Theron’s cloaked figure stood over the shattered jaw of a dead man. It all happened too quickly.
He only planned to knock this man unconscious with his shield, but that one slam crushed him harder than he intended. This wasn’t his first time ending the lives of others—far from it—but he wished to extract more information beforehand.
Lucky there were two of them.
“You-“ the other spoke, “-How did you-“
“How many?” Theron asked, his eyes burrowed with fury, “How many of you are here?”
He turned his gaze to his dead aspect, fear cladding his eyes. “There are four of us… The others are waiting at your checkpoint.”
“And Hubert?”
“He’s… away. Kraven asked him to help him. There’s a problem with the folks far to the west…. We- We’re here of our own volition...”
So there’s two left. With this kill, Theron knew the impossible odds of a peaceful resolution between them—not that he wished to in the first place—but the chances of him winning a straight-out war solo were scant, at best. Theron frowned at the moonlit sky, unsure if he even needed to ask the next question, “Why are you here?”
The man shifted his head aside, avoiding direct eye contact, “Do I even need to explain it? You already know the answer.”
To reap whatever resources are available here. “I do…” Theron stood up, ordering both his aspects to convene on his location, “-I guess, I’m hoping you have a better answer. Although, I suppose that’s… wishful thinking.”
If Theron’s intuitions were right, the most valuable loot available from a cave or an event would be the all-too-elusive summon slots—a bottleneck for most drifters, him included. Without his solo clear of all the caves and lairs and events peppering the zone he’d been in, summoning an elite aspect would be a dream, at best. That’s why every single one of his men only possessed a single rank-2 aspect, he concluded. After all, ranking up completed a quest handed by the system—the quest which granted an additional summon slot.
So, if Hubert or Kraven did hoard everything to themselves, that meant he needn’t worry about the other two waiting here obtaining an elite rank-2 aspect.
“Let me go… I swear, I-I’ll tell him to stay away from this territory,” The man begged, clutching his wounded shoulder, “-please!”
Theron frowned, facing the rummaging of undergrowths clattering the outer edges of the opening. “Huh… Look at that… A troll.”
Two pillars of trees shook, revealing the curious face of a silver-back troll. Doubtless, their commotion had drawn the attention of hungry beasts traversing the woods at night. Theron’s eyes snapped to the broaching monster, shirking the man’s attempt at pulling his breeches, begging for safety. Theron knew, without the man’s aspect, he was as good as dead; his pallid face and slackened jaw told of his paralyzing fear.
“There you go.” A sick smile carved his lips. He shrugged off the man’s attempts to garner his sympathy, then left him on his own against the ravenous troll, the throes of his cries announcing Theron’s departure.
He watched his body getting absolutely ravaged into bits and pieces by the troll as he faded into the darkness.
A fate worse than death. To be eaten alive.
###
“Idiots. I told them to wait here.” The bored cry of a man rang as Theron stalked from the outskirts of the opening leading to the checkpoint. Like the dead man said, two were stationed here, doubtless to greet him with their jovial welcome. A rank-2 wolf akin to Lux roamed about their position, circling the sward with cautious eyes, scanning for him. The other aspect appeared somewhat blurry from a distance, but its figure clad in a sable cloak was unmistakable—an evolved bear combined with the dark panther—another copy of Borys. For this fight, Theron had to contend with a party based on his own.
“We should go back-” The man whose face he recognized answered, turning his head around and observing the unmoving forest, “-I knew we can’t count on them.”
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Theron circled their position, ears glued to their conversation, sapping what he could from the cover of night. The horned wolf kept pacing around as he found a spot behind their backs, unable to come up with a swift decision.
“Hubert wasn't jovial when you told him about this guy-“ One spoke again, “-It sucks since he’s so focused on getting all the class stones and all the loot for himself. Man, I’m jealous, he’s the one with enough slots to own an elite, rank-two aspect. That’s what you get for clearing all those caves, I guess…” The two sighed in the face of midnight. “When do you think he’ll be done with Kraven’s business? I’m tired of doing his busy work all the time, man. There’s nothing to kill over here either, this unknown bastard has killed so many of them!”
“At the current rate? I think at least two, maybe three days... and that’s me being optimistic.”
Elite aspect? Theron grimaced upon hearing the sentence. He knew the implications of their words, and her expression when they met only confirmed his suspicions.
If there were a silver lining, that would be Hubert’s absence. He didn’t know the exact timing of his return, but he had space to grow and empower himself before he eventually “answered” Hubert’s unwelcome gesture.
Can’t initiate a sneak attack from this distance… Lux horn pulses wouldn’t reach them due to the range; it would simply be a waste of mana. No amount of speed would allow Borys to reach them undetected too, so he had little option but to take this fight head-on. Berys remained in his compendium, its health still below what he deemed safe.
