Hydrablood Chapter 3
Hydrozeno adjusted his grip on his scimitar and shield. Behind him he could hear Icepaw shifting slightly as well. The two had left a small coastal city north that lay to the north a couple of days ago. Icepaw had been confident they had not been followed. The three thugs that had cornered them against a small cliff in between two hills indicated to Hydrozeno that the Kitsune had been wrong. All three of the thugs were a bit older than the pair, wore various pieces of medium armor and carried weapons.Two carried axes and the third carried a large hammer.
“Gentlemen, I am not sure what you three want with us, but I feel that whatever it is we can come to a non violent solution.”
Icepaw was trying to sound calm, but Hydrozeno could hear the worry in his words. Also Icepaw was speaking in that tone again. Hydrozeno hated that tone. It was Icepaw at his most condescending. The kitsune thought it made him sound educated and distinguished. It did not and it almost inevitably led to some kind of confrontation and Hydrozeno bashing someone’s head. Not that he minded much.
One of the thugs spoke up.
“The boss wants his coin back.”
“We don’t have his coin.”
“Don’t ya toy with us fox, we knows you has it.”
Icepaw sighed.
“I don’t know why you think you know that, but if any of you have any kind of truth detection spell, then you would know that I know that this statement is true. WE. DO. NOT. HAVE. IT. I would invite you to search our person but the presence of drawn weapons does not inspire me to allow you to get so close.”
“The boss wants his coin or your heads. It's your choice.”
“Considering we only have one of those, well I suppose between the two us we have two heads, so we have two out of the three things you want, but we would prefer to keep those-”
“Would you shut your yapper already?!”
One of the thugs with an ax, who seemed to be their leader, was yelling now.
“Give us the money or you two are dead men.”
Icepaw sighed and looked at them.
“I get that you want something we don’t have, but before you decide to do something stupid, consider this. I may not be the greatest warrior to walk the world but I am not alone. I am sure you have heard the rumors regarding my companion.”
The three men turned their gazes toward Hydrozeno, who met their eyes one by one. As they met the stare of the golden, almost reptilian, eyes they dropped their gaze. This inevitably led to their attention being drawn to the dark scales that were visible across the skin of his exposed arms and reminding them that Hydrozeno was supposedly different.
“My friend is not so forgiving as I am. Cross blades with him and he will kill you. You can certainly try to stop him, but I promise you that the rumors surrounding him are true. Even the gravest of wounds heal in a matter of seconds. Are you sure this is a fight you want?”
The men looked far less confident than they had a moment before. They would back off soon, Hydrozeno knew. Icepaw was good at this kind of thing when it got dicey. Somehow he always knew just what to say and how to say it. The condescending tone from earlier in the conversation floated back into Hydrozeno’s memory and he corrected his thought. Icepaw almost always knew what to say and how to say it. Hydrozeno just had to stand there, look menacing, keep his mouth shut, and focus.
Hydrozeno’s attention snapped back to the present. He needed to focus. There were three opponents before him, all of them human. Not great odds. The only weapon that appeared to be more than a standard weapon was the hammer. It was probably a Gift, but had the appearance of a blacksmith's hammer rather than a true weapon. There were burns on the man’s thick, muscular arms that fit with that thought. Strong, but not a true warrior and possibly with some affinity for fire. Hydrozeno would let Icepaw deal with him.
The other two were the ax wielders. Only one, the leader, had an immediately obvious Gift, a pair of gloves. It was impossible to know what they did. They looked nice though. Most likely, their other Gifts were non combat related. They were older than Hydrozeno. Usually that meant they would be stronger than him as skills improved with age, but Hydrozeno knew he had two advantages. First, he was not afraid of a fight to the death. Contrary to popular belief, most criminals were unwilling to put themselves in a position where they could get killed. Second, he knew that he could recover quickly from a fight. Most people would require several weeks to fully recover from a fight. Hydrozeno could naturally recover in a fraction of the time. Even if he were brought to the brink of death, it would take only four days to recover fully. This meant he was less afraid of taking serious injuries.
