I screamed until my throat turned raw, and I could no longer make a sound. Copper coated my tongue, and I barely registered my skull hitting the dirt.
My insides burned like magma, forcing me into a personal world of hell.
I tried to whimper, but nothing came out. When I tried to breathe, fire met my lungs. The feeling was so intense I couldn't close my eyes, yet I only saw black.
An eternity later, something shifted, turning the lava into ice. Cold agony replaced the previous pain, hurting in a new way.
It felt good, and I didn't want it to end.
Slowly, I started breathing easier and felt my muscles relax. The pain faded from everywhere to just a few spots until even those began to disappear. Just as the cold faded for good, a sudden urge to throw up overtook me, and I pushed off the ground quickly enough that when I threw up, it was to the side and not over myself.
One hurl wasn't enough, and I did it again four more times, less and less coming up with each vomit.
I sputtered and flopped back to the comforting ground.
It's over. I'm alive.
Then, the mother of all migraines hammered inside my skull. I groaned and was surprised to hear my own voice.
I reached for my throat. That simple action made me pause, and I slowly moved my arms to the right side of my chest. I ran my fingers gingerly across the edge of my wound only to find nothing.
Ignoring the migraine, I sat up and found the action easy. My fingers slid across my body, checking for any sign of bleeding or scars.
Gone, they're all gone. What the hell?
Another pulse across my brain caused another groan to escape my lips, and I massaged my temples.
Suddenly, a melodic chime rang loud enough to deafen me. The migraine disappeared, and in its place, a prismatic dot appeared in the corner of my vision.
What?
I focused on the dot, and I jumped backward as it expanded before my eyes.
System Assimilation Complete…
Welcome, Cain, to the G.R.I.M.M. System.
This system is more than it appears, and your role is not simply to survive but to change the very fabric of these tales.
Your actions will echo; your choices matter.
You've been called to the wild hunt. Raise your head and find your prey.
[ALERT]: You have been given an inheritance from: Elias Ironhart.
Lore strain detected…:
Strain identified:∆Ω-Lycan-Skö
Commencing synchronization with the Lore-Matrix…
5…
4…
"Wait! Stop!" I yelled at the air.
3…
2…
"I said stop!"
1…
There was a sickening feeling in my gut, and my chest squeezed as my jaw began to sting, but strangely enough, the pain hurt far less than I feared.
A minute passed, and the heat settled into a comfortable warmth, filling my insides.
I tried breathing in and out, but nothing hurt. In fact, everything felt better, better than I had all night.
Placing a hand on my chest, I felt warmth radiate from my skin, and I paused to feel my heartbeat. It sounded crazy to my ears, but my heart sounded stronger; I could feel each thump clearly through my skin.
I licked my lips and froze. Running my tongue through my teeth, I felt the sharpened points of my canines resting strangely in my mouth. They were sharp enough that I could puncture my tongue on them if I got careless.
Suddenly, the prismatic notification appeared, and I hesitantly selected it. The strange, game-like system screen popped into view, the glowing text typing itself into existence.
Lore Matrix Synchronization complete.
Testing Soul Integrity:... 100%... Perfect Compatability.
Running Body Base Capabilities:...
My body started to vibrate, and I clutched at a thick patch of grass to try and stabilize myself. The process was short and lasted approximately thirty seconds.
As the vibrations started to diminish, another system message popped up.
Base Capabilities Established…
…
…
…
[ALERT]: [First Blood Initiation]
You have initiated the 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐒𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐝: 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐥.
Calculating… 1/1… xLvlx-15…
Rolling Reward:..Applying Strain-Modifier: -25%...
…
…
…
Calculation Complete.
The screen winked out and then came back online with completely different text.
[ALERT]: [First Blood Initiation]
Congratulations on achieving a feat few hunters have ever accomplished, Cain. You have the 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥: 𝐒𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐝
Rewards:
Title Granted: [Crimson Hunter], Ability Granted: [Summon: Shadow Wolf] (Level Up! Level 2 Available!)
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Bonus Stats From Title: Agility +2, Intelligence +3, Wisdom +2, Luck +3
More vibrations shook my body, and I collapsed to the ground as hot pokers began stabbing me at random intervals. By the end, it felt like my entire body had been stabbed.
