It turned out babysitting a bunch of adventurers was not fun. By not fun I of course meant that pretty soon the biggest threat to their existence was me. I wanted to strangle them after spending the past five hours listening to them complain, whine and question my every action and decision.
“I still don’t understand why we need him,” the tank whose name was Regald said.
Smashing the edge of my shield into the head of a shadow bear pinning it against the wall I brought my club down on its head. It dissolved into a liquid shadow before evaporating into the environment leaving only a dark stain on the floor.
“Because” Guinevere sighed. “You can’t tank, Kira can’t heal and Haldros can’t use his spell abilities.”
“I don’t trust him,” Kira said. “He’s probably just thinking of ways to kill us.”
Are you sure we can’t kill them, Karnen asked.
Yes, I sighed. I already promised I’d get them to safety.
I don’t mind them, Voidra said. Their hatred is very tasty.
They hate me? I asked. Seems a bit extreme, we just met.
No, they hate the woman leader, Voidra said.
You mean Guinevere? I asked.
“It’s rude to talk about someone behind their back,” Guinevere scolded.
“Sorry,” I said.
“What?” Guinevere asked confused.
“Um… I said… sorry what was that?” I said.
Real smooth, Karnen said dryly.
We got another wave incoming, Voidra said.
Thank goodness, Karnen said. Maybe some of them will die in the fighting.
“We got another wave of monsters incoming,” I warned the party.
Finally, that shut them up. We’d been dealing with stray monsters are entire journey through the twisting and branching tunnels but hadn’t run into another wave of monsters yet.
“Are you ready for another fight?” Guinevere asked.
“Honestly, I was going to start one with your party if this hadn’t popped up,” I said. “It’s been like being trapped in a car with a group of six-year-olds.”
“What’s a car?” Guinevere asked.
“Not important,” I said. “Monsters incoming.”
Sure enough, the screams and roars of a ravenous hoard could just now start to be heard. The ground started to rumble signifying these wouldn’t just be the shadow beasts we’d been fighting but creatures of physical beings as well.
“How could you even detect them from this far away?” Haldros asked. “You don’t seem like your focused on being a scout?”
“I have my ways,” I answered taking my place up at the front of the group. “And I’m not focused on anything.”
“Then how do you help your party?” Regald asked as he took up his place a little ways behind me.
“I don’t operate with a party,” I said.
“Why not?” Guinevere asked, stepping up beside me and setting her feet.
“You don’t want to know,” I said shaking my head.
“And why is that?” Guinevere asked, having to speak up as the howls and roars grew louder.
“It would offend you,” I replied.
A gazelle like creature covered with black carapace outpaced the horde and lowed its head rushing headlong towards us. Dodging to the side I kicked out my foot colliding with its neck and sending it cracking into the wall. Guinevere lunged forward her sword slashing down and finishing it off.
“Tell me,” she insisted her voice rising just loud enough for me to hear.
“Relying on other people will make you weak, without the genuine threat of death, of self-annihilation,” I explained as I began lashing about me with my club. “True strength comes from testing yourself with no safety net. You have to face the end with the full confidence and willingness to die to become superior.”
“A bit egotistical,” Guinevere said. “What about raising others up? Teaching others how to fight for themselves and to protect others?”
“I don’t see them as exclusive,” I said raising my shield and shoving off a shadow panther that tried to land on my back. Tossing if off I let Guinevere skewered it through the neck.
“By forcing them to face their internal weakness they will learn more than you could ever teach them,” I explained.
“You’re wrong,” Guinevere said as she placed her back against mine as the hoard of monsters threw themselves against us. “I’ve seen what happens when a father throws their child into a river so they can teach themselves to swim.”
I couldn’t shrug with the chaos of battle that required at least half my attention. “I’ve only ever been in the deep end; I don’t know of another way to survive.”
“Then you must be a true prodigy,” Guinevere said. “Because doing that to any other child breaks them.”
“Who says it didn’t,” I said so softly I doubted she even heard over the cacophony of battle.
--
Ishmael’s unexpected vulnerability and openness surprised her but the look in his eyes was gone as soon as it had appeared replaced by the raging berserker she had first met. Ishmael rushed into battle and a massive two-headed bear latched onto his shield with it teeth and dragged him into the horde. She didn’t have time to worry about him, however. Standing at the front of her party she cut down the monsters that flowed around Ishmael, he was like a rock in a pipe slowing down the flow of water, but he couldn’t stop it entirely.
Blood and ichor sprayed around her as she cut into the swarm. It was odd for such a diverse group of monsters to be working together instead of fighting each other. They had a mad hunger and single-mindedness to them that could normally only be found in dungeon monsters, or in Ishmael.
Pushing aside thoughts on her new companion, Guinevere fell into her battle meditation taught to her since she was a child. She cut through and pushed back every monster that came her way; the ice blue of her blade was soon covered in dark red or black blood and ichor. Not all the monsters dissolved into shadow and soon piles of corpses were creating barricades slowing down the monsters as they climbed over the mounds of their own dead.