In the criminal underground, Hydrozeno had seen how one bad fight could leave someone wounded with weeks recovery time and that led to somebody inevitably taking advantage of the momentary weakness to put the competition out of business permanently. Hydrozeno did not need to kill these three. He would if he could. It never paid to leave an enemy behind you, alive and still able to stab you, but sometimes you just had to be strong enough to make it more costly than it was worth to take you down. Which is why the men in front of him lowered their weapons just a fraction.
Naturally, that was when the arrow struck. The wooden shaft sank deep into the shoulder of the leader of the thugs. Then a mass of black sludge seemed to envelope the thug with a hammer. Hydrozeno glanced quickly in the direction of the source of the attacks. He could see a young man in a green tunic and blue pants standing about a hundred feet up the hill. A wand was gripped in one hand and he held a staff in the other that he was using to balance as he scrambled down the steep slope. A mage perhaps? Hydrozeno could not spot the archer that had fired the arrow, but guessed he was somewhere up there as well.
Hydrozeno did not pause after that. He leapt forward swinging his scimitar at the leader of the thugs. The man reacted to the charge but Hydrozeno struck first, his lighter armor making him slightly faster and more mobile. Hydrozeno’s scimitar cut into one of the man’s forearms, the blade glowing gently red from the fire enchantment. The thug hissed in pain as his ax swung down. The ax head left a shallow gash in Hydrozeno’s right thigh. Hydrozeno heard a bark of pain as the other axman dodged a thrust of Icepaw’s rapier and landed a blow on the Kitsune. Then there was a second bark and the man in front of Hydrozeno dodged back as a small black furred form leapt from Hydrozeno's bag and bit at his calves. That’s when the second arrow struck him.
Hydrozeno could see the man with the hammer struggling to climb out of the sludge. He needed to finish this fast. He leapt forward and landed another slash on his opponent just as the man landed his own furious attack. Hydrozeno’s blood dripped from the ax and the man yelped as it burned into his forearm. Then the man cursed as a set of fangs found the meat of his leg. Icepaw had summoned another small dog that danced around his opponent’s feet nipping at them but not landing any hits. That man swung at Icepaw’s dog and missed just as Icepaw’s rapier glanced along his ribs. A second blade opened a cut along the man’s eyebrow causing him to jerk back just as an arrow hissed through the air where he had been moments before. The mage had managed to make it down the hill and discarded his staff for an elegant looking longsword that just screamed Gift to Hydrozeno.
The hammer wielder finally managed to extricate himself from the black goop that had held him fast and stumbled forward to join the fray. The two sides faced off. Hydrozeno and Black against the leader with the ax. Icepaw and his dog faced down the other ax wielder. Meanwhile the mage engaged the man with the hammer. Hydrozeno suspected that the archer would be the one who would tip the scales. For a moment the two sides just eyed each other, then as if by some unspoken command the battle recommenced with renewed fury.
Hydrozeno landed a blow on the leader, which caused the man’s own blow to swing wide and miss, which in turn created an opening for Black to dart in and draw more blood with his fangs. To Hydrozeno’s right Icepaw’s own thrust was deflected and his opponent’s swing cut through his dog doing absolutely no damage to the man’s shock. Illusions were not solid after all. Of course now that the axeman realized what he was dealing with he ignored the illusory dog entirely.
The fight on the left was going far more slowly. The mage and hammer wielder exchanged a pair of testing blows, neither of which landed. The hammer wielder also managed to step out of the way of an arrow just in time. If Hydrozeno could finish off the leader he could flank either of the other opponents and then it would just be a matter of time. He glared at the wounded leader who stared in horror as several of Hydrozeno’s wounds closed slightly. They did not heal entirely as Hydrozeno used most but not quite all of his regeneration. Several of the worst of the wounds got noticeably smaller. The man’s voice trembled.
“W-what are you?”
“A monster.”
Hydrozeno’s Scimitar missed and Black failed to latch on to the man’s leg. The leader’s desperate swing opened another wound on Hydrozeno showering him in more acidic blood that made him wince. Icepaw inflicted a wound on his opponent but was backpedaling as he took another vicious cut of his own. The mage was also struggling. His opponent had gotten his measure and drove a hammerstrike to the mage’s shoulder. Hydrozeno began to despair, right up until the arrow hit the leader. It did not kill the man but it might be enough.
