Feylin and Sarah watched as Rae, Sally, and Tobias all broke into a sweat and freeze at what they were seeing. However, no matter how hard the acolytes squinted, they didn't understand why the three from Burian were acting in such a way. They couldn’t make out the finer details of the figure in the distance – nor could they feel the energy exuding from it.
Despite not understanding, they weren't stupid and quickly readied themselves for a fight. Whatever it was the could cause the three from the Burian to react like that – it must be bad news.
When the three broke out of their stupor, they instantaneously removed their packs and drew their weapons. The two acolytes saw this and quietly followed suit, moving to take the positions they had practiced numerous times.
"Do you two not feel it?" Sally said, looking at the two young acolytes who had not frozen when seeing the person on the edge. Disbelief flooded her voice, drawing the attention of the other two.
"They're too young and inexperienced to see it clearly, and even if they could they wouldn't know to fear it." Tobias said. He stared at Sarah and Feylin considering his options.
"What did you see?" Sarah asked. She could see the silhouette of a man, however that was the extent of it. The three looked at each other, as if deciding on how to explain it.
"Whatever that thing is… its violent and cruel. It practically exudes malevolence." Sally said, there was a cold harshness to her voice. She had seen a number of beings throughout her long life. The one in front of her now wasn't the most violent. Or the coldest. It wasn't even the most powerful. Not by a longshot. But the air around it seemed to practically resonate with its cruelty.
"Is it not an epoch tribesman?" Feylin squinted trying to make out more details. No matter how hard he looked, it looked humanoid at least.
"No… I don't think so. From what I was told, the epoch tribesman to the north have four arms, with skin a golden sheen." Tobias answered. He was able to see it the clearest. It indeed looked human… but, he wasn't sure.
Everyone watched as he pulled out the necklace, holding it up. It spun round once before shining moon-side directly towards the person on the edge.
"Well. That's truly unfortunate." Tobias groaned, tucking the pendant back under his shirt.
"Did he already get the item we are after?" Feylin asked. Everyone had the same question in their mind: what now?
"Either that or…" Tobias felt increasingly down about what he was about to say.
"Or he is the thing we are after." Sarah broke the silence, answering it before Tobias could. Tobias took a deep look at her, nodding in response.
"How powerful is he?" Sarah followed up quickly.
Tobias considered his options. "We can take him but… I don't want to."
Rae and Sally both chuckled nervously in response. He spoke their thoughts exactly. They were clerics of the Order of Life. They could fight – and they weren’t even that bad at it, but it wasn’t their preferred methods.
As they stared at the figure, plans were calculated and recalculated in their heads. The two hundred meters between their party and that thing were completely sparse of cover. If they were going to approach him, they wouldn’t be able to do it under the cover of stones.
Tobias considered leaving the two acolytes where they stood, remembering his promise to keep them safe. However, he couldn't bring himself to deny the kids the opportunity to challenge themselves in an honest fight. They have had enough practice to not get in the way, and even could be helpful.
"I guess I will really have to push myself this time." The paladin thought.
After spending 10 minutes explaining the roles the party should take, they stepped out from the boulder forest and began walking in formation towards the figure. There was only twenty minutes of light left in the day, so they chose to move now instead of waiting for night. It would be bad if the being had some sort of quick movement or teleport, so moving sooner was better.
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Tobias took out the pendant one last time checking to make sure they were making the right move. It still pointed towards the figure. Now the only question was… were they supposed to retrieve him, or did he get to whatever object they were supposed to collect before them.
The distance closed to 150 meters. Feylin and Sarah both were beginning to make out more detail. The first thing they noticed was the man was big. Very big. Tobias big. He easily stood 6'5'' and it was clear much of it was muscle.
He wore very plain clothes, his shirt very similar to that of common townsfolk, but his pants were of a style they had never seen before. Although it was hard to tell from this distance, they would soon be close enough.
