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The waves of mysterious fog hover over the road, leading to the outskirts of Cloudburn. Mildly wounded, Kilian tumbles through the muddy, dirty burned ground. Few of the men lay scattered through the grassy bushes. Rumbling footsteps came from within the deep fog. The silhouette of the large creature came closer. Gust of winds came towards its direction, dispersing the blockage of visibility.
“Your mouth is soaked,” Kilian said, glancing at Tursus walking on his four legs along the road.
He stopped, followed by a gulp as if he ingested one large meal. “Too many Five-Horned Bulls here among the fields,” Tursus said. “We have to keep moving. Otherwise, most of us are toast.”
|| +346 XP (519 FH.Bulls Kills)
+50 XP(50 notes read)
[Level 1: 560/5000]
Automatic Documentation Updating…
* Arrive at the border of Cloudburn
||
Kilian climbed on top of Tursus, and he sped up on the road. Combining his with his aura, the fog disperses ahead of its path. The view ahead is a behold, technically explaining the heavy fog.
Behind a set of concrete walls, a couple of black cooling towers blew plumes of white and black mix. Kilian views the map, approximating how much closer he is away from Cloudburn.
“How much farther away?” Tursus asked despite seeing the skyline of Cloudburn.
“About fifteen miles away,” Kilian replied, cutting a bandage, and applying it to his shoulder.
“You think they are there yet?”
“Who knows? They were supposed to follow Fredrich’s lead. Even took my damn truck.” Kilian reopened a pile of documents he found earlier during the ambush. The notes are filled with one-pager vagueness. Through his visuals, he received one significant detail.
The information of one of the deceased financial accounts. Connecting to one of the banks in Cloudburn. “Got an update,” Kilian muttered.
||Name: Redacted
Vault Number: 15
Code: 3D81JL90B||
||Incoming Call||
“Go on,” Kilian said, opening the call.
Fredrich’s face appears in the upper right corner. “Where the hell are you at? Our squads arrived fifteen minutes ago.”
“Ah, trouble. You guys didn't even come to help out annihilating these Five-Horned bulls. Me and Tursus had to take a detour on the fields to kill the whole herd. As well as a group of hostiles.” Kilian then ordered the squads to stay on hold till his arrival. Much to Fredrich’s frustrated deep breaths, he agreed. Kilian ended the call, feeling better, giving Tursus a signal.
Tursus applied the brakes to his legs, coming to an abrupt stop, allowing Kilian to jump down to the road. “Thanks for the break, we better go now,” Kilian said, levitating into the air. He went under Tursus, carrying him. Swarming through the fog, he uses his shoulders to brace Tursus as he picks up speed.
|| 98 mph <- -> 560'
↑
75 mph____ 275'
↑
54 mph____ 85'
↑
MPH___ FT ||
He was able to reduce the time to nearly two minutes as he almost broke the sound barrier before descending swiftly to the plains adjacent to a forest towards the east. Dirt spewed across his feet. Hitting rocks tingles his sole, but it will have to do. The pileup of dirt gathered behind his soles. He leans back enough for Tursus’s hind legs to touch the edge of the ground. He quickly swirls his left hand below Kilian, grabbing him. His quads flexed, immediately stopping to a halt. Holding Kilian in the air, he braces himself with his right hand, slamming the ground. Swirling gusts of trees briefly as the remnants of qi disperse from the palm.
“Let your hand go,” Kilian grunted through his lungs.
“Oh, shoot.” Tursus releases his grip.
Kilian landed down, straining his knees. “That went well.” He turned back to Tursus, who was at a standstill. “Need a push?”
“My hind legs are cramped. Just push me to the floor,” Tursus said.
Kilian leaps up into the air, thrusting his legs towards the torso, forcibly knocking him off. “Better?”
Tursus grunts as he slowly regains his hind leg’s strength. While dealing with that, Kilian heads to the edge of the forest where the OLRS signals company. “You can come out now!”
A few within Fredrich’s group came out from the bushes. Odd, where the hell is Fredrich? Kilian thought as they were the only ones on site. Bizarre, as all were supposed to meet near this location. “Any intel on where the General is?”The three shook their heads.
“Any other higher-up?”
