Gale willed Distort to bend the light around the group to cover them. The creature didn't fall for it. It charged straight through the illusion.
It was fast. Even with Annett slowing time on it, it gained on them. Seven legs pushed it forward. Odd numbered legs. It shouldn't have been possible, and it wasn't an insect.
Ollie took out his pistol. He swapped out the magazine inside it to one that had a blue stripe.
He aimed and fired. Ice particles shot from the pistol. Some hit nearby trees. Others landed on the creature's body. These bullets didn't home in like the usual ones that Ollie used.
Ice spread all over the creature's limbs where it was shot, slowing it down slightly. The creature didn't react to pain at all. It kept chasing them as its glowing eyes glared at the group.
"I'm running out of mana," Annett shouted. "We won't make it back to base at this rate."
Running wasn't going to work with this monster. Without Annett's slow, they couldn't outrun it. She was their key support, and there was no way the group could abandon her.
"We need to fight," Gale yelled. "We might have a chance if we face it head-on."
Gale stopped suddenly. He grabbed two bone spears, one in each hand, and used Alter. Both weapons shrank in his grip.
"It's do or die now," he said before charging at the creature.
Rachel followed right behind him, no hesitation. Flames covered her arms and legs as she ran. Ollie stayed back, firing ice bullets to slow the beast down.
Gale got his first good look at the thing up close. Tentacles stuck out from holes in its back. Its skin was a mix of hard scales and fur patches. Nothing about it matched any animal he'd ever seen. Multiple eyes blinked separately, each one tracking a different person.
Gale ducked under a swinging limb and released one spear's Alter. The weapon shot into a gap between scales. The creature's flesh split open easily. No blood came out, just watery clear, thick goo.
Rachel attacked from the side. Her fire sizzled the meat under the scales, leaving black marks where she hit. The air filled with smell of burnt meat.
Ollie shot more ice bullets, freezing the ground and the creature's feet together. Yet it still moved, each leg shattered the frozen ground as it got lifted up.
A limb whipped out at Gale, hitting him square on the chest. The impact launched him back to a tree, air knocked out of his lungs.
"Gale!" Rachel yelled. The creature swiped at her ankle, then grabbed her with another limb.
Annett pushed her powers harder. The air around the monster became thick enough to see as time warped, giving Rachel time to break free.
Gale shook his head and jumped back in. He channelled Phase Touch into his spear. When he stabbed forward, the tip went through the creature's outer shell like butter.
The spear sank deep into what looked like the beast's chest. It jerked violently, almost pulling the weapon from Gale's hands. He held tight as he twisted the spear to mess up whatever passed for internal organs.
Rachel pressed harder, her flames growing hotter. She targeted spots Gale and Ollie had already damaged, burning away the beast's armour.
"I'm out of ice rounds!" Ollie shouted from a distant tree. He swapped magazines again. "Using regular ammo now. Don't think it's going to do anything though!"
The creature moved faster. It struck at Annett and Rachel at the same time. It missed Rachel but hit Annett's shoulder. She was down.
The time slow disappeared as soon as Annett hit the ground. The beast moved in a blur towards John. He was the weakest one.
John raised his spear to block. Too slow. One of the creature's limbs punched straight through his chest, leaving a fist-sized hole. Blood sprayed everywhere.
"Ollie!" Annett shouted as she got back on her feet, casting the slow on the beast again. "Get John out of here!"
Ollie holstered his gun and ran to where John lay on the ground.
Rachel covered herself in flames. The surrounding forest lit up from her fire. She threw a massive fireball at the creature, big enough to cover it whole. Its skin sizzled and burned. Gale gagged, almost throwing up at the smell.
One down. Four to go. They needed to end the fight fast.
Gale pulled another spear from his back. He willed both Alter and Phase Touch onto the spear. The tip glowed, eating up the light from the Rachel's fire. He used Distort next, just in front of himself.
The creature swung at him. He ducked. Air passed through above. The creature hit the refraction. He skidded to its back.
