I followed the pair of laestrygonian giants through the streets through the shadows, which wasn't all that difficult really. The cannibals really weren't all that fast or quiet and with a small nudge from my tracking passive ability I could follow them for hours and hours without once losing them. Thankfully, I didn't have to.

I had to stay behind the light of a streetlamp as I didn't feel or see any actually good places to follow them any farther without being seen, but I could watch and I did watch as they walked across an almost abandoned parking lot and then inside a large dark building with a large flickering neon sign that read “Brocks Gym”

I found out where the camp was then.

It was still dark, though I could feel that the night was starting to fade and it would in a few hours. I probably needed sleep before I could think about my next move properly. I now had a location, my assault would be legendary!

Then strangely I got a system notification that snapped me from my thoughts by sheer shock at what it said.

Quest parameters expanded!

Requirements to succeed: Kill the laestrygonian giants that have been watching Hope Ice Cream Parlor before sunrise.

Time left: Five hours, thirty two minutes, 27 seconds

Rewards if succeeded: 100 Ring Gold along with four free levels in a Passive Ability of your choice.

The system gave the quest a time limit. It altered the quest, to make it more difficult for me? Was it trying to get me killed? Well… I suppose the choice is mine…

Then I started grinning wildly, a crazy smile creeping up my face. Wild, and untamed. Nah, I was going to finish this shit. It was probably stupid as hell, and I definitely wouldn't do it if I was thinking straight… But that's what made me better. It was strange but I felt separate from who I was normally, almost a different person. But I was just tired and extremely energized for no reason, unleashing myself from any stupid thoughts or self reflection. I loved it.

Let’s go kill some monsters.

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Half an hour was all it took for me to realize how stupid thinking I could run into the gym with daggers flailing and expect to survive no matter how reckless and energetic I was feeling.

Ten laestrygonian giants. Ten. And the two I was following were the runty ones. I nearly just threw down my daggers and walked out from my position inside the corner of the gym I had managed to sneak into, but that would have got me killed as said monsters were not twenty feet away and sitting by a large fire, not sleeping either. They apparently didn't really care for sleep, as they were talking loudly among each other.

I didn't really pay attention to the conversation, as it was mostly just them complaining how hungry they are to the biggest of the lot who they called Jeff who seemed like the boss, but I still watched and lessened anyways. Eventually however, Jeff snapped out at the other nine in annoyance with a frustrated scowl.

“Allright, you sorry lot! FINE! We can eat the damn mortals chained up in the back in the morning before you get back to looking for my damn son, damn it!” Jeff announced with an unamused groan, letting the others cheer while he swore up a storm that nobody seemed to care about. “But you got to work for it, go patrol or something!” He reprimanded harshly and they all started wandering off, some alone and some in small groups.

I blinked, then my face hardened. Morals. Humans. People. Right. So that's why the quest was updated? Well… I don't think I can just go to bed now. I gave an inaudible groan as my mind started turning in my head. Ambush tactics would be necessary… but there was a group of three that seemed to be sticking close to the boss who I doubted I could separate. I needed something. Something with more power than the daggers on my hips. I looked down as I thought, only for my eyes to catch sight of a duly glinting metal ring on my finger as it reflected the light of the fire in the dark gym.

My rings. God, I really wasn't thinking straight. I forgot I had enchanted rings. I was a Ring Maker. I had used them in fights every time I had fought a monster even. I had Masatr, which made my aura undetectable to the monsters. I had the Ring of Creation and a hundred different materials. I had the Constructor and its Spirit Constructs. I also had Mystic, which I could use to detect monsters through walls like X-ray hacks. I wasn't some buff twelve year old with a pair of daggers and some passive abilities to go with them, I had a freaking magic arsenal. Not one as singularly made for hunting or killing, but adaptable enough for a lot when I had the reserves.

Speaking of reserves, I had about half of my max available after my recent enchanting. Enough for a good amount. Not a lot, but enough for a good amount of things. Like making a sphere of stone appear around a bunch of monster heads for example, or even just brute force channel Spirit Energy through my daggers to kill the monsters better through melee.

So, strategy and efficiency would be the name of the game for the next few hours. Let's get a plan together.

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My first priority was to find and rescue the mortals that the boss man said were chained up in the back, so that is where I am now. Behind the gym, standing in the shadow of a trashcan and watching an employee door that leads inside, with the lock ripped out by what looked like a giant hand. The only problem was that the likely culprit of the destroyed lock was sitting guard outside. Well, the laestrygonian wasn't really guarding anything very effectively by laying down and napping while snoring against the door.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

‘I suppose the body would be hard to move… Oh! Right, its body disintegrates after it dies. Never mind then.’ I thought to myself with a mental chuckle, sizing it up while I picked my rings free from my pocket and put them on one by one. The ring of creation did not have any attachments… I would have to work around that. Everything else was good though. Mystic started sending thin ten foot spherical pulses, using up the tiniest bit of energy as it ate off my passive regeneration to locate any and all beings within range. There was nothing. Masatr was the same as ever. The Constructor was ready. Four rings in all, and all ready.

