John nonchalantly closed his eyes as he took a deep, calming breath. Because of the unknown watcher, his instincts were screaming that he needed to maintain the utmost vigilance, yet he forced himself to relax. A small part of him almost wished that it would attack. Even if it turned out to be a Void Lord or something that gave him no chance of survival, the feeling of being at another creature's mocking mercy was practically unbearable.
[Curiosity]
Slowly opening his eyes and scanning his empty surroundings, a sense of relief flooded John. He had given the being the perfect opportunity to attack. As it hadn't, he felt it could only mean that it was cautious due their strengths were close, it had no real interest in causing any harm or... it wasn't finished toying with him.
Remembering the sensation of danger, which had been more intense than the dread he felt at the start, John felt the last option was plausible. "I guess I am more fun alive than dead."
John looked upwards at the clear blue sky. While he still felt an intense sense of foreboding, the strange emotions that kept washing over him made everything feel slightly surreal. It was as if he was half-dreaming, his rational mind battling with the subconscious as he tried to work out what was real or not. "But... it's probably not a Void Lord."
Taking another deep breath, he calmed further. "I guess I should just ignore it and worry about the things I can change."
While he was still extremely anxious about the unknown being watching him, John felt a there wasn't much he could do.
[Impatience]
However, that didn't stop a pang of irritation and rage to spike for a moment every time he felt its emotions.
After he glared at his surroundings, John shook his head and moved into a crouch to retrieve the essence sword. Sensing the slippy, rancid black blood as he tried to grip the handle, John went to wipe his hands on his clothes before realising that his once orange jumpsuit was in no better state. He was completely covered in the foul, somewhat sticky liquid.
A small frown appeared on his forehead. Even though he felt the blood smelled repugnant, his body exhibited no physical response. He simply disliked it.
John stopped wiping his hands on his legs and held them in front of him. Now, coupled with the black blood, was dirt and grim. Letting out a short sigh, he sensed his right eyebrow twitch as he instinctively anticipated what he was about to feel. "Don't-"
[Amusement]
"Oh fuck the fuck off," John cursed under his breath as his eyes continued to search his surroundings.
Sighing loudly, his verbal cursing towards his stalker more of a way to alleviate tension than to provoke, John picked up a handful of sand before rubbing his hands together. "You know you are up shit creek if a potential enemy makes you feel better with just their presence."
After grasping the essence sword again, finding that it didn't feel like it was going to fly from his hand if he swung it, John nodded once before moving his focus to his assailants. While he had been checking them out from his peripheral, he still couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The two corpses, one male and one female, were dressed in scraps of clothing and animal hide. Their appearance and rotting flesh which appeared to have been decaying for some time, made it look as if a young child had tried to dress up the dead in an attempt to make them look more alive.
John's eyes moved from the pair's clothing, over the black veins that crisscrossed their pale, unhealthy looking skin and to the elf-like ears on the head he had dropped. After staring for a while, wondering if the creatures were a subspecies of elf or demon, he looked its eyes. They were a solid colour, a dull, murky blue.
"Fuck me~." John exhaled, strangely feeling less concerned about making noise. He had been hoping that they were simply undead creatures. However, now he had looked clearly, the signs of the void were undeniable. "Can't I catch a break. First void lords, now husks."
Following a few moments of feeling sorry for himself, John moved forward and started to search their bodies. Not finding anything, throwing the few badly damaged, half-consumed beast cores to the side, a shriek erupted from somewhere in front of him and to the left. Seconds later, it reappeared but was much closer than before.
The chill was quickly pushed from his body by his agitated essence, but John was still felt dizzy for a few moments. However, it was clear that he was nowhere near as affected as he had been earlier.
Looking back at the corpses, John frowned. "Were they linked?"
While it felt roughly the same distance as the masculine roar earlier, it was apparent that whatever made the noise was heading in his direction.
"Nothing is ever easy." John stood up, stumbling slightly.
[Impatience]
As he shook his head to clear the lingering dizziness, John spotted a few beings sporadically passing the street at each end as they fled, a couple looking human, they didn't seem to pay him or the side street any attention.
[Impatience]
John smiled, the urge to stay just to piss off his stalker tempting his stubborn mind. As he was toying with the idea, having no real intention of carrying it out, the masculine roar he assumed to be Baros' once again boomed from his right.
