran into one of them after a while, I got on Fenris to avoid suspicion of myself. Seeing Fenris'' size not many people would doubt he could run fast. With the supplies now strapped to Fenris we slowed to a comfortable pace.


    We were in such a caravan now, though it was a small group of three merchants, plus their wagons and about thirty guards. Their cargo was apparently time sensitve and they couldn''t wait for the larger caravans that normaly went this way.


    There were also a dozen adventurers that tagged along with them. The merchants were paying them to help protect them, not alot, but since they were going the same way, no one turned down the money. So we agreed to the same deal, but only as far as Garrison Point. Myself and Fenris took up positions at the rear of the convoy to avoid having to talk too many people, while Nix and Morganna were offered seats on one of the carts. Of course some of the guys immediately tried to get cosy with the two beauties. Not that they got anywhere.


    Not long into the journey, one of the merchants introduced himself and tried to strike up a conversation. Though he just keep talking on and on, so the conversation was one-sided. His name was Mer A''mor and he considered himself primarily a luxury trader. Trading rums and spices from the jungle of the Empire of Helena, to the peoples north of the Great Frontier Wall. Mer was a bit skinny and bald, but other than that he was average looking. Though he was wearing some colorful garmets, a robe of yellow with a purple sash going from shoulder to the waist. Odd colors going this far north, even the other merchants wore browns, greens, or grays to suit the enviroment.


    They also seemed to have known him from previous trips, because they kept a distance from him and gave me pitying looks for enduring his lenghty talking.


    On the few occasions that he had to catch his breathe or someone from ahead interrupted him, I asked about the clothes and their odd coloring. His reponse was that he hailed from a colorful people, a tribe that lived in the south of the Empire of Helena. Bright colors there usually meant something was poisonious, so the people started dressing like that thinking predators would stop trying to eat them. They were wrong, but they still dressed that way, now it was simply what one did.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    He was quite curious about Fenris'' origins, size and his seemingly intelligent behavior. Where did I acquire him? Where there more? How fast can he run? On and on he asked, so in order to shut him up I proposed a trade. I would tell him about Fenris and he would tell me about creature in the south, or sell me some beastiaries of monsters and other creatures. I also needed to know where to find them, their behaviors, habits and anything else a book might have on them.


    Ofcoures I was interested in any books of that nature and I was also willing to pay for the books, for a fair price ofcourse. Seeing an opportunity to make good money, Mer hurriedly ran to his cart and then to the other merchants. After some haggling with the others, he returned with four books in hand. He wanted a total of 24 gold and fifty silver for them, which wasn''t unreasonable. Considering most books are hand written and then just copied by others. Assuming that some heroes hadn''t brought the printing press around. And even if they did, it would be a while till the invention caught on out here in the Frontier, plus carrying books this far out was an iffy investment. Not everyone had that kind of money to spend, and those that did would probably spend it on something else.


    The books I had purchased were.


    Beasts Of The Frontier : Common Beasts And Where To Find Them.


    Beasts Of The Frontier: Rare Beasts And Where To Find Them.


    Tastes Like Chicken!: An Adventurers Guide To Outdoor Cooking.


    Who Ya'' Callin'' A Midget?!: A Guide To Dwarven Manners And Their Soceity.


    I was guite satisfied with the books, so I began to tell Mor a mostly true story about Fenris. The Old woods, a chaos temple, and some stupid story about how I had ran away while my village when it was attacked and found Fenris. I raised him and cared for him, now he was loyal companion and had helped me fight many things. By the end of my tale Mor was rather curious if I knew where more like Fenris were, they would apparently be worth a fortune. I told him that I doubted it, but he was always welcome to look where I found Fenris.


    Unfortunately that would mean risking poking around soon to be imperial territory.


    This set him on another long rant about tariffs from the Golden empire and how it was killing business from the little guys like himself. Unfair markets and merchandise seizing from imperial officers and lords. On and on again, all the way till we made camp for the night. The merchants set up in the middle with the adventurers in a loose circle around them, and a watch was established around the camp. We set up on the outer ring with the adventurers, but made sure there was some space between us and them.


    Ofcourse we, being the new guys, we were assigned the task of hunting dinner. I assume it was some sort of joke or ploy to get the girls to stay behind, cause some of the other parties offered to help me if the girls would keep them company. What I found amusing is that the two adventurers who suggested it got dropped by Nix and Morganna. With them out cold and their buddies hurriedly carrying them back to their tents, we went hunting.


    Nix grabbed a bow and some arrows she got with the other supplies, and went with Morganna to hunt small or medium prey, while Fenris and I went in search of large prey. I made sure to tell Fenris that he could consume some of his prey, but he still had to bring some back. He could drop one or two deer at the camp and hunt the rest for himself after. He was happy with the arrangement and took of into the woods.


    After some time we came back to camp, two of the merchants had guards that doubled as cooks, and delivered our gains. Three two headed deers,two does and a buck, a dozen rabbits and a boar. The adventures stared at us, and the guards were guite joyous at the haul. When I asked the cooks about this they said that the last two nights the adventurers were responsible for hunting and their haul was barely either barely enough, or not enough. When they failed to procure enough last night, the merchants had to cut into their supply to supplement dinner.


    Thus the stares and the happy guards. The adventurers were then told to help dress and clean the animals so the cooks could start cooking. While they weren''t enthused about it, they understood and complied. Fenris though took the one of the does and dragged it a little ways from our tent, and began eating it. Not consuming it but eating it like a natural wolf. He, like me, sometimes found pleasure in eating things and savoring the taste.


    Seeing how Fenris was ripping the doe apart seemed to make it clear to all around not to bother our tent. Though I stayed by the small fire Nix had started, I needed no rest and therefor I took watch and read from one of my books. Most eveyone turned in for the night, waking up for the changing of watch, there wasn''t much going on. And it stayed that way for a while, until I saw a guard the was patroling catch an arrow to the face.


    "Attack! We''re under attack!" I yelled as loud as I could, which was very loud. Something had snuck up on me! Nothings ever done that before! I looked to the direction the arrow came from, and I noticed short figures coming towards the camp fairly guick like.


    One of the guards looked towards and shouted,"Goblins!"

 Question.

    So I''m thinking about re-writing this story. When I first started it I was doing it out of boredom and as a means to vent some frustration creatively. While I have done accomplished both of my original goals, I never expected so many others to enjoy my amature attempts at writing. Looking back on the earlier chapters versus the newer ones I feel that my grammar has improved, but still I think the story could be made better.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    I appreciate everyone that has commented, followed, or wrote a reveiw. So I would like to know if you think I should scrap this story and re-write it. If I should continue as is, or do some heavy editing on the earlier chapters to clean them up and improve them.

 Update.

    Hey, sorry for the delay in writing. Life has been turbulent of late, and I seemed to have lost my motivation to write. So I''ll be taking a haitus for awhile, and I plan to rewrite some of thefirst chapters. I feel like they could be better and when I looked back on them, there were alot of plot holes and such. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    I do want to thank those that have read my story so far and have commented or wrote reveiws.


    QUICK POLL AT THE END.........................................................................................................