How many times is this going to happen? What is happening to me?
There was a final chime in my head, and I scrambled away from Granny's corpse. All of a sudden, it started to glow a shimmering barrage of colours. Fascinated, I couldn't look away as the body brightened and began to melt.
As the Granny became rainbow sludge, it evaporated, leaving sparkling particles in the air.
Using my blood-stained shirt, I covered my nose. At this point, my brain turned numb to all the mystical weirdness. The sludge completely evaporated, and the rainbow cloud drifted slowly toward me before picking up speed.
I flinched for a moment, prepared to roll out of the way, but tiredness gripped me, and I wanted to end this.
Maybe it was the continuous bouts of weird body sensations, or perhaps my brain had finally given up on caring, but I stood still and waited for whatever new thing to occur and do its magic shenanigans.
Instead of entering my body, the rainbow cloud swirled around me. The thick haze made me wrinkle my nose at the smell. It filled my olfactory senses with blood and cinnamon.
Disgusting.
As the energy swirled, it started to thicken, and a dozen rotations later, it solidified. Another flash of light appeared, and a weight dropped onto my shoulders and extended to the ground.
When I opened my eyes, I lifted my arms and stared at the crimson cloak draped over them. The material felt like heavy silk, and I felt a strange draw pulling my attention towards it.
Mine. Protection. My mark.
Those words entered my thoughts as I pulled the cloak tighter around my body. The thing felt comforting in a way that made me cling desperately to its edges.
Mine. It was my cloak.
Somehow, I knew that. And somehow, I knew it would protect me. The cloak, despite its tattered ends, felt strong and sturdy.
And the strangest detail about the cloak was that I could feel it. I felt it on a connection deeper than a misguided sense of ownership. IT WAS MINE.
With the magical cloth around my shoulders, I surveyed my surroundings. Granny's body was gone. I looked around to make sure, but the corpse of the demon girl lay by the trees, the same as the last time I saw it.
Closing my eyes, I tried to picture this as a nightmare, a bad dream from which I would wake up. However, the heavy weight of the hunter's—no, Elias' head on my lap told me otherwise.
I opened my eyes and defiantly stared at the dot sitting in the corner of my vision.
I'm ready.
Congratulations Hunter
You've been rewarded with a cloak of your own. Wear it well, and strike fear in those you hunt.
[Alert]: You have acquired: Cain's Red Cloak
…
I waited for more information, expecting the strange system to reveal the cloak's nature or purpose. However, the system screen closed, and another blip appeared.
With a sigh, equal parts frustration and weariness, I concentrated on the blip and waited. The magical text did not disappoint.
Name: Cain Veldman
Title: Crimson Hunter
Level: 1 +
Stats:
* STR: 12
* AGI: 10 (+2)
* CON: 14
* INT: 10 (+3)
* WIS: 10 (+2)
* LUK: 10 (+3)
Skills Unlocked:
* Summon Shadow Wolf
Passive Skills:
* Ember Soul
I stared. I didn't know what any of this meant. Earlier, I joked about the system messages reminding me of a videogame screen, but it wasn't just like a videogame screen; it was one.
Skills unlocked? Luck? What the hell is an [Ember Soul]?
Instead of answers, the glowing text flashed once and wiped itself blank.
…
…
…
Sys-Err- Admin Override: [Alert] - Error Code: X93F2, Z01L7, G66Y8 - Dm-Scry%-Dr Msg%
%%Err%%-Ω-FK-OB-%%Err%%
And so the pack gains another. Will this pup surpass the others? When in my court, call my name; for your destiny's not a simple game.
The message flashed red, then rainbow, before vanishing. For whatever reason, that last message didn't feel normal; something about it hurt my eyes, causing another headache to appear.
I pulled my cloak in tighter while awkwardly resting my hand on Elias' head. He said others would come and that the maze spell was ending.
I want to go home. I want my bed, and I want to go home.
Yet, I made the choice. I made the decision not to forget. My idiotic self said no to the easy way out. So now, I sat on the rocky floor with a corpse on my lap, waiting for some mysterious monster-people to come find me.
Closing my eyes, I waited, letting the silence—once eerie—comfort me: no more howls, no fighting where iron clashed with leathery flesh.
It was peaceful.
