Loran sat down and looked at his claws. He had done it again, he had killed again.
He started his futile struggle again; his struggle to regain control over his body, as some cursed armor had trapped him within and was dictating his every move.
Not only that, but he was only allowed to experience the heinous acts the armor performed and long for his desire to travel, something he was unable to do as the cursed armor was bound to the moorlands of north-eastern Lopahz.
Loran was thirsty and hungry, as cursed armor had no need for sustenance, and he had gone for 2 months without any. He was unsure if it was the armor keeping him alive or his identity as a wolf beast kin, but it didn’t diminish his longing for some meat or water.
The struggle for control had failed yet again, which mean he was unable to eat, talk or stop the armor from killing anyone in sight.
Loran wanted to sigh, but was unable to. His inability to express himself was one of the many grievances he had.
The armor made him get up. It was time.
The sunset was beautiful, but Loran failed to enjoy it due to his trapped state. The armor was forcing him to walk and walk.
Not much was known about this cursed armor. Where did it come from? Who made it? What was its purpose? Why was it cursed, and why would it trap innocent beast kin?
Loran stopped near a creak that was almost large enough to be called a river. He had bad memories of this creak, as it was where he had found the armor.
The family that had just been murdered went through his mind.
The armor attacked indiscriminately, and Loran had yet to determine why. What was its purpose?
The armor made his body jerk and turn around, transporting Loran toward something glowing in the distance.
Night was falling and moving lights had appeared.
‘Run away!’ or ‘Don’t come here’ was what Loran wanted to scream from the top of his lungs, but the cursed armor wouldn’t allow him to.
All he was allowed was to run toward the light sources.
Any attempt to sabotage the cursed armor failed and Loran prepared himself for another slaughter.
Loran heard voices, but there was no time to process the situation.
Beast kin were fast, especially wolf beast kin, but this armor had boosted his speed over what he was used to.
He crashed down on a muddy road in front of a group of travelers.
A brief panic got followed by the travelers readying their mana for a fight.
‘Finally something that looks like a challenge. Maybe they can defeat me.’ was what Loran thought, but the first traveler got smacked into a nearby rock before his magic circle got finished casting.
A [Lightning Bolt] and a [Fireball] hit the armor but nothing… No damage, no pain. Loran started his fight over control again, but nothing listened.
A traveler slapped his hands on the ground, used [Swamp], trying to make the armor sink into the ground.
Loran got excited as this must be the only way to defeat the armor. It had been found stuck in the mud, after all.
His excitement turned into terror as his body got forced to move again, and the armor waded through the [Swamp] toward the traveler that cast it.
The traveler got gripped by his neck and lifted.
The other travelers continued flinging magic at the armor, but nothing had any effect.
Blood spurted out of the mouth of the traveler that had cast [Swamp], as the armor crushed his throat and tossed him to the side.
1 traveler had been defeated. 5 more left.
‘Come on! Surely more of you know [Swamp] or [Mudslide!’ Loran prayed as the armor directed its attention to the next traveler.
This traveler was holding a sword, and Loran started to fear the worst for this group.
A sword strike clanged off the armor.
Loran’s arm moved against his will and made a clawing motion toward the sword fighter.
The sword fighter sidestepped and cloaked his sword with lightning magic.
Loran noticed 2 travelers that resembled each other standing to the side and preparing a powerful spell.
‘Please end this…” was what Loran thought as he hoped that the armor would let the travelers complete their spell.
The swordsman parried every clawing motion and was fast enough to deal with the armors speed.
A glimmer of hope awakened in Loran. This must be it. These will be the ones to save him.
The swordsman sidestepped a clawing motion and slammed the armor into a tree. [Wind Ropes] wrapped around the armor and the tree, immobilizing Loran and the cursed armor.
The 2 travelers finished their cast and an enormous snake made out of mud rushed toward’s Loran and hit him full on.
It was strong, but Loran had expected something more powerful and spectacular.
Nothing suggested that the armor was taking damage from the masses of dense mud hitting the armor.
Dull clanging sounds escaped as rocks hit the armor but that was it.
The attack passed, and the only lingering effect was a muddy armor.
‘This was what they charged up for so long?’ Loran thought in disappointment.
Power welled in his body and thus the cursed armor and it broke free from the [Wind Rope] binds.
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The travelers panicked, and the area flashed by, followed by a fountain of red.
The speed of the cursed armor had caught the travelers off guard and had cost them another member.
One of the travelers that had cast the mud snake had died on the spot, while the other one had a gash in his torso.
He screamed and ran toward a traveler in the back who applied blue glowing energy to his wound, which closed shortly after.
Loran tried to fight against the cursed armor as it had set its sights on the healer of the group.
It was common knowledge; take out the healer first.
The rapid heavy footsteps alerted the healer, which could dive to the side, just in time to evade bloodstained claws.
The armor clanged and Loran couldn’t see what hit him, but the current situation wouldn't have unfolded if the armor could be defeated by a mediocre display of magic.
The sword fighter was back. He blocked a strike, but his sword shattered, launching him to the side.
Provocations got flung at Loran, but the armor didn’t allow him to change targets.
A left-handed swipe.
The healer evaded, and claw marks on his right cheek started bleeding profusely.
A right-handed swipe.
Another evade, but claw marks on his left arm made using it impossible.
His allies did all they could, but the cursed armor dubbed the moorland menace was unstoppable.
Loran cursed his powerlessness to influence the outcomes as a left-handed swipe tore through the healer’s neck and decapitated him.
The sword fighter got removed from the fight with a kick to the chest. Ribs snapped as the force launched him away.
Something flashed behind him and Loran turned around.
