FortuneCraft in Apocalypse

System Updated

The monster turned away from Draven. It seemed impressed that it had more prey than usual, and a startling number at that. Six of them. Six players. Draven knew this by their outfits, and the way they stood. They were probably a gang, he mused. They might have heard him and the monster and came to have their own pound of flesh, so he dare not imagine that they had come for him, to save him.

“What do we have here?" one of the players hooted. “Been long since we saw one of these.”

“And with a player at that,” another hooted.

“A level one player,” the first one countered the second one. “He doesn’t look like he would last long here.”

“Doesn’t he?” A third player stepped forward and brought out his weapon. “Why don’t we try it out, hmm?”

The monster stepped away from Draven noiselessly, like it was floating in the air. He had recognized their new company as a threat and had considered taking them out. Draven leaned up on his elbows and moved back a bit, creating more distance between the monster and their new company. He wanted no part in it, yet he knew all too soon why they were here. They wanted to kill it, of course, and increase their power levels. Draven would have had that advantage if he wasn’t so weak and still at level one.

“The monster is coming,” one of the players said. “He plays in the dark. Do you see?”

“We see pretty well Louis,” another answered.

After that they all began to talk almost immediately.

“We should light up the fucking light; make sure he doesn’t escape anywhere.”

“Do you think he hears us? I think he might just be a tad bit intelligent.”

“All animals here are intelligent, you dimwit.”

“Don’t call me a dimwit; turn on the fucking light.”

“Give me a goddamn second."

“Watch out!”

The beast pounced on. Draven couldn’t really see anything; it felt like the night had gotten even darker in favor of the monster. One moment it was right there, floating through the air noiselessly, and another minute it had pounced on the players. There were shrieks and surprised screams. Draven inched backwards and stayed still.

“Kill it!” one of the players screamed. “Kill the bastard—ARGGGHH!”

Draven flinched. He knew the beast had gotten the person who spoke. For an average monster, it seemed to find its favor mostly at night. There were clashes of swords and more screams, and they seemed to go further in the distance, like the players were running and the monsters were chasing after them. 

“What the hell?"

Draven was about to stand up when something, or rather someone fell on him. His head hit the ground in a loud thwack as the heavy body above him pressed him further into the floor. He lay still, fear creeping up his spine. After what seemed like long years of torture but was actually a few seconds of Draven trying to control his breathing, the player raised his head.

His eyes met Draven’s. Draven noticed first how brown and dull they looked, like life was seeping out of them. He pulled the boy off him and pushed him to the ground. The player grunted, his hand on his midriff. Draven sat up and looked beside him and the player, who looked so much older than he was.

"Help!" the player whispered.

It was then that he noticed that the dull look in the boy’s eyes was that of death. He was dying. Draven moved aside the hand that was on his midriff and noticed that the boy was bleeding. He’d been cut open by the claws of the Night stalker. He could survive it, Draven knew. Even if he didn’t help him, he could sleep it off and wake up with a fever the next day, and somehow he could survive it. Or at least he looked like he could.

"Help!" the player whispered again.

Draven shook his head. “I can’t.”

A look of malice came across the other boy’s eyes. There was a short knife at the edge of his trousers, so Draven saw him fumble for it despite his pain. Draven went into a full-blown panic, realizing then that the other guy meant to kill him. After all, this could be more power increase for him.

He automatically took the short weapon that he drew out before and sliced it across the player’s throat. There was a gurgling sound as the boy choked on his own blood, before his body finally stopped twitching.

“Shit!”

He stepped back in horror, looking at the mess he’d done. It had been a reflex action. He hadn’t even known what to do with the boy until he felt threatened.

“It’s not your fault,” Draven tried to console himself. “He would have killed you anyways, so it’s self defense.”

Before he could even question why someone that was dying still had the temerity to try to kill him, someone rushed out of the bushes. Draven looked up immediately and saw that it was one of the players from before. His shirt was ruined with blood and some other black liquid substance, and he walked with a limp.

“I killed the monster!” he said happily. “It was attacking Louis and I swiped at him from behind! Dumb Louis, he couldn’t even kill the thing! I did it!”

He started to laugh and examine his surroundings at the same time. When he noticed the player’s body on the ground, he turned to Draven.

“What the hell happened here? You killed him?’

Draven could not answer. The answer was right, with a weapon and blood in his hand. The player noticed this, and charged towards him. Draven instinctively threw his weapon, praying that it would hit its mark.

The player dropped dead, and a hologram appeared before him.

[System update: Level 2]

[XP + 20]

Draven looked down at the bodies he’d killed. It was a mess. He was a mess