Kael stood with his knees slightly bent, his muscles taut as he faced the Gloomkin Guard. This was the first time he had gotten a proper look at one of the Chieftain’s bodyguards up close, and despite the tension of the moment, he took a better note of the differences between it and its lesser kin. Unlike the smaller, hunched, and frantic movements of the standard Gloomkin, this one had a stronger, more upright posture. It was still a Gloomkin, with gray skin and hollow, black eyes, but it carried itself differently—more controlled, more experienced. It was taller too, standing close to his own height of 186 cm, and noticeably bulkier than the others he had fought before. If Kael were to compare the other Gloomkins to teens then this guard was an adult.
Then there was its weapon.
Kael’s eyes flicked to the spear it wielded—a far cry from the crude, barely-held-together weapons of its lesser kin. This one looked sturdier, sharper, and more refined. The spear’s tip was made from, one of those stones you would find in a horoscop shop. It was green and gleamed faintly in the flickering firelight, the craftsmanship leagues above what he had seen before.
But what was unsettling about it wasn’t its size or weaponry—it was the familiar expression on its face that Kael had seen on the lesser Gloomkin early on. A twisted grin stretched across the creature’s lips, its longer, sharper teeth gleaming between cracked lips. It wasn’t snarling like the others, nor did it rush toward him with mindless aggression. Kael had taken notice that the Gloomkin acted like the weak laky. They were easily scared and cowards the second they encountered those they thought were much stronger than them. But were sadistic towards anything they considered weaker than themselves or outnumbered. This guard was just another example as it was clearly enjoying this.
Kael barely had a second to take it all in before the monster lunged at him.
Kael’s instincts screamed at him to move, and he barely sidestepped the first thrust as the Guard’s spear sliced through the air where he had been standing. The attack wasn’t wild or reckless like the lesser Gloomkin—it was much more precise.
Kael’s eyes narrowed. It seems this one knows how to fight.
The Guard pressed forward, its movements aggressive yet calculated. It wasn’t just attacking blindly—it was controlling the space, forcing Kael on the defensive. The spear came again, this time in a rapid series of thrusts, aiming for Kael’s chest, then his side, then his thigh.
Kael dodged, twisted, and parried as best he could, but he could already tell this was different from anything he had fought so far in this forest.
The spear’s reach gave the Guard an advantage. And it was using it to keep him at a distance, denying him the opportunity to close in. Worse still, Kael realized the monster was deliberately positioning him, maneuvering in a way that pushed him toward the burning huts.
Kael gritted his teeth. It wasn’t just fighting him. It was trying to herd him into the flames. You’re smarter than the others. But not smart enough.
Kael stepped in closer, forcing the Guard to adjust. The spear thrust forward again, this time aiming straight for his gut. Kael reacted instinctively—his left hand shot out like so many times before, grabbing onto the wooden shaft, trying to yank it away.
The moment he did, he felt the difference. This wasn't like the other times with the Gloomkins. To his surprise, the Guard was stronger than him.
Kael barely had time to process this before the creature twisted the spear back violently, nearly tearing Kael's palm open and disrupting his balance. He released the weapon and rolled backward to regain control, narrowly avoiding another thrust aimed at his head.
Alright. Not so easily disarmed. Got it.
Before Kael could plan his next move, a guttural screech tore through the air, followed by rushing footsteps. Kael turned his head just in time to see two more Gloomkin closing in. Seeing this Kael’s grip on his knife tightened. The Guard took advantage of Kael’s brief distraction, lunging forward with another thrust.
Kael twisted out of the way, barely avoiding the strike but getting a small cut in return. Then he pivoted into the nearest attacking Gloomkin who had closed the distance, driving his blade and part of his hand into its gut. The monster let out a choked shriek before Kael ripped the blade free and turned to the next one. The creature now lying on the ground bleeding out.
[ Experience Gained! ]
The second Gloomkin swung a crude axe, but Kael ducked low, kicked out its legs, and as it fell to the ground, he stomped on its skull, crushing it beneath his boot.
[ Experience Gained! ]
Kael immediately grabbed the corpse of the one he had just killed and threw it toward the Guard, the creature readying to attack again. The body slammed into its chest, knocking it back slightly. Kael exploited the opening.
He lunged at the Guard as it struggled with the body, throwing it to the side, as it did so his knife flashed toward its face. The blade plunged into its eye. The Guard then let out a pained screech, staggering backward. But even in its pain, it reacted.
Its free hand shot out, grabbing Kael’s wrist before he could pull the knife free.
Then—it punched him in the nose with its other hand having let go of the spear. Pain exploded through Kael’s skull as he was knocked backward, tumbling to the ground, his nose bleeding. For a brief moment, his vision blurred, but he forced himself to focus. When he looked up, the Gloomkin Guard was still standing, Black sludge-like liquid pouring from its ruined eye.
It reached up, gripping the knife embedded in its skull. With one sickening motion, it yanked the blade free, black blood spilling onto the dirt.
Kael tensed.
