“I can’t believe the Jarl approved you to go on this mission.” Nicholas grumbled at Uther. The three Fettore were being taken by carriage to the location of the creature they were assigned to kill. Naturally, the three outsiders were given their own carriage so the imperials could talk amongst themselves. The prince had taken them to the headquarters of Shield Division, a pretty shady structure filled with equally shady imperial officers, and that lead to their current situation.

“Not this again, Nicholas.” Lee said.

“No, exactly this again, Lee. Uther showed right there back in the lab, he has no control. He was supposed to let you do all the taking, and what does he do? He goes on and goads an imperial prince.”

“Goading? I didn’t goad him. I just asserted myself. I didn’t do anything insulting at all.” Uther protested.

“But you didn’t listen. You didn’t control yourself. I was angry at the seraphim’s words too, even summoned my spear when his goons almost attacked us, but I didn’t speak. I controlled my emotions and used my head. I stuck to the plan and let Lee do all the talking as we discussed. This is exactly why you shouldn’t be here.”

Uther clenched his jaw. It seemed like his fellow Fettore was always out to get him. On one hand Uther wasn’t wrong in trying to instill confidence in his abilities. On the other though, Nicholas was actually right. He hadn’t stuck to the plan. Sure it was a minor thing, and it had no major impact on what happened, but he could’ve let Lee say what needed to be said. No, he should’ve let Lee say that.

Lee began to try and defend Uther once more, but the doomed interrupted him. “No, Nicholas is right.”

Both the men raised their eyebrows in surprise.

“I didn’t fully analyze the situation. I didn’t think, and..I’m sorry.”

Both Lee and Nicholas were stunned. Nicholas was the one to speak in reply after about ten seconds of silence. “You have strength, Uther, but don’t forget that Wisdom is also one of our tenants. Use your head next time. It will bring honor to our clan.”

This time it was Uther’s turned to be shocked. That was the nicest thing Nicholas had ever said to him. Not wanting things to get too awkward, he changed the subject. “So, that was the heir to the entire Nilelands Empire?”

Lee shook his head. “No, he’s the second son, and thus will only be some ruling noble in one of the empire’s conquered territories.”

“How do you know that?”

Lee smiled. “I find it useful to know who I work for. We often take jobs and bounties from the Empire, so I educated myself on their politics.”

Uther nodded, impressed with the bald man. He had taken the opposite approach. They didn’t care much for the Fettore, so he wasn’t going to invest in learning much about them. “So, I used Odin’s Eye on him earlier. I didn’t get much information, did either of you analyze him?”

They both shook their heads side-to-side.

“Well, besides most of his information being blocked, I noticed he was bonded to Ra. Now, I know Ra is a powerful god and one of the gods of the Renewed Pantheon that the Empire serves, but why isn’t he a pact-wielder? Certainly, being both a royal and a seraphim, the emperor would arrange for his line to possess a pact over a bond.”

Lee laughed. “Yeah, that logic does make sense, but only if you don’t know the whole story. While yes, the Renewed is the pantheon the Empire worships. The gods of that faction, like the empire, has a ruler. Ra is that ruler and has a pact with the emperor. All his children must possess a bond with the god, so that when it is time for them to take the throne, they can take their father’s power. That way, Ra also stays in power too and is worshiped above all other gods.”

“I get it. It’s like some version of divine nepotism.”

“Basically.” Lee answered. “It ensures both Ra and the ruling family have the most power within their pantheon and empire, respectively.”

Nicholas leaned in to whisper, “Well, if you have so much insight as to the inner workings of the Empire, what can you tell us about this mysterious “Shield Division” we’ve been hired to work a job for?”

Lee shrugged. “Not much. They’re a secret branch within the Empire that is often sent to deal with border conflicts. No idea what they’re doing here, or why they have a prince among their ranks. Not that it matters anyway. We’re here to do a job and bring honor to our clan and people.” He then turned to the doomed, “Uther, what do you know about this type of creature we’re hunting?”

Right befor they boarded the carriages, the prince had given Lee, who’s subsequently given a scroll of collected info on their target. It was a kraken. Uther hadn’t dealt with a kraken directly, but had hunted a cousin of the creature. It was a giant octopus, and it was harassing local sailors before Uther came to finish it off. So, knowing that, he felt confident in handling this foe.