Well, he could simply wait until Berys recovered to full health. That thought halted after they began packing up and turned their heads toward the west—toward where they came from.
I have to go now. With a click of his tongue, he commanded both his rank-one aspects to emerge, garnering the two folk’s attention, their bear and wolf staring his aspects down, snarling.
“You’re here…” One spoke, his eyes searching the darkness behind Theron’s visible aspects, “I know you have more than those two, don’t bother hiding those aspects.”
“I told you to leave and never come back,” Theron revealed himself alongside both Berys and Lux, his party earning a puzzled look from their eyes. “I’ve met your friends, Gary. That’s your name, isn’t it?”
He squinted his eyes, “So they’re dead…. Well, I’m not their boss.” Gary, the one with the long, wavy hair, replied, “If they die, it’s their own damn fault.”
“So, what happens if you die here?” Theron asked again, his voice ladened with coldness, “Will I finally meet your so-called boss then?”
Both their aspects covered their flanks as they braced for a fight. “Of course, he wants the good stuff here too. Are you sure you want to draw his ire even further?”
Theron gritted his teeth, furious, “And what of mine?”
“You-“ Gary’s eyes frowned as his bear led the charge, followed by the other’s sable wolf. They crashed against Theron’s weaker aspects, nigh killing them from a single assault, but Borys and Lux came into the fray, each mounted their attacks against the other side. With its presumably higher speed and levels, Borys outpaced its counterpart, all the while avoiding a surge of fireballs and additional support from his enemies. Lux’s horn pulses punched a few holes into the sable wolf, then struck with its bites when it was distracted by Tels and Moss. His previous experience with fighting drifters granted him an additional edge here, no longer was he surprised by a sudden fireball or support from their owners.
While the fight started even, Theron’s overpowering numbers and attributes spelled their doom quicker than he expected. Both of their aspects perished once their initial assault went to waste, leaving their owners defenseless against his wave of monsters. They were both knocked over once Borys bared his fangs while Lux patrolled their backside, unable to flee.
You all just had to complicate things. During the entire fight, Theron couldn’t stifle the frustration boiling within his heart. “Your fate was sealed when you set foot here after I warned you. I failed to kill you the last time, but now…”
“L-Let us go!” Gary spoke, shuffling away from Theron with his arms. He stopped when Lux growled, warning him to stay.
“Let you go?” Theron scoffed, his eyes frowning, ”Then what will you do?” Theron asked as Borys drew closer.
Like it or not, Theron had sparked the war by killing the two guys back near the sapling’s clearing, and the wisest option would be to cull their numbers while he still could. With a snarl, Theron grabbed him by the collar, yanking his face closer, “How many of Hubert’s men are there?”
“Hu-Hubert found a few more after he established the checkpoint beside here,” Gary ducked his head, avoiding Borys’ angry sniffs, “There’s… twelve. Not including Hubert, that is…”
“Twelve…” Theron sighed, “I just wanted to do my shit peacefully, and now…” Kind words seemed to elude him as he grappled with the inevitable. “What of his aspects?”
“We-we haven’t seen it… he-he left right after materializing his aspect.” Gary’s partner yelled, “Ju-Just let us go, and we’ll change his mind, I promise!”
“That ship had sailed when you returned here. Remember…” Theron’s eyes went cold, “I warned you.”
Gary and his cowering partner gulped. Theron pulled away from the party, Allowing both his aspects to approach, his bloodlust pumping their very soul. Borys, Lux, do all the work for me, will you? The two aspects assented, baring their fangs, and what came after were screams shattering the glass of the night.
###
[Checkpoint usage set to Personal.]
Theron stared upon the interface; vestiges of what happened prior still hung fresh within his mind. He shook his head, avoiding any further ruminations of his tumultuous future, then shifted his gaze toward Borys and Lux’s figures resting closely beside him. Their fangs were bloodied from the corpses they dragged away, hidden well within the trees and bushes far and away from his sight.
It turned out… corpses did not give any essences or any rewards at all. Killing served little purpose other than getting rid of problems.
The prospect of an incoming human skirmish lingered about in his mind. From what he gathered, Hubert was simply a subsidiary of Kraven, someone strong he trusted to cover a zone and was allowed to reap the rewards within. Doubtless, with an elite aspect, this man would be a problem for him, unlike his cronies. He pulled out the class gem sitting in his satchel, still gray and pallid as usual, and its description bore little incentive to use it right away, but depending on the severity of his situation, he might have to use it early.
Calm down… Theron closed his eyes. Hubert wouldn’t make his move right away. At worst, Theron would have a few days of powering up before Hubert returned. Given their proximity, if he wished to engage Theron right away, it would take another few hours before he mobilized his group. Taking a lungful of air in, he closed his eyes, then turned away to the encroaching darkness—thoughts without action were a waste of his time. All he could do was move forward and acquire more strength.