Before him what he knew as the disgusting liar wearing a false face, was yet the beauty that overwhelmed him when long-lost love returned.

As she guided him, the powers within him fought against her deceit. Yet still, he followed her deeper atop the mountain. They crossed old stone and ancient sites where men and beasts had traveled so long ago but now did not dare walk, into a deep cavern in the ground below.

A strange feeling came from a coin in his pocket, the feeling reminded him of something, though her lying lovely voice allowed for no other remembrance.

With every step, a blazing urge to fight what was happening began to push further and further from the depths of him. Ren’s hands shook as his energies battled at the illusion before him. His eyes bled as energies came flooding through them, pain like knives stabbing into his brain.

Under his foot snapped the bones of both men and beasts, the most mundane and magical of them all dead as he followed her into his undoing. The urge became greater and greater as the power over him diminished, the urge to fight and destroy what was trying to control his mind. The mental magic was burned away by his innate abilities.

The rotten smell of corpses gagged him, the blackened corpses of men and beasts not yet rendered to bones. Crimson deer, small bears, birds, reptiles, and humans.

With a shaking hand he reached for his revolver, malevolent energies swirled around the gun as he gathered his mana, triggering eldritch touch the bullet within began to become blackened and corrupted. His mana churned at the death and destruction around him, consuming the energies within. Feeling a part of himself pulled at, both his stamina, and vital energies were drained away as the eldritch touch consumed and corrupted all around him.

The lying figure before him changed as it saw his defiance, confused and angered. Its form changed to a gray vaguely humanoid figure, no eyes or ears were present, only the blankness that gave no true shape to its emotions. Gray hands gave forth to great, tearing claws. A mouth opened in the empty grayness of what should have been, but never had been a face.

Stepping back, he aimed at the chest of the shapeshifter. Pulling the trigger an eruption of corruption came forth. The bullet left a blank hole in its chest. Black veins spread from the hole, draining away at the energies within the creature. No mana, stamina, or vitality leaked from it, but was consumed into an endless void beyond.

Ren’s body felt like he had fallen down the cliffside they had climbed, he was drained, and the singular shot had taken a great deal of strength from him. Still with several bullets left, he fired. None of the shots seemed to have the impact of the others, only a small jolt when they made contact.

As he fired the last bullet the odd creature swung its rending claws at him, and he fell back. Pulling out his knife he failed to dodge all of the attack. The claws tore four raking lines across his torso. Feeling blood well up across him, and pain blooming, he stabbed forwards.

A slight hint of mana permeating the blade came from eldritch touch, he felt his energies further depleting as he slammed the blade home into its chest beside the hole from the first bullet. The black veins now covered nearly all of its body.

Now being so close to the form before him, he grabbed at the wrist of the shapeshifter, stopping a claw from descending into his neck. His other arm held down the rapidly weakening another arm. The blank gray face lunged forward, the teeth trying to get at his neck. Headbutting it, the fangs instead sunk into his shoulder.

He pushed away the creature, falling onto its back. Turning, he ran towards the entrance. Jumping over bones and debris, he sprinted towards the fresh air wafting in from the darkness beyond. The coin within his pocket hummed terribly, nearly jumping around.

On an open stretch of ground, he turned his head, in the dim light he saw the gray figure standing, and in moments it began to run after him. Loading in three bullets as he ran, he felt the fresh air just beyond him, once reaching the exit he slammed in the cylinder and fired. Two bullets hit, one in an arm, one in the stomach.

A great hissing scream came as it reached into itself and pulled out the two bullets, not wanting to be corrupted internally yet again. Slowed down by pulling out the bullets earlier, and pulling out the new bullets, Ren had the head start to get out into the open air.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The cool breeze outside hit him, and a feeling of freedom washed over him, yet his fight was not done. Generating two bullets, he loaded them into the cylinder and closed the gun. A small trickle of mana came to the revolver as he channeled again a hint of eldritch touch, he could not afford to drain away the last of himself. For the third time, he would channel power that destroyed his three vital energies into an attack. He could not afford to miss, and so had to make sure the abomination was close enough to land the killing blows.