I looked back at the sleeping monster and drew my daggers while stealthily approaching. Stealth, the passive ability, directed me easily and guided my feet to walk in a strangely light but still fast enough to be considered speed walking. That was something that I should probably start practicing without the aid of the system, seeing as my feet didn't even make a crunch against the loose gravel and cement.

Then I was upon the soon to be corpse and I quickly lashed out in double opposite arcs with my daggers, slitting its throat with some resistance from its durable flesh. The monster jerked up instantly, its throat gurgling as its dark blood spilled out and started covering itself. Then it turned to a golden sand and blew away into the air, heading back to tartarus.

I hadn't expected to feel anything after killing what I knew was a monster, even like how I did… But a chilly wind seemed to rip through my body and a bit of disgust, maybe even horror, ran through my throat into my mouth. No remorse though. I knew what I had killed, and it wasn't deserving of that. I recovered quickly though, and frowning I started to stalk forward to the door I had been trying to get to. I had people to hopefully save and emotion for people eating monsters to kill.

My jaw and to some extent body clenched in anticipation for a second after I approached the door, but after waiting a second to see if Mystic would pick up any monsters or people behind the door, which there wasn't, I swung it open. It creaked. Loudly. I winced at the loud sound of metal scraping on metal, and I almost took an instinctive step back with my mind blaring warnings and caution but I resisted and slipped inside.

It was dark, and I could barely see anything through the darkness. Only the streetlamp outside shone any light into the storage bay I found myself inside. I don't know why a gym had a storage bay, but I could see large metal shelves with big boxes on them and a hallway to my left along with a door on the opposite side of the room to the door. And then said door closed with a loud snap, leaving me in darkness.

“Hey, Killblood, what you doing?” I heard grunted in the blackness. I nearly froze as I heard the deep and bloodchilling monster's voice ringing out, but thankfully my incredibly sleep deprived mind started acting up at the last second and I spit out with the deepest voice possible I replied. “Nothing. Can't sleep!” I called out to the darkness, then hesitated with trepidation. Surely this wouldn’t work… That kind of stuff is only in the movies, right?

“Allright.” Was all I heard in response through the darkness. I breathed a sigh of relief. “I am coming in.” He continued after a moment. A bright outline appeared in front of me out of the darkness, covering a standing figure that looked like they were walking. Then that outline updated, closer to where I remembered the opposite door was. I mentally cursed and took quick steps away from where I was standing, into the hallway to my left, before crouching down and pressing my left hand’s knuckles to the ground, pressing the stone with the Ring of Creation. Then I started pumping Spirit Energy through the rings mythril body and then from there directly into the stone, forming a small pool of energy at my feet.

The door cracked open with a similar creak to the outside door, a harsh cracking and grinding sound punctuated by a sharp squeal. Light flooded the previously dark room in a streak on the floor and walls, revealing the empty room to the laestrygonian outside. “Hey, where are you?” I heard the same voice call out, a large shadow stretching into view as it slid into the room. I could only just see the outline of the monster itself because of Mystic guiding my eyes every second or so.

With my Spirit Energy set to turn into the same stone material as the floor I started to force it to flow up and out of the floor, making it float and twist in the air like a snake. I didn't keep my entire concentration on keeping it in any shape like I had been doing any time I made something using the rings power, which made it slide through the air faster than normal just trying to keep all the energy together. It slid like a snake through the air, going through obstacles. Then it suddenly encountered a barrier just before where the giant was standing. ‘Damn! He needs to be within six feet!’ I remembered, annoyed and panicking.

The giant outline took another step into the room, letting the door close behind him and submerging the room in complete darkness again. “Killblood!” He called out once more, but I could hear a note of hesitation in his voice. I ignored it, as I crept to the corner of the hallway into the room towards the magic outline only I could see of the monster's body, moving my magic forwards with every step.

Strangely, now that one of my major senses isn't being used and the world around me was quiet… I could feel a strange feedback with my Spirit Energy that was floating through the air. I could tell where it was without needing to see it. It even helped visualize its shape and its very immediate surroundings in three dimensions. It was faint. Faint enough that I could barely feel it, but barely means I could feel it even as a phantom of a sensation.

Then I could feel, just barely, when my Spirit Energy touched the monster's skin. I pushed it forwards, inside the point of the monster that I encountered. From what I could see and feel, it was coiling around and inside its neck. I always wondered what would happen if I did this.

“Materialize.” I calmly pronounced in a low but audible voice, causing the outline to turn to my voice in a millisecond. “Hey, wh-” The laestrygonian started to say, only to be cut off and start gurgling. I could see its outline thrashing around, hear clatters and bangs that shook me and caused my breath to hitch, hoping that nothing would hear.

Then with a huge powerful thrash that hit one of the metal shelves as far as I could tell, it keeled over and fell on the ground with a thump. With a large, metal shelf crashing down on top of it and the floor with a loud bang, sending me into a panic. “Dematerialize.” I whispered frantically, and I felt the energy rush back into my soul once more, its job done.

“Hey! What's going on in there!” I heard a few voices call out in various tones and states of sleepiness from all around.

I cursed and retreated down the only path that didn't have a monster calling out from, at a run through the darkness. I fled down the hallway behind me, deeper inside the infested building.