Joey closes his eyes so he won't have to see the sight that would befall Bree. The snapping is heard throughout the whole forest, and it resounds through Joey's soul. Joey finally decides to open his eyes, and what he sees makes him cry. Tanner was able to get to Bree before the alpha bit her in half and push her out of the way, so the alpha completely missed. Joey recuperates himself and was able to make it back into the combat, and Nathan and Tanner were fighting the alpha at the time.
"Joey! Stay back and protect Bree while she uses some of her spells to kill this thing!"
Tanner is yelling at Joey while the alpha is biting at his shield, but Tanner is easily deflecting his attacks. Joey nods at Tanner and readies his fists so he can protect the one he loves. Tanner and Nathan look at each other and they both know what exactly to do. They both turn their gaze to the alpha wolf in front of them, and they make the first move this time. Nathan uses "Accelerated Step", and is able to cut the wolf right above its hind paws, so it is slowed down. Tanner uses the opportunity to rush towards the wolf and strikes it with his sword, or so he thought. The wolf still had its insane speed and was behind Tanner before he even knew it. Tanner turns around with his shield up to block the wolves attack, but it disappears again. Tanner tries to keep up with the speed of the wolf, but it just keeps teleporting all over the place. When the wolf was convinced that Tanner didn't know its location, it went in for the kill, mouthwatering from the meal it was about to enjoy. It came from Tanner's blind spot, but it was met with an extreme force hitting it in the chin, which caused the beast to bite its own tongue.
"I don't think so bitch."
Nathan had followed the wolf's movements and was able to appear below it and punch upwards closing its mouth, and sending it flying over Tanner. Tanner smiled at Nathan and asked him just one question.
"Why didn't you just kill it there?"
"Well you need to level up right, plus you need to get your first kill too, might as well be something strong, right?"
Nathan just smiled back at Tanner after saying this and Tanner just shook his head. Basically, Nathan was forcing Tanner to kill this beast. While they were talking, the wolf started howling again, but this time it wasn't as confident, in fact, it sounded like a cornered beast that was about to be killed. Nathan could feel the burning in his head, and he can feel himself fading away. He goes down on one knee and has to put his hand on the ground to keep him stable. The wolf starts to morph into something more terrifying. It grew another head as its shoulder exploded and the head popped out. Its fur became metallic looking, and the wolf turned black. The wolf's eyes started glowing very bright, and it sends a chill down everyone's spines. On top of that, more Forest Wolves appear and surround the group.
"Uh Tanner, this would be a nice time to use "Divine Light"!"
Joey tells Tanner this and Tanner realizes that they should definitely retreat, but as he goes to use the ability, the alpha wolf explodes towards Tanner with a speed so fast, that it left small craters where its feet had been. Tanner couldn't see where it would go, but a sudden impact blew him backwards, and he was barely able to land on his feet. Nothing had directly hit Tanner, but it seems that an aftershock had. The group couldn't get a good look at what was going on, but they could see afterimages of a fight that seems to be going on between Nathan and the alpha. After about 10 seconds, about 20 aftershock waves had hit the group and sent them tumbling backwards. The wolves who had surrounded them earlier were also affected by these aftershocks. Then suddenly it stopped, and the image was Nathan standing in front of the alpha, both swords drawn, and had one arm over the other while holding the swords toward the beast. Nathan was in a fighting stance that none of them had ever seen him use. He was also slightly bent over, and his whole body was dead still. The wolf was limping a little bit as if it was losing the fight even though it transformed just seconds ago. One head had accumulated a comparable more injuries than the other one, and that head was the original. When Joey really looked at Nathan, his irises were, in fact, a color that could only be described as blood red, and if he wasn't mistaken, Nathan had a huge smile. It wasn't a kind smile, but a smile only a person who was insane would have.
"Uoy wonk uoy era gniog ot eid, t'nod uoy?"
Nathan seemed to be speaking a language that none of the others could understand at all, and his voice sounded more like a hiss, rather than his actual voice. The alpha looked actually kinda scared and started to cower. Without a second to think about it, Nathan rushed towards the wolf and left cracks in the ground from where he had pushed off his feet so hard. Not even a second had gone by and Nathan was behind the alpha in the same stance as when he left, and the alpha had exploded into just chunks of meat, cut up organs, and shattered bones. Blood was also sent flying within a 10 feet radius of the explosion. Nathan just stood up and started laughing hysterically as the blood rained down on his face. But it wasn't long until he fell to the ground and proceeded to not move. Joey and the others just stood there in shock, what happened to their friend? Will he try to kill them too? Was he still the Nathan that they knew and loved? They all rushed towards Nathan to at least see if he was okay. When they arrived, he was unresponsive no matter what they did. Tanner tried to use "Divine Heal" but it had no effect at all.
"What... Just happened?"
