Insurmountable odds, an immovable wall, an unending tide that would not abate, that swept away all held dear, The Ungrath laid claim to all creation. Cleaving vast swathes of land as naturally as they breathed, laid claim to every last bastion, each and every pinpoint of light, those few remaining resistances snuffed out one, by, one.
Led by The Dark Lord, the indomitable army pushed humanity to the brink, candles extinguished down to the dozens. Yet still, one light shone brighter than any other, the prophecy that all children of man knew; Lightbringer. That should such a fate threaten the castles of man, that should The Dark Lord siege all that is held dear; that a Hero will rise.
Bearing a blade bathed in the light of Al’thire, The Hero would strike down The Dark Lord without fail and bring humanity back from the brink, bearing the Lightbringer as if it were a flag to rally the hope scattered to the wind, all would be righted with the heft of their blade, their will shining effervescently, just as brilliantly as the blade itself.
…
Yet with each passing day, nation after nation fell, walls crushed, homes burned, inns ransacked, castles crumbled to dust.
And a Hero… did not come.
—
“Hhh… hgh, ghh… Ggrkkk, Ghhh. GHRGHHHHH-”
The pain is unbearable, my entire body struggles to not spasm, holds onto the notion with the iron grasp of a man on the brink, Ungrath crawling all over the ruins of the city-today of all days-
“Hhhhhh-Hhh..hhh…”
At the very least, the flow of blood has stopped, even if it feels like I’m dying, even if I am dying, I mustn’t scream, I mustn’t make a sound. Even the panting, horrid gasps of agony that loose my lips are unacceptable, each and every pallid noise a possibly life ending mishap.
“...”
8/182
Nothing left to spare on healing, my MP is empty and should I not take great care to prevent this, soon so too shall my HP be as well.
My hand finally comes to a stop, resting loosely over the burn searing my flesh shut, it’s still raw, fiery agony, but… even… still… EVEN… STILL…
Placing a hand to the wall I lean upon, I begin to force myself up, my legs wobbling, the pooling crimson beneath me an evident reminder of the loss of blood clouding my mind.
Finally hobbling up to my full height, I take in a quiet breath and listen, keeping my ears open for the Ungrath that surely hadn’t yet lost the scent of its quarry. My body is weak, my mind fading, yet still I hold up my sleeve two key advantages. Unless the Ungrath wishes to destroy the house I currently find myself taking refuge in, which would allow me an opportunity to hopefully slip away in the chaos, then it will surely come through either the front or back entrance.
Even with my MP as low as it is, a hit landed dead on wounded as it is may very well be enough to put the beast down, or to at least weaken it enough to put us on an equal playing field once more.
Or, perhaps, it will simply leave…
Somehow, I very much doubt that. The Ungrath are ruthless, monstrous doesn’t do them justice, the dozens I’ve seen felled at their implements would speak to the same conclusion as I. In fact, to even consider that it would take mercy upon me is an insult to those fallen, one that I will not permit in my mind any longer.
So, with another breath, I grab hold of my shaky left arm, steadying it and readying myself for one final attack.
…
Five seconds pass.
…
The beast does not show itself, yet I know it still remains, its presence a foul thing clawing at the recesses of my mind.
…
Ten seconds pass.
…
Yet I give it no purchase, its meager magic failing in both capacities, both to charm or perhaps disable me, and as well to track or pinpoint my location. Should it wish to confirm my presence, it must come itself.
…
Yet still, it does not come.
…
Thirty seconds pass.
…A minute now since I have risen, a minute is how long it has waited, lying in the unseen for me. Surely it would understand the more time I have to recover, the worse it shall fare…? The Ungrath are beastly, devilish creatures, but their intelligence is not lacking. Gathered under a common commander, even the lowest of the creatures are more than capable of rational thought…
Perhaps-
BANG
The door snaps open with thunderous force, the grotesque head of the monster peeking through, its eyes locking onto me and its mental assault following suit. I don’t have much MP, perhaps slightly more than I expected to be working with given its… less than timely approach, but even still it will wear through me within seconds, and so, seconds is all I have to finish this.
Turning on my heel, I face the creature with my arm outstretched, the incantation for the spell on my lips at the ready, aimed directly at its horrid face.
Tendrils float up and away from it as if they were frills, its four slender legs propel its frame towards me at immense speed, its black and brown murky hide muddled with the marks I so generously donated to it during our prior conflict, and marks I intend to give still.
Mumbling under my breath with all the speed of an Ikaran Court Mage, a word is formed for each step the Ungrath takes towards me.
“Oh nature that lay within, fill my form with your might,”
Its legs crash through the floorboards, each step an irresistible demonstration of the raw power coursing in the Ungrath’s form, its jaws opening wide as if to tear me into two within a single bite.
