Chapter 51 – Old Jack

[Jack]

[The Secret Dungeon of Gurthok]

God I love this.

The thought came unbidden as Jack slowly removed his daggers from the skull of another draugr. He stood and looked behind him. He couldn’t help but smile. The ground was littered with the bodies of his enemies, each cut with brutal precision and savage intent. Jack no longer cared about keeping his body or mind safe, he was only here for the kill.

I love to kill.

Something screamed in the back of his brain but Jack ignored it. He didn’t have time or capacity for anything other than the kill. That was life. Survival. Joy.

That was it. That was his switch, his trigger. The thing that made him Jack.

He loved killing.

It wasn’t killing someone per se, but the act itself. The exhilaration. The challenge. The life or death tragedy played out on the edge of a knife to let you know you're alive. Can you move faster, strike harder, be more ruthless. How else would you know you're alive unless you risked it all against death?

It wasn’t the only thing he loved. Not by a long shot. It was just the thing he loved the most, and until recently, he’d been actively suppressing that urge. Now, he’d unleashed the hellish beast, and it was ravenous, thirsty for the satisfying slake of blood.

For Jack, trying to ignore his urge to kill was like walking through the desert and trying to ignore the sun.

Sure, he didn’t have to look at it. But that didn’t change the fact that it was still there, lighting up the world around him, smothering him in its warmth, burning his skin.

Now Jack no longer had to pretend it didn’t exist. He didn’t have to constantly screw around, or mess everything up. Jack didn’t even have to drink anymore. It was all just a distraction – anything he could do to draw his attention away from the beast he had locked away.

He had been so close to beating it, almost managing to lock it away forever. For the first time he’d had… friends. Friends who cared about him and supported him no matter the ridiculous shit he pulled. There was also Sarah. She had loved him. Loved him. That, more than anything, had made him forget everything else - who he really was.

She won’t be able to save you this time, Jack mused to himself, before letting the thought drift away.

Even through all his efforts to suppress those urges, it still only barely worked. He was still actively killing people back on Earth, finding some loophole to scratch the itch. Bad guys only he told himself over and over again. Since coming to the Tower, that killer urge had been slowly chipping away at his willpower with every fight. The Tower seemed to want to break him down and unleash him, for what, he didn’t know.

Now though… He could embrace that urge to fight and to kill. He could stare directly into that burning desert sun and take in the constant reminder that he was a killer.

The only real problem with staring at the sun – it blinded him to everything else.

He wasn’t entirely sure he cared anymore.

Jack took a deep breath. Instead of burying down his thoughts or locking them away like he normally would, he just let them float away. He didn’t have to suppress, didn’t have to lock anything away anymore. He could just be.

He felt good.

Jack twirled his daggers in his hand as he made slow circles around another draugr outpost, whistling quietly to himself. He and Hannah had been inside the dungeon for three days so far. They had made their way down into the forest covered valley and had been conducting a series of deadly raids on any outpost, watchtower, and patrol unit they came across while Jack got back into true form.

It hadn’t taken long.

Hannah did her best to keep up, but as Jack dove deeper into his old self, he moved with brutal efficiency through enemy ranks. Each outpost, each victory, each kill brought him closer to the man he used to be.

Rodeo’s perfect killer.

Jack had never been in a dungeon that wasn’t cursed, so he wasn’t too familiar with how things were supposed to go down. As it turns out, there’s a lot of loot in dungeons. They had been working their way through the smaller outposts in part because they held much needed supplies. Potions of every variety – something they were sorely lacking.

Jack found he really enjoyed the loot. It was like a tangible reward for killing. It was Christmas every day.

The outpost Jack was circling was rudimentary at best. A fence of wooden spikes all pointed outward, surrounding several ancient gray tents. One of the draugr guards on the other side of the outpost spotted him and let loose a screech, red eyes burning bright in anger.

Jack made his way towards the only entrance to the fenced in position. Several more draugrs joined the first, each letting out a scream of their own as Jack closed in on his prey.

They sported better weapons than the original draugr patrol they had first come across. Their weapons still had an ancient feel to them, but the upkeep was much better. They carried a dark polish and a dangerous edge.

Jack’s eyes drifted upwards at the orb of orange fire forming in the sky above the outpost. Looks like Hannah is starting, he thought.

Jack approached the outpost, body loose, daggers dangling in his hands, eyes sharp and heart steady as he stared down his targets.

The gathering of draugr let out another challenging bellow at him.

Jack felt a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He normally tried to force it down but this time, he let it through.

His mouth warped into a dangerous smile as he charged the group of draugrs.

An arrow sailed over Jack from his six, crashing into the orb of fire above the small encampment and sending down a rain of fire.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Hannah was no slouch either, and the more Jack sunk into his old self, the better she got. They fell into old rhythms. Hannah rained down destruction from a distance while Jack took care of things up close and personal.

Draugrs did not like fire. Hannah’s explosive mana took chunks out of everything it touched, leaving behind burning embers that blazed through the undead thralls like a wildfire.

Jack flew in with his daggers drawn, sinking them directly into the first draugr’s head. Axes and swords bore down on him but he was gone and onto the second target in a flash, slicing cleanly through the arm of one draugr and burying his dagger into the head of another.

He felt the tip of a sword graze at his back but the pain only served to fuel his urge to kill. He dropped to his knees, slicing at tendons, lunging upwards in a powerful thrust and sending his dagger up through its mouth and into the monster’s skull.

Jack jumped back, panting hard. He’d killed three draugr in an instant. Two more stared him down and without thinking he charged back in, a smile on his face as he removed draugr heads from bodies.

Hannah backed him up with devastating accuracy releasing a barrage of precision arrows on the unsuspecting draugr as more of the undead monsters climbed out of the burning down tents.