Lost in the rhythmic and reflexive technique of her meditation Guinevere was surprised when the wave of monsters finally ended. A pile of corpses shifted, and Ishmael pushed himself out from the blood-soaked fur, chitin, scales, and ooze that formed the various monster bodies. His body shook and when he looked at her, she could feel him restraining himself from striking like a vicious dog straining at its leash. A tremor passed through his body as he hooked his clubs to his belt at his waist. Taking a cloth out of a pouch on his side he wiped it across his face, the blood, gore, and ichor vanished.
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Ishmael seemed transformed the pressure in the air of sudden violence vanishing. When he stepped forward, she didn’t back down. Reaching out, he held a pristine white cloth out to her.
“Here, clean yourself up, you look like hell,” he said.
Guinevere took the cloth and examined it. “What is it?”
“A cleansing cloth,” Ishmael said. “I got it from a dungeon inject about ten points of mana into it and it will remove any dirt, grim or blood from anything it touches.”
Guinevere took the cloth and raised it to her face.
“Wait,” Kira said. “What if its cursed.”
Guinevere paused and looked Ishmael over.
“You’re going to be putting your life in my hands a lot in the future,” Ishmael said. “You need to decide now if you’re going to trust me.”
Guinevere hesitated then took the cloth. Pushing out with her mana she wiped it across her face, instantly her hair and body were instantly cleansed her hair which had been caked with blood and ichor now returned to its white silver sheen. Instantly she could smell the sweat staining her clothes, her nose wrinkling in disgust. She wiped it across her armor and clothes and instantly the smell was whisked away, and she breathed in freely. Turning to Kira the other woman shook her head.
“I’m not using that, I don’t trust him,” Kira said.
“Suit yourself,” Ishmael said. “Just don’t walk near me I don’t want to be smelling you this whole time.”
--
We trudged along for another five hours before stopping at a wider part of the tunnel that branched off into two other directions. There was a nearby cave and large pond fed by an underwater stream that flowed from a crack in the wall and slowly went down a narrow underwater tunnel big enough for a creature the size of a trout to swim through. A few blind cave fish were swimming in the pond and mushroom, moss and lichen grew alongside it creating an underground oasis.
The three useless heroes and Guinevere began setting up camp. I just sat down cross legged and closed my eyes, beginning to meditate.
“Are you going to help us get set up?” one of the men asked.
“Why?” I asked. “I don’t need any of your stuff.”
“You’re just going to sleep on the rocks?” the woman asked scornfully.
“I’m immune to exposure,” I replied. “I’ll be fine, I need to rest for when we get attacked again and you stand around uselessly.”
“Why you…” one the man said his voice rising with anger, but Guinevere cut him off.
“Enough!” she snapped. “I contracted him to protect you, not be your servant; if he doesn’t want access to our supplies or tents that’s fine.”
Everyone was silent for about an hour after that. I sat in my silent wrathful meditation, the splash of fish and the hammer of pitons the only sounds disturbing the silence. They set up a fire and brought out some rations. I brought out some of my own from my storage pouch and ate apart from them. They talked among themselves quietly. I listened in on them for a bit, but it was all boring mundane stuff and whining about the possibility of never escaping.
Guinevere mostly stayed out of the conversation, an outsider in her own group. She eventually got up and came over sat next to me on the ground.
“Tell me about yourself, Ishmael,” she said.
“Why?” I asked not opening my eyes as I sat in cross-legged by back straight against the wall.
“Because I want to know if your reliable,” Guinevere said. “Your hard to read and without the system we have only each other’s word to rely on.”
“Fine,” I sighed. “What do you want to know?”
“Why were you at the battle?” Guinevere asked. “I can’t tell your face for certain but you don’t appear to be a myrmidon.”
“There are many non-myrmidons among the clans,” I answered my words true if deceitful in the way they directed her thoughts. “I’m human, if that’s what you’re asking. As for why I was at the battle, because I wanted to be.”
“But why?” Guinevere asked. “What was in it for you? Money, land, influence or did you just want to earn rank points by killing other gifted.”
“Because I wanted to,” I said again. “All those other things are incentives for people sure, but it’s not how I operate. I fight because I want to, because I enjoy dancing as close as I can to the edge of death.”
“Doesn’t sound like a recipe for a long life,” Guinevere said.
“Safe is boring,” I said with a shrug. “What about you, why are you here?”
“I came to kill the warlord,” Guinevere said.
“But why?” I asked. “He hadn’t done anything against you.”
“He would have, it’s in his nature,” Guinevere said.
“You can’t know that for sure,” I insisted. “Did you ever actually meet him?”
“No,” Guinevere said.
“So, you initiated the fight,” I said. “Why, what’s your motivation?”
Guinevere looked me in the eyes, and I again flinched as I saw another woman’s face. “I want to prove that we don’t need the champions to protect ourselves; that someone without the blessing and gifts of the Gods is just as capable of defeating evil as any of the champions of law.”
“Your statement implies that law is good,” I said.
“You disagree?” Guinevere asked.
“Not necessarily,” I said. “But I believe either side is evil when left unchecked. Chaos leads to anarchy and people taking the law into their own hands. Law leads to tyranny and the restriction and control of everyone’s natural rights.”
