William watched as his father, or what remained of his father crumple into the ground as a cloud of crimson laminated the dirt, Darris, and the hammer that wrought the destruction. His father was dead. His father was dead, never to say another word to William, good or bad, never to be part of William’s life again. Never to see what William could accomplish in the future, never to watch over his mother Mary, never filling the void that now took his place in the family.
Darris had taken that from him. How many more people had the brute done the same thing to? How many innocent families were dead at his hands? How many people did what his own father had just done? William had to do something and fast. Darris had took his normal stance seeming to weigh up his options on who to attack next, like the sacrifice William’s father had made was a mere distraction.
The thought infuriated William to his core and he would kill Darris. He would do it because he had to do it. No one else there was strong enough. A calmer William would have thought the same, but caution had left with his father’s life and it was time to end the big guy.
Levelling his sword at Darris, William spoke up, “Oi you fat fucking cunt, stop being a coward and fight me. Or are you that weak that innocent farmers are the only challenge for you? Are you a dumbass? Too incompetent to fight an actual fighter, or is your greatest fear women and children?”
William had seen in anime and games when someone turned bright red to an almost comical extent, but never had he seen it with his own eyes. His words seemed to work and he knew that the big guy was going to be reckless now. Just as he wanted.
“Yer gonna fuckin’ regret that ya little cunt!” Darris said, anger booming on his voice, seeming to bear some essence of promise in the tone.
William didn’t bother retorting. He was too angry and had barely constructed the sentence he had just said correctly. He had to be smart. William was at a disadvantage in the fight before him and needed his wits. His wits would be the key to victory. Darris was kind enough to do some work for William as the big guy charged straight at him. William wanted the big guy away from everyone else as the hammer attacks Darris used were too destructive for the others to take on. William also had his special preparations available. He just had to get Darris in the center of Greenwell. William side stepped the charge, grasping the spear haft that was still protruding from Darris’s arm, yanking it out. William heard the brute grunt and smiled. Slowly but surely, Darris would fall.
William dropped the spear and summoned Absolution once more and charged at Darris. Darris had recovered and swung his hammer horizontally, treating William like a fly to be swatted. William rolled under the blow, pivoting as he got to his feet out of the roll, perfectly in line with Darris’s side. Absolution tore a large hole in Darris, the power of [Vortex Thrust], [Mana Investment], and the armor bypass ability of the blade doing the heavy lifting. William watched as a flood of red poured from the massive wound in Darris’s body. Darris stumbled then, falling to one knee. William repositioned with his sword held vertical, ready to finish the man with a [Vortex Slash]. William moved to execute his attack when Darris, using his injured arm, reached into his pocket and pulled out a pill. William’s attack launched from his blade, the energy rippling towards the brute. Darris ingested the pill as his strike tore a three inch wide gash in Darris’s shoulder, creating a shower of blood and tissue behind the brute. William felt relief, fearing the pill would do something stupidly overpowered.
Darris slumped face first into the dirt, hammer clanging beside the man. William lowered his sword and exhaled the pent up breath he didn’t realize had been taken. He was glad the man who took his father was dead, but why did killing him so quickly leave him with disappointment?
William hadn’t noticed any quest completion prompt or recent kill prompts, but he had been disregarding them all as he had racked up a lot of kills. Skimming through he saw lots of low level and irrelevant prompts. Once he cleared them, he was up to date. He did pause on the one for Armine and sighed deeply. He didn’t know how to truly feel about that one.
William did spot a concerning lack of notification for Darris. He then suddenly went cold, his Title, Enemy of Entropy had triggered, warning him of a fell-kin presence drawing his attention back to the brute who looked at William with cold, black eyes. Darris didn’t move, but simply stared William down, the lifeless gaze drilling to William’s core. William decided to use [Identify] as he could see a glaringly obvious change in the brute.
{Ascension_Protocol}
Fell Champion – Fell-kin Level 24 – Fighter Level 24
{End}
William sighed, understanding exactly what that pill did. The fucker pretty much used an extra life. He had a lot of questions, mainly why he didn’t get any fucking kill credit for Darris before he revived as the fucking fell-kin. William didn’t get to consider anything else however, as the brute twitched as if moving in a slow, video frame like manner before swinging the Hammer at William. He had no time to dodge from the sheer speed of the assault, so blocked with his shield on impulse; an action he regretted immediately.
William wasn’t exactly sure how far he was launched as his head still swam from gravity’s heartless grasp. He expected the brute to bulldoze towards him and finish the job, but no such attack came. William managed to get to his feet, head starting to come into sense once more as he locked his gaze on the fell-kin. Twenty or so fucking meters William had been launched. He did notice where he was however, and smiled slightly. He was near where his preparations had been set, the well about two feet behind him.
William saw uncertainty on his party and the other onlookers as they stood, horror on their faces.
“Stay back, He’s a Fell-kin!” William yelled, feeling somewhat confident that everyone else would listen, given how they could barely contain their fear.
William didn’t understand why they were so fearful...until he actually looked at what had once ben Darris. William saw the same garb and weapon but that was the only similarity. Black veins weaved throughout all of the brute’s visible skin, it’s wounds dripping black ichor where blood once had poured. The lifeless, black eyes still locked on William, disregarding all else. William did wonder why the monster didn’t go for the weaker people nearby for a moment before it dawned on him.
“My titles,” William said, in a mutter.
William thought back and realized that he had kind of made them his enemy. One of his titles literally named him that. The more William brought up the title descriptions in his mind:
{Ascension_Protocol}
{Title – Fell The Mighty}
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
{Description}
Achieved through the determination to slay denizens of the fell. You walk the path of the saviour, protecting the land from the fell incursions. Let the fell crash against your shield and succumb to your sword.
