I try to be peaceful. Some days I feel positively normal. I can work on my wand, hang out with Kale, and be human on those days. Those days are a balm to my soul. Unfortunately, on other days I find it difficult to be peaceful. When my bloodlust rears its ugly head, I must slake it or risk harming people I care about.

It happens with users who have battle-based skills. Skills can alter the human operating system like a software update or a mod.

Kale was wrong about my motivations. How could she know a user’s motivations when we rarely know ourselves? I needed to fight King and feel the adrenaline of battle and the taste of victory. So when winning seemed impossible, I cut off King’s ring and plunged my blade through my former friend’s chest. That act had slaked my blood lust for a week. That respite had ended sunrise on the 8th day after fighting King.

…

My hand tightened with a grip that could crush steel and render boulders into sand. Somehow the controller of the carriage survived my sudden outburst. Never before had I felt such a strong need flow through me. The world tinted red, and my vision swam with the life around me. But, to my preternatural senses, no target was too far nor too weak to prey upon.

“Are you okay?” Kale asked.

Kale trotted beside me at a steady pace, and to my despair for a moment, even she could have been a target. A fire had lit in my veins, flowing hungrily to my brain, and all I felt was pain. I wouldn’t let her see the need that I felt.

Why now, after all this time? I killed King; I shattered his very soul. But why did I feel this way? Was it some curse he placed on me before its death?

If I didn’t kill something soon, Kale might die.

I knew it like I knew that no predator would come within a mile of me. They could smell my bloodlust. This wasn’t a skill; it was instinct the animals could feel my raw need to murder. I could feel the need and knew ending lives was the only thing that could satisfy this craving.

“If you need to have sex, we could experiment, I won’t let you behind my tail, but we have other options,” Kale said.

Through gritted teeth, I replied. “That’s nice of you. But that isn’t what I need right now.” I said.

Denying the feeling was impossible, and there was no bargaining with it. I clenched my hands until my nails dug into my flesh and clawing against the muscle underneath. The power in my fists radiated with enough heat to melt steel. Unconsciously I had tapped into Cloak Of Flames.

If I didn’t get away soon, Kale would die.

That thought played in my head over and over like a merry-go-round. My bloodlust needed to be sated; there was no way around the feeling. I couldn’t think; the need pounded with my heartbeat growing stronger. When I looked at Kale, I no longer saw a lover; she slowly became another irritant.

Kale risked it all and gripped my face. It took all my remaining will just to turn down the heat. “Look at me; you’ll be okay. We’ll get to Bridle, and then you can see a healer.” Kale said.

I shook my head; there was no getting over what I was now. My skills, they wanted me to fight to struggle for XP. I turned my gaze back to the QI signatures in the distance. Before, I had been comfortable letting them tail us. They could work as an early warning mechanism for when the feds finally pushed after us.

If I couldn’t get this fire in my veins under control, I’d kill them myself. But would they sate me?

A battle against them might not be a challenge. Even if I placed a hand behind my back or two and only attacked with my forehead, how long would they survive? My skills had made me powerful and bloated my body with Parameter points. Killing them wouldn’t work; I decided that and took out my phone.

Kale took my hand. “Are you going to contact your brother? Does he know what’s going on? Has it happened to you before?” Kale said.

“You make it sound like you care.” She gave me a disapproving look. “Sorry, I was trying to lighten the mood. But, no, he can’t help me, and I wouldn’t contact him for this either. It isn’t any of his business. I’m sure my brother has his own problems to deal with; there’s no need to add mine atop his.” I said.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Kale turned my face from my phone.

Her eyes were so beautiful, like twin pools of blue I could dive in and lose myself to. If I stayed here with her any longer like I am, I’d probably dive into them with my thumbs. But there was still an event ongoing, and perhaps my bloodlust could be stated in another world. I would do it for her and fully work this out of my system. “There is a medicine that should work. I’m going to order it.” I said.

Kale shook her head. Her ears flattened to her head. “You’re lying to me,” Kale said.

I nodded my head. “I am lying to you. This will cure me, but it isn’t any medicine. You could call it therapy, but that isn’t accurate either. I’m going to go to another world and kill until this is out of my system. It’s the only way that I can think of that will work. For you, it will appear as if I never left.” I said.

Kale laughed until she cried. “I wish you’d kept lying to me. Did King curse you? Or is it something else? Is this the price for your power?” Kale said.

I shook my head. “You got it on the last one; this is my price. This power craves to be used, and if I don’t feed, it lives every now and then it will drive me mad.” Kale met my eyes without fear or pity. “I’ll be back soon; you won’t even know I’m gone,” I said.

She wiped the tears away from her eyes. “I shouldn’t do that here; it’s a waste of water.” Kale sighed. “Come back safe do what you need to do to be yourself with me,” Kale said.

I nodded, slowly flipping to the zombie event. Apparently, I was on the second stage of it. Finally, it was my time to shine. I clicked on it, and Kale waited with me in silence as a countdown to my teleportation began.

