“Pathetic…” Vorayx seethed, as the hundreds of lesser beings swarmed across the Plateau of Fractured Hope. Being sent to search for a clear fabrication pained him enough but to be left in charge of the kuroxet was much worse.
Vorayx was forced to cull several hundred of the disgusting filth before he was willing to stand being around such lower evolutions of his grand race. Vorayx was a Lumixet it sullied his name enough to be forced to work with the creatures, he would not allow it to be sullied further by failing to punish the weak.
He rested his huge muscular form on his new throne and smiled. He was quite happy about his craftsmanship. The collected bodies of the culled kuroxet were just enough to be worked into a throne barely appropriate for his station, but it would have to do.
Vorayx infused his voice with his abyssal will and called across the plateau, “Find this mortal, bring me his heart!”
If the kuroxet could not find this supposed mortal then he would be forced to take a more deadly approach. Vorayx doubted this mortal truly existed, but it wasn’t like he could ignore the commands of a Dreadlord.
----------------------------------------
Quest Received: Garghound Eradication
These demons were once a scourge to the people of Kartha. Avenge them by eradicating their most hated foes. 0/120
Rewards: Title, Additional rewards dependant on performance.
Kal couldn’t help but smile. Getting another quest so soon was tremendously lucky, but when he read over the description he was sobered a bit. Slay one hundred and twenty of those things was a tall order but perhaps it was time he truly embraced his classes namesake. He needed to grind for the experience anyway. Let’s just hope I can figure out what is going on with my birthright.
As Kal moved deeper into the dome, he realized how much he was already starting to miss seeing some greenery. The only thing plant-like he had seen since arriving here was the glowing mushroom, he didn’t really count the vegetables for obvious reasons. Maybe there would be more places like that tunnel around this place. He sighed, but even if there were plants there, they would probably want him dead too.
It didn’t take him long to find the Garghounds, though he stayed as far away as he could still see them, on top of a patch of large stones. He figured from this distance they wouldn’t detect him since the first he had seen had noticed him when he was much closer. The creatures seemed to act much like dogs or wolves, but from what he could tell they were in much smaller packs ranging from three to seven. It lowered Kal’s odds of success but it was a whole better than it could have been. If they were like the wild dogs he had heard of they could easily have been in packs of fifteen to thirty or more.
He decided to follow them for a while and see how they behaved before throwing himself into the fray. His class definitely seemed like he should be just rampaging through the masses but right now he wasn’t confident he was strong enough. But he would be.
Kal watched them for nearly an hour and discovered something that would be incredibly useful to him. The garghound packs were very territorial and even in that short time he had seen the pack he was following a fight with two other smaller packs. So it was very unlikely that he would be swarmed by the other packs if they started howling. It was time for Kal to make his move. He Identified each of them again.
[Garghound | Abyssal Spawn 9]
[Garghound | Abyssal Spawn 5]
[Garghound | Abyssal Spawn 9]
[Garghound | Abyssal Spawn 7]
The pack he was following had four members. Three of them were at a higher level than him but after seeing them fight he was at least mostly confident he could pull it off. They were all inside a small clearing at the center of their territory fighting over the corpse of a garghound pup that was stupid enough to stray from its pack.
Health:
520/520
Stamina:
734/760
Wrath:
401
Keeping up with the garghounds was easy enough since they seemed to hang around their territory for the most part, only deviating to fight others of their kind, not of their pack. His Wrath had reached a new peak after killing the kuroxet on his way to the mountain. He could feel it now, it didn’t seem to directly affect his emotions out of combat but it felt like it would if he just made the choice. It felt like glowing coals ready to burst into flame once more as fuel was added. It was a strange sensation but he felt like he was getting closer to understanding his birthright, if only slightly.
Kal drew his sword and moved closer stepping into the clearing. The pack immediately stopped their squabble and raised their heads growling. Kal felt his anger and birthright flare at the clear signs of aggression. All sense of nervousness vanished, he would kill this pack, then the next. It was simple, why he had delayed it for so long he didn’t understand. Before the pack moved Kal was already charging towards them, his sword raised.
The pack froze for a moment as he charged them, letting Kal get closer than he probably should have. Kal’s neutral face became a grim sneer as the first of the creatures finally moved. It dashed sideways and tried to come at him from the side to hamstring him, but Kal had seen this tactic already. As the hound closed a second one charged at him from the opposite side. He didn’t use his sword but instead kicked the first hard in the face. It hadn’t expected such a direct move and apparently didn’t expect Kal to have the strength he had either as it barely moved as the kick slammed its mouth shut, shattering several teeth and hurling the hound backwards. Kal swung down with his sword carving a chunk out of the second hound’s shoulder. It was only then that the final two hounds began to move.