----------------------------------------
"Kramer, keep them back. Adeline, prepare the portal; we can't stay here."
My eyes fluttered open, and I heard a commanding voice say something about a portal.
People?
"Devon! He's…" a sob cut off the woman's voice. I heard a sniffle and then a deep breath before the woman continued. "I'll get the portal ready. You do what you need to do."
"Thank you, Ald," the man whispered as the sounds of footsteps grew distant.
I opened my eyes and found a man with long blond hair splattered generously with blood. His amber irises had a tint of red that stared through mine.
"So you're awake. Good…" he said slowly. He glanced at my hand, where I had instinctively moved to protect Elias' head. I couldn't tell what the man was thinking, but a hint of anger gave way to sadness a moment later. "Thank you, kid. You didn't have to stay with him."
That's a lie. He is packmate. He deserves to be around kin, even in death.
My eyes widened, and I froze. Slowly, I removed my hands from atop Elias' head and recoiled. Those were not my thoughts. Or, they were, but I hadn't meant to think them.
A sympathetic look crossed the hunter's face, and he smiled. "You'll get used to it, I promise. Most pups have trouble tapping into the bond, but it looks like you're special." He chuckled darkly. "Sorry, I know this has been one hell of a night for you. Do you mind setting him on the ground gently?"
The last words were more of a command than a question, but I complied. With solemnity, I lowered Elias' head to the blood-stained grass and backed away.
He had a pale face, the blood had drained away, and he looked ghastly in the sparse moonlight. I knew he was a corpse, but something about the sight of him with ghostly-white skin reinforced that fact.
Still, even with his corpse being as brutalized as it was, he had died with a smile on his face. The long canines he had shown before were fully displayed, drawing my attention.
He died happy, defiant of the death that claimed him.
That knowledge made me feel better. A small part of me that was proud of the man I barely knew. At this point, I didn't question it. My emotions were all over the place, and keeping up was nearly impossible.
The hunter bent down and pulled out a small black stone from a pouch on his waist. When he placed it on Elias' chest, the moonlight briefly caught on the object, and I realized I had mistaken the crystal for a simple stone.
Illuminated for only a second, tiny golden lines lit the sides of the black crystal, etched in scratchy scrawl. After placing the crystal, the hunter backed up a step and held out his hand.
"Ek kalla til myrkr hjarta, hlífa þú innan rót þinna."
Each word scratched the inside of my ear, and my mind went into a whirlwind of thoughts, trying to parse out the syllables.
It sounded vaguely familiar, perhaps from a show or a song I may have heard that carried the same tone.
As he finished the words, the crystal chimed once with a low ding. Black roots as thick as my wrist burst forth from the tiny crystal's underside. I watched silently and waited till the roots finished wrapping up Elias' body.
Where a man once rested, a creepy-looking mummy now lay in his place.
Devon reached down and carefully lifted Elias into a bridal carry, the black roots glistening in the moonlight like shimmery oil. "What's your name, kid? I can't keep calling you that."
“Cain. Cain Veldman.”
He let out a long sigh and motioned to the axe on the ground. "Grab that. We can't leave it here."
But iron returns to the earth, it's proper.
Again, a strange thought entered my own, and I frowned. These thoughts were definitely mine; I sensed the wrongness of the request— like someone was shaking their head rather than outright rejecting the idea.
Devon waited silently, his eyes piercing the gloom to look directly at me. I swallowed my spit and pointed to the axe. "I… it feels wrong. Shouldn't we leave it?"
"Oh, your connection is stronger than I thought," he said, shaking his head. "Listen, just grab it. We'll bury it with Elias afterward, but we can't leave it here. It wouldn't be right. We don't leave the pack, and that was a part of Elias."
The strange feeling of wrongness disappeared, seemingly sated by his words.
With a nod, I reached down with both hands to grab the weapon. Expecting the thing to strain my muscles to the extreme, I was shocked when I tried to lift it.
What the hell? It's lighter.
The iron axe still weighed a lot, but my arms didn't struggle as much as before. Instead of screaming for release, they yelled back at me for the effort.
Clutching the axe close to my chest, I turned and followed Devon.
My eyes lingered at the spot where the blood and vomit had pooled, mixing with the black tar that was the Granny's blood.
I'm glad it's over.