Ryland smiled as he watched his friend stumble back to the campfire. While he couldn’t fight a teddy bear, he did have a crazy strong will. Ryland was quite impressed he had any spirit at all after enduring an arrow to the shoulder. Hopefully, that position would heal him up nicely. Least they could get some loot out of this and pay for a proper healer back at the village. Turning back, he watched as his body tackled the blinded man to the ground. He had to admit, it was like watching the pit fights back in the city. Sadly for the bandit, the odds were very much against him.
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Steve stumbled into the makeshift encampment, his eyes darting across the ground to locate supplies. Near the crates he noticed the glassy reflection. Even crunching hurt, a deep exhale and a groan of pain left his throat. But it was a jackpot. A few mid-tier potions that were half consumed sat in the bag. Gathering the precious liquid, he leaned against the crate and closed his eyes. This was going to hurt like hell, but he had to do it. Tearing off a piece of his shirt, he made a makeshift rag and bit down.
His breathing intensified as he gripped the shaft. He really didn’t want to do this, but there was no other option. Counting down from ten, he hyped himself up. On zero, he pushed the shaft with all his might. He bit down onto the rags with such force his jaw nearly shattered. Screams of pain muffled from the fabric while tears streamed down his face. He felt every inch slowly work through the shoulder. Fresh blood trickled down his arm as the wound widened. It wasn’t a clean cut either. A few times he had to wiggle the thing to keep it moving. Sweat dripped from his brow as he paused to gather strength. Glancing to the side, it was almost through. Letting go, he reached behind his back and pulled. Finally, it broke through and blood gushed from the hole.
It was only a few seconds of hemorrhaging, but already he was lightheaded. Uncorking the potions, he poured the contents onto the open wound. A stinging sensation crept up the arm as the flesh began to regrow. But it was fixed…somewhat. His skin formed a tumorous bump over the wound and his arm was still quite weak. While the potion would halt the bleedout, he’d need to see a proper healer to fix the nerves and muscle damage. For now, he’d live. Taking a few moments to gather his strength, he stood back up. He needed to check the driver, but until they got the zombie under control that could wait.
Walking back to his friend, he saw the bandit wrestling the zombie on the ground. His leg was torn to shreds, but the man had a lot of fight. He tried to punch at the creature’s face, but a swipe of the hand deflected it with ease. It was now a battle of attrition and the undead creature had a significant advantage—even with the zombie fighting with one arm.
The two watched the deathly duel. While Steve might have tried to intervene, he could still feel the internal damage from the punch earlier. Best to leave the boss to the regenerating monstrosity. Turning to his friend, he spoke.
“So what next?”
“Not sure, you check the driver? I guess we could walk the road but with my…”
“HELP OH GOD HE IS EATING ME!” The leader screamed out
Sure enough, the zombie had bitten down and tore off a chunk of flesh from the bandit’s arm. Blood poured from the wound as the man’s face turned into one of panic. Ryland had to admit that it was far easier watching a man get devoured the second time. His once tan skin slowly turned pale as his life ichor leached into the grass below. Yet, that didn’t matter right now. They still needed to get to the next village.
“Hopefully that driver is still alive, he seemed pretty high leveled. If not he might ha…”
“YOU BASTARD, YOU FUCKING BASTARD JUST KILL ME ALREADY!” The bandit was thrashing against the ground as the zombie continued to take huge bites from the man’s flesh. Each time the snapping of sinew and crunch of bunch flooded the air. Ryland continued to ignore the screams and raised his own voice instead.
“AS I WAS SAYING. WE SHOULD CHECK ON THE DRIVER AND”
“PLEASE DEAS! PLEASE ANYONE SAVE ME. I DON’T WANT TO DIE LIKE THIS” The once proud man was crying out to nobody. His stomach slit open as the zombie reached inside to chew on the liver.
“Hang on buddy. Let me handle this real quick. ” Ryland was quite annoyed by the constant interruptions. Reaching down, he grabbed another handful of dirt and walked over to the vivisected man.
Ryland waited for him to open his mouth again. A wail of horror and pain intertwined that echoed in the dark forest.
“Ahh shut it!” He threw the dirt down and directly into the throat. The effects were immediate, the leader choking as the soil soiled his lungs. He tried to turn to the side and spit out the offending material as his body choked.
Steve was a bit horrified by Ryland’s actions. He did his best to avoid looking at the dying man. While he was fine dissecting corpses, the thought of death made him feel icky. It was Faust’s job to collect the…specimens. While Steve just prepped them for reanimation. Forcefully coughing, he drew Ryland’s attention.
“Do you think we should just…” Steve mimed out a slit throat. Even though the man had tried to kill him…multiple times. This was a terrible way to go and he kind of felt bad.
“No no, they called me ugly. He deserves this” Ryland waved off the suggestion.
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“Don’t let me get on your bad side” Steve muttered
It was true. Ryland was a petty man. He held a grudge for far too long and insults to his vanity really set him off. While he could deal with insults or a fight, to two both hurt his precious ego. Now in a position of power, he wanted to make sure the bandit suffered. The ghost was completely focused on his bond, nudging it and drawing the zombie’s attention to the less…interesting parts. The moment his body opened the stomach, Ryland pressed in a feeling of disappointment, the creature turned back with a sour face. Vicious globs of flesh falling from the open maw during the staredown. Ryland just shook his head and the creature obeyed. It wasn’t that he couldn’t eat the bandit, it was that he had to eat the man in a certain way.