The knowledge that soon I’d quench my bloodthirst kept the need at bay for a time.

Ding!

Teleportation Commencing…

A white light surrounded my body before pulling me to a distant land far from my previous world. The scent of rotten flesh punched me in the face. Then, three more flashes of light appeared beside me. And out of them came three other users. This was the first time I’ve ever encountered so many other users. And because of Ito Rin, I was nervous that they would attack me, and I’d have to kill them all.

The first one who appeared was a big man at 6 foot even. Nearly 2 feet shorter than I and dressed in tactical gear. He dual-wielded desert Eagles. One was solid black, and the other was golden, and both had a skull pattern on the grip. The man carried himself like an experienced soldier and offered me a glare filled with contempt.

Beside the man in tactical gear was a swordsman skinny as a meth addict and the most weeb samurai armor I’ve ever seen. He was covered in knives and swords, and strapped to his back was a rocket launcher. He was maybe a few inches shorter than the man in tactical gear.

Finally, out of the light stepped a man holding a staff in his hand with three wands strapped to his waist. He wore a big, pointed hat covered in big yellow stars with a flowing blue robe that matched it. The runes on the staff looked somewhat familiar, giving evidence that we were from the same world.

Ding!

System Allocating Targets…

Targets Locked.

Start

As luck would have it, we had all appeared on a rooftop overlooking a large city. The system pointed out our targets for us with red arrows. This had the makings of an easy mission if the allies could be trusted. But, unfortunately, I turned my gaze to them and saw that the magic user gave me the stink eye.

I rolled my eyes; if they wanted to die, then so be it. Their blood would quench my need just as well.

When I turned to face the blue-robed man, the other two reached for their weapons. I looked over the other two and snorted they weren’t a threat, probably. On the other hand, a 50 Cal at close range might hurt a bit.

The man tactical gear was the first to speak. “Easy there, buddy, we don’t want any trouble; we’re all on the same mission. Now we saw some interesting stuff about you on Reddit. But, I have to ask, is any of it true? Did you destroy a city down on the Audie continent?” The man asked.

I rolled my eyes at the statement. “No, I knocked Ito Rin up and refused to marry her. Then she started making shit up about me. I did find another user in the city, but most of the damage was already done but that point.” I said.

The man nodded his head slowly. “He has to be lying. You saw the video and the pictures.” The blue-robed man said.

A smile stretched across my face. “Aren’t we here to kill as many of these people as we can and destroy their cities? The targets are extras. If you three want to sit on this rooftop and discuss Reddit posts instead of playing the event, that’s on you. I don’t need you to destroy the city or kill a few zombies. It would be easier if you just stayed here and let me work.” I said.

The samurai weeb decided to speak. “I don’t doubt Ito Rin’s honor. But I do doubt your own. Any man who would deny her claims and then destroy a city without thought can’t be trusted at their word. So, all we have now is evidence, and that points directly to you. Therefore, Red, I accuse you of the murder of Flank town’s residence.” The weeb said.

The wizard pointed a wand at me while the tactical guy pulled out one of his handguns and pointed at my head. “Back up to the ledge; if you make any funny moves, I’ll shoot you.”

All the good mood I had up to this point vanished without a trace. I was a little mad at Ito Rin, but these guys didn’t have to believe her. The samurai weeb had ensured that all three of them would die. So what choice did I have at this point other than to kill them? My bloodlust had yet to be sated.

The second my heel touched the end of the ledge, I heard the tactical guy flick the safety off. “It’s nothing personal, but we can’t trust you.” The bullet hit me before I heard the gun going off. It smashed against the back of my head, flattened, and fell down the ground. The force wasn’t even enough to rock me on my heels.

A blast of lightning hit me in the back before fizzling out with too little effect. My body barely moved under the onslaught. Our Parameters and skills might as well have existed in different realms.

The weeb tried a plate strike, but it shattered against my Force Aura. Pieces of steel fell around me. I turned to see the three of them backing away. Each of them had done their best to kill me, but they were too weak. And my bloodlust had not been sated.

My nameless blade took off the weeb’s head first. Blood erupted from the stump, bathing the other two in his life fluids.

A spectral fist smashed into the head of the tactical gear-wearing user crushing it like a grape. The wizard held up his phone, recording the death of his two associates.

“This is live; if you kill me here, you’ll regret it. I have a family; they will come for you even if it takes generations. They will avenge me.” The wizard said.

A smile spread across my face. “Good, I’d hate for things to get boring again. You heard what he said; come and get me if you can. Try as hard as you can use every resource at your disposal and come after me. It will make crushing you all better.” I said.

I tapped him on the forehead with a spectral hand armed with curse. He died in seconds. His body blackened and soon turned into greasy sludge. I looted their bodies taken the Desert Eagles, the tactical gear, and the wands and staff. I picked up the cell phone recording what I was doing looked into it.

“Let me show you who you’re dealing with.” I position the live stream with a full view of the city before jumping off the building.