The huge Brute stumbles toward me, frantically swinging its bent pipe with what little strength it has left. Rolling under one of its strikes and quickly running behind it, I gouge long slices into its calves. This same set of events has been going on for ten or so minutes as the Brute continues to bleed out but refuses to surrender.
I groan and roll my eyes, “Just fall over already. You did it; the other two have probably gotten away.”
As if accepting my conjecture, the huge Brute collapses to the floor with a ground-shaking thud. It makes a noise reminiscent of throaty laughter before once again falling into unconsciousness.
I stomp my heel, breaking the tiles beneath my feet, “Ugh! How annoying those other two Brutes probably had more than a hundred essence between the two of them! Not to mention this big one is going to be super inconvenient and much more dangerous to transport for research! Were they a family unit?... Frustrating!”
“If you’re done over there, can you help us!?” I hear Aponi cry.
Looking back, I see Aponi on one knee, gripping her bleeding and shredded shin with one hand and holding her rifle threateningly with the other. Next to her, Jimmy stands knocking his hand against the side of his rifle that is apparently jammed. Around the two of them, four Crawlers screech, biting at them and then hopping away when Aponi turns her rifle on them.
Confused, I search for the others, finding Eden battling a Crawler off to the side by herself when I witness Kardama running over and stabbing the Crawler in the back of the neck with an arrogant laugh. At the same time, Sam is behind the wall shouting at Kardama to get back over to Aponi and Jimmy to help them like he’s supposed to be.
Seeing Kardama acting like a moron, my frown grows deeper, “If everyone was doing what they were told, you wouldn’t need my help,” I reply with a disgusted grunt.
Raising the scythe, the blade cracks, and I swing it upward in a large arc. A blade of blood shoots from the razor edge and into the abdomen of a Crawler.
[30% Contribution - 3 Essence Acquired]
The blood blade proceeds onward, running through the scalp of another Crawler.
[90% Contribution - 12 Essence Acquired]
Everyone halts in surprise at the sudden death of two Crawlers before slowly turning their heads in my direction.
I smile and point at one of the Crawlers, “Kill that one while I capture the other one.”
With my words, the two remaining Crawlers immediately begin to flee. Speedily I run to the back of the cage, cut my palms, and jerk the cage around to face the fleeing Crawlers. Next, I fire a set of chains through the bars of the cage at the Crawler I had decided to capture. I manipulate the chain to wrap around its neck, and I plant my feet firmly against the base of the cage.
Yanking the chains back, the Crawler rears up on its back legs like a horse trying to buck a person off. I pull even harder, and then the Crawler falls onto its back. Rapidly I retract the chains into my palms while the Crawler struggles fiercely, but once I manage to get it into the cage, I fuse the now shortened chains to the bars of the cage, making its struggle futile. After that, I walk around to the front and liquify the flange that I originally placed just for this occasion, sealing the Crawler within the enclosure.
‘Liquifying and manipulating blood that has already been outside of the body for a while is really annoying and difficult.’
The Crawler screeches sporadically while continuing to bang against the cage wildly, but its struggle is in vain.
Kardama throws his arms up, “H-How did you do that so easy!? Also, where did that cage come from?” Kardama asks oblivious of his failures.
In a bad mood and somewhat disappointed in their performance, I speak in a low tone, “The bigger question is, how did you all have so much trouble? Crawlers are only a problem when they have a numbers advantage. Otherwise, excluding their constitution, they’re only just a bit stronger than a peak level 1 human. The problem is you let them work together when you should have separated one from the pack, and then while someone distracts the others, you focus on the one that is separated. Rinse and repeat, and they’ll eventually run away.”
I can see Kardama’s mind processing what I just told him, and then an angry expression comes over him, “...If you knew, then why didn’t you tell us!?”
My poor mood is worsened by Kardama’s irritatingly loud question, “Because you should have figured it out on your own, and the fact that you didn’t, means you were probably just punching anything that came near you! Oh, and while we’re on the topic, didn’t I tell you to keep the Crawlers away from Jimmy and Aponi? You were the one who was supposed to be distracting them, y’know?!”
Kardama looks simultaneously insulted and embarrassed, “How am I supposed to kill Crawlers and also keep them away from those two idiots!?”