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Kal could feel his Wrath building as his anger continued to climb, no it was more than anger-
Kal’s thoughts vanished for a moment as one of the hounds leaped at him from behind and bit down on his shoulder. His anger flared once more and he activated his Wrathful Regeneration as blood poured from his shoulder. Activating the skill felt different somehow it was almost like it was begging to be used. The hound held on tearing its head back and forth, worsening the wound but with his Wrath fueling his regeneration, the pain felt almost too easy to ignore. The thing was heavier than he expected and it restricted his movements as the others continued their joint attacks. Kal could feel his birthright urging him to ignore the pain and kill the weak hounds first but Kal ignored it for the moment and with his free hand grabbed the biter and tore it from his shoulder. The damned thing tore open his shoulder as it went and Kal felt his sword arm weaken dramatically.
One of the other hounds leaped towards him aiming for his the arm held the hound but Kal swung the hound around and slammed it down on the attacker. Both creatures screeched as multiple bones cracked and popped but they both still lived. Fighting so many was dangerous but fleeing now didn’t even cross Kal’s mind as he could feel his regeneration burning through his wounds slowly stopping the bleeding. Kal was receiving notifications almost every moment as his actions broke bones and teeth. His Wrath continued to climb and was actually increasing faster than he was losing it to his regeneration. As the two hounds struggled to stand from his attack he could see their bodies twist and shift and could hear more cracking and popping sounds as they tried to stand.
They could regenerate, and it was fast too. He would need to deal with them first before they could recover, so Kal ignored the other two for a moment and swapped his sword hand. Before the two could stand Kal had buried his sword through the top of one’s head and deep into the torso of the second.
You have slain [Garghound | Abyss Spawn 9] - Bonus experience award for defeating a higher leveled entity.
Mutilation bonus added to total.
Mutilation bonus added to total.
The first died instantly but the second still struggled, pinned to the stone by his blade. The other two hounds leaped towards him one clawed a large gash across Kal’s chest but the second clamped down on the arm he was holding the sword with. Kal gasped this time, the pain beating the burning of his regeneration. He checked his status and saw that he had lost more Health than he had realized. It had dropped by more than sixty percent. His regeneration was still active but it was ultimately losing out against the joint attacks of the hounds. Kal didn’t want to let the pinned hound stand while he dealt with the one on his arm so he twisted the blade hard tearing a wide hole in its chest and stomped his down onto the top of its head. Kal heard the crunch of broken teeth and felt it stop moving for the moment and turned his focus onto the one on his arm.
The hound saw him look at it and tried to disengage but it wasn’t fast enough as Kal pulled it into a bear hug and squeezed. More bones cracked and the thing cried out in pained screeches but it didn’t die. Kal spun and slammed it into the ground just in time to catch the fourth hound by the jaws. It still tried to bite down on his neck but Kal’s grip wouldn’t allow it. His birthright urged him on Kal and the demon began to howl as Kal slowly pulled its mouth apart, and with one final yank, Its jaw tore apart spraying blood all over him.
You have slain [Garghound | Abyss Spawn 5]
As the hound died Kal grinned, his Wrath had once again reached new heights. What disturbed him a few days ago now felt like it was meant to be. His vision shifted into another spectrum and the surviving hounds glowed red in his sight. The weakest one had gotten back to its feet but it was frozen, staring back at him. Kal’s grin faded. Replaced by a grim sneer.
Health:
234/520
Stamina:
540/760
Wrath:
511
Kal’s core burned like it was about to overflow with his fiery birthright.
Health:
234/520
Stamina:
540/760
Wrath:
518
His mind began to fade as his vision locked onto the pathetic creature in front of him.
Health:
234/520
Stamina:
540/760
Wrath:
521
Kal’s mind crumbled and his pain disappeared. He would purge-
Images of mutilated flesh and bone flashed through Kal’s mind as he felt his body move without pain. He was the slayer here, none would stop him from taking what was his birthright. He would slay until all enemies were gone. It was his duty to slay and bathe in the blood of his enemies. Every death empowered him, bringing fear to the foul abyssal spawn. He had grown tired but Kal could not stop. More flashes of crimson greeted him and he hunted every single one down. He hated them, each new enemy more than the last.
Kal woke to his body in agony. He was covered in blood from head to toe, and covered in dozens of deep wounds. His legs were horribly burned, and his boots and most of his pants were simply gone. Replaced by huge blisters at best, and black, bleeding charing at worst. Kal used what little focus he had to activate his Wrathful Regeneration but found that it was already active. He opened his status and was immediately bombarded with notifications.
Level up!
Level up!
Level up!
Health:
14/600
Stamina:
67/970
Wrath:
599