Gale pounced upwards at the creature's head. He dove down, allowing Phase Touch to cut through everything in the spear's path.
The creature groaned and thrashed around to shake off Gale. Finally, it made a sound. Its voice sounded the same as metal scraping together. Nothing else.
"Keep going!" Rachel yelled over the noise. She sent another fire filled punch at the creature.
Gale circled, looking for another weak spot. Each hit from Rachel's fire made the movements of the creature more erratic. He needed one more hit at a vital to finally end this.
Ollie dragged John behind a tree. He pulled out what looked like a gun, except with a syringe as the barrel.
"I'm using my last syringe on him!" Ollie shouted.
"Do it!" Annett shouted.
Annett's face was covered in sweat and dirt as she kept her eyes and hands on the creature to keep up the time slow. "I can't... keep this up... much longer."
Gale caught Rachel's eye across the fight. No words needed. Rachel nodded and made her flames stronger, focusing on the creature's left side.
The creature turned away from the heat, exposing its right side to Gale. He charged forward and drove his spear deep into its side, aiming for where a heart might be.
The spear went in deep. Something inside gave way. The monster shrieked. One limb caught Gale in the chest and sent him flying.
He hit the ground hard but rolled with it. When he looked up, he saw the creature finally slowing down. Not from Annett's power, but from its injuries.
Rachel's flames got brighter as she pressed her advantage. She targeted the spots where Gale's spear stuck out, making the beast's flesh bubble from the heat.
Suddenly, it jerked then dropped to the ground. All of its limbs twitched. A gurgle of metal banging against each other escaped its throat. Finally, silence.
Gale stood up, ribs hurting. He approached the dead creature, spear ready. But it was dead. Its eyes no longer moved to track them.
A notification appeared in his vision.
[Tainted Stalker felled.]
[The princess' ethereal beauty haunted his every waking moment, driving him to the brink of madness. In his desperation, he sacrificed a piece of his soul, hoping to quench his insatiable yearning. The Lord, enraged by this sacrilege, sentenced him to an eternity of torture as an abomination.]
[Extracting Origin from prey…]
[Core Density increased.]
[Neural Core part built. Reflexes increased.]
[Vision Core part built. Visual Acuity increased.]
Getting two core increases made him dizzy but refreshed at the same time. The world seemed to slow down for a moment as his senses stayed on high alert. Then things went back to normal.
Gale stared at the dead creature and the weird description. The description told a disturbing story: a man crazy with lust, sacrificing part of his soul to try to satisfy his desire. Again, the descriptions raised more questions than answers.
As he looked at the creature, he noticed the extreme detail of its body. Veins popped out. The darkness hardly shrouded the landscape anymore. It was easier to see.
Maybe this "Tainted Stalker" was once human, or something like it. It matched the descriptions of other forest beasts he'd killed. They all mentioned "the Lord" too.
"Is it... is it over?" Annett asked, slowly dropping her slow.
"It's dead," Gale poked it with his spear. Nothing happened.
"Let's go back," Rachel said.
The group headed back to camp, dragging their feet with tiredness.
Gale watched the trees for movement. The forest seemed quieter now. Or maybe it just felt that way because they almost lost someone. If he'd been stronger or faster, he could have ended the fight sooner. Could have stopped the blow that killed John.
Rachel broke the silence. "How's John?"
"The syringe gun wasn't enough," Ollie shook his head. "That was also our last one. Shit!"
Gale figured it was some Path healing device, but it didn't work and got wasted on someone already dead. Their last lifeline gone because of a mundane.
The group turned around and made their way back to the camp. Anger rose up in Gale as he remembered the image of John's eyes as he got hit in the shoulder. He turned to Rachel. "John should never have been out here with us. He doesn't have any abilities."
Rachel didn't answer right away. She kept looking at the path ahead, slumped together, which made her look smaller. Then she spoke softly. "John knew the risks. He was one of the few able-bodied people who could leave the encampment."