“Krakens are aquatic tentacular ocean predators that could grow very large, like the size of a galleon ship.” Uther answered. “It’s been rumored that they can change skin color and possess psionic abilities. According to scout reports,” he said while reading the scroll, “It’s hiding in a small cave nestled in one of the rocks against the coastline. One thing doesn’t add up to me though.”

“What’s that?”

“Why do they need our help to kill it? I..know the creatures are dangerous, but this whole job seems off. I do not think we should be doing this job.”

“Don’t worry, young Uther.” Lee said. “When we succeed, we’ll bring honor to the Fettore. Once we get there, I bet the thrill of the hunt will help ease your mind.”

As if on cue, the carriages stopped along an isolated stretch of beach. The prince was flanked by another set of crocodilian lizardfolk. This time, the pair had one shield and one blade at the ready. Uther thought it matched the name of the division.

Prince Seteshan began speaking, “Based on the reports we were given, the target was identified as a female with two young present. Your goal is to subdue the three for us to acquire and study.”

And there was the other shoe dropping. Now, Uther knew why they didn’t just collapse the rock above the cave system down on the monster. They wanted it alive. Uther looked at Lee, the doomed clearly conveying his discomfort with this idea.

Lee picked up the hint and engaged the prince, “Subdue? No, we’re here to kill, not capture.”

“You’re here because you were summoned to do as bid.” Seteshan snapped. “Or is your famous beast hunter here not what you claim him to be?” This time, Uther stayed quiet. He decided to let Lee do all the talking. To his surprise though, Lee looked at him expectantly. The older Fettore was deferring to Uther’s expertise.

Uther cleared his throat before answering. “We may be able to capture the younglings, but I will not guarantee that to happen. If it is truly a breeding adult, capturing it is nearly impossible with our skillsets. Plus, if we just injure her, she will likely flee with her children joining her.”

“You cannot be serious.” The prince scowled.

“I’m deadly serious. I will scout out ahead and report back my findings. We will then come up with a plan.” Uther then walked over to the cave. There was a narrow rocky path beside the water, so he walked carefully down it into the darkening cave. As a doomed, Uther had darkvision naturally, so the increasing lack of light did not bother him. Uther controlled his breathing as he went down the path, careful to keep quiet with his steps and monitor the water beside him for any ambush. He saw fish, crustaceans, and even an eel, but no sign of a kraken.

As Uther went further into the cave, the sound of rushing water reached his ears. He thought it odd because he was going away from the crashing waves of the ocean, not toward it. Then, the path took a sharp turn to the right, and he saw what the noise was. The channel of water took a sudden drop off, becoming a waterfall. The waterfall was about twenty feet high and crashed into a pool of water below. There, Uther saw his prey. The kraken was sleeping inside the pool of water which was in a large open space. The tube-like space of the cave had suddenly opened up into a wide dome-shaped cavern.

The creature’s skin was a yellow-brown color, and it was truly gargantuan. It’s large body was at least twenty-feet long excluding its tentacles, and it took up nearly the entirety of the pool of water below. Surprisingly enough the pool of water didn’t take up the entire cavern floor, and there was a narrow strip of sand on one side. Uther knew instantly, that the pool of water must be directly connected to the ocean below somehow. One, the kraken was much too big to enter through the narrow tunnel, and two, the entire cavern would’ve been filled with seawater if it hadn’t.

The ceiling of the domed cavern was filled with bioluminescent moss that gave off a gentle blue glow. Uther was glad of that, it would make it easier for his two human comrades to be able to see their prey. There were a couple dark shapes moving under the kraken. Uther couldn’t tell what they were exactly. So, he carefully stuck his head out a little further to peer over the waterfall to get a better look.

Suddenly, the kraken’s large alien eye snapped open. Uther’s heart skipped a beat, and he threw himself back. He lost a bit of his footing and his right boot splashed against the water. Uther moved around the corner to be out of sight and pressed his back against the stone. It was just in time too, because he saw the blue light from the cavern partially shining into the tunnel immediately get snuffed out. Uther had no doubt that the kraken was right there, its eye staring at where he’d just been.