Putting his hand on the nearby wall to steady himself, John took deep breaths. The only thing making him feel better was that the sound seemed much further away, hinting that Baros was moving in the opposite direction. "Definitely stronger than Sillithias."
*crack*
John jumped, spinning around and entering a defensive position as he felt something an intense pain on his shoulder. Tracing the movement, he saw a brick awkwardly roll a few times before coming to a halt. Looking to his shoulder, John saw his essence seep from the jumpsuit, slightly hindered by the black blood, and the dim barrier reform.
[Amusement, Impatientce]
"It... threw a brick at me to get me moving." While what had happened was easy to understand, and he could have tried to pass it off for falling debris if it wasn't for that fact the force had broken his barrier, John was momentarily at a loss. "It actually threw a brick."
[Impatientce]
"Alright, alright. I'm moving. Don't get your knickers in a twist." John grumbled as he turned around and started to cautiously move in the direction he had headed before the ambush. While he still felt the urge to run as fast as possible, he restrained himself. "Slow and steady wins the race."
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[Shock, Curiosity, Amusement]
The danger he had felt, dropped once again, giving John the unsettling notion that what he was experiencing wasn't naturally occurring but targeted at him. It felt like there was a reason.
"Ridiculous." John shook his head and instantly denied the thought. It that was the case, then three Void Lords, beings that stood at the pinnacle alongside gods and immortal heroes, were playing with him.
As he continued cautiously moved forward, John continued to feed the essence barrier surrounding his skin and avoided anything that looked like it would create a lot of noise. Unlike earlier, when many beings were scrambling away, the streets had become eerily silent. Only the occasional scream, screech or rumbling of destruction indicated that something big was happening.
As John felt another wave of nausea after a roar, he took a deep breath. That unsettling feeling was growing, and now he had some evidence. John had noticed the effect it had on the quality and quantity of his essence. He was getting stronger at a pace that would leave everyone shocked.
"Focus." The slower pace, though tormenting, gave John time to think. "I should be around three-fourths of the way to the edge of town. Now I'm being watched, going to ground sounds silly, but rushing out in the open feels even worse. Also, the husks are a big problem. They are birthed from high-level voidlings or beasts. This place... is probably a hunting ground and larder. They are weak to sunlight, so it's OK now, but when night falls..."
John paused at the end of the road, besides what looked to be the remains of a sizeable truck-like vehicle. After checking in both directions, John scratched the back of his hand. The black blood that covered his body had already started drying and flaking, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Spitting onto the ground, he closed his eyes for a moment. "Forget out of the frying pan and into the fire, I've landed in a burning hell. If only I spent more time on the optional survival courses. Hunting weak gods with overwhelming superiority and advanced technology did not prepare me for any of this."
John strained his senses while using the temporary stop to think about his predicament. Most of the information he had on the Voidlands was vague and rumours. However, due to public interest, he did know a fair amount about the various existences of the void and their general characteristics.
Thinking back to his brief scuffle, watching the location where the cracking sound of glass had just come from out of the corner of his eye, John shook his head. "Thankfully they weren't possessed husks, or I'd have been in real trouble."
Seeing a small alley across the road, John checked his surroundings once more before sprinting across the open street and pressing his back to the opposite brick wall. After listening and hearing no threatening sounds, apart from the ones he felt were slightly unnatural, John crouched and moved into the alley. "Whatever is following me is bloody good. If I didn't feel its gaze, I'd have discounted most of these sounds."
After reaching the centre of the alley, John came across the bodies of seven husks. They appeared to have been killed by a sharp weapon. There was also the tattered, mostly eaten remains of a creature. However, bar the shredded fragments of skin, bones and blue blood, it was almost impossible to tell what it could have been.
Once again finding nothing of value, assuming that the wounds on the husks were caused by magic or essence and not the missing weapon, John cautiously stepped over the corpses and carried onwards.
As he moved, memories of a new report when he had been a child emerged. A battalion of allied race soldiers had been surrounded during one of the suppression wars. While the battle looked like it would be an incredible victory for the allied races at the start, one of the reasons it had been aired, the moment the possessed husks appeared, it became a nightmare and was quickly shut down.
"Immortals." John shivered as he looked around. The scariest thing about the Voidlands wasn't the strange creatures, deadly cracks or inhospitable environment, but that those from the void could not be killed. That, and they were renowned for holding grudges. "Souls of the void."