Hydrozeno struck out and over-extended. The ax hurt and the man carefully avoided Hydrozeno’s dangerous blood. As he did that he forgot one thing. Black bit him from behind and an arrow caught the man in the throat. He fell over, dead. Hydrozeno turned to help the others.
Icepaw had seen Hydrozeno’s success and was dancing back and forth avoiding his opponent’s strikes while being unable to land one himself. The mage was the real problem. His blade was glowing with some form of enchantment, but it would do little good if he could not hit with it. He had also received several injuries already. Reluctantly, Hydrozeno knew that the mage needed help more than Icepaw did at the moment. He and Black charged the man. Hydrozeno’s blade tasted blood, while his shoulder learned what being struck with a hammer was like. Hydrozeno’s vision swam and he nearly lost consciousness. Black leapt forward to defend him, but the man with the hammer danced back. The man avoided the longsword and arrow shot in the process. Icepaw exchanged another set of blows with his opponent, each dealing wounds, but it was slowly becoming clear that his opponent was slowly pushing him back. Hydrozeno sighed and called out.
“Everyone fall back, we can’t win this fight. I will stall them.”
The mage blinked and then turned and ran back up the hill.
Icepaw leapt back and conjured two more copies of Black around Hydrozeno before dashing after the mage.
Hydrozeno faced the two remaining thugs alone. He dodged the hammer swing and struck a powerful counter blow. The three Blacks leapt at the axeman. The ax came down on the real Black before he could sink his teeth into the man. There was a yelp and Hydrozenon felt a weight settle in his bag. Black would need a couple days to recover in there.
Another arrow struck the man with the hammer. Clearly the hidden archer felt confident that he did not need to retreat just yet. Hydrozeno seized the opening the arrow created and struck another blow. He dodged back from both opponents’ counterattacks with a savage grin. He was trained to be the ultimate warrior. He was made for this.
The archer missed his next shot. Hydrozeno darted in and struck another blow. He could do this. He could win. Then he felt something connect with his skull.
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Up on the hill, Kiln winced as he heard the smack. His shot missed the guy with the hammer by inches. The two men looked up the steep incline to where they knew Kiln was hiding. Kiln let another arrow fly. This shot missed as well. Kiln figured that he had enough time to fire three, maybe four more shots before they would reach his position. The men hesitated, looked at their dead companion and the strange dead elf, then began to back down the road in the opposite direction that Dan and the fox had run.
Kiln let out a sigh of relief and sat down behind the bush he had been using for cover. He took a minute to collect his wits and then set off in the direction his friend and the fox. He found them several minutes later. They had found a lovely hiding spot behind a cluster of boulders. As Kiln approached, Dan relaxed. The white and blue furred fox, tensed for a moment, glanced at Dan and then he too relaxed.
“You must be the archer who was helping us. My name is Icepaw. Are those men gone?”
The fox extended a paw and Kiln shook it.
“I’m Kiln, my friend there is Dan. They ran off. Unfortunately, they bashed your friend’s skull in before they did.”
“That is fortunate.”
“Ummm, I just said they killed your friend.”
Icepaw nodded.
“I take it they didn’t stab him while he was down.”
“No, but they didn’t need to. His skull was split open.”
“Then we should double check to make sure he is actually dead.”
Icepaw set off down the road back toward the site of the battle. Dan and Kiln exchanged concerned looks. Dan voiced the question they were both thinking.
“So did he want his friend to die?”
Kiln shrugged in confusion.
“Not sure, let’s go find out.”
The two followed Icepaw to the scene of the fight and watched as he bent over the corpse of his friend. Then they jerked in surprise when he kicked it.
“Wake up buddy.”
The fallen elf stirred and moaned.
“Foooooood.”
Kiln stared in amazement while Dan gasped.
“How is he alive?”
Icepaw shrugged.
“Hydrozeno is tough like that.
He looked down.
“Hey buddy, that looks like it hurts.”
“I can cave in your skull if you are that curious.”
Icepaw grinned and shook his head.
“I’ll pass, thank you very much. Want me to cook you something. I have some salted pork, some dried fruit and a couple of turnips.”
“Absolutely not, your cooking sucks.”
