The world had a way of catching people off-guard and punishing their stupidity and laziness. Nomad was no stranger to that lesson.

The golden-eyed creatures moved, leaves crunched, and a second passed. They were fast. Faster than most. Faster than anyone he'd seen in a long time. Nomad's body moved, his legs pushing him to the side, away from the sharp claws that dug into the ground where he had stood a moment ago. Rolf and Lila also reacted, Rolf stepping back, dodging the creature, and Lila used her staff and smashed the thing in the face, the wood creaking as it struck, sending the thing stumbling.

"Werewolves?" Lila hissed. Golden-eyed, humanoid, yet not quite. They weren't beasts. They were intelligent. They were stronger, faster, and better in almost every way than the usual werewolf or a human. They were something else.

They were a hybrid.

And Nomad was well aware of them. Yet, these seemed... different than the Fanatics he recalled.

"Not quite," Rolf answered, frowning as he hacked his ax down, missing the thing that rolled back to safety. The ax dug into the ground, and he pulled it out. "They aren't werewolves."

"Then what the fuck are they? They aren't human. I can tell that much"

Nomad was busy looking for escape routes, the weapons of the six, as well as the quickest ways to kill them.

“Watch out!” Lila shouted. “One coming from behind you!”

“On it.” Rolf hacked his ax through the air, the blade cutting into the arm of the man that had elongated nails, the bone breaking. Blood gushed as he snarled and stepped back, cradling his arm. Rolf swung his ax with a cry, however, the man was fast, and the wound seemed not to faze him much.

"Tsk." Lila clicked her tongue. "You're too slow, dumbass." She stepped back, staff held horizontally, her thumb and pinky finger extending outward as she closed one of her eyes, the rest of her fingers holding the staff tightly. Nomad dodged a knife of a Fanatic, delivering a solid kick into the man's abdomen, sending him flying backward.

Lila's eyes gleamed a bright orange, the color shining through her closed eyelid. A second passed, and then, fire burst from the air in front of her hand, shooting in a straight calculated line—circling Rolf and slamming into the man. It was almost as if the air itself combusted, exploding in a cloud of orange flames that were forced to obey moving in whatever direction she'd calculated.

The Fanatic screamed a loud and terrible sound, and a moment later, he dropped, the flames burning bright before dissipating, leaving him burnt, and the grass around him charred. Lila's eyes burning bright with an orange glint dimmed. She grinned, turning to Rolf.

He grunted, "Show-off."

"What did you say?" Lila's smile fell, crackles of fire combusting around her.

"Nothing. Just admiring your fancy tricks." Rolf said with a grunt, swinging his ax and finally striking a Fanatic. The man stumbled back, blood gushing, but Rolf followed up, and his ax was buried on his shoulder. He fell, bleeding profusely. Rolf hacked once more, and the Fanatic's head came flying off.

"You should be grateful," Lila shouted from the side, a wild grin on her face as she combusted air in a straight line leading to a woman's face. "I just saved your sorry ass!" She cackled as the woman screamed, her face turning black before she fell, charred.

"Yeah, yeah. You're a real hero, aren't you?" Rolf grunted, swinging his ax, hacking at the Fanatic that came for him.

Nomad ignored their banter and dodged a punch and a swing of a dagger, his legs bringing him forward. Drawing closer to the Fanatic, he grasped the man's head and slammed him into the ground with an Aether-enhanced strike.

The man's skull cracked, and his neck broke, his body twitching and growing limp. However, it didn't last long, and he was back on his feet in moments, golden eyes burning as his neck cracked back into place, his head righting itself.

The man grew feral, claws extending and nails turning sharp.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Nomad's lips thinned. He was going to enjoy this.

The Fanatic rushed him, snarling.

Nomad moved, a smirk on his face.

The Fanatic swiped at him, and he jumped backward and dodged.

"These guys don't stay down," Lila growled, sounding like she was having the time of her life, and the sound of fire bursting, along with screams of the men and women as they got burned and regenerated. Nomad caught a glimpse of the gleeful grin on Lila as a wave of combusting air slammed and erupted into Fanatic.

Nomad lunged toward the man, rolling on the ground as the Fanatic slashed the ground where he'd stood. Nomad stood up, grabbing the man's hand. With a twist, a crunch, and a sickening crack, the bones of the man's wrist broke. A second later, Nomad was behind the Fanatic, his knee cracking the man's spine and twisting his limb with his Aether-enhanced strength.