He had been hit by a fire attack but only noticed due to the flash of light.
The sun had already set, and the moorlands were quite dark.
2 of the remaining 3 travelers were fire users and had fire wisps floating around them to illuminate the area.
Loran could see in the dark before he had been trapped in the armor, and this cursed armor had no problem with nigh vision either.
The fire wisps got repurposed into attacks as the armor walked toward them.
They were panicking and Loran concluded that the fight was over.
The travelers were using their illumination as attacks.
The traveler that couldn’t use fire magic fled, while the others continued flinging fire at Loran until the darkness crept up on them the moment their last wisp had been expended.
The only illumination left was a soft blue glow coming from the armor.
The travelers screamed as they attempted to flee and stumbled over the uneven footing.
Loran wanted to close his eyes, but he was forced to witness how the armor made him tear the screaming travelers apart.
Just 1 traveler left, and Loran hoped that the armor had forgotten that this one had fled earlier.
The armor forced Loran to speed up, and the frequency of the heavy ‘thuds’ indicating the accelerating nature of this pursuit.
The ground was uneven and sloped, but the armor made no mistake in placing Loran’s feet, just as Loran would never trip in an environment like this as a beast kin.
A silhouette came in sight and screams of panic started.
The human traveler might not see the armor approaching, but the heavy thuds would be impossible to miss.
A right-handed swipe targeted the traveler for annihilation, but a lucky tumble saved his life.
Cries for mercy got ignored as the chase continued.
This man was extremely lucky as the embrace of death continuously failed to take hold of him. This however made the chase more brutal.
The man was covered in scratches and bruises. Exhaustion set in and he was unable to flee.
Loran however didn’t feel tired, not after running and fighting for hours.
Tha man prayed to the god of fire, Zarrazax for a miracle and the armor stopped as a light appeared in the sky.
It was extremely far and more to the north.
Loran knew what it was, but it was the first time he had seen it. It was a [Meteor]. It would however do nothing for him or the traveler.
The armor had been distracted as did the traveler who thought this was a sign. All it was, was a random person or entity using the magic spell [Meteor] somewhere far north.
A splash of red and a scream returned Loran to the cruel reality, as his mind had wandered off to who could have cast that [Meteor].
Loran tried to scream and the armor responded.
He dropped to his knees and put his heads to his hands
No amount of convincing could make him believe this was a nightmare.
Black fog released from the armor, and his brief moment of control got stripped away.
The armor stood up, turned around and walked off.
This was one of the many encounters that Loran had in the past months and what had earned him the title; Moorland Menace.
A fitting name.
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A day had passed and an armored vehicle arrived in the moorlands to retrieve the bodies.
It was a common event and Loran the Moorland Menace wondered why they didn’t use those resources to stop him.
The Moorland Manace picked up speed and rushed toward the armored vehicle.
Humans and beast kin yelled and sought refuge in the armored vehicles.
The Moorland Menace continued clawing at the armored vehicles, but no scratch got left on them.
Loran knew how to deal with these vehicles. They could be easily disabled by slashing the tire-like structures casting [Levitate] on the vehicles, but the cursed armor was luckily unaware of this.
Blood had been left behind on the scene but the corpses had been recovered.
The vehicle floated up and moved.
Loran tried to do something to point them into the direction of the 6th corpse but the Moorland Menace didn’t allow him to.
It kept chasing the armored vehicle for 2 days which was how long it took them to find the corpse of the 6th traveler.
3 broad men in thick armor stepped out with halberds or hammers.
It drew the attention of the Moorland Menace so others could recover the corpse.
The Moorland Menace was more interested in the armored individuals who were just stalling.
The large hammer was the most effective, as it sent Loran flying backward.
‘Why don’t they use this knowledge to defeat me?’, ‘Just bring a party of hammer users and you will defeat the moorland menace.’ were what Loran wanted to tell them.
He was aware that there might be reasons why this wasn’t happening, but Loran didn’t know enough about adventurers and the Adventurer’s Association, or AA in short, to know why no action was being taken.
Loran got pushed around for 20 minutes until a sign was given and the armored men retreated.
The armored vehicle got chased until it left the moorlands, which marked the end of the chase.
The Moorland Menace was unable to leave the moorlands for some reason, which had been a determining factor in naming him.
Loran stared at the back of the vehicle as it had disappeared into the adjacent jungle.
He knew that the vehicle wouldn't return, but the cursed armor stayed guard as if it expected its return.
Most of Lopahz was a jungle. Its west side had a natural border, which was a mountain range. Lopahz bordered the country of Hjuva, but it was nearly impossible to enter Hjuva because of that mountain range.
The northern border was with the Igrini Kingdom or ‘the country of humans’ as most beast kin called it. It was also a natural border as a river split up in 2 and the confluence and parts of both the rivers acted as a natural border. The moorlands were at the north-eastern corner of the almost rectangular country and the only location in Lopahz that wasn't jungle, river or mountains.
Lopahz bordered the Aquini kingdom to the south and the east and was the only country it could interact with without having to deal with any natural borders.
Loran was originally from the jungle, as that’s where a lot of beasts kin live. He had visited the Aquini Kingdom many times, as the jungle extended deep into the Aquini kingdom and had open borders with Lopahz.
The jungle also housed elves, a powerful race, with which he had encountered several terms before on either friendly or hostile terms. Part of the jungle was called the Southern Elven Forest, but he had no idea why, as beast kin outnumbered the elves.
Loran was unable to do anything else, so he started to reminisce and think about the events that had led up to his unfortunate state.
He was even unsure if ‘unfortunate’ was an accurate word, as ‘cursed’ grasped the essence of his situation way better.