Nobody ever said to my face that they didn’t believe in me; they lacked the spirit. But language is far more than words. I could see it in people’s looks, the way that they talked to me and the way they spoke when they thought I wouldn’t hear.
As a child, I didn’t talk much or socialize well and the teachers gently recommended a special curriculum. In high school, I was considered overly confrontational and not motivated in class, a distraction. A mainstay in the guidance counselor’s office or stuck in in-school suspension in the back corner of the library that was only tolerated as long as I continued to raise the state test score averages for the school. The adults in charge were so quick to prescribe all sorts of behavioral issues to me, but not once did they ever ask me what was wrong.
Only my football coach, Coach Cosgrove, knew how to motivate me properly. He would talk up every opponent we had. Every single player on the other team was one of the best in the state. Nobody ever expected us to win in one of Coach Cosgrove’s speeches, not even our families. I ignored how obviously false it was and that I could hear Miranda cheering for me. I needed that fuel to take me one step further.
So being challenged outright was too interesting to pass up. I knew something unfortunate was waiting on the other end of the decision, but that was the entire point of being here; to be challenged.
With a strong flap of my wings, I took to the air. The scenery temporarily turned blurry from the burst of speed until my eyes quickly adjusted.
“Well, there he goes,” I heard Gunagala remark to her fellow proctors before they all left earshot entirely.
I ascended at my maximum speed. My ultimate goal, to beat my proctors to the peak and see this “Master” for myself. So far, the only demon that had my respect was Huī. Despite the wolf’s savagery, I wasn’t unconvinced that I couldn’t challenge them in a fight. The other two shouldn’t be underestimated due to a poor first impression, but I didn’t detect anything worth fearing outside of a Grendel at full velocity.
About a quarter of the way up the mountain, I started to feel sluggish. I just ran a half marathon, but I didn’t feel tired enough. Was it gravity? An ability like Sir Leal’s but focused outwards instead of in?
I felt something gnaw on the fringes of my mind. A humble request to not try so hard. Climbing to the top of the mountain, momentarily, felt less interesting.
As I tried to shake these thoughts from my head, a powerful fleshy tendril wrapped itself around my midsection. Like a cane to a cartoon character giving a terrible performance, I was yanked down to the craggy surface of the mountain.
The impact force sent loose rocks shooting in every direction. A small tree uprooted from its fledgling foundation and tumbled down the steep slope. Settled snow shifted into a small avalanche.
Though my body ached and wept blood from numerous scratches, the strange sensation in my mind and body subsided. I quickly hopped to my feet and grabbed around my new flesh belt. I wrapped it around my arm tightly and pulled hard on the appendage. Hand over hand, like tug-of-war with a water buffalo, I reeled in whatever resided on the other end.
The limb went slack. From a nearby rock wall, a camouflaged beast leapt into me. The momentum took me several steps backwards and almost sent me careening over the edge. I had to dig in my heels and flap my wings to generate enough force to balance us.
I felt the tendril snake up my back and try to grip my wings. I chopped the limb with my hand and kicked the beast away.
It had a human torso and limbs, but it lacked a head. Numerous whip-like tails grew from the small of its back. The one that I severed floated pathetically next to its full-length compatriots. It made a shrill whisper of a chorus of voices and lowered its posture.
I charged the creature first before it could try to drive us both over the edge again. The tails coiled up and struck out at me like cobras. I summoned a geyser of tar beneath me, allowing the hot liquid to coat my body. The tails struck hard into my scales, allowing for a thick coating of the tar to drink from the appendages.
Heated claws swiped against as many tails as I could reach. The fire magic connected with the tar and superheated it into flames. The creature screeched angrily as their body turned into a forest fire.
It leapt away from me near a patch of snow. It slammed the burning ends of the tails into the frosty pile, quickly quenching the flames and creating a puddle. I tried a shot of acid to harm it further, but it managed to duck beneath the projectile and take only slight amounts of ticking poison damage.
I charged shoulder-first into the beast’s chest. Like a locomotive of meat, I plowed the beast into the rocks behind it. I spread my claws wide and gashed the creature across the torso. A chorus of angry voices slipped out of the gashes.
Before I swiped again, the gnawing in my mind returned. My limbs turned sluggish, bound in invisible chains. I felt like I was fighting in slow motion. Claws moved the speed of a grandmother in the left lane of a highway. Frustrated, I opened my mouth and released another stream of acid directly onto the monster.
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Flesh sizzled and the creature screeched. The tails of the beast wrapped around my neck and forced my head backwards. An acid fountain spilled out of my mouth and corroded the picturesque mountainside.
I struggled against the strangling tails. My hands moved impossibly slowly to my throat; claws scrabbled to get leverage between the limbs and my neck.
Unable to lift me, the creature dragged me. It pressed its fingers against the rock face. The fingers melded to the surface of the rock and allowed it to slide rapidly up the cliff face. I moved my arm from my neck and I slapped the rock and summoned another rush of tar that struck the creature in the body. It writhed and screamed with a woman’s voice. It unlatched its fingers from the rocks and sent us both falling to the ground.