Hydrozeno sat up and gingerly felt his head. Kiln and Dan watched in amazement as the caved in skull fixed itself and the blood scabbed over.
“Who are our new friends?”
“Oh that’s Kiln in the cloak and Dan is the guy with the wand sticking out of his belt. Dan, Kiln, this is Hydrozeno. He’s what I like to call a hydrablood.”
Dan had to ask.
“What does that mean exactly?
Hydrozeno stood up and nodded.
“It means that a couple of insane mages kidnapped me, removed all my blood and replaced it with hydra blood. My blood is acidic, I heal impossibly fast and I have a big enough appetite that I can out eat everyone here. Now who has the food?”
Hydrozeno grabbed his and Icepaw’s packs and stalk off to the side of the road to find a good spot to start a cooking fire. Icepaw shrugged.
“He also has a temper and is impatient. Don’t stare at his scales. He hates that. He threw the last guy who did out a second story window. We had to skip town after that.”
Icepaw strode off to help Hydroze cook some food. Kiln eyed Dan.
“So do we stick around or get out of here as quickly as possible.”
“Why wouldn’t we stick around?”
“Those two seem kind of, uh, weird.”
Dan grinned at Kiln’s apprehension.
“I thought you left home to find adventure. You know, see the sights. Meet new people and all that.”
Kiln nodded slowly as Dan walked away toward the fire.
“Yeah, but-”
Dan was already gone. Kiln sighed and followed. Dan was right, Kiln was supposed to be the adventurous one.
Name: Hydrozeno
Age: 18
Race: Hydrablood Elf
Mana:
Blessings:
Scimitar of Flame: Level 1 0/2 Does 1 point of fire damage
Bag of the Companion
Health Level 2 2/4 Health 2/2
Claws Level 2 2/4
Bite Level 2 3/4
Fur Level 1 1/2
Skills:
Health: 1/22
Base Defense: 4
Longevity: Level 4 3/16
Darkvision: Level 4 3/16
Bow Range: Level 1 0/2
Bow Damage: Level 3 3/8
Bow Accuracy: Level 3 0/8
Regeneration: Level 9 8/256 9/9 points used
Regeneration: Level 3 0/4
Instant Regeneration: Level 3 1/4 1/3 healing points remaining
Swimming: Level 2 3/4
Scimitar Accuracy: Level 3 0/8
Scimitar Damage: Level 3 0/8
Scimitar Parry: Level 1 1/2
Light Armor: Level 1 0/2
Acidic Blood: Level 1 0/2
Cooking: Level 1 0/2
Intimidation: Level 2 0/4
Poison resistance: Level 1 0/2
Shield: Level 1 0/2
Name: Icepaw
Age: 18
Race: Beastman
Mana:
Basic Mana 0/3
Water Mana 1/1
Blessings:
Rapier of the Frozen Level 2 0/4 Adds 2 point of ice damage per mana spent
Coat of Changing Level 3 0/8 Adds 3 levels to Illusion magic and spells
Skills:
Health 6/21
Base Defense: 0
Darkvision: Level 4 3/16
Animal Handling: Level 4 3/16
Unarmed Accuracy: Level 1 0/2
Unarmed Damage: Level 1 0/2
Unarmed Evasion: Level 2 3/4
Tracking: Level 2 1/4
Survival: Level 2 0/4
Climbing: Level 3 0/8
Basic Mana: Level 3 0/8
Crafted Illusion: Level 3(6) 0/8 3(6)/3(6) point used
Illusion Size: Level 2 0/4 Illusion has max size of 2 foot squared
Illusion Duration: Level 2 0/4 Illusion lasts 10 seconds per mana spent
Disguise Self: Level 2(5) 2/4 disguises oneself in an illusion for 2(5) minutes per mana spent
Sleight of Hand: Level 1 0/2
Sailing: Level 1 0/2
Perception: Level 2 1/4
Insight: Level 1 1/2
Water Mana: Level 1 0/2
Rapier Damage: Level 1 0/2
Rapier Accuracy: Level 1 0/2
Rapier parry: Level 1 0/2
Name: Kilnoher
Age: 18
Race: Elf
Mana
Nature Mana: 1/1
Earth Mana: 1/1
Body Mana: 1/1
Blessings:
Longbow of Sight: Level 1 0/2 Doubles your bow range and darkvision
Cloak of Shadows: Shadow Stealth Level 1 1/2 Increase your stealth level by the level of this cloak
Skills:
Health: 21/21
Base Defense: 0
Longevity: Level 4 3/16 Your lifespan in increase by 4 years
Darkvision: Level 4 3/16 You can see perfectly in the dark for up to 4(8) feet.