Then—the Guard did something that infuriated him. It turned and threw the knife away the blade landing in the burning wreckage of what had once been the Chieftain’s hut. Just like that, he had lost his weapon. The Guard grinned through its pain, baring its teeth as it turned back toward him. Kael gritted his own teeth.
"You son of a—" He stopped himself, there was no time to be angry. He needed to focus.
Kael’s eyes scanned the battlefield. His knife was gone, but there were plenty of weapons around. His gaze locked onto the fallen axe. Without hesitation, he sprinted toward it.
The Guard reacted immediately, charging after him. Kael hit the ground in a roll, his hand grabbing the crude handle of the axe as he spun back to his feet.
The moment he turned, he threw the weapon. Seeing the flying object heading for it, the Guard moved at the last second, twisting its body so the axe missed.
Kael barely had time to curse before the monster was on him again. As the Guard reached for him, Kael sidestepped it, grabbed its extended arm, and twisted. He spun behind it, using its momentum against it, wrenching its arm back at an unnatural angle.
The Guard let out a strangled cry as its arm snapped. Kael didn’t stop there. He slammed his enhanced foot into the back of its knee, forcing it down face-first into the dirt. Before it could recover, he moved onto its back, pinning it down. His arms wrapped around its thick, muscular neck.
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Then—he squeezed.
The Guard thrashed violently, using the good arm's sharp nails to rip into his arms, drawing deep gashes along his skin.
But Kael didn’t let go, he was not unfamiliar with withstanding pain when he needed to. He tightened his grip, his muscles burning as he cut off the creature’s airflow.
The Gloomkin Guard struggled, clawed, kicked. Then its movements slowed. And finally stopped. Kael held the choke for a few extra seconds, just to be sure. Then—he lifted his fist and slammed it into the back of its skull.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Four times, and so on.
Until he felt bone shatter beneath his knuckles and he received the experience notification. Along with the notification, Kael felt the effects of a Level up.
[ Experience Gained! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
----------------------------------------
Kael exhaled a shaky breath, the rush of battle still pulsing through his veins. His hands, coated in black blood, twitched slightly as he stood over the lifeless body of the Gloomkin Guard. The last few punches had shattered its skull, leaving its head in an unrecognizable mess of broken bone and dark ichor.
His body ached, arms burning and bleeding from the deep gashes left by the creature’s claws, his nose still throbbing from where the Guard had punched him. Kael having wiped the blood from his nose away on the cloths around his forearm, the little amount of good that did him. Most of the few cloth strips that had survived the taring of sharp nails getting wet with blood from his wounds. But he had won.
Kael straightened, breathing in the thick, smoke-filled air. His core had emptied halfway, and the fires around him continued to rage, the village now little more than an inferno.
Then, as if on cue—Something pricked at the back of his mind.
Kael’s heightened senses made him aware of the abnormality, and his instincts kicked in making his body tense. Then realization dawned on him, as he noticed that something had changed.
At one point in his fighting, the distant sounds of battle, the guttural cries of the Gloomkin fighting, and the sounds of whatever creatures had come to feast on the carnage—all of it had gone eerily silent again. Leaving only the ambient sounds.
Kael slowly turned, his eyes scanning the burning village. It didn't take him long before he spotted figures emerging from the smoke. His gaze locked onto them.
The first figure he noted was the Chieftain—its staff glowing sickly green, its expression mirroring that of its lesser kin. Beside it, always close like its now dead companion, stood the last remaining Guard.
The notifications for their Levels showed up before him, Kael taking note that they too had gone up a level.
[ Gloomkin Guard (Uncommon) – Level 14 ]
[ Gloomkin Chieftain (Uncommon) – Level 17 ]
And before them were nine weaker Gloomkins all of their levels too low to matter.
Kael exhaled, watching as what he hopefully presumed to be the last remaining Gloomkins made their way cautiously forward, their eyes fixed on him, their postures low and tense.
The lesser Gloomkin were positioned at the front, shielding their leader and its bodyguard. But Kael knew who the real threat was. His gaze flicked back to the Chieftain. The monster watched him and the moment Kael thought their eyes met, the creature’s twisted grin widened into one that gave off a hateful satisfaction. As he saw that, he noticed the green glow of its staff intensifying.
Kael moved.
The Chieftain lashed out first, a sudden blast of green energy shot from its outstretched hand, aimed directly at him.
Kael barely had time to react before he threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack as the bolt struck the ground behind him, sizzling the dirt. Kael hit the ground in a roll, springing back to his feet immediately.
Fuck! So it shoots out magic missiles, great.
Kael had expected the thing to have some form of magic, hell the whole glowing staff thing gave it away. But still to actually see it was eye-opening.
Before he could recover, the Chieftain gave the order, and the lesser Gloomkin charged forward. Kael cursed, turning on his heels and bolting away.
Weaving between the burning wreckage of huts and tents, he kept his movements unpredictable, dodging another green bolt of energy that streaked past his shoulder. The Chieftain was keeping its distance, letting the weaker ones close in while it fired from afar. Kael hoped that meant it was at least weak up close, but he would have to deal with the remaining Gloomkin and bodyguard before he could find that out.