Before impact, the creature let me go to reattach itself at a point near the bottom of the cliff. I managed to flap my wings enough to slow the fall. I spat acid at the creature and it retreated further up the mountain.
With the creature further up the mountain, I could hear the faint sounds of other voices nearby. I moved in the direction in the sounds, but felt a sizable rock smash me in the back. I over my shoulder to see the creature bounding towards me along the cliff’s face.
“Oh, so you don’t want me going over here?” I questioned with a hungry smile.
I moved closer to the voices, my body felt heavier and slower with each step. My rising bloodthirst met my plunging motivation in the middle and allowed me to trudge until I saw a strange beast tucked into the face of the cliff.
It was the size of a small child. Tiny limbs framed a bulbous body. A gaping mouth opened and closed within the center of its rotund form.
It screeched unhappily at me. The wave of weakness nearly drove me to my knees. I lifted the tiny creature and spun my body around like I was performing a hammer throw. I released the creature and it was sent flying over the side of the mountain. Its screeching quickly left my ears and a feeling of power filled my body again.
From above, I could see the tailed creature leap from the side of the mountain. I assumed it intended to rescue the helpless beast.
I wouldn’t stand for it.
With fully extended wings, I took the plunge after the tailed creature. It released its tails to interfere with my dive, but I managed to tightly roll around the barrage of tails and dig my claws into the creature right before they managed to grab ahold of its partner.
I pushed the both of us sideways and propelled us onto the closest piece of solid land. Using the creature to cushion the fall, I slammed into the rocks and sent debris flying like tiny bullets in all directions.
The creature attempted to scurry away but I slammed it on the ground again and stomped it with my foot. I squeezed both of my claws into the neck at the top of the torso and pulled until I gave it a new esophagus that reached the chest cavity. Green acid squirted from my mouth and sizzled the creature from the inside.
You have defeated an Awakening of Frustration. +8000XP.
You have defeated an Awakening of Depression. +5000XP.
“Ah man, I was certain that you were going to only manage to get one of them before kicking the bucket,” Gunagala said with a sigh. “Who knew you had so many tricks up your sleeves? Wings? Tar? Acid? Who is this guy, Grendel?”
My exhilarated brain suddenly iced up at Gunagala’s words. My brain had purged the knowledge that I was actively being watched. I showed quite a few of my tricks and combos that anyone who watched my Hell Express clip would have to be at least a little suspicious of my true identity.
I subtly flicked my eyes around to detect any outward hostility, but found nothing but some smiles and impressed expression.
“Picked him up off the streets. He said that he fought with his hands and that was good enough for me.”
“I didn’t think the monsters would become humanoid,” I remarked, changing the subject.
“It’s a surprise to anyone the first time they leave Styx. The concepts on the higher rungs become more and more humanoid, more and more intelligent,” Grendel explained. “They’ll begin coordinating with each other.”
A screech turned my attention to the plane sized hawk-like creature that plunged down atop me. My body was crushed against the rocks. Talons the size of steak knives dug into my flesh and allowed my acidic blood to coat its feet.
“That or become way bigger and meaner,” Gunagala chimed in. True to her word, she did not offer any assistance.
“This is why it wasn’t advised to take flight,” Huī said with a laugh. “Nyomorult doesn’t like anything that challenges its supremacy over the sky. Don’t worry, new guy, we’ll pick you out of the bird shit later.”
“It’s going to eat me?”
“Look at him, he’s in shock!” Gunagala screeched in joy like a frat senior who finally got the reaction he wanted from a hazed freshman.
But, none of them expected me to start cackling or to allow the massive beak to envelope me. The bird tilted its head back and swallowed me. My spiky form ripped through its throat and deposited me within its stomach. I felt the beast gag and flap its wings to make an escape.
The insides of the Nyomorult pulsed and undulated. It buffeted my body and shaved my scales with flesh the texture of fine sandpaper.
It didn’t matter. I grinned widely and dragged my claws across my flesh. Toxic blood streamed from my body and flooded the bottom of the stomach. The muscle that smashed my body tried to retreat from my noxious form. But, there was no escape.
Nyomorult cawed loudly and made a strained retching sound. The walls of its stomach pushed underneath me and attempted to force me out entirely. I dug my claws deep into the flesh and hung on with all my strength. There was no way for the creature to dislodge me from their stomach and the poisoned build-up would only accelerate as I lost more and more blood.
You have defeated Nyomorult the Sky Horror. +15000XP.
Nyomorult dissolved around me as we both plummeted downwards, allowing me to comfortably fly upwards to the shocked faces of the proctors.
“Sorry for killing your pet,” I said with a grin.
“Eh, don’t be, we’ll get another one soon enough,” Huī replied with a shrug. “Not the first time someone has killed it. Might be the fastest though.”
“Fastest one I’ve seen,” Gunagala agreed.
As they chatted amongst themselves about past candidates and their escapades, I heard more chattering further up the slopes of the mountain. Distant screeches promised more and more potential fights.
I took a step in the direction of the sound, halting the conversation and returning the attention back onto me.
“You’re going in the direction of the beasts?” Gunagala asked with a curious tilt of her head.
“That’s where the growth is.”