There was a guttural deep growl before the kraken went back into it’s pool of water. Uther let out a quiet sigh of relief. He was just about to go back and let his comrades know what he found when he heard a set of high-pitch grunts and squeaks, two sets of them actually. Steeling himself, he took a chance and looked back out again. The large kraken had its back to Uther and was..playing? Its large tentacles were happily splashing about the water. Uther’s eyes widened as he saw that the large kraken wasn’t alone.

No, it had two children. Two young krakens, each about the size of Uther’s head swam around the larger one. They squeaked and grunted in joy as they played and frolicked with the large monstrosity. The large kraken cooed and gave a gentle purring noise as it tended to the little ones with affection. Uther decided to use Odin’s Eye while it was distracted.

Name: Kraken Matriarch

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Tier: 1

Race: Monster Type: Kraken

Pact Status: None

Pools & Resistances

Health: 1,015/1,566

Mana: 500/500

Stamina: 150/300

Armor: None

Resistances: Mental 50%

Creatures and monsters grew in a manner vastly different to people. Whereas people had levels, monsters had tiers. Uther was unsure of the exact meaning behind tiers. Most creatures he hunted were tier zero, but the stat didn’t mean everything within that tier was at the same level of strength. There were plenty of things he’d hunted at tier zero that were way stronger than others at the same rank.

However, Uther did know that once something got to tier one, the level of strength was vastly superior. Monsters and beasts grew in leaps and bounds versus how people, even pact-wielders, grew in small increments. This thing was no simple creature. Seeing as it was adequately distracted by playing with its children, Uther decided to head back to his comrades.

On his way back however, the sense of unease and conflict grew in Uther. He’d never had this during a hunt, but he felt something wasn’t right. First off, it was clear the prince wasn’t giving them the full story. That cocky seraphim wanted these creatures alive, and the noble gave off no indication it was for a benevolent purpose. Uther wasn’t against that necessarily. He knew krakens were dangerous, but there was something about the matriarch he could sense, an intelligence? A kindness?

For the first time when hunting a creature, Uther didn’t feel the bloodthirsty sensation from a target that he always had before. Well, it was protective of its brood which Uther had experienced with beasts before, it wasn’t an outright malicious killer. In the past, knowing that there was a violent urge to his prey, gave the Fettore comfort. This however, made him feel like a monster. It was just simply playing with its children with no care about the outside world. “Stop it. They’re monsters. They don’t deserve pity.” He admonished himself. “What would your family say?” With that bit of self-recrimination done, Uther had firmed his resolve more and proceeded to the exit.

“There is no way we’re going to be able to restrain the mother.” Uther said, ten minutes later after coming out of the cave. “While the cavern is spacious enough, it’s still limiting, and she has a quick exit back into the ocean. We also don’t have the equipment or near-enough man power for that.”

“What do you propose then?” Nicholas asked. “The Jarl and all of Skjoldheim are counting on us to succeed in this mission. I will not fail them. I will never let my strength be in doubt.”

“While we cannot capture the mother, I believe we can kill her. If we do that, the younglings won’t run away. They’re too young and will be scared. They won’t leave her side. Still, I’ve never dealt with a young kraken before. They’re likely still dangerous. So, we should injure them first to make them less of a threat.” Uther answered.

The trio continued to converse until they came up with a solid plan. Needless to say, the alchemist prince was not happy with the plan. When Uther said that this is the best the empire was going to get or risk having the krakens eventually leave, the seraphim conceded. “Fine,” he spat. “As long as you keep one of them alive and I have access to the bodies after they’re freshly killed. After an hour, they will be of no use to me.”

The Fettore nodded, not really that concerned about how “useful” it will be to the alchemist. Uther assumed it must be for some kind of potion the alchemist was interested in making. Speaking of, before they went into the cave, Nicholas pulled out some potions and handed one to each of them. “This is a potion of Silent Stealth. It stops our bodies from making any noise. It also helps us to blend into the surrounding environment, but its affects only last for forty-five seconds and that’s only if we’re not spotted. So we will drink it right before we enter the kraken’s cavern.”

The other two nodded gratefully and began entering the cave. Uther took point since he had already traversed the area before. Also, Uther was the only one with darkvision. Once they were by the curve that led to the waterfall and the blue glow helped the humans to see once more, they all looked at each other. Nicholas began moving his hands. It was Skjold-sign, a hand signing language that all warriors in Skjoldheim learned be they Fettore, marines, or just wall guards.