“Who said I wanted you to kill Crawlers!? I told you to distract them, not to kill them! This was a group battle, not some drunken fistfight! Instead of getting close to them to deal a fatal blow, your job was to either make them scared to get too close or make yourself their priority target!”
“You! You’re lucky I’m helping you at all!”
Clenching my fist, I glare at Kardama, “Luck!? I’d say you’re definitely pushing your luck!”
Suddenly, I feel a hand on my shoulder, “Uhm, Eira, maybe you should calm down?” Eden says with a wary tone.
“Me? I’m just teaching the foolish nitwit!” I shout pointing at him with a razor-sharp nail extended.
Oblivious to the threat, Kardama steps forward, nearly piercing himself on the nail, “Are you calling me a nitwit!?” he retorts.
“That’s right! You’re a nitwit until further notice! Speaking of which, Sam!” I shout, turning away from Kardama
Sam’s mouth opens and closes nervously, “What did I do!? I held the bears, all three of them! None of them escaped and peed on Aponi’s things, I swear!” he yells in panic.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“They what!?” Aponi expression tightens, “Ah, damn my leg…”
I shake my head, “Well, first of all, you’re going to carry and clean Aponi’s bag. What I actually wanted was for you to bring me the bear cubs!... I need one for something.”
“Uh, okay.” Sam walks over with the cubs while staring nervously at Aponi.
As soon as he gets close, one cub climbs up Sam’s head while scratching at his face.
Lines of blood appear on Sam’s face, and a few subtle tears leave his eyes, “Ah! Why do you do this to me!?” he yells.
The cub climbs onto his head and coos at me before leaping toward me. I catch it, and it immediately buries its face into my chest as I hug it, “Hello again. Did you miss me?” I whisper to it.
The cub purrs and lifts its head before noticing my shoulder wound and whining, “Don’t worry. I’ll seal it, and it’ll be fine.”
Sealing my wound and with my stress relief bear in my arms, I turn toward the group, “All of you regroup while I see where the other two Brutes ran off to. Aponi, take one of the Crawler corpses and use your Talent on it to heal yourself. Jimmy and Sam, find something sturdy and then tie up the big Brute over there. Eden, keep an eye out for any more Brutes or Crawlers while I’m gone.”
Kardama eyes me with a displeased expression, “What about me?” Kardama asks.
“I want you to think more about the difference between fighting alone and fighting in a group.”
“What!?”
I ignore Kardama’s whining and leave the room through the door the Brutes escaped from.
Walking through the halls, I continue to pet the bear cub, “By the way, are you old enough to eat meat?” The bear coos softly, “Well, I don’t speak bear, but I assume I’ll have to find you some formula or something… Another thing for the list, I guess.”
Walking the halls of the hotel, I become more and more confused.
‘There’s no exit or holes or anything here? Are they stupid enough to just try hiding in one of these rooms? I mean, I wouldn’t be that surprised.”
Entering one of the rooms, I approach a mirror and gaze at my reflection, ‘I’m tired of all my dresses getting ruined with tears and blood. Also, I need a shower… at least my hair still looks okay, I guess. ’
My mind wanders to something else for a moment, ‘The old vampire’s don’t have a reflection myth is laughable. From what I know, that myth spawned during a time that mirrors were backed with silver, but modern mirrors obviously don’t have that quality. Anyway, silver doesn’t do any more damage than other metals; the reason it was more potent is that silver is a good material for holy and light magic blessings. Thus the God of Heaven’s people would often use it… thinking of which I don’t know how so many of these old tidbits of knowledge persisted for so long after the cosmic mana stream’s disappearance.’
Thinking for another moment, I come up with an idea and awkwardly use my free hand and chin to spin the scythe around to avoid upsetting the cub. I thrust the end of the scythe at the mirror and smash it, causing the bear cub to flinch and cry out.
I hug the cub tightly and scratch behind its ear, “Sorry, buddy, but I need the glass, or I might get us into a rough spot.”
The cub calms down, and I hold the blade of the scythe near the glass. With what blood already sticks to the scythe from the Brute, I latch onto a large fragment of glass. I create a short extension on the end of the scythe blade and attach the large piece of the mirror along with a few small bits in a circular pattern.
‘The small extension should be maneuverable enough that I can adjust the pieces of the mirror as necessary.’