Pulling the grimey hands from the stomach cavity, the zombie shifted to the arms instead. Sharp tore through the chunks of meat as it scooped the goodies to its maw. Ryland was methodical in the feast, making sure to start at the limbs and work his way inwards. Only when Steve started to gag did he remember his buddy standing nearby. A devilish thought popped into his brain and he turned.
“Hey buuddddy? That is a gnarly scar you got, I see you found the healing potions. You got any extra?” He said with a wild smile.
“Yeah, they are not the best. But they had about 6 total, I had to use three to heal this shut. But why? I don’t think you could use them” Steve tilted his head slightly as he tried to follow his friend’s thought process.
“Oh no no no. They are not for me, but for him” Ryland pointed.
“Sure…Wait why?” Steve took a step back, they just spent all this time fighting. Why would he being trying to heal them now?
“I wanted him to last longer…” Ryland responds with a dark chuckle.
“OH-KAY ya murder hobo we are done here” Steve couldn’t tell if Ryland was joking or serious. But he really didn’t want to find out.
“WHAT? Aren’t you supposed to be all evil and sulking? [Necromancer]’s are the scum of the realm, the most hated creatures here.” He taunted his friend.
“Ryland you already know we are just…misunderstood. I can’t help that Deas and his cult rewrote history. Besides, have you ever seen a demon? They are far worse than any necromancer” Steve replied.
“Don’t tell those in the city that. You know they worked hard to keep a fine reputation.” Ryland said.
“ARHGHAGHAD” The bandit screamed.
“By the GODS SHUT UP!” Steve turned and yelled back. Even he was done with the constant interruptions.
That man was all rough and rugged when he could easily beat up his lackeys. And now he was a whiny, annoying brat. Ryland and Steve were having a delightful conversation about who was worse in the world, shady casters or literal demons; and this guy just kept intruding. Tilting his head, he signaled towards the crash site. Ryland nodded and they decided to distance themselves from the festivities. It would at least keep their minds busy while they checked for loot and other goodies.
“NO PLEASE. GOLD. CONNECTIONS. GET HIM OFF AND WE CAN DEAL” the partially consumed man begged for mercy. But there would be none this night.
His screams softened as they approached the fire. Soon they were merely background noise to the two. Both sauntered around the site, kicking over boxes, picking through pockets, and gathering (or in Ryland’s case pointing) what they found. With care; Steve laid out various coins, weapons, gems, and other loot on the ground. Ryland’s eyes filled with greed as Steve calculated the rough worth.
“Honestly, not that bad of a haul. Still a bit mad that they broke the enchanted satchel. Not sure what kind of enchantment it was, but they are super expensive to get. That thing alone would have been worth more than all this” he waved his hands at the minor treasure before them.
“Hey, Enchantments are one thing. But cold, hard gold is even better.” Ryland said with a twinkle of greed. He might be a ghost, but that Rogue class still shown through.
“Sure Ry, Still this is great for us. I nearly spent my reserve paying those fines and booking this cart. Least we” He paused and thought about the zombie feasting behind them.
“Well, I won’t starve for the next few days” He pocketed the gold and inspected some of the weapons.
None were that useful to him, but he did want to keep his word. Grabbing the bow and sword, he placed them by the fire in clear view. Already his class pissed off one god, might as well keep Osnos somewhat happy. Besides, it would look quite strange to be an apprentice apothecary and carry around two very different weapons. But he was still missing his most prized possession.
“Ryland, you see a tiny pouch? Has red and gold threading.” He asked
“Oh yeah, the appetizer had it on him.” Ryland said straight-faced.
Steve didn’t want to give him the pleasure of a response. Instead, he ignored the comment and walked back to the torn up [Lackey]. Now dead, it was much easier to look at. No longer was he a person, but instead a fresh reagent. Sadly, in the condition he was in, he’d only be good for grafting. But still, it was in his nature not to let material go to waste. Pulling out the empty health potions, he carefully made an incision to the side. Shifting the body, he drained out the cool blood until it filled the container. While it wasn’t as strong as still living, fresh from the vein; it still could still power a few blood-rites. Besides, it was far better to use a few pints of dead blood than a pint of his own. Anemia felt terrible after a hard day in the lab.
Searching the remains he finally found his minor pouch of refrigeration. A sense of relief overcame him as he felt the cool interior. It was nice that it didn’t break. Faust had spent a lot of money getting it for Steve and he’d make sure it would last him for at least 2 class evolutions. If he made it that far at least.
With his pouch in hand, he grabbed his dagger and began dissecting the remains. Steve was quite methodical in his slashes, something he’d done many times before. Hell, he could give a [Butcher] a challenge. Humming his favorite tune, He slowly refilled the treat bag with various body parts. Fingers for chewing on, meat chunks for rewards, and of course fresh ears. He could never figure out why zombie’s loved ears. But man, they would fight to get those chewy snacks. While he used to hate doing this, Steve found that it did calm him. A simple task to push out all other thoughts. While multiple near-death experiences in twenty-four hours, he really needed this moment of stillness. Not to mention, it was strangely cathartic. This man tried to cut off his own ear, and well Steve did it instead.
“HEY STEVE?” His trance was broken by the ghost
“WHAT?” He slid his dagger away and glanced up.
“I UHH NEED YOUR HELP WITH SOMETHING” Ryland said with a bit of panic.