“I kill big enemy.” Nicholas signed. “You each injure child.”

“I hunter. Best for me to kill big enemy.” Uther signed.

“No. I leader. Big enemy my job. Control. Use your head.” He signed the last words and stared at Uther meaningfully.

Uther nodded. They all took the potions and then stealthily entered the domed cavern. Surprisingly enough, there was a set of stairs carved in the stone going down to the sand. None of them used that though. Instead, they carefully spread out as they scaled the porous stone of the cave. Uther got in position and raised his spear while Lee was still getting his bulky form in place and Nicholas was actually scaling the top of the dome cavern.

Uther focused on his target, the smaller of the two young krakens. It wasn’t smaller than its counterpart by much, but it was still noticeable to Uther’s eyes. He then activate the hallmark ability of his Hunter profession, Mark Prey. The silhouette of the creature glowed red in Uther’s vision. The ability allowed him to know the being’s location as long as they’re within a mile of Uther for half an hour. During that time, he also had a five percent boost to damaging that target. If you added in the bonus from his spear, it was an amazing boon for the Fettore warrior.

While Uther was waiting for his comrades to get ready, his mind was left to ponder on his thoughts. Nicholas had told him time and time again to use his head. Now that he was left waiting and not being completely engrossed in the hunt, Uther’s mind began to wonder about their situation.

This alchemist, this prince, wants these things alive. Why? The empire has plenty of strong warriors and trappers. Why did they hire us? Are we expendable? Though he was trying to push those wondering thoughts out, they came right back.

I don’t like that guy, and I don’t like this job. Something about this isn’t right. Uther looked down at the two young krakens playing with their mother. Is it because they’re kids? He didn’t know it, but his Monstrous Disdain Feat kicked in and affected his psyche some right then. No, stop it, Uther! They’re monsters just like those manticores that killed your family. They would kill you and countless innocents if given the chance. There’s nothing good about them. They all need to die.

Uther scowled and noticed his allies were in position. They all nodded to each other and got ready. He pulled back on his spear slightly and refocused on his target. It was time to end this threat. Then he saw something that gave him pause. The two young krakens each took one of their tentacles and bumped it against each other. They pulled back as if the contact had been explosive before whipping their tentacles back together in a slap.

The disdain that drove Uther shattered on seeing that. Goosebumps arose across his body as he realized that was a handshake. That was almost the exact same secret handshake he had with his brother. These monsters were nothing like he’d ever experienced before. They were both kind and intelligent. He had to stop this! This was not right. This would not bring honor to the clan. Uther begins to shout in warning, but he was too late.

“Gungnir’s Justice.” Lee said as he threw his weapon.

“Descending Damnation!” Nicholas shouted at the same time as he let go of the rock and fell upon the large kraken. Lee’s spear hit the center of his target’s body, nearly bisecting the larger young kraken in half, while Nicholas struck. The mother kraken lifted her head up just in time to have Nicholas drive his weapon between the monster’s eyes. The large kraken let out a shrill, blood-curdling scream of pain as it jolted back and began to flail. It began wildly flinging its tentacles out in every direction in a mix of desperation and anger.

One of those tentacles struck Uther square in the chest. He coughed in pain and lost his footing. Uther’s Fettore training kicked in as he fell and he slammed the butt end of his weapon downward. In a split second, he used his Vault Kick ability to send himself forward instead of down and crashing into the sand below, landing safely from the fall. Uther looks to see both his fellow Fettore on the sand but at the water’s edge instead of at the cave wall like himself.

Nicholas’s left arm was bloody and held limp while Lee seemed to be spared from any serious injury. Both of them were completely focused on the bleeding and frantic kraken. In fact, they were both so focused, that they didn’t even notice the large chunk of rock falling down toward them. “Gungnir’s Justice.” Uther said as he activated the skill and threw his spear. His blood red weapon flew upward and shattered the stone above, saving his allies.

Lee turned and gave a quick nod in gratitude before refocusing on the kraken. Uther gave a slight smile at the acknowledgement before summoning his spear back to his right. For all his perception to help his allies, he wasn’t paying enough attention to help himself. As soon as Uther summoned his spear and took a step toward the pair to try and stop them, another piece of rock, this one much smaller, loosened from the ceiling above and hit Uther square in the head. The doomed had a tough head and a layer of protection with his two curved horns, but the rock still caused serious damage. His head began to spin and he fell to his butt, both disoriented and concussed.