Having limited his Essence use so as not to run out, he was not fast enough to lose them. Kael gritted his teeth, dodging a spear thrust. He spun, grabbed the attacker’s arm, and using the momentum threw the Gloomkin into burning wood. The creature screamed as it landed on the fire.
He didn’t slow. He couldn’t. The remaining eight Gloomkin pursued him relentlessly, their screeches echoing over the crackling flames.
Kael sprinted toward a burning hut, vaulting over a collapsed wooden supports. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he spun sharply, grabbing a loose plank of wood still burning on one end.
The nearest Gloomkin lunged after him—Kael swung the flaming plank, cracking it across its skull. The force sent it stumbling backward into the fire behind it. A piercing shriek followed as the creature flailed wildly, its body igniting. Kael didn’t stop moving. His lungs burned from the thickening smoke, but he pushed through.
[ Experience Gained! ] x 2
Two Gloomkin flanked him, moving to cut him off.
Kael faked left, then suddenly turned right, grabbing one of the Gloomkin by the wrist and yanking it toward him. Before he could kill it Kael heard a whoosh sound that the magic bolt made. So instead he spun the creature around, using its body as a shield just as another green bolt from the Chieftain’s hand arrived.
The magic blast hit the Gloomkin square in the chest, pushing it backward toward him, its body convulsing violently as the flesh in its chest sizzled.
[ Experience Gained! ]
Thinking quickly on his feet Kael threw the corpse at the other Gloomkin making it stumble back, and into a partially burning tent. Resulting in the structure collapsing over the Gloomkin and the corps. Kael sprinted away, weaving between the flames.
[ Experience Gained! ]
Another Gloomkin tried to ambush him from the side, but Kael saw it from the corner of his eye. He dropped low, avoiding the wild axe slash, then shot forward, grabbing the creature by its throat and slamming it headfirst into a broken wooden post. Bone cracked as the impact snapped its neck.
[ Experience Gained! ]
Four left.
As Kael continued to move he started to breathe in too much smoke, his lunges screamed at him for clean air. But for that, Kael would need to go outside the village and into the open, and he knew that wasn’t a real option. The moment he stepped into the grasslands, the Chieftain would have a clear line of sight, free to fire at him without obstruction.
No. He needed to come up with something else. Kael kept moving, ducking under a collapsed section of a hut and bursting out on the other side. Before him was an open field of grass illuminated by the moons.
Fuck.
He had been too focused on avoiding the shots from the Chieftain, maneuvering the burning and smoking terrain, as well as killing the Gloomkin. He had not paid too much attention to where he was going.
Kael turned sharply, to look behind him, his sandal boots kicking up dirt as he suddenly pivoted. The first thing to meet him was a charging Gloomkin Kael barely sidestepped, avoiding being pierced on the side, then grabbed its extended arms, and twisted.
A sickening snap rang out as its limbs broke, followed by a strangled screech. Kael didn’t stop there—he quickly yanked the spear from its grasp and drove it straight into its chest.
[ Experience Gained! ]
He then just as quickly ripped the spear free, spun on his heel, and threw it at the next closest Gloomkin. All before the dead Gloomkin one hit the ground.
The one that was the target of the spear barely had time to react, staring dumbly before the weapon buried itself in its gut, the creature falling to the ground dead as well.
[ Experience Gained! ]
Looking back Kael only saw the Chieftain, its guard, and one lesser Gloomkin. Kael frowned seeing that, from his calculation, there should have been two normal Gloomkin, not one.
The last present Gloomkin hesitated, its confidence shattering as it saw its kin die in seconds.
It turned to flee. But it didn’t make it far. Before it could escape, the remaining Guard swung its shield, smashing into the creature’s skull and sending it sprawling to the ground. Kael froze.
He narrowed his eyes. The Guard had just killed one of its own. These creatures truly felt nothing for each other, and that last action of cruelty had decided what Kael would do. If there was one thing Kael hated more than any other, it was betrayal by those you entrust your life to. This site brought up a firey memory he had tried not to think of again. Kael had once been unable to deliver the well-deserved punishment for filth like that, but now that nothing was stopping him he would not choose to run.
The fires raged behind the Gloomkin, The village was nothing but smoke and ruin.
Kael exhaled slowly. It was time to finish this. He pulled up the quest window one last time.
[ Quest - the enemy of the Gloomkin ]
The Gloomkin village and its chieftain know that something has been actively hunting them and stealing their food. Now having a survivor to describe this predator, they have started the hunt for it.
Objective - Survive the hunt of the hoard until they either give up, or you are far away enough from their part of the forest to be safe.
Bonus objective - Kill all the Gloomkin in the village before they kill you, higher rewards are based on the amount killed and slaying of the chieftain. Up to a personalized reward.
Kael’s lips curled into a savage grin. One last fight. And then this would all be over one way or the other.