Again, heads shaken. “We were left here,” they said. “But, the Colonel did find us and told us to wait for you.”
“So, are you telling me that General Fredrich decided to abandon you all here just so I can recruit you into my team?”
“Yes, sir.”
Kilian ordered them to leave the forest. Tursus is now sitting, the four heads up and all convene. “I don’t know what that man was thinking, but if he had to leave you guys out, at least wait until the main event concedes,” he said, disappointed at Fredrich. “Does he do this with anyone else?”
“We are just rookies. Going under him is just difficult. Getting his impressions is such a travesty,” one of them said, prompting Kilian to ask for their names.
“Anything I should know right before you get abandoned, Hirko?” Kilian’s eyes were directed at the middle of the three. Hirko has nothing remaining. He accepted and enlisted the three into his team. A commotion was heard to his left, and all face in that direction. Kilian traced qi coming from within multiple barrages of heavy blast. They are really going in without my approval.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Tursus got himself up, “You three, get on!” They all hopped on and sprinted off with Kilian following behind.
Lifting further into the air, Kilian gets a clear view of Cloudburn, and as expected, the border of the town is at a ruckus. He dives back down, flying beside Tursus. “Bombs away. They are already on the move,” Kilian frustrated.
He diverges off from the road, speeding to his right, withdrawing his black blade.
||Beep…Beep
[Health Status: Positive]
Automatic Documentation Updating…
* Arrive at the border of Cloudburn
* Assist annihilating the Cloudburn's border guards
[700 Guards]
[287 Deceased](413 remaining)||
Kilian roars among the crowd. He crashed and landed on the battlefield, offering one slash. A thin line appears in front and around him. The line ignited a blast and mutilated the men in half.
||+34 XP||
The guards shifted focus towards him and conserved stamina. He stops using his blade, going with the knuckles and the outsoles of his boots.
He aims for the head, striking through metallic helmets, and cracking the floors. Cracks of dirt are protruding from below. Peeling off the protruding floors, he barraged piles of dirt projectiles before shooting at all of them. Lifeless bodies scattered across the floor in puddles of blood.
Kilian swiped off all the dirt and debris from his clothes, checking the soles of his boots. He observes the constant booms and shockwaves vibrating his feet. Then saw Selina and hurtle towards her, striking the guard from behind.
“Did Fredrich order you all to barge in?” Kilian asked.
“Yes, and I can’t just leave him there!”
‘Well, you have your reasons. Fredrich went out of line.”
Kilian and Selina finish off the remaining guards within the vicinity. Likely causing attention from within the borders as it’s too loud and out in the open. Kilian hopes the tall walls would do the job as it’s an actual border wall similar to a castle surrounding Cloudburn.
Fredrich, in range, heard the commotion and furiously went up to the two only to be interrupted by more guards, barging in his direction. In return, he continued sprinting, removing his mask, and blew a whistle of frisky ice on the floor.
Growing slippery, the guards trip over each other. Few broke their ribs despite the armored layer. Cracking sounds from the helmets turned the tide. Fredrich dashed around the pile of wounded guards and went clockwise around them as if he were closing in on prey. He went for the second time but pierced his blade through the ice, outlining the circumference. Stopping in front of them while the blade was still in the ice, he channeled his qi through the blade before ejecting his sword.
When the tip of the blade leaves contact with the ice, the whole circumference summons a wide ice beam from below the pile, shooting upwards. The horrified faces inside the frozen pillar meet their end when Fredrich slices through the tower swiftly and brutally. Blood squirted out of the cracks and the whole tower shattered like shards of glass, free-falling to the floor, leaving blood stains covering the pure white color of ice. He stumbled over a few, staining his shoes, but he carelessly walked away from the scene to find all had been eliminated.
“What got you so late?!” Fredrich loudly asked.
“You are supposed to wait for command, damn it!”
“Be faster next time,” Fredrich said, not giving in.
Kilian shook his head, realizing the attention it might have caused. “Maybe if you were patient, we could have convened over the new intel I received about the vault in this town for Christ's sake!” He went back to Tursus, chewing on a dead body. “Are you serious?!”
||+59 XP
[Level 1: 653/5000] ||
Tursus swallowed his meal, then told Kilian the whole area was clear.