As Uther tried to recover and get his bearings, the two men went on the attack toward the monster once more. “Spears of Punishment!” Nicholas shouted as he raised his spear in the air. All around the spectacled warrior, a dozen spears made entirely of magic light began to form, floating entirely in air.

The injured kraken, now enraged, noticed the spell being cast and snapped her tentacles at Nicholas in a concentrated whip-like strike. Nicholas lowered his spear, pointing it at the kraken. With a silent command the conjured spears of light flew forward. The constructs both pierced and intercepted the incoming large tentacles, causing the kraken to recoil. Blue blood sprayed out in all directions from the strike.

Lee took advantage of the creature’s temporary withdrawal. He activated Summon Spear recalling his weapon in the water to appear in his grip before pointing it forward and activated “Reach of Gungnir.” Uther slowly stood up and used his spear for balance. His eyes widened at the display his two elder warriors were experiencing. Lee’s spear miraculously lengthened to be four-times as long and pierced the mother kraken right in its open and flailing mouth.

Despite Nicholas’s injury, the Fettore jumped on top of the elongated spear and ran across it in a burst of speed. The matriarch flailed a few of her tentacles at Nicholas, but he activated the enchantment of his Cloak of the Cloud Elemental. His form became hazy as he ran, and a pair of tentacles seemed to faze through part of his body. While that would normally kill someone, the enchantment reduced it to just some minor wounds to the warrior. Nicholas grunted as he continued to press forward.

With his one good arm, Nicholas held his spear forward and said, “Thrust of Gungnir.” His body surged forward in a flash and his spear entered in the grievous wound he’d inflicted in between the kraken’s eyes previously.

His spear miraculously lengthened and pierced the mom kraken right in its open mouth. Nicholas jumped on the elongated spear, ran across it and repeated “Thrust of Gungnir at the wound previously done to the mother’s head, doing so even with one good arm. There was a sickening squelch as the spear went deep in the open wound and penetrated the kraken’s brain. The kraken’s tentacles went suddenly limp. It let out a sad, low cry before her large red eyes went distant, and it crashed into the water.

“No,” Uther uttered to himself as he had just stood back up again, leaning on his spear for support. The doomed Fettore was going through a whirlwind of conflicting emotion at that moment. On one hand, he had just witnessed both amazing teamwork and skills exemplary of what a pair of Fettore can do. Spears of Punishment and Reach of Gungnir were both rare and powerful skills that Gungnir sparsely blesses people with. In fact, Uther was hoping to claim Reach of Gungnir as a new ability as one of his prizes.

On the other hand, it couldn’t compete with the mix of despair he experienced. He had wanted to stop, but was too slow to act. Then, a mere piece of heavy rock prevented him from preventing needless death. “We shouldn’t have done this.” Uther said.

“You didn’t do anything.” Nicholas replied as Lee retracted his spear and brought him back to the sand. “For having such a reputation as a bloodthirsty hunter, you seemed to be particularly absent in this fight. When I told you to exert control, I didn’t mean to not fight at all.” He chastised Uther as he allowed his body to revert back to normal

“Now Nicholas, he did help.” Lee interjected. “He saved us from being crushed by a piece of falling stone earlier.

Nicholas flared his nostrils. “That is still no excuse.” He then pointed an accusatory finger at Uther. “We could’ve died, boy. Why did you not fight?”

Uther grit his teeth at this accusation. He had enough of Nicholas’s doubts. He did what he believed to be right and didn’t attack recklessly. Sure, it was not ideally timed, but he did what he thought best. “Nicholas, for once I did use my head. Can’t you see, there’s something wrong with this hunt? The empire needing us for this? That super shady prince? I tried to stop you, but I was too late. I tried again, but in saving you from being hit by falling debris, I was struck by a rock. There is no honor in this hunt. Can’t you tell?”

The angry man paused as he took in Uther’s words. That didn’t mean he stopped scowling however. Eventually, he replied. “You are not the leader of this hunt. I am. We will show loyalty to our clan in accomplishing this task.” Nicholas said those words meaningfully, emphasizing two of the tenants of the Fettore.

“The job is done, Uther. Nothing you can do now.” Lee said as he put a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “We brought honor to our home.”