"Has he seen us?" Sarah whispered. The closer they got to him, the more she was able to feel the uncomfortable air surrounding him. It was subtle, but present.
"Not yet." Tobias responded, adding in a silent ‘probably.’ He could see the finest out of all of them. The person was standing back towards them, and he hadn't reacted in any way to their presence.
It wasn't until she asked did she notice how tense the three from Burian were. She trusted their fighting instincts far more than her own. She grit her teeth and focused on staying aware. As of now they were not sure whether or not the person was a spellcaster or not. If he was, they had to be ready to react.
"He's weaponless" Sally said. Tobias merely grunted in response.
Feylin had begun to get the jitters. Excitement, adrenaline and anxiety bubbled up inside of him as he tried to maintain his focus. The man in front of them was very intimidating.
When the distance closed to a hundred meters Tobias suddenly broke the silence amongst the group.
"He noticed us."
Everyone watched as the man turned his head to the side - looking at them from the corner of his eye. They were now close enough to make out the figure’s appearance completely. His clothes were plain and simple, his pants - despite being some foreign style - were also plain. He was tall and robust, toned muscles bulged under his shirt. His arms were rippled with protruding veins and muscles ran under the skin like steel cables. His skin was dark, but not like the people of the desert to the north. It looked like gray-black stone, smooth and solid. The sun looked to almost reflect from his body. As the group saw him, they couldn't help but feel he looked like some kind of living statue.
Most interesting of all though, was a tattoo that seemed to pulse and glow on his skin. It was white and full of complex designs running across his whole body like an arcane rune. They couldn't see it, but Tobias could. The being's eyes were the color of blood.
This of course, was Noone.
"Demon? Possession?" Tobias mumbled just loud enough for them to hear, letting the rest of his party in on his thoughts. These words helped Rae and Sally to calm their nerves slightly. If that was the case it would definitely explain the presence, they felt from him. Sarah and Feylin said nothing.
The group continued forward, everyone was hyper-vigilant. If he began to cast a spell they would rush forward, and Sally was in charge of casting a counter spell.
50 meters.
Noone turned around fully to face the group. What none of them had noticed until this point was the hints of a smile on his face. It sent a chill down the two acolytes’ spines. It wasn't just a smile, instead it stretched into a grin of pure malice. Finally, the acolytes understood what the three from Burian felt. There was something terrifying about this person.
Tobias opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything Noone opened his mouth wide and his whole body tensed. Without having the chance to say anything, Tobias's eyes widened, and he felt the shift in the air.
"Brace!" He yelled, quickly gripping onto a shield charm attached to his armor. Everyone moved swiftly and Sally blessed the two acolytes with protection just in time.
Similar to what occurred when the barrier broke, a visible ripple spread from Noone’s mouth. It was accompanied by no sound, but a rumbling seemed to pierce through everyone's bodies as the world around them vibrated. Their ears popped by the sudden pressure of air rushing towards them as though trying to escape from the area around the being.
Pebbles and dust were lifted from the ground in the space surrounding them, blasting outwards at a shocking speed.
The ripple hit the party, followed by a noise like thunder going off from inside their own heads.
Both Sarah and Feylin winced in pain. The sudden explosion of noise being similar to the explosion from before, but they grit their teeth and held their ground preparing to dash forward as soon as Tobias gave the command.
Feylin held his shield up to block the debris that crashed into him, and Sarah braced through it keeping eye contact with the red-eyed devil.
How did he do that!? She couldn’t help but go wide eyed.
Tobias was about to give the order to rush forward. Before he could, the man reacted first. A malicious grin was still spread on his face as he rushed straight towards the group of five. He moved at a speed that shouldn’t have been possible from a standing start. At a full sprint he covered the 50 meters in what seemed like a split second.
Suddenly, he was directly in front of Tobias, his body was crouched low, and a weaponless hand stretched out towards Tobias's chest. A cold aura pierced through the entire party.