Ch 4 First Adventure
With a new day and same old routine of getting ready I decide to skip the morning breakfast and decide to pick up a quick bite instead on my way to the adventurer’s guild, why you ask simple really time for adventure. Not expecting much but hoping I get to do something other than pick up herbs like in most ln I have read.
So without further ado I wrap up my morning and head out the door, stopping by a stall that was selling barbequed chicken I buy a breast and thigh/leg while having him lather it up in a spicy bbq sauce. Watching it cook brings me back to my old world when my father took us to the Philippines to meet his side of the family.
I was 15 years old when we went and couldn’t understand a lot of what was said but I had fun, well besides the floods but I just floated them people called me crazy and I probably was but hell I was a us city boy and a flood was cool as heck to me back then. But back to the memory while we were there they had bbq stands on some roads where you could just pay some money and come back to pick it up and dang was it good.
After coming back, I noticed my food was done grabbing them I begin to walk to the guild while eating. Over the years, I learned to enjoy these small moments as they always seem to kindle old memories and being without my parents has made me sad so happy memory help me cope with never seeing them again.
Just as I arrive at the guild I finished the last bite and threw the sticks away and approached the mission board that list all the request made to the guild. Quickly finding the E rank side I scan threw the request finding most to be herb gathering and other misc. tasks before I stumble upon a mission to hunt down a giant rat located in the eastern field eating all the crops.
Ripping it off and bringing it up to the counter I wait for the attendant to file it as excepted and link it to my adventures plate.
With everything in order I equip my armor over my clothes and begin to set out. There has always been one thing that’s made no sense in ln why they never wear under armor. Now I don’t mean the sporty clothes back home for ex my crafters gloves give me a boost of 25% accuracy and handling so why would I want to take them off cool thing is I don’t.
As my gloves are thin enough I can wear them inside my gauntlets as well as any extra clothes I come by can be put under my armor, always made me think the mc and people in ln wore there armor naked. (if you can answer this please do-Author)
Finishing my internal dialog I finish equipping my gear and head for the east gate to go kill me a rat.
As I reach the field the rat is supposedly living around I notice that a lot of the crops are devoured and I am sure no matter how big 1 rat cannot eat this much, as if on cue I begin to hear massive amount of scurrying in the grass not sure how many enemies I have I slowly back up aiming for an open hill behind me for a better vantage point.
As I am getting closer I have already killed 2 rats that came out of nowhere trying to bite at my face with that extra speed and handling I hacked them down with great efficiency. With bated breath, I feel my foot touch barren soil and quickly scurry the last few feet to the peak and prepare for battle.
Keeping my focus peeled around me hearing every scurry and shuffle tracking the sound location with my eyes I quickly turn around and slash down upon a rat trying to attack me from behind but its sudden jump caused the ground to shift beneath it giving me ample warning. One by one I hack and slash the oncoming horde if I hadn’t gotten this armor I would be dead by now but with the boost to my stats and can keep fighting.
For hours now I have kept killing these rodents with seemingly no end to their onslaught of attacks with recognition that I am waring out I start to feel a slight panic settling in my chest. With no backup because this is clearly meant for a d ranked or higher adventure but for some reason the person put down only fucking 1 rat to save him money so the payout was a measly 5 copper. With such a low pay, no one besides people like me would take it but the problem is the 1 rat which means the mission will not see another’s eyes but mine.
With my killing spree continuing I can feel more and more injury’s adding as I can no long keep up with the pace of attacks,
With no hope, I am lost as to what I can do as I am too far from the city to call for help and I doubt anyone will head this way that can help me.
Thinking of a way to survive I ponder all my option, I look for escape route, an extra form of defense nothing but me and open field and an unknown quantity of enemies. With my last drop of hope I resign myself to using it but I pray that whoever comes across me in the future mind your words.
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As I slash at another oncoming rat I quickly pull out a new mask of peer slaughter Kre’Zul, holding out for a little longer hoping that something will give me a way out without needing to switch because once I do I may never come back.
I will tell you a little story many years ago a young boy was sitting in his room carving into wood, and what he was carving were masks if you looked around the room you would notice hundreds on masks all different and very intricate and detailed.
On this day, the boy’s mother brought a psychologist over to speak with the boy and try to understand the current state of his mind. Now normally this would never happen as the boy’s father strictly forbid it however the father was at work and would not return for a month.