The possessed weren't actually the husks but the highly intelligent, cunning and unkillable souls that would inhabit their bodies. They would control the horde around them in a bid to kill and consume the life essence of all sentient creatures. One theory was that these were the weakest denizens of the void, and to grow to the point where they could form their own bodies, or inhabit a naturally bred void beast or voidling, they need to consume the living.
The only positive aspect of the possessed was that the bodies they took over would rapidly break down. If left alone, without a constant supply of new husks, they would destroy all of their containers and return to the void.
As such, when a possessed appeared, there were only two ways to survive. Retreat or kill every husk in the immediate area.
John sighed, quickly clearing another street before turning left and back towards the outskirts of town. While he didn't fear one or two husks, he was almost sure he wouldn't be able to handle the snowball effect that was almost certain to follow if he encountered a possessed. From the ambush and the bodies he discovered later, John was virtually sure that a sizable husk population was hidden beneath the town.
Scanning the shadows in the crumbling buildings and doorways as he passed, John's expression worsened. "Because of the two suns, there should only be four hours of darkness here. Husk, like all creatures from the void, are weak to light and heat. It's just the rest have the bodies to ignore it."
A shriek, which almost seemed normal to John in a disconcerting way, came from behind. At the same time, there were more screams, gunshots and sporadic explosions. "As the Lords are kicking up a fuss, the void beasts, voidlings and possess husks should be keeping a low profile. Probably why I've only been attacked once. Still..."
John checked behind him, seeing nothing out of place as he expected. "I need to ditch the tail and get out of here."
[Amusement]
"..." John revealed a bitter smile. "It would just be my luck that the fucking thing is a mind reader."
John continued onwards. As he weaved through the streets, in the direction the crystal in his mouth was tugging, he started to wonder if his fear and emotions had just been overwhelmed, he had got used to his predicament, or if something stranger was happening to him.
At the same time, John absorbed the natural energy in the air and purified it through his core. Even though the environment was extremely beneficial for his light cultivation, for some unknown reason, his dark affinity wasn't far behind. The only one that really suffered was the absorption of ice, creating a slight imbalance and artificial bottleneck for the other two.
Close behind, no more than a couple of streets, the first feminine roar that he heard repeated. However, even though it felt extremely close, it was far quieter than the other two. At the same time, John had the feeling it was demanding that the other two Void Lords back off. That the prey was its and it would fight.
"Huh?" John's steps faulted for a brief moment before he shook his head slightly and regained his momentum. "How would I know the intent behind a monster's roar?"
John paused, looking around before ducking into what appeared to have once been a shop. Just before the roar, the gaze that had been watching him for so long vanished.
Steadying his breathing, the essence covering his skin turned darker until it seemed as if he was becoming one with the surrounding shadows. As his heart slowed, his body seemed to fade into the background.
[Confusion]
Just as he was wondering what he should do, a wave of emotion, far more intense than he had felt before, washed over him. While it was initially confused, it soon warped.
[Anger]
A loud explosion, followed by the rumbling which could only have been a collapsing building, shook the ground.
"... so, it was a Void Lord." John resisted the urge to swallow, having reduced his presence as far as much as he could. He had tried all manner of excuses to put the conclusion off, but it was no longer possible. John felt that if he did, he would just be deluding himself.
[Upset]
The strange notion that John should go out, appear apologetic and see if he could appeal to the Void Lord who had been watching him flashed in his mind before being ruthlessly crushed. "What am hell am I thinking? I must be going mad. Who cares if a Void Lord is upset? She was probably going to kill me after getting bored."
"Akarhia." As he thought of the name, and her unrelenting reputation, the corner of John's lips twitched upwards as a self-mocking expression appeared on his face. "Just my luck, the unrelenting huntress. Will she really let this go?"
"Nothing is ever easy. Then again, I am alive so I can't complain."
After what sounded like a couple more buildings had collapsed, the surroundings became eerily silent. However, John didn't move. Minutes turned into hours yet, even as the sky started to darken, he remained in the shadows of the shop.
When the sky had turned a deep, captivating blue, faint signs of the starts starting to become visible, John slowly stood up. "Looks like I can't put it off any longer. If the husks come, I'll be flushed out."