Using my tactical mirror setup, I move between the rooms holding the mirror around corners or under beds in order not to be surprised by The Brutes if they’re in hiding. However, an hour later, I still can’t find any sign of the Brutes.
‘Okay, this is ridiculous. Where could a beast that is seven-foot-tall hide? They aren’t in any of the rooms, they aren’t under any beds, and they aren’t hiding in any closets. The only place left to check is the hotel’s pool.’
So with nowhere left to check, I enter the pool room and find nothing but a dry pool.
‘Did they drain the pool for some reason? Maybe, they just don’t use it during this time of year?’
“Hey, Eira, you in there?”
Hearing the familiar voice of Eden, I respond, “Yeah, I’m here.” Turning around, I can see the group following behind her, “What did you do with the Brute and Crawler?”
“Well, the Crawler isn’t going anywhere that’s for sure, and the Brute we tied him up with some steel cable that was attached to a collapsed elevator,” Jimmy says.
I raise my eyebrow and look him in the eye, “If that doesn’t hold him, I’m going to make you guys chase him back down in your underwear.”
“Uh, noted, but I’m pretty confident he’s not going anywhere,” he replies with a nervous chuckle.
“...Y’know, Jimmy, that’s a good response and the kind of thing I like to hear.”
Jimmy rubs the back of his head, awkwardly, “Thanks, I guess.”
“How’s your leg Aponi?” I ask.
“It’s okay, but the feeling is bizarre, and I’m not used to it… It’s like I would imagine injecting ice water would feel like. Minus the whole dying part, not to mention the whole having a stinger thing. It makes me curious if that’s how guys feel except, well, it’s in my arm.”
It takes me a moment to understand what Aponi means before I start chuckling, “Aponi, I’m gonna take a wild guess and say no, it’s nothing like how guys feel.”
Sam and Jimmy start laughing as well, causing Aponi’s face to burn red. Meanwhile, Eden looks puzzled while Kardama keeps his arms crossed brooding and trying to hide a smirk.
Aponi points at me angrily, “How would you know!?” Aponi yells.
Sam puts his arm on Aponi’s shoulder, “She’s right, Aponi, it’s nothing like that.”
“How am I supposed to know!” she shouts backhanding Sam’s chest.
Sam’s eyes go wide as he stumbles backward, “D-Damn…” he murmurs.
Aponi’s eyes go wide, “W-Wait, I’m sorry I increased my streng— Sam, stop!”
Sam takes a step too far, and one of his feet fails to find purchase above the emptied pool. His arms start spinning like a windmill as Eden and Aponi lunge forward to try and catch him. However, they don’t make it in time as Sam falls backward into the pool.
**Pop!**
“What was that noise?” I remark and run forward.
Looking over the side, I’m surprised to find nothing but a black hole at the bottom of the pool, just out of sight if you aren’t looking over the edge.
Aponi stares into the black abyss, “S-Sam! I did not just kill Sam!?” she shouts in a panicked voice.
A realization hits me, “There’s a hole under the pool lining! That explains the noise, but more importantly, it also explains where the Brutes went!”
“Eira! Who cares about that, Sam is down there!” Eden says in a panic.
“Oh… Oh no! Where are the other bear cubs!?” I look around frantically to see them in Jimmy’s arms, and I breathe a big sigh of relief, “Okay, we’re okay.”
Eden grabs me and shakes me frantically, “Eira! What! About! Sam!”
My head bobs back and forth under Eden’s shaking, “Stop you’re scaring the cub! Don’t worry about him, he’s fine, I’m sure!... Still, we should go get him, I guess.”
Together we hop down into the pool and pull back the loose pool liner to find a dug out dirt ramp leading downwards.
We all stare at a muddy butt print, “Uh? Where is he?” Eden asks.
I scratch my head, “I don’t know, shouldn’t he be right here?”
Jimmy squats down and runs his hand through the mud, “That’s definitely his butt print. I’m sure of it.”
Everyone stops and looks at Jimmy, “...Uh, how do you know what Sam’s butt print looks like?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.
Jimmy stares off into the void with hollow eyes, “They used to pick on me a lot in basic.” he replies in a shaking voice.
Eden, showing a rare expression, looks at Jimmy with pity, “Poor Jimmy… You’ve had it hard, haven’t you?”
Jimmy nods with a gloomy face.