The Simaldrian Forest was known as the farthest edge of Monster civilization on the continent, if it could be called that. It was home to many nomadic beasts, and clusters of small villages that all managed to coexist without too much fighting. There was an unspoken understanding amongst the magical and monstrous beings in the forest: it was better to live free in the forest, than have to follow the rules and laws of the powerful monster towns and Countries in this part of the continent.Just whispering Sekhnatio was enough to frighten most of the Forest’s inhabitants to make the sign of the evil eye and be on their way. That sort of organised power was terrifying to creatures that just wanted to live amongst themselves.“The Vampires have sent their heralds, and left their messages all over the forest. Don’t they realise we don’t care what happens to them?” The creature stomped its front hooves into the leaf covered ground, stirring them up into the air with the strength of the
“It is strange to just be hiding out in an old manor like this,” Eltast said, looking around the opulent, but dusty room. The sitting room was large, with dusky velvet furniture, and large drapes covering expensive windows made from spell hardened glass. “In Sekhnatio we could deal with any aggressors ourselves, not tiptoe around to avoid a diplomatic incident.”Mentioning the Capital City of the Vampires made them all pay attention. The other vampires nodded in agreement, and Sardi’s eyes went a little wide.“What is… that is, would you mind sharing what Sekhnatio is like? I’ve heard stories, of course, but I think they have been exaggerated,” Sardi said. He was nearly a full grown man, but he looked child-like at the moment. However, even Wintersbane seemed to sit up straighter, curiosity also showing in his face.“I’ve also heard tales that it is very … different from human settlements,” Wintersbane shared.Cardual smiled slightly, and Selena let out a guffaw.“That is an und
The hot blood gushed into her mouth, and she arched her whole body to get closer, to hold on more tightly. The tingling filled every part of her, until it felt like her entire body was vibrating in time with the heartbeat she could feel through her lips.“There, there, sweet child. That is enough for now,” a calm, low voice said. She tried to clamp her mouth, her teeth, her hands more tightly, to hold on to the source of this life giving blood, but an unstoppable force peeled her away. Not roughly, but with the kind of power that is relentless. Suddenly she was looking up at a dark sky obscured by the dark boughs of large trees.“Mimi. Rest here. I need to go check on the others,” Cardual said as he rolled the sleeve of his jacket down over his unblemished arm.‘He heals so fast,’ Mimi thought. She felt incredibly powerful and extremely tired at the moment. That was the problem with Cardual’s blood, anything more than a drop was too much for a weaker vampire to process. It p
Selena bathed in the blood spraying from the savaged throat of the druid in front of her. After disabling his magic flow, she tore her fingers through his neck like it was paper. Perhaps that was why she was distracted. The taste of blood on her tongue, the hot shower painting her face, was a respite in the midst of a battle nearly won.Which was when the boulder golem crushed most of the bones in her spine, the ribs on her left side, and powdered her pelvis. Vampires are really tough, but boulder golems are designed to maximise damage and strength at the expense of agility, and she let it get within striking distance.“Arghghg,” she cried out, the as the blow launched her across the room, into a coffee table. She couldn’t walk. She could feel preternatural healing kicking in, but her pelvis needed to regenerate, not just mend together. She lay motionless, feeling her spine reconnecting, and the feeling returning to her limbs. It wasn’t fast enough though, she heard the heavy
[Shinra: Death Walker: Assassin Level 8][20,000 Experience Points: 7500 to level 9 | 9 Skill Points][Health 800/1600 | Strength (Vampiric Boost) 40 | Speed 60 | Intelligence 34 | Dexterity 60| Charisma 11 | Wisdom 23 | Magic 0][Skills: Fade 2 | Silence 1 | Knife Mastery 1 | Assassin Kata 1 | Sprint 1][Hidden Path: Critical Strike 2 | Daemon Prediction ][Shadow Path: Vampire Vision | Shadow Strike ]Shinra was stunned by the shadow dagger in his hand. ‘It feels… real!’ He made a few slices in the air, but it didn’t feel like a blade exactly. There was no wind resistance, for one thing. ‘Will it disappear if I take it out into the light?’ It seemed like a reasonable test. Holding the shadow dagger in front of him, he stepped out of the shadow of the chimney and into the moonlight. He was almost afraid to look, worried that this expensive skill had big limitations. ‘It would be just my luck, waiting on this skill, waiting to unlock higher tier skills, and this is
Selena crawled out using her hands and elbows. Her hip was in place, but she didn’t know how complete it was yet, so better to let the healing work as long as she could let it. The manor house was a war zone now, with blood, broken furniture and fires everywhere she looked. She headed for a giant hole in the wall nearest her, and had to crawl over the dismembered pieces of the walking dead. Cardual probably cleared them out of here first so she could leave more easily. ‘He’s so fast. I didn’t even notice,’ she thought. The body parts she crawled over were bloodless, and smelled musty instead of rotten. These were old corpses, which usually meant they were slower, but stronger. She didn’t know a lot about necromancy, but reanimating the dead was magic intensive, so they were dealing with someone powerful.Her elbow sunk deep inside a torso. ‘I need a bath after this.’She made it outside without any trouble, and saw a large group of armed skeletons heading to the main entranc
The armoured monster looked like a Mage Knight, except it was half again as big as most men, standing at least 8 feet tall. The armour was a swirled black and blue, with hints of silver shining through near the edges. The effect was like a painting of a galaxy… or a tarnished silver tea pot. It swung a 6 foot long broadsword through the air in front of it, as if testing its weight. Impressive, because it held it in one hand. The other hand held a small bronze rod, covered in dense runes. A dark velvet cape fluttered from its shoulders, obviously of high quality, but covered in the dirt of battles and the grave. ‘You could almost think it was just a regular knight,’ Selena thought, but then she looked into the visor of the Knight’s helm, and shuddered. ‘Those burning coal eyes are not human. Malevolent magic seeps out of them.’ If she focused her vision, she could partially see the weaves and auras that encircled the demon. Vampires lost the ability to work with magic the wa
Shinra awoke on a small cot in a nearly empty room, a faint glow coming from a spelled globe beside the bed. [Shinra gets up, practices Shadow strike, and notices that he can tell someone is outside with Vampire vision!] ‘I must be in one of the overnight rooms in the station,’ he thought. Shinra was a little embarrassed, ‘I really did pass out in front of the Captain. Maybe I’m still dealing with the effects of Selena’s attack.’ He needed to stop making a habit of dying. ‘I went through a lot. Just using Shadow Strike may have drained me.’ Thinking about his new ability made him sit up. He wanted to try it again. After all, he was all but unarmed. He didn’t know where the katana had gone, so he only had his folding knife. He looked at the dark windowless room and thought it was the perfect place to try it again. The globe casted more shadows than light here! “Shadow Strike,” he said quietly. The system flashed in his periphery, but he didn’t even notice it anymore. He wa