Jack stared as a menacing shape lumbered out of the largest flaming tent.

It was a much larger draugr than anything they had come across in the dungeon. It carried a large battleaxe in each hand, plowing them through the dirt as it took slow, plodding steps towards Jack.

This draugr was different from the rest. At eight feet tall it towered over the lesser draugr and its musculature was far more substantial and menacing. It wasn’t the emaciated corpses Jack had been cutting his way through.

The fire from the tent had scorched and burned its exposed skin all over, but the monster seemed nonplussed.

It let out a challenging roar as it brought its two enormous battle axes up over its head.

Jack’s eyes narrowed as the monster exploded with speed, charging at Jack like a freight train. He rolled out of the way of the monster as it crashed into the fence surrounding the outpost like a freight train, sending chips of wood and broken posts flying every direction.

The monster quickly re-oriented itself to Jack and charged again.

These mini-bosses were something new for Jack. He had come across the occasional monster with an ability or a skill, but here in the dungeon, it was something else. Every outpost had some sort of new monster with a wild ability. Every outpost was a new and exciting chance to see what he could challenge himself with.

Jack dodged out of the way of another charge, the monster bringing its axes down in a devastating slam that shook the ground, red mana exploding out of the cracks. The monster turned around, ripping its weapons free of the earth and let loose a frustrated roar as a red aura Jack was all too familiar with covered the draugr.

It charged at him again, each pass gaining speed in its attacks.

This time, Jack met the attack head on, the menacing smile tugging at the corners of his mouth like an old friend.

As Jack came face to face with the charging monster, he focused at his core and let loose the two drops of mana he had formed. It was a risky gambit, forming two drops of mana with no way to actually vent them, but in his current state of mind he would use any and every tool he had available to him in order to survive here. All that mattered was the next challenge.

He had been messing around with his body cultivation technique or whatever the hell Kalvin the Lightning Centipede had called it. He still wasn’t sure how the hell it worked, and when he tried to parse through the information of the [Quaking Mana Technique] the god had gifted him but all he got was a headache in return.

If he let loose the mana drops, they would create painful shockwaves that resonated throughout his entire body, supercharging his movements and strikes. As of now, he could only let the drops of mana crash into each other five times before they got too out of control and threatened to crack his core again.

Jack stared into the eyes of the draugr as he met its charge head on.

He let the berserking drops of mana free in his core.

Five shockwaves.

Five strikes.

That was all he had to finish the fight.

Jack fell deep into his [Storm Stance]. He moved like lightning, throwing out one strike after another, uncaring of where he was hitting. He’d noticed that draugrs only seemed to die from headshots, but that no longer mattered to him.

All would fall before his unrelenting storm of lightning.

The two drops of mana crashed into each other for the first time. Jack was deep in the flow of storm stance and lashed out with his daggers.

He tore through the draugr’s shoulder. One.

Another strike ripped through its ribs. Two.

The thigh. Three

It’s heart. Four.

Jack removed the draugr’s head from its body. Five.

The deadly series of attacks ended in a crescendo of shockwaves that rang out through his body – Jack held onto his consciousness with a barely tangible thread.

When was the last time he had this much fun?

You have slain Draugr Berserker

+10,000 AP.

Jack ignored the notification and instantly brought his focus to the two drops of mana crashing around inside his core. He brought them to a dead stop in mere moments.

Now that half of his brain power was no longer dedicated to not killing everything in sight, he was operating at full capacity. His mana was even easier to bring under his iron control.

Jack popped his neck, still panting heavily. Small sparks of lightning were biting at his body, which felt like it was on fire. That was one of the downsides of using his mana drops.

It hurt like hell.

Jack heard rustling behind him and on instinct he turned around in a flash, flying towards his new target. He stopped an instant later, daggers still raised and pointed at Hannah’s throat.

She was staring at him, he could see panic flash in her eyes for the briefest moment, followed by a cocked eyebrow.

“I forgot you did that creepy fucking smile thing.” She said, doing a forced mock shiver as she moved past him towards one of the still on fire tents.

Jack felt at his mouth. Had he been smiling this whole time?

He had felt happy. Happier than he had been in a while. He wanted more.

Hannah walked out of the flaming tent, dragging a box behind her. She kicked it open. Jack jumped over to her to peer inside.

“I really wish you would wait for me. Opening these things is so much fun. You never know what’s going to be inside.”

“It’s been potions every single time.” Hannah said flatly.

“I know, but it’s about the suspense. What’s inside? What could it be?” Jack said, reaching down and picking up one of the health potions and shooting it back.

“Quit wasting them like that!” Hannah protested. “Your vitality is more than enough to recover from your storm stance.”

“I know. I wanted to be fresh for the next outpost.” Jack said, ready to keep going.

“No.” Hannah said. “We’ve been at it for days now. I need to rest, and so do you – you need to slow down, Jack. I know I told you we needed the old you, but I didn’t mean you needed to dive headfirst into the deep end.”

Jack grimaced and tried to retrain his thoughts.

It’s Hannah. She’s your guide stone now. You need a guide stone. You promised you would listen to her. A small voice in the back of his head reminded him.

He nodded, taking a few deep breaths as Hannah picked up the remainder of the potions from the chest and put them into her void sack.

Hannah stared at him a long moment before nodding.

“We’ll rest tonight. And then tomorrow we can start planning the barracks assault.” She sighed.

Jack felt the smile return to his face.

There were two main structures outside of the menacing castle that sat beside the lake. One of those structures was a heavily guarded barracks. Jack had wanted to go there first, but Hannah had insisted they do recon and gather up supplies while figuring out what they were up against. Jack didn’t think it mattered that much. It didn’t matter what they were up against. He was going to kill it.

There was so much fighting.

So much killing.

God I love it here.