Chapter 4: A Desperate Gamble – Arianna

Arianna ran, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Her lungs burned, her legs ached, but she forced herself to keep moving. She wasn’t used to this kind of exertion. In her old life, she had been active but not athletic—certainly not someone who ran for their life. But now wasn’t the time to think about that.

She focused on Cassis’s back, on the rhythmic pounding of her feet against the pavement, trying to block out everything else. The grotesque sights of corpses lining the streets, the horrifying creatures feasting on them—it was too much. She felt sick, but she swallowed the bile in her throat and pushed forward.

“Here it is,” Cassis said, his voice sharp and urgent.

They stopped in front of a moderate-looking two-story house with a small driveway. The front door was demolished, splinters of wood scattered across the entrance. Then—

A scream.

Cassis didn’t hesitate. He gripped his baseball bat and rushed inside. Arianna followed, her heartbeat hammering in her ears.

She barely registered the entryway as she burst into the house, sprinting past the ruined furniture and broken frames. Then, in the living room, she saw it.

A two-meter-tall orc, its bipedal form grotesquely pig-like, its massive tusked mouth chewing something red. A middle-aged man knelt on the floor, his face twisted in agony as he clutched the bleeding stump where his arm had been. The woman beside him—his wife, no doubt—tried to drag him away, tears streaming down her face. A younger man, armed only with a chair, swung it desperately at the monster, shielding a trembling little girl behind him.

The orc had Cassis’s father’s arm in its mouth.

Before Arianna could even process the horror, Cassis was already mid-swing. His bat connected with the back of the orc’s skull. The creature grunted, stumbling forward before turning with an enraged snarl. It swiped at Cassis, who barely ducked in time, the air whistling as the massive hand passed over him.

Seizing the opportunity, Cassis’s brother swung the chair with all his strength. The wooden legs splintered upon impact, breaking apart uselessly. The orc turned its wrathful gaze toward him, preparing to strike.

Cassis didn’t let it. He lunged, leaping onto the orc’s back, wrapping his legs around its thick neck. With both hands, he gripped the bat and rained blow after blow onto its head.

The orc shrieked, clawing at him with long, jagged nails. Blood trickled from Cassis’s arms as the nails raked his skin, but he didn’t stop. The orc, growing desperate, charged backward, slamming itself against the wall in an attempt to dislodge him.

Cassis groaned in pain as the impact knocked the air from his lungs. He held on—until the second slam. This time, he lost his grip and fell heavily to the floor, momentarily dazed.

Arianna gripped her shovel tighter. Now was her chance.

The orc clutched its head, still reeling from the relentless attack. She ran forward and jumped, aiming for its eye just as she had done with the goblin before.

The shovel struck true. The blade of the tool drove deep into the orc’s left eye socket, but she lost her grip on the handle. The orc howled in agony, thrashing wildly.

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One of its flailing arms struck her with incredible force. Pain exploded through her body as she was sent flying into a wall. Her vision swam, and she struggled to stay upright, pressing a trembling hand against the cold surface for stability.

Cassis’s brother grabbed another chair, using it as a shield to keep the orc at bay. Their mother, her face streaked with tears, had disappeared—but then she returned, a kitchen knife clutched in her shaking hands.

Cassis staggered back to his feet, blood streaming down a fresh wound on his forehead. With a guttural yell, he swung his bat again, the force of his strike fueled by desperation. The orc wailed as it staggered back, barely standing.

Taking the cue, Cassis’s brother and mother attacked as well. The kitchen knife dug into flesh, the chair battered against its side. The orc crumbled under the onslaught.

Arianna’s gaze darted around the room. She had been knocked near the fireplace. Her hands found the iron poker resting in its bucket. Gritting her teeth, she seized it and rushed forward.

With the last of her strength, she drove the poker straight into the orc’s heart.

The creature convulsed before finally slumping forward, lifeless.

[System Message: Orc (Rank E) slain. Exp gained. Pseudo-awakener physique level up.]

[Patron Bonus: +30 CP (for saving mortals) | +40 CP (for killing a sentient being beyond your level)]

Everyone stood there, panting heavily. Then—

“Marcus!” Cassis’s mother screamed, dropping the knife and bolting toward the kitchen.

Arianna’s stomach twisted. The father—

They all followed her into the kitchen. Cassis’s father was on the floor, his severed arm still bleeding. The flow had slowed, but it was still steady, dangerously so. His face was pale, his breathing shallow. He was slipping away.

Cassis froze for only a second before he tore off part of his shirt and wrapped it tightly around his father’s upper arm. A tourniquet. It wasn’t much, but it might buy them time.

Then he turned to Arianna, his voice sharp with desperation. “A potion! Do you have one?!”

Arianna’s mind blanked for a second before realization struck. The Patron Shop! She could buy one!

“System!” she screamed in her mind. “Open the Patron Shop!”

A translucent blue screen appeared before her, displaying the shop’s interface. She hurriedly typed small healing potion into the search bar. Relief flooded her when the item appeared. She had 90 CP—she could afford it, it was only 50 VP!

But when she hit the buy button, it was greyed out.

Her heart sank. She looked at the price. 100 CP.

“No,” she whispered. This couldn’t be happening.

Cassis’s expression crumpled as she met his gaze. His legs gave out and he fell to the ground. He looked utterly broken.

Arianna’s hands clenched into fists. No. She refused to let this happen. Not when they had come this far.

Then she heard it—the distant howls outside.

Her resolve hardened.

She had one way to earn more points.

Without another word, she grabbed the iron poker and ran out of the house. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears as she spotted two hyena-like creatures prowling the street. Keeping low, she crept behind a parked car.

When they passed by—she struck.

Her poker slammed into the first one’s head. It collapsed, dazed. The second one lunged at her, its teeth sinking into her empty left arm that she had brought up just in time to shield her face. White-hot pain surged through her, but she didn’t stop. She raised the poker and stabbed. Again. And again.

The first hyena recovered and still crawling on the ground, latched onto her leg. She screamed but forced herself to keep stabbing.

Finally, the first creature went still. Giving herself one last push she stabbed the poker into the head of the monster mauling her leg.

[System Message: Hyena (Rank F) slain. Exp gained. Hyena (Rank F) slain. Exp gained.]

[Patron Bonus: +20 CP (for killing two sentient beings)]

Enough.

Arianna, bleeding and gasping, bought the potion and staggered back into the house.

“Cassis!” she croaked, tossing the vial to him.

His hands closed around it instantly. Without hesitation, he poured it into his father’s mouth.

A golden light enveloped the wound. The bleeding stopped. His father’s expression relaxed, his breathing steadied, the colour returned to his face.

Arianna exhaled in relief. She had done it. A smile appeared on her face, but the ground suddenly came closer.

Then everything went black.