“Good finally, but now what are you gonna do because you ain’t going in there as if the workers ain’t freaking out seeing a Tursus.”
“Way ahead of you, already planning to stay out here anyway. I’ll hold my post here till then,” Tursus said.
Selina checks up on Kilian’s shoulder wound he got from the [Five-Horned Bulls]. He insisted he was fine, peeling off the bandage, revealing it dried up. Fredrich walked past the two, heading off.
Damn that man! Kilian internally boiled at the older man once again ignoring his orders. Selina sensing his qi heating up, soothes him with a cold burst of qi eventually calming him down. “Let’s go, my team will follow yours. Fredrich is alone.”
“His team is dead?”
“Yeah. Not even one made it,” Selina said.
“No wonder,” Kilian said, looking at the three from earlier. “He shouldn’t have abandoned those three in the forest. He ain’t fit for the crowd.” He then told Selina to head out first with her team, who were waiting for her, to watch Fredrich and he’ll follow behind her. All departed except Tursus and the three. They rather stay put than deal with Fredrich again.
Annoyed by how slow the walking took, Kilian swarmed past Fredrich, eventually reaching the closing gates. He gave a boost, striking through the hardwood, damaging the concrete frame as parts of the hardwood pulled it inward. Oh no.
||[Structure Unstable!]||
Visible cracks appear on the walls, and to his dismay, Kilian yells for the two to get out of the way. He stomps through the path, heading back outside, jolting the two upward midair, near-missing the collapsing border wall. Shit! Kilian heard another commotion from behind.
Clang!
With his back thrusted back to the contact, Kilian turned around seeing a huge rough dude, smelling drunk. His untrimmed beard makes it even worse as his breath emits more alcohol.
||Alcohol effect Blocked||
Oh, Damn! That is some messed up madman. Without any other options, he clenched his fists, blasting the drunk man across the main street. The man is so intoxicated and heavy that the impact from Kilian causes a screeching sound while rolling. He stood up and slumped down followed by a clunking sound from his greaves.
“You don’t dare!” The drunk man yelled, spitting off bits of alcohol, and picking up his axe.
“Dude, you fucking drunk stank. I can still even smell it from here,” Kilian said, withdrawing his black sword. “Someone around here is gonna get drunk from you.”
||Drunk Business Mob Boss HP: 500/500||
A group of similar appearances appears beside the man. Quickly figuring out one of the mob bosses in town and how unfortunate they look, Kilian grew deeply annoyed. “Screw this! Flammenpfütze!” He deployed a puddle of water, splashed on their shoes. Followed by a faint beam hitting the puddle, striking the puddle, sparking a blaze, spreading to the mob.
||Drunk Business Mob Boss HP: 250/500|| -> ||Drunk Business Mob Boss HP: 10/500||
||Mob Crowd 1 HP: 0/120||
||Mob Crowd 2 HP: 0/120||
“You bastard…argh!” The drunk boss said, spurting blood and vomiting alcohol, collapsing next to the burning corpses of his men. “Umph.”
“With your dying breath, tell me where the vault is stored,” Kilian said, pressing his boot on his back shoulder.
“I’m not telling you a damn thing,” the drunk boss said, prompting Kilian to fatally stab him
||[Drunk Business Mob Boss HP: 0/500]
Automatic Documentation Updating…
Documentation Completed
* Arrive at the border of Cloudburn
* Assist annihilating the Cloudburn's border guards
New Documentation:
* Head down to Cloudburn Inc. Vault Center
+120 XP (Mob Boss killed)
+25 XP (25 kills)
[Level 1: 798/5000]||
Kilian departs the scene as the flames envelop the bodies before dissipating. All witnesses at the scene took a step back. Few sounds of doors slamming. The witnesses gave him space as he entered deep into the town.
“Wait up,” Selina said, catching up with Kilian. “Hey, Fredrich, we are leaving you behind!”
“Gosh damn it, I’m coming,” Fredrich’s low voice from afar and getting himself up from the ground. He dashed beside the two. “Please tell me you know what you’re doing.”
“That sign up there should tell us,” Kilian said, pointing to the town square directory sign, tall in the sky. “Perfect, let's go to the right.” The three head to the right with uncertainties of what Cloudburn could lead.