With a guttural cry from the Fanatic, Nomad pulled, and the arm tore off. The man cried and roared as Nomad dropped the limb and punched him, his fist breaking the man's face and sending him back, stumbling. The man snarled, his broken bones, and his broken face healing in a matter of seconds.

“So, what's the plan?” Lila shouted. “I’m hot and bored! How do we deal with these Fanatics?"

The Fanatic jumped forward, and Nomad stepped aside, grabbed the man's hair, and slammed his face into a tree trunk. There was a crunch, a scream, and a splatter of blood and brain.

"Well," Rolf growled, his ax swinging, cutting through the man's chest, digging through the ribs, and coming out through the other side, blood spraying. The man gasped, his eyes wide and shaking, tears streaming down. He screamed in pain yet his body moved as it regenerated, even as the ax dug deeper into his chest. "The plan was to make a run for it."

"What? We're not killing them?" Lila said.

"We can't. We run. We aren't equipped for this. Fanatics have a high regeneration factor. The only way to kill them is to either exhaust them or wipe them before their brains can even register their death. Quick."

"Oh." Lila snorted. "Well, that's unfortunate. They are fun."

Nomad blinked. Fun? What kind of a sicko would enjoy this? Lila seemed into it. Too much. Not that he disliked it. He himself could lose it when fighting sometimes—he still recalled what he'd done with the goblins.

"Focus, [Witch]. They're not to be underestimated. Trust me, I know." Rolf huffed.

"Oh, you know? How convenient. Did you forget to mention that you used to be one of them? Perhaps, they are looking for you, no?" Lila snickered. "After all that happened, I wouldn't doubt it."

"I didn't have a choice, you goddamn bitch! You know why!" Rolf growled, his ax swinging and decapitating the Fanatic as it was about to dig its clawed hands into him.

Nomad's hand snapped, and the Fanatic's head turned around in an instant. His eyes were rather unfocused. Had these... Fanatics been modified in his image? That was the only conclusion he could come to.

"That's no excuse—"

"Whatever." Rolf shook his head and glanced around.

"—And you should have told me earlier how these fucks are killed," Lila grunted, dodging a Fanatic's sharpened claws and hitting him in the head with the butt of her staff, an explosion erupting upon impact. His skin sizzled, melting as the Fanatic fell. Lila stomped on his face, and another explosion burst his head into pieces.

"I didn't know they'd be here!" Rolf shouted.

"Whatever." She said, grabbing her staff like a spear and then spinning it over her head, her eyes losing their orange glint. "Watch and see how I deal with them." With a wide and wild grin on her face, she slammed her staff on the ground, her bursting purple. From the point of impact, purple tendrils of Aether spread, the air distorting and twisting, the space itself cracking.

A moment of silence... and then, the Fanatics' heads popped, vanishing, the air around their heads cracking purple.

"See that?" Lila's grin widened. "How do you like it?"

The headless bodies fell with a collective thud, limp.

Rolf stared, mouth agape, as the Fanatics' heads were suddenly no more. They just vanished.

Lila cackled. "I'll take that look on your face as an awe-struck one."

"Wait, purple eyes, w-were you—" Rolf stuttered and Lila interrupted him.

"Yeah, I've considered blasting your fucking head countless times, but then again, I'm not the one who'd kill a man who has a kid and wife depending on him," She grinned.

"You're a fucking monster," Rolf mumbled.

"Look who's talking. I'm just doing what I've always done. You, though..." she shook her head.

"Watch your mouth. You don't know anything about me."

"Ooh, scary."

"Stop, stop," Nomad said as Aether a minute amount of Aether rushed to him. The Party Mechanics had deemed her attack as the most dominant contributor. "What was that? An area of effect skill?" He asked.

"Yes, it's space-related and it's called," Lila turned to look at Nomad, her grin turning into a scowl. "None of your damn business."

Rolf snorted. "I've never seen a [Witch] use anything space-related."

"Yeah, well. That's because it's a taboo amongst [Witches]," Lila's grin faded. "Anyway. Just know I'm special."

Nomad rolled his eyes. The arrogance. She reminded him of someone. People are the same as ever, doesn't matter how much time passes. His eyes lost focus for a moment, recalling some memories. Shaking his head, he sighed.

"Special? Yeah, you're a special type of crazy."

"Oh, please, shut up, and stop acting as if you're the innocent one here. Mr. I've-got-a-stick-up-my-ass." Lila scowled.

"You damn well know it's my Skill's fault," Rolf growled.

"Shut up, you two," Nomad said, looking around at the fallen bodies. "And Rolf, mind explaining why they were after you?"

"Well..." Rolf opened his mouth to answer.