Joey just looks at his friend with a scared expression, and soon after hearing this, he heard howling all around him. He remembered that there were wolves that surrounded them during that fight. He readies his weapons, and so do the other two. They all go back to back while standing over Nathan, having the intention of fighting to the death. Without letting the wolves get the first move, Bree sends out several ice spikes to impale 5 of the 16 wolves around them. She decides to hold back a little since she didn't know her limits. One of them rushed at Tanner, and Joey punched it with immense force, and the punch explodes the wolf in half and sends blood flying all over the place. Tanner, who is tired of being saved, rushes towards the wolves and catches them off guard. He stabs towards one with his sword, but the wolf easily dodges it and appears beside Tanner on his left side, but that's exactly what he wanted. He slashes his shield towards the wolf and cuts its head in half. Its brain slowly slides out of its cranial cavity. Its tongue is also hanging out of the slit in its head. Tanner didn't tell his friends, but the shield's edges were sharpened to the point where it could be even be used as a sword if used correctly. Another appears beside him, but he quickly sees it and is able to cut it down using his sword. He turns around to see Joey and Bree had taken down 4 more wolves using teamwork. Seeing that the wolves could not win, they ran away with their tails between their legs and were whimpering. The group decides it is not worth it to give chase.
They go to Nathan, who is now conscious and barrage him with questions. Before they could get off more than one question each, he puts his hand up.
"Don't ask yet, I don't even know myself. Just get the stones from the wolves so we can get out of here."
Instead of bothering Nathan anymore, they go to each wolf they had killed and collected the stones. There were 18 stones in total, including the alpha's stone, which was considerably bigger than the other ones and had a dark aura to it. They all leave the forest as soon as possible, and the carriage ride is a quiet one. Tanner looks like he is going to die from laughter and he decides to break the silence.
"Looks like we had to work like dogs to finish this quest huh?"
"God damn you, Tanner, that wasn't even funny."
Even though Nathan had said that he was laughing, and soon Bree and Joey were laughing too. The atmosphere had lightened up, and Joey finally brought up what was on everyone's minds.
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
"So, what happened to you, Nathan."
There was silence for a while, and then Nathan finally answered them.
"I.. Don't know. It was like I became a passenger, and someone else had taken control of my body and all I could do was watch the scene going on before me. And when I spoke, the alpha wolf actually understood, and reacted to my words."
"Wait, what did you say anyways or do you know?"
Tanner, who was also curious decided to join in the conversation.
"I said "You know you are going to die, don't you", which I had said the words in the same order, but the actual words were said in reverse."
The others just looked at Nathan in mass confusion, they wanted to ask more but decided not to due to how terrified Nathan looked. Soon, they were all in the guild building, and they quickly found Catia behind the counter.
"You guys are back! Did you kill the Forest Wolves?"
"Ya we did, one of them transformed into a two-headed version, and it was a lot bigger compared to the others."
Joey repeated this and Catia replied with a loud shriek
"EEEHHHHHHHHHH???!!!!"
This caught the group by surprise, and they all looked at her like she was crazy.
"Do you have any proof, do you have its stone, are you guys sure you are ok, do-."
Catia was speaking at a rapid pace that barely anyone could understand, but she was interrupted by Nathan before she got too crazy.
"Whoa Whoa, calm down. Yes, we are ok, what is the big deal, wasn't this just a White ranked quest?"
"The Forest Wolves were yes, but by the way you are talking about it, it seems that you have killed the local Dire Wolf Demon, that had been plaguing this land for many years. It has been a Red level quest that no one has been willing to accept due to its insane speed."
With that being said, Joey pulls out his pouch, which all of the stones had been placed in, and hands them all over to Catia. She counted and confirmed 17 Forest wolf stones, and 1 Dire Wolf Demon stone. Since they had killed the Demon, they technically completed the quest and received the rewards for it. On top of the 80 bronze coins that was given for the original quest, they were given 4 gold coins, and all of them would get ranked up to the Red rank for completely the Red ranked quest. Joey kinda felt like it was cheating since it was Nathan who had killed the beast, but it didn't matter since he was a part of the party that killed it. Another reward for completing quests was experience, and since they completed a Red ranked quest, they all got a lot of it. They decided to check out their stats, but the device looks different this time. Nathan decided to ignore what it looked like and put his name tag into the slit. His eyes widened as he saw the results.
Name: Novaxil
Height: 6'4
Weight: 164 pounds
Place of residence: West District, Hollow Hill
Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Blood Red
Race: ???
Class: Godly Abyssal Assassin (Legendary)
Level: 37
Abilities: Accelerated step, Hide presence, Heighten Senses, Sword Teleport, Pressure, Natural Born Killer, Abyssal Summon (Special), Combat Master, One thousand slashes, Walk of the Abyss (Special)
Injuries: Abyssal Blood: Anyone with "Abyssal Blood" is connected to a demon in the Abyss, which can run rampant if the person in question is in danger, or wishes to release the said demon. He/she acquires the powers of the demon when it is released. If used more than three times in one day, or used for over an hour in one session, the user will turn into the demon he has summoned. The user will also be considered a part of the demon race from this power.
