In a world such as this, danger lurked around every corner. That had always been a constant ever since I came kicking and screaming into existence several centuries ago. There was no golden era or peaceful times. Monsters and the evil of mortals clawed at the fringes of society, hoping to pull a morsel of control from the dinner table. You needed to be wary and prepared, lest you become their meal.

As the muted greens of the shrubbery to our side began to shift in preparation for the appearance of the unknown, I had already begun to draw my sword. Thousands of times I had performed the action with this blade alone, and it was as easy as taking a sharp breath in - which I also did, alongside my Party.

Three low shapes burst forth. Beasts of short and coarse fur, brown and matted to their skin. Baleful yellow eyes and tusks tarnished with dried gore. Wild boars - although different. They seemed enraged and unusually aggressive.

“Stay in my shadow, do not let them flank you,” I barked out. While they were Unranked, so were we. One of those animals gets a full charge on you with the tusks, and you wouldn’t be walking home.

Basil put his hand on my back, and an odd warmth began to radiate through me as he started to chant from the magic book. Florence backstepped to my right-hand side and a small mote of fire began to grow in her hand. Jakob had drawn a bow, and his other hand reached for an arrow from my back left.

The boars wasted no time in seeing us as a threat. I could see the froth and spittle coming from their slimy mouths. Corrupted, perhaps - or diseased. They began a charge, and I stepped forward to meet them.

I much preferred to fight humanoids - the dance of a duel was more of an art form and test of skill than the brutish reality of slaying beasts. The middle boar was slightly ahead of the others, and I waited as it closed the distance. Wielding the blade with two hands, I levied an upswing as it met me, cleaving a tusk from its mouth and gouging a deep gash across its angered face. It squealed in pain and halted the charge to try and shake the pain away.

The second took an arrow to the face, and then a second, but kept on moving. Boars were exceptionally stubborn, even more so when they were being controlled by some outside force. Flame struck the third and slowest, alighting its dense fur and eliciting a squeal of agony alongside the smell of burning flesh.

My foot struck my opponent in the face with a heavy kick so that I could turn to the side and overhead swing down at the one peppered with arrows. Despite being the bigger target, the trio still attempted to take a different Party member. My blade wedged down into the spine of the beast, splitting half of its flank and stomach. As I withdrew my weapon, foul organs fell from the wound, and the boar collapsed with pain.

The third switched to running at me, and I shifted my weight to avoid the sharp end of its face. Instead, my leg was numbed as I received a headbutt for my trouble. I brought the pommel of the sword around to clock the animal in the face with a crack. As it was stunned, I dropped my blade to grasp onto the tusks. Better that I held the weapons. I rolled to the floor with it as it tried to wrestle itself free, but with a grunt, I twisted and was rewarded with the crack of its neck.

As the heavy body fell limp to the floor, I stood to my feet to see the remaining boar struck in the eye with an arrow before another fire bolt blew a burning chunk across its brow, revealing the skull. This was enough pain for it, and after a couple of staggered steps, it slunk to the floor with a long exhale from its lungs.

I dusted the dirt from my slacks and picked up my blade.

“How rude of them,” I sheathed the sword. “Not even any good to eat.”

The two humans looked a little on edge but not panicked. That was good. Undoubtedly they had seen enough danger in their time to be a little hardened. Not enough to climb the ranks, but they’ll not be a liability at least.

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“Aggressive.” Jakob nodded, not quite putting his bow away yet.

Florence waved her hand around. The fire magic probably singed her palm without wearing any resistant glove.

“Do you not have a glove, Florence?” I rolled my shoulders out - my first kills as a good guy.

“No - I did, but it was taken, and they’re kind of expensive.” She wrinkled her face and looked away.

Mages often came from rich families, those who could afford the tutelage and necessary tools and ingredients to learn new spells. Some were naturally gifted, and that all didn’t matter, but like a lot of things in life - money and power put you leagues ahead of others.

“You should have said,” Basil tutted and shook his head. “We can’t have you injuring yourself, Miss.”

“We are too far from the town to make a change now,” I agreed, “but if you are to travel with us, then you will need to be at your peak.”

Florence worked her jaw. “You’re mighty kind, both of you. It’s quite unlike a lot of the unranked.”

It wasn’t really kindness. Cold facts - if you wanted to live as long as I had, you took no chances. Albeit taking these two newbies along with us was a chance, I could calculate the odds.

“You’re no use to us dead,” Basil smiled.

“Let’s continue,” I gestured back to the trail to avoid any further awkward conversation.

“You’re quick for an old man,” Jakob tilted his head to the side as he walked past me.

There was a chance the young man was a little too astute. Certainly, that was a keystone of the Ranger path, and as he Ranked he would only get better at it. It gave the possibility that there may be a time when he would be able to see me for who I truly was. Undoubtedly, bloodshed would follow. Hopefully, if I trained them well enough, they’d have a chance to win.

Perhaps that shouldn't excite me; there was nothing to gain from desiring to duel my companions to death. That was the old me. Although, as an S Rank vampire, most knew not to even attempt the feat. Heroes couldn’t resist, couldn’t stand that I existed. Most of the time, the easiest solution to that issue was making them no longer exist.

The muted greens, greys, and browns of the woods seemed to become even darker, despite the canopy not becoming any denser or the sun taking an impromptu holiday. We had been trekking for a few hours now and split onto a rougher path less traveled. Tree roots and eager shrubbery had seeped their way onto the broken stone long muddied over. Apparently, nothing useful was out this way in the forest.

At once, a logging mill or some kind of farm - if Basil’s information was correct, but that was decades ago. After the Alchemist moved in, there had been even more incentive for people to stay far away from the area. Everyone except for the unwary or adventurers too eager to get a slice of the Ranking pie. Dying to kill, and killing to die.

“We are getting closer.” The statement from Basil behind me was so matter-of-fact I almost thought it was a notification from the gods themselves.

“You can tell by how everything is corrupted.” Jakob gestured an open hand to our surroundings.

Florence shuddered. “I can always tell when evil is nearby - or danger, at least.” She gave us a sideward glance. “I mean, there’s like a chill that runs through me.”

I nodded and wondered how accurate her gauge was. Only because I was here, and she had approached us for help. Perhaps that said more about me than her, although I wasn’t in the right state of mind for that kind of introspection at the moment.

All I could think of was the Alchemist. My memories were stacked deep and thick, but I had slid the folder with his name upon it from the stack. A madman, wizened yet persisting. I had requested he make me certain potions several decades ago and spent some time getting to know him and his processes. There was nothing for me to learn there. He was crazed and digging a deep hole, hoping to find gold, figuratively.

He sought to create life. While most of us are content - or eager - to do it in the traditional fashion, he wanted to build something purely from foul magic and alchemical wizardry. Came close once. Now every attempt produced half-formed and barely sentient sludge monsters. Once he started calling them his children, I bid my well wishes and moved on. There were some things you couldn’t change about a man. I swept away those thoughts before I applied them to myself.

A short trek later - and there it was. A few hundred feet from the trees we had stopped by. Grey wood comprised the large ramshackle building, deteriorated with age and the unrelenting encroachment of nature. Foul light glowed from within the small windows - greens, yellows, and purples. The short incline up to the house had a handful of shapes slowly moving around the perimeter.

The weight of the situation sunk into me and cooled my mood. I turned to my Party with grim determination, and we began to put together our plan of attack.