So, on this day the boy was asked many things and explained many things, when the psychologist asked about the masks and if any were important to the boy he had nodded and pointed to his closet door. There however was nothing on the door so she had opened to see if he meant inside. What she saw shocked and scared her immensely for inside were 15 masks some of monsters, a few females, males and other creatures but there were two that she could not help but break into an uncontrollable fear.
She felt as if they were tormenting her soul threw torture and she could not explain why but in her inner most core a voice cried in suffering for her to run. Quickly with all her strength she slammed the door shut and sat back down hyperventilating before calming down.
When the fear wore of she asked the boy what were the 2 masks inside one that seemed to be an abyss and the other an unknown.
The boy paused his action and set down his tools before turning to face the woman he looked at her with pity and sorrow as if he knows what she just went through. Opening his mouth, he said two things 1. To never let them lose for if they are nothing but slaughter and death will occur and 2. The names of the personas tied to each mask are Kre’Zul and Bhes’Quel.
When the woman finally left, the mother came to him and asked why he had made such masks he explained that they were apart of him and if he didn’t they would kill all of the others.
With a decision made he donned the new mask, with the setting sun if one really listed they could hear the tormented screeches coming from the east. Beast and monster alike got away as quickly as they could, bird flew far to the south and the forest held a breath for the first time in millennia to refrain from attracting the being attention.
Standing on a hill soaked in blood with corpses as far as you can see with blood stained wheat flowing in the wind a lone figure stood, clad in shimmering armor bathed in blood holding an axe shaped as if to eat the world the being bellowed into the sky before dropping seemingly unconscious.
As the sun rose beyond the horizon the creatures began to awake and on this chilly morning a figure lay with his face covered by his hand holding a mask.
[MC Neutral]
Not knowing what to think as I had watched the events unfold from the back seat with the others, when I made the switch many of them were cursing and bashing me for being too reckless and letting him out. Threw the whole even I couldn’t help but agree I fucked up,
As he cut down foes left and right smiling like a mad man body rippled in muscle and glowing red veins with nothing but pure ecstasy flooding the hub we all knew the slaughter will not end.
Hour after hour we watched with bated breath as he endlessly killed the rats in droves knowing full well I wouldn’t have survive brought me some comfort but not enough to fix what will happen when he is done with them and marches ever onward seeking death and mayhem. As the final creature gets devoured by the axe that once was a simple hatchet he stops moving staring off into the heavens.
With bated breaths, we say our apologies to the world as we wait for the deaths to stack when suddenly and shockingly he pulls out my mask staring at it for a long time then suddenly I am back in control and then I blacked out due to the strain.
After an unknown amount of time I wake up and find myself in what appears to be a small hut there is a fire going and the delicious smell of stew cooking over the hot flame. Trying to understand what is going on is not working as there was no one who knew I was there and I have yet to make any connection strong enough to warrant me in their house.
With nothing more to do and no one to question I delve into the hub and find out what is going on, when I arrive I notice everything Is in a buzz about why he relinquished control as it does not fit his persona that we know about.
Ignoring the others, I proceed towards the Abyssal pool where they both sleep, I need answers and an explanation for his weird behavior. When I finally reach the pools, he is there awake as if he knew I would come just relaxing in the festering black miasma.
Without waiting I ask him why did he switch back, what are you, why do you exist so many question I had as to why he does not match our image and information.
With one word I am left speechless [Protect], this one word flipped everything on its head we were not entirely wrong he is still a dark persona but is meant to slaughter all hostiles to protect us and the host from harm.
As I leave I couldn’t help but smile thinking maybe were not all just black/white if only Alpha would wake up and explain to us what is happening. Coming back, I notice a woman staring intently at me while hovering above my face out of reflex I sit up and we bonk foreheads.
Quickly apologizing and calming down I finally ask who she is, where we are and how she found me. She began to explain that the mission request was posted from her and that she found me on the way back from the market. It turns out there truly was only 1 when she has listed the mission but they quickly moved in and started mating. My guess is the original 1 was a scout, with that out of the way when she found me she had patched me up and has been watching over me for the past 4 days.
Surprised that 4 days had passed I asked what happened after I killed the rats, turns out I will be receiving a huge bonus from the city due to my subjugation of an incoming menace to the city and farmlands along with being promoted twice. How she knew this was that they were announcing him as a savior in the city square all week.
Letting out a huge sigh I just lay back down and fall back asleep il deal with all this later.