“Natural rights?” Guinevere asked.
“That we’re all created equal, and that morality applies to us all the same regardless of our station. Everyone has the right to life and the pursuit of happiness,” I answered.
“You really believe everyone is created equally?” Guinevere asked.
I paused then shook my head. “No, but we all have equal potential some just have to work harder than others to realize it.”
“You have some very strange ideas,” Guinevere said. “Where are you from.”
“Missouri,” I said.
“I’ve never heard of that place,” Guinevere said.
I gave a shrug of my shoulders. “Didn’t expect you too, it’s very far away.”
Guinevere stood up. “We’ll talk more later, get your rest.”
Closing my eyes again, I fell into a restful meditation but resisted the call of sleep.
--
We have another incoming wave of enemies, Voidra warned me.
My eyes snapped open, and I jumped to my feet. My movement caused my dozing companions to jerk awake and they reached for weapons. Sadly, they pointed those weapons at me with the exception of Guinevere who stood at a ready guard.
“We’re going to be attacked again,” I said.
They all paused and listened then shook their heads.
“I can’t sense anything,” Guinevere said. “Do you have some passive detection ability?”
“Yes,” I said. It was true even if that ability wasn’t what had alerted me.
“Then where are they?” the tank asked.
A massive shadow bear surged out of the ground and tackled him to the dirt.
“There here,” I said dryly watching him struggle with the shadow creature for a moment before his party members cut it down.
More and more shadow creatures popped out of the walls, ceiling and floor rushing us. I jumped into the fray drawing their attention. Pushing mana into my ring I activated the Stoneskin enchantment, it mitigated physical damage eliminating most of the damage they dealt. However, whatever made them able to pass through walls also helped them to pass through my adamantine skin drawing thin lines of blood all across my body. My main threat was blood loss, the wounds closing quickly but more replacing them every second.
My clubs tore about me in cyclone of carnage spraying black shadow ichor across the walls. They quickly dissipated into shadow when killed so they weren’t piling up like last time. I saw a creature that looked like a cross between a panther and a spider moving across the ceiling heading toward the healer. I threw the club in my left hand, and it impacted the spider-panther with the force of a cannon. It fell twitching from the ceiling.
Left with just the one weapon now I was pushed back. The creatures were mostly immaterial and only my weapons enchantments allowed me to damage them. They seemed to exist halfway between flesh and blood and being a ghost; able to fully materialize whenever they wanted too. A massive bear-like creature bit down on my club and shook its head. My grip was enhanced by Setules Palms, so I didn’t lose my grip on my weapon; unfortunately my weight wasn’t enough to keep the bear from swinging me around like a rag doll.
My entire body became a human flail as I smashed around into the other monsters as the bear tried to disarm me. My shoulder popped but I pushed past the pain. My free fist lashed out over and over into the bear’s face. Eventually it tossed me into the wall, I hit like a stone from a catapult. I finally lost hold of my club as I was stunned and dazed. More and more creatures swarmed me.
Guinevere was suddenly by my side and pushed one of my clubs into my hand. We began cutting and hacking through the swarm pushing them back down the tunnel. It was a bloody, blurry haze after that. When it was done, I struggled to push down the fury caused by the instances of Blood Frenzy I had stacked up with my cloak. Hooking my club in my belt I held out my hand recalling the other one to my hand. It slapped into my palm still wet with my own blood and the evaporating shadow ichor. Taking out my cleansing cloth from my storage pouch I wiped it over my face. I instantly felt relieved as the grit and blood covering me vanished. My pants were badly damaged at this point, even being reinforced by Hell Dragon’s Armory there was only so much the nonmagical item could endure.
Guinevere was giving me a side-eyed look as she studied me. She did that a lot and I could feel her analyzing and judging me whenever she thought I wasn’t aware of her.
“What?” I asked, turning to her.
“How do you do that?” she asked. “Just turn your anger on and off like that, I’ve never seen any other berserker be able to do that.”
“You’re wrong,” I said. “I can’t turn it off.”
Letting me mask drop I looked Guinevere in the eyes. Like every time we met gazes, I saw someone else for a second. We both flinched at what we saw and looked away.
“You always flinch when you look me in the eyes,” Guinevere said recovering her stoic demeanor quickly hiding the fear I’d seen for an instant.
“You remind me of someone else,” I said with a shrug turning my back on her.
“Who?” Guinevere asked her voice much more inquisitive than I’d heard before.
“Someone I’d really like to forget,” I said.
How much longer do we have to be with these people? Karnen asked.
I’m enjoying this, Voidra said. This woman has almost as much emotional energy as you Mordred, but she keeps it all bottled up inside her. The others are also delicious. They hate and fear so much I could eat them for years.
“That’s enough of that,” I said.
“Sorry,” Guinevere said. “I didn’t mean to pressure you on something personal.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll help you and your party get out of here and we can figure out what to do from there.”
“I don’t like being without the System,” Guinevere said. “I’ve always had access to it my entire life but now…. it’s like missing a limb.”
“We keep walking, and we’ll find an exit.” I said trying to be encouraging. “Hopefully it doesn’t take very long.”