Bow range: Level 3 0/8 You bow range is 53(106) feet
Bow Accuracy: Level 2 1/4
Bow damage: Level 1 0/2
Nature Mana: Level 1 1/2
Earth Mana: Level 1 0/2
Stealth: Level 2(3) 0/4
Tracking: Level 2 0/4
Perception: Level 1 0/2
Body Mana: Level 1 0/2
Speed Boost Spell: Level 2 0/4 2/2 points used
Speed increase: Level 1 0/2 1%
Boost Duration: Level 1 0/2 1 seconds per point of body mana used
Sense Animals: Level 1 0/2 You can sense the presence of animal in a range of up to 100 feet for 1 second per nature mana used
Cartography: Level 1 0/2
Magic Items
Boots of speed: Increases speed by 1% for 1 minute for every 99 mana imbued
Current Mana Charge: 61
Name: Dan Del Torre
Age:18
Race: Human
Mana:
Basic Mana: 2/2
Body Mana 2/2
Blessings:
Blade of Memory: Relive the past of those you have slain and gain their experience
Wand of Binding: Level 2 0/2 2/2 points used
Charges level 1 0/2 1/1 charges(regains 1 charge per day)
Binding Duration: Level 1 0/2 Binding lasts 10 seconds
Skills:
Health: 9/19
Base defense: 1
Basic mana: Level 2 0/4
Body Mana: Level 2 0/4
Enchantment- Imbue Item(Skill Enhancement): Level 2 0/4 2/2 point used(requires 12 hour ritual and 1 gold per mana used)
Skill Enhancement increase: Level 1 0/2 Increases chosen skill by 1 level per 100(99) mana imbued
Skill Enhancement Duration: Level 1 0/2 Imbuement lasts 1 minutes per 100(99) mana imbued
Imbuement Item Recharge: Level 0 0/1 item recharges 0 mana per day
Longsword Accuracy: Level 3 0/8
Longsword Damage: Level 2 0/4
Longsword Parry: Level 3 1/8
Mana Circle(chosen skill): Level 2 1/4 Inscribe up to a level 2 mana circle on an object that will gather 1 mana per day per level. The inscriber may withdraw the mana at their leisure. Costs 100 gold to create per level or upgrade. Requires 12 hours uninterrupted to inscribe
Light Armor: Level 1 0/2
Mana Sight: Level 1 0/2 Can see mana at a range of 1 foot and 1% chance to identify its type
Magic resistance: Level 1 0/2
Enchantment Magic Mana Cost Reduction: Level 1 0/2 reduce enchantment costs by 1%
Speed Boost: Level 2 0/4 2/2 points used
Speed increase: Level 1 0/2 1%
Boost Duration: Level 1 0/2 1 seconds per point of body mana used
Strength boost: Level 2 0/4 2/2 points used
Strength increase: Level 1 0/2 1%
Boost Duration: Level 1 0/2 1 seconds per point of body mana used
Defense boost: Level 2 0/4 2/2 points used
Defense increase: Level 1 0/2 1%
Boost Duration: Level 1 0/2 1 seconds per point of body mana used
Weapon Enhancement(Temporary): Level 2 0/4 2/2 points use
Weapon Damage: Level 1 0/2 Increased by 1 level per 100(99) mana used
Boost Duration: Level 1 0/2 1 attack per 100(99) mana used
Armor Enhancement(Temporary): Level 2 0/4 2/2 points use
Armor Level: Level 1 0/2 Increased by 1 level per 100(99) mana used
Boost Duration: Level 1 0/2 Endures 1 attack per 100(99) mana used
Magic Items
Sword Belt- Inscribed with level 1 magic circle
Current Mana:
1 Basic mana
177 body mana