Standing in the mountain winds he waited as it came out of its lair. Dark, nearly black blood oozed down it. Veins of corruption were scattered all across the humanoid shape. As it moved a sense of strain could be seen, no longer did it move so quickly as to be able to catch him off guard. Though the deadliness of fang and claw could not be denied.

Throwing itself forward down a small slope, Ren leveled the revolver for the killing shot. Coming down on him, it was unable to move to dodge the attack, instead the corrupted black bullet slammed into where an eye should have been. With haste, he fired the second shot, this one not empowered by the eldritch touch. Hitting the center of what was never truly a face, the shapeshifter stumbled forward, uncaring of the corruption spreading further within it.

With a mad dash, it lunged towards him, again scoring down his torso. Bent over after the attack, it hardly could stand straight. He too was on his last legs, stamina, his weakest stat was nearly totally drained. Mana and health were dangerously low but with a little leeway remaining.

Stabbing forwards with his knife, his remaining stamina, and nearly all of his health and mana pour into a corrupting wound. As the blade sunk deep into the flesh between its shoulder and neck, his body went stiff. Unable to move, his stamina was entirely drained. It was as if his limbs were all turned to mush at once. Collapsing he watched between lidded eyes as the form before him collapsed. Shaking, then going limp.

Congratulations Eldritch Rouge Lv. 4

+3 Dexterity +1 Willpower +1 Intelligence +1 Vitality +5 Free points

Higher Ascendant Slain

Mark: Ascendant Slayer

As his body lay in a limp paralysis, he felt the coin in his pocket buzzing as his health slowly dropped from the blood seeping from every cut and slash across him.

Two figures rushed towards him, two pale faces looked down upon him, his eyes barely open, their bloodless expressions hardly visible. Unable to move his lips but a slight twitch he could not speak, he only stared into them. His eyes were no longer blinded by darkness as they had once been. With his new eldritch eyes, bathed in his own blood nothing was hidden from him.

“Silver Lady bless me with your divine grace to restore.” Hollwin prayed as silver light came from his holy symbol. Ren felt warmth returning to numb limbs too weak to move. Crusted blood flaked away as he opened his eyes further, the two kneeling above him gasped.

What was once simple green turned into a shade of dark shade of gray, the whites of his eyes bloodshot as to barely be seen. Lifting his hand to his face he looked at the dark veins lightly faded from his hands. A dark shape of gray, slowly lightening as the corruption done to himself was lifted.

“You must never use such powers again. I see now how you ascended so prematurely, and the why of it.” Hollwin looked down at him with cold eyes.

“It’s dangerous but only because I had to push far, it was too strong for me.” Ren’s voice was but a whisper as his strength slowly returned to him.

“You do not understand what you have become, even his blessing can barely heal that damage. Normally with healing so strong you should be able to jog back to camp by now, yet you can barely speak.” Tayin looked down at him with eyes of pity.

“Carry him, will you? I will continue to do my best to restore him so he will be able to travel quickly in the morning.” Hollwin stood gesturing to her to pick up Ren.

Tayin gathered Ren over her back, and with supernatural strength she lifted him no harder than she could a small child.

“It lied to me, made me believe it was someone I can’t remember, someone I loved.” Ren’s eyes closed as he accepted what had happened.

“I never expected such a thing would be so close to well-traveled roads, though I suppose it’s why it was here. Forgive my misguided choice to allow you to run off sightseeing.” Hollwin sighed as he began moving towards the slope down back towards camp.

Ren mentally ‘looted’ the corpse of the shapeshifter.

Items Looted:

Essence of Change (Rare)

Unaware of how truly rare it was, Ren would have to ask the others in the morning. For now, he allocated the free points. Allocating them to cover his weak points and a little boost to dexterity. Tiredness overtook him as his consciousness slowly faded while on the back of Tayin, casually carrying him while jogging down the mountainside.

As his mind reached a peaceful emptiness, a presence came to him. Far away, an eye watched him, one that he now mirrored in his own face. An eye that was there, always watching yet was an invisible void within his mind. A great emptiness watched him, one that he was slowly becoming.

Within him was the egg of corruption, slowly but surely being nurtured by the alien powers within the world. Incubating, the power only grew strong as another mark left itself on the very face of his soul.