"Just because someone's able-bodied doesn't mean they can face these... these... monsters!" Gale waved at the forest around them. "We're not dealing with normal animals here. It's not like those things are bears from a forest!"
"Hey! Everyone here is already prepared to die. Even me, Ollie, and Rachel," Annett cut in. Her eyes locked with his. "It's better to die trying than to do nothing at all."
Gale looked at each of them. They all had something in their eyes he didn't get. They were all ready to die if needed. All he could think about was staying alive. That's all that mattered. It was the only thing that mattered.
They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they got to camp, people rushed out to meet them. Gale stood back and watched as the others mixed into the crowd.
Without a word, he went to the tree branch where he camped. He climbed up fast, reaching his branch in seconds. He sat there, thinking about John's dead body.
It was the first time he'd seen a dead human. It scared him. He imagined himself winding up like the lifeless body that John became. Then he imagined either Rachel, Ollie, or Annett becoming corpses.
Gale had seen death before. He had caused it plenty of times just to survive. But this was different. John wasn't some animal. He was a person with a life beyond just staying alive. He had somewhere to be, a place he could call home back on Earth. He was a father.
You idiot. Why would you tell me all of those useless useless details?
Gale looked down at the camp. People moved around, treating wounds and making food. Each one took care of each other. For the first time, he actually thought about what it meant to be part of a group.
It wasn't just about having more fighters or sharing stuff. These people counted on each other. They got strength from being together. They faced death because they chose to, not because they had to.
The idea felt strange to him. He'd spent so long just trying to survive that risking his life for others made no sense. But that's what he just did. He put himself in danger to protect them, worked with the others to kill something he probably could have never killed alone.
A rustling below caught his attention. His hand grabbed his spear. But it was just Rachel, coming to his tree.
"Gale?" she called. "Can we talk?"
He paused. Part of him wanted to ignore her, go back to being alone. But something made him answer. Curiosity maybe. Or new connections.
"Come up," he said.
Rachel climbed up and sat next to him on the branch. They sat in silence for a bit, listening to the camp sounds below.
"Thanks. You saved us," said Rachel.
Gale felt uncomfortable with her thank you.
"I was saving myself," he said.
Rachel smiled a little. "Maybe. But you didn't have to stay and fight. You could have run, left us to fend for ourselves. But you didn't. We both know that."
She was right. He could have run. They wouldn't have been able to catch up to him. And the funny thing was, he didn't even think of running away when that fight happened.
"I know this isn't easy for you," Rachel continued. "Being around people or being part of a group. But I hope you'll consider. I don't want you to be alone."
Gale looked at her with blank eyes. "Why? So I can watch people die?"
"No. So you can help us live." Rachel's face softened. "I've already talked to everyone about it. Regardless of what happened, everyone feels you're already a part of us. No one's going to blame you for anything."
"I told you already. I'm living outside of your camp, I'm not in it," Gale said.
"You know that's not what I meant." Rachel stood up then said, "I'll see you again tomorrow morning."
Gale didn't answer and looked up at the sky through the leaves. He heard Rachel climb down.
Every time you talk to me, I want to run away from here more and more. But I can't. I just want to live my life, survive, and be alone in the woods. That's what I wanted, right? I don't have to worry about getting hurt. I don't have to see anyone die, and more importantly, I don't see myself die. I don't have to worry about people disappearing again.
There was one other way. He needed to get stronger, much stronger than now.
Gale checked his system.
…
Name: Gale Hathie
Race: Dainv
Core Class: Awakened
Core Density: 6/12
Core Attributes: [
Max Load: 10
Efficiency: 3
Essence: 72/100
]
Skills:
[Phase Touch Lv.2][Alter Lv.1][Distort Lv.1]
Passives:
[Breath of the Void Lv.1]
Missions:
[Exit the Rift]
…
He clenched his fist, feeling how weak he still was. Killing the Stalker had raised his core density by 2 since his last check.