{Effect}
All EXP gained from Fell-kin is doubled.
All Damage dealt to Fell-kin is doubled.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
{Title – Enemy of Entropy}
{Description}
Achieved through the cleansing and purgation of a regional Fell-kin presence, through slaughter of the Fell-kin Alpha beast.
{Effect}
Damage taken from Fell-kin is halved.
Sense when Fell-kin are within a mile radius, number of fell creatures and in what direction they are.
Faction Enmity Gained: Heralds of Entropy
{End}
Yeah, he wasn’t exactly the best of friends with the fell-kin. He was apparently a great fucking enemy though. William didn’t understand why the creature was just stood there, menacingly. William decided that he might as well try and speak to the beast. Forcing Darris into taking the pill had been a form of vengeance, so his anger was more honed now, ready to be used to finish the creature off. Some goading might help him do that.
“So, you’re one of the Fell-kin eh? You gonna turn back into Darris when I kill you?”
The brute cocked its head, seeming to process the words. The next sight would haunt William for a good while. The brute’s mouth widened to almost comical proportions, wider than a human could ever grin as a black abyss filled the mouth that was lined with yellow and spiked teeth.
“Darris dead. Darris food. William, Enemy. ENEMY!!! Heralds reward me when you die. Fell is all. Fell is truth. Fell is ME!!!”
The brute then charged him, clearing the twenty or so meter gap in moments. William felt a modicum of fear after the speech, but he could win this. William did a spin, dodging the downward slam of the warhammer as earth cracked and splintered where William had just been standing. William pivoted, bringing absolution down diagonally into the brute’s knee, using [Vortex Slash] and [Mana Investment] to completely sever the leg. Black ichor spewed from the wound, coating the dirt, absolution’s blade, and William’s arm. The smell was acrid and pungent, making him gag as the brute toppled over. William felt some confidence then. Maybe it wouldn’t be too hard to be rid of the headache before him. That illusion shattered as William hopped backward, avoiding a horizontal swish of the hammer as black tendrils flooded out from the wound and didn’t replace the leg, but simply propped the brute back upright.
“That’s some fucking bullshit dude,” William said, annoyance evident.
The brute simply grinned with that cursed smile. The smile of entropy and finality.
William dodged one swing and used [Indomitable Parry] to block the backswing, as he threw another Mythril dagger at the brute’s chest, using [Dagger Toss]. He didn’t use [Mana Investment] as he was once again low on MP and wanted to make the best use with the final charge he had left over. William had also been relying on the Fell the Mighty Title for the double damage. It seemed to help as the dagger struck true, knocking the brute onto it’s back.
William took the opportunity to drink another MP potion. He ignored the earthy taste and let the cool sensation replenish his MP. He was taken aback as it got two thirds of the way full before it just stopped. William felt sickness wash over him as he suddenly dropped to the ground, vomiting.
“Fuck! Not now. Not fucking now!” William cursed internally as he vomited his guts up. The feeling then swiftly passed and it was as if he hadn’t vomited, with the exception of the taste in his mouth and puddle of orange, brown, and red on the floor.
William managed to get upright just in time to roll out the way of a swing from the recovered brute. William scanned the area where he came out of the roll and smiled. His Preparations were complete.
The brute raised his hammer, having turned to follow William.
“Hey, big guy, do you wanna know something?” William said, with a goading look.
The brute stopped two feet from William, hammer held high, a curious look complimenting the eldritch grin.
William smiled back and continued, “Runes are good as fuck!”
William ducked, activating the Recall runes on all the spears he had set up on the racks. He stopped the activation as the tips of many spears, bearing the recall enchantment flew at the pair, letting the weapons continue on their way from the inertia. William heard many impalements and felt spatters of cold ichor drip over him and the dirt around him. He leaped back to the well and looked at the brute before him. It looked like a jet black pincushion. William hadn’t expected too much to happen, but he could feel that the damage of each spear had been doubled from his Title.
The grin faded as the brute began to shudder, the veins bursting all across its skin, painting everything adjacent to it black. The body crumpled and turned into a pile of mangled, inanimate flesh. William felt three prompts in the back of his mind and smiled. The smile faded as horror took its place once more. William looked on at the multiple puddles of ichor that were gathering, like the bad Terminator in the second movie.
“The fuck am I supposed to do about that?” William said, asking no one in particular, just venting his frustration. He could at least kill whatever it formed into. With that affirmation solidified in his mind, William made ready with Absolution. The motion was apparently made redundant however, as a wall of fire engulfed the ichorous mound and the speared, fleshy remains in one roaring maelstrom.
William watched the flames swirl and twist, consuming all in its wake, yet confined to that rectangular space. It faded and William could see the caster. John had done good work. John then staggered, making William run over.
“I got three levels. I’m gonna sleep now,” John mumbled to William before passing out into a light snore. Apparently draining your MP for such a spell had side effects.
William looked around and saw the horror still lingering on their faces at the fell-kin debacle. The only two who weren’t horrified at the brute’s appearance and existence were instead horrified at the remains of William’s father, Bill. William approached the two women, both teary eyed and staring at the remains seemingly in a form of shock. William didn’t know what to say. What could he say? The only reason he wasn’t in the same state was because of the fell-kin appearance. He had no choice but to fight, or die.
William did the only thing he could think of: He hugged them both.
The three held each other and began crying again, William struggling to control it. He needed to be strong for them. He could grieve later. William was tempted to distract himself by going over the three prompts as his mother and sister both cried in his arms. He thought better of it, however, now wasn’t the time to look at prompts.
He had to focus on his family. Now a family of three.