A Dreadful Encounter

Well, they had done it again; their stubbornness in finishing the mission allowed them to stay outside of the safe zone far past the hours of the day. When the darkness of night fell upon the world, a different breed of monsters would rise from their slumber and roam the Earth.

In Alex's experience, they were far more savage than the monsters of the day. Maybe it was paranoia induced from his previous experience, but Alex kept his head on a swivel, searching his surroundings constantly in an attempt to avoid another disaster.

The party had chased the shadow-hide foxes quite far into the ruins of the city; they would be forced to march back to the airport's security for several hours. It was only a matter of minutes before Alex and his party found themselves surrounded by a pack of ghouls.

Though these ghouls were different from those he had faced weeks ago, he could not tell why but they seemed stronger, almost as if individually, each one of them were on par with his party. He knew at that moment that this would be a difficult fight; after all, they were used to fighting monsters who had one or two members of the same power as themselves.

There was no method to the ghouls' attack; they simply charged wildly at Alex and his party. Alex took the lead and met them in mortal combat; Cassie provided direct assistance while Derek and Brandon rained spells and missiles upon the ghouls from afar.

It was a good strategy in theory, though the problem was keeping aggro, as Alex had not chosen a skill to keep the attention of hostiles. As such, Alex and Cassie struggled to maintain the attention of the pack of ghouls, which equaled the number of their own party.

Alex smashed his fist into the jaw of a ghoul with an uppercut, sending the creature flying backward onto the pavement. He then grabbed ahold of the nearest ghoul and brought it into the clinch, where he battered it with knees and elbows.

Cassie seeing the easy target, which Alex had temporarily immobilized, shadow-stepped behind it and repeatedly stabbed the creature in the kidneys. It wailed in pain as it struggled to break free from Alex's grasp, but its life force eventually faded.

[You have slain a ghoul and gain 300 xp]

This message confused Alex deeply, as the last time he had slain a ghoul, he received a fraction of the XP. Was it actually possible for monsters to grow in strength like humans? Did they also have a leveling system? Or did they keep growing until they evolved into a new sub-species like the goblin to hobgoblin evolution he had begun to suspect?

There were too many unknowns about monsters and beasts. Unfortunately, there were not many people left who had the means to unravel those answers, at least in the short term. Humanity was doing all it could just to survive its current predicament. It had taken well over a month to establish stable, safe zones with secure borders. Even those were constantly under onslaught by monsters and beasts alike.

Nevertheless, Alex's line of thought quickly came to an end when he felt the blunt force of a ghoul's claw slash across his back. Due to his iron-silk vest and his skills, which focused on strengthening the body, there was no wound, but he could still feel the clash which instantly brought him back to his battle senses.

Before Alex could react, he saw a flame appear on the ghoul's back which had attacked him, it began to spread across its body, and a piercing scream could be heard from the ghoul as it attempted to get rid of the searing flames.

Alex used this opportunity to kick the ghoul in the liver, which sent it crashing to the ground. Before he could pounce on it, Brandon had unleashed a barrage of arrows into the monster's body, giving it the appearance of a hedgehog.

[You have slain a ghoul and gain 300 xp]

With half of the ghouls deceased, the party focused their attention on the remainder, who were currently engaged with Cassie. Cassie had several wounds inflicted on her body, though they were not serious. As such, Alex activated [Charge] and appeared behind a ghoul which was about to attack Cassie's back.

Alex grabbed ahold of the rotting creature's waist from behind and slammed it into the pavement with a suplex. He rapidly spun around and took its back, putting the creature into a neck crank he fiercely enacted. It did not take more than a second for a loud crack to be heard; with it, the life in the eyes of the ghoul faded.

By the time Alex had snapped the neck of the ghoul, the last survivor quickly fell to the combined assault of his three comrades. They were safe for now, but who knows what kind of creature would be attracted to the sound of combat. Thus they had no time to lick their wounds and quickly gathered themselves and ran off into the direction of the airport.

The party dashed down the road in the dead of night. However, after a brief flash of lightning, the dreadful creature which plagued his nightmares appeared before him on the street sending shivers down his spine. Alex wiped his eyes believing himself to be dreaming but when he saw the creature staring back at him he felt as if the icy grip of death had grasped his throat.

Alex was unsure how he knew, but deep down he was aware that this was the same creature that had so ruthlessly butchered Gunnar and forced him to carry the shame of abandoning a comrade in a time of crisis. Alex had resolved himself, this time there was no escape. He would fight with everything he had, whether he lived or died was in the hands of the gods who he knew were watching humanity's every struggle.

Derek was the only party member unphased by the menacing creature, as he had not suffered the trauma of that fateful night, nor did he know the shame in which the others carried for their cowardice. Thus he only looked at the grotesque monster as if it were another challenge. He did not know that at least one of his teammates had resolved themself to flee at the first opportunity.

The creature stared at his party malevolently, like a hunter who had finally caught up to its prey which had escaped its grasp. The sheer range in its eyes could drown one's senses if they had a week mind.

As it stared at the party which stood across from it, a wicked grin spread across its face as its forked tongue slithered from its mouth. Finally, it would taste the flesh of the prey it had sought after for close to a month.

Alex was the first to move, he clenched his fists and raised them into a fighting stance, he had made up his mind, the only way to survive, and redeem himself was to kill this monster. Furiously he shouted with every fiber of his being

"For Gunnar!"