“Demonstrate your wrath to this foolish beast who dares transgress upon your right and natural order,”
Mere steps away, the Ungrath’s jaws begin to close, a clear path straight for my head.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“FIREBOLT!”
With all 10 of my remaining MP, the projectile lets loose at point blank, firing straight down the Ungrath’s ungrateful gullet.
The resulting shriek is almost as pleasant as a warm Spring day, a perfect temperature, perfect breeze, everything a man could want… but that unfortunately didn’t change the Ungrath’s trajectory.
Falling back, I just barely manage to pull my head out of the way before its jaws clamp down, the massive opening narrowly missing… and instead, clamping down on my arm instead.
“GHhhHHHHH-”
KRRrk
The bone snaps immediately, and then…
A sickening crunch is all I can hear, it rings in my ears incessantly, almost enough to mute the pain as the bone in my arm practically explodes, fortunately, or… perhaps unfortunately… the whole arm goes with it soon after.
“GAAAAAAAAAAH!”
I hit the ground, clutching at the stump of the arm left to me, fighting back tears as I stare down the writhing Ungrath before me. It’s uncertain whether it or I did more damage, but at the very least its mental assault has stopped, leaving me with full autonomy despite my current complete lack of MP to defend myself with.
I try to push myself up, to finish the job while it’s still clearly incapable of fighting back, yet my legs won’t obey me, numb from the shock, head light from the wound and the now spraying viscera.
I imagine it won’t take long for me to pass out now…
+98 EXP!
…Ah, what do you know?
I collapse on my back, staring up at the ceiling.
I have no strength in my body, nothing to move myself with, my mind is fuzzy, my arm… well, my arm is gone. Ripped off right below the shoulder, the torn stump still violently shuddering.
…I close my eyes. As to if my MP will recover faster than I bleed out…? I doubt it.
Crnch-crck
What… what is that?
BANG!
The ceiling breaks open, planks and shards of wood crashing down around me as my eyes lazily roll open.
Dozens of creatures, each certainly smaller than the body of the Ungrath before me peer down at me. Yet… each of them still an Ungrath.
…Dammit. I would’ve at least liked to die in peace.
—
“So, you mean to tell me, you’re me?”
“Yes, that's indeed what I mean to tell you.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“As you should, allow me to prove it to you. At eleven years old your crush invited you to play with her on the swings, you shied away from her and regretted it ever since. At fourteen you enrolled in the Ikaran Spellsword Academy and graduated at seventeen ranked sixth in the class. At twenty, despite being more capable than most, you ran from the initial Ungrath invasion of-”
“ENOUGH! That could all be explained away as an Ungrath with mental magic developed down a specific path!”
“That’s also true, but an Ungrath with mental abilities powerful enough to scan through your life without your notice would easily be at least a Commander tier threat. They certainly wouldn’t need to trick you to kill You; a lone individual travelling through the ruins of Marrika with the strength of an initiate Court Knight at best.”
“...Fine, fine, let’s say I believe you… I-you, died? Got your arm torn off,” I gesture at the stump in question, "and then got mauled by dozens of common Ungrath."
“Horribly, yes, I left out the especially bloody details.”
“Then why are you so calm about this!?”
“I’m not quite sure. Even though I just died what felt like… perhaps thirty minutes ago, I am remarkably calm now that you mention it. Perhaps being dead just does that to a person?”
“Okay, okay… so let’s say I take your advice and, instead of going to get the life-saving supplies that the folks over at Kira need, I take the long route and go to a whole new city… what’s to stop these Ungrath that killed you from killing me anyways? They won't just follow me?”
“They didn’t seem to be after us specifically, we simply happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
…I sigh, rubbing at my temples before locking eyes with the apparition of me once more.
“Do you have any idea what’s causing this?”
“No.”
Well… I could simply choose to ignore this… thing, that looks like me, has my memories, sounds like me and what not… or I could follow its advice, and instead of going to the ruins of Talia, instead go to the ruins of Noffrum.
“...”
Their expression changes ever so slightly, a grim look passing over their face. Something feels wrong, like something’s… scratching at my very soul.
“I think my time is running out… I’m… I’m not sure what’s going to happen to me.”
“What do you mean your time’s… ‘running out’?”
“I-I’m not sure, it just… something feels wrong, like-”
They shiver in the wind for a moment, and vanish in the next.
+96 EXP!
I… what? What did I… where did I get NINETY SIX experience from!? From… from the Ungrath that “I” killed maybe? No, that’d make no sense… but then, what could it have been…?
What do I…
Taking in a deep breath, I snap my fingers and change the workings of my Compass spell, funneling a nugget of MP into the ability.
…To Noffrum, the consequences of not doing so… stand to be dire.