Stats: Vitality: 1,235, Strength: 795, Agility: 1,845, Magic: 895, Magic Resistance: 100, Defense: 100
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tanner looks over Nathan's shoulder and sees at Nathan's stats. He just as surprised as Nathan at what he was seeing. When Nathan had acquired this "Abyssal Blood" was unknown to them, and also why was it under the injuries category? Before any questions were asked, Nathan pulled out his name tag and quickly left the building. Tanner went to stop Nathan, but he just vanished before he could. Joey looks at Tanner with a confused face because he did not know why Nathan left so suddenly.
"It seems something has happened to Nathan's body that he is scared of."
"What was it?"
Catia had overheard the conversation and decided to join in with a concerned look on her face. Tanner just looked at her and shook his head.
"I don't know, I got a slight glimpse of it, but it looked like it said "Abyssal Blood", and it was considered an injury."
"Huh, I have never heard of it in my life."
Catia puts her hand on her chin as to look like she was thinking hard about this. She thought for a minute and then shook her head.
"I really don't know, let's all just hope he is ok!"
The group nodded their heads and decided to look at their stats as well, and the following was shown.
Name: Haku
Height: 5'10
Weight: 160 pounds
Place of residence: West District, Hollow Hill
Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Brown
Race: Human
Class: Godly Battle Angel (Legendary)
Level: 28
Abilities: Divine Heal, Divine Light, Vanquishing Light, Foresight, Master Craftsman, Natural Born Strategist, Angel's Wings (Special), Eye of Truth (Special)
Stats: Vitality: 940, Strength: 500, Agility: 600, Magic: 1,000, Magic Resistance: 1,100, Defense: 1,100
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Jeff Crucifix
Height: 6'
Weight: 180 pounds
Place of residence: West District, Hollow Hill
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Brown
Race: Human
Class: Godly King (Legendary)
Level: 30
Abilities: Physical Explosion, Impenetrable Defense, Natural Born Leader, Magic Absorption, Lion's Courage, Lion's Roar, Lure, Berserk (Special), Demon Destroyer (Special)
Stats: Vitality: 1,100, Strength: 1,500, Agility: 700, Magic: 0, Magic Resistance: 0, Defense: 1,300
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Darya
Height: 5'7
Weight: 125 pounds
Place of residence: West District, Hollow Hill
Hair color: Red
Eye color: Brown
Race: Human
Class: Godly Water Enchantress (Legendary)
Level: 31
Abilities: Water Spear, Water Healing, Ice spike, Thunderstorm, Water Drake, Ice Rain, Water Wave, Tsunami (Special), Frozen Wasteland (Special)
Stats: Vitality: 500, Strength: 300, Agility: 500, Magic: 1,600, Magic Resistance: 1,300, Defense: 800
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They all looked at the massive improvements in their stats, but they didn't feel any different. They must have leveled up many times after completing that high tiered quest. They thought about accepting another quest, but finding where Nathan went was Tanner's main priority at the moment. Before they even left the building, Nathan appeared before them. In his left hand was a book that was as thick as a dictionary, and there was something else in his other hand.
"Where did you go?"
Tanner looked at Nathan with slight anger due to his sudden disappearance.
"Well I remembered that Joey and I got a stone after facing that one demon when we first got here, so I went and got it. I also remembered I saw a bookstore when I went shopping so I went there to find a book that would maybe tell me what I am, and I managed to find a book called "The Abyssal's and What Is Different About Them" so I bought it."
As Nathan was explaining where he had gone, he walks up to Catia and hands her the stone in his hand.
"Is there any information on this stone that you can tell me."
Catia takes the stone from Nathan, and takes it to a device that was placed under the counter, and waits for something to happen. A card comes out, and she starts to read it.
"The card says, "Demonic Parasite: A parasite that takes over your body and festers in your insides. It slowly devours you from the inside out until it has matured. Once matured, the demon will take shape and escape the body and will go around rampaging until it has been killed. Value of stone: 10 gold coins.", where did you get this?"
"It's a long story, is there any reason we should keep it?"
Nathan didn't want to explain how they ended fighting the "Demonic Parasite", but wanted to know if the stone that they had would be useful since it was worth so much.
"It can be used for many things, but it would be mainly used for making weapons."
"Well if that's the case then we will sell-."
"We are keeping it."
Tanner interrupts Nathan and takes the stone before he sells it. Nathan doesn't really care if they sell it or not, but if Tanner can see value in keeping it, then he won't argue with him.
"I guess we are keeping it, thank you for the help Catia."
Nathan thanks Catia with a gentle smile and Catia blushes a little bit and looks away. They decide to leave and go home, everyone wanted to relax after a day of adventuring. They finally get home, and everyone takes turns using the bath, and Bree makes dinner. Once dinner is eaten, everyone heads back to their rooms. Nathan decides to read the book he bought, Tanner makes a list of all of the things he wants to buy tomorrow, Joey and Bree decide to go to sleep early, and this would be the end of the day that the group of Nathan, Tanner, Joey, and Bree had their first adventure on.