Chapter 27: ripped to shreds

[Species name: Armoured chameleon

Species grade: D

Attributes: metal, light (minor)

height: 1.98-2.31 metres

Evolutionary history: The armoured chameleon is an odd creature from an evolutionary stand point, coming from the 'occultata lacerta' genus. They are an offshoot from the 'blinding chameleon' template, though it is hard to call the two related in an evolutionary sense, as despite surface level looks, the two creatures are wildly different. The blinding chameleon is a very physically weak creature, but has a strong elemental affinity to light, allowing it to to become an exceedingly effective ambush predator able to manipulate the light around it to appear almost invisible, and release blinding flashes of light when it is caught, with its evolutionary template in mind, the armoured chameleon is an oddity. A creature that tries to meld the characteristics of both a tank and an assassin, in a way, it both fails, and succeeds at both: While it retains a minor portion of it's light manipulation skills, using its mildly reflective skin as a crutch, it has completely lost its ability to send out blinding flashes of light, to make up for the fact they now no longer have a reliable way to flee once caught, they are incredibly sturdy. However, any species that is a offshoot from the blinding chameleon has rather brittle bones, so while the armoured chameleon has developed harder bones then its template, they are still rather weak, just a little weaker than human bones, but have also lost the characteristic elasticity of the blinding chameleon, making its work around quite interesting. Its muscles have become natural shock absorbers, and not just in a minor way, the muscles of the armoured chameleon can absorb some pretty impressive hits, in later evolutions, this trait is sometimes weaponised into kinetic redirection, and the armoured chameleon has quite high natural muscle mass, making it a lot bulkier than any of its evolutionary relatives. This, however, has also become one of the armoured chameleons biggest faults, as this has made it so heavy that it will destroy almost any perch, it is almost unable to move itself, and the amount of energy required to move is atronomical, leading to approaching prey a lot more arduous of a task. Thankfully, it has made its home in the iron forest, where most trees are able to take the creatures full weight without snapping. No one knows why this off-shoot developed, whether because of ecological disaster, the introduction of a new predator, a sudden relocation of an isolated group, or simply a god having a laugh.

Defining features: The armoured chameleon has semi reflective skin, as a means to aid it in manipulating light, it also had fleshy growth just above each of its limbs, these growths resemble shoulder pads used in traditional, medieval style armour, and are in truth, exceedingly condensed muscle fibre, making it one of the hardest materials found on a D-class monster, however, they are also one of the heaviest materials found on a D-class.

Hunting Behaviours: The armoured chameleon is a simple ambush predator, with its ability to blend in with its backgrounds, it will simply lye in wait for prey to come to it, the armoured chameleon is exceedingly patient, being able to wait for weeks on end without moving a muscle, simply waiting for prey to cross its path, it takes this approach as due to its large weight and muscle mass, it takes a large amount of energy to simply move to another tree, as such, it will only move once it has caught some prey, otherwise it will simply starve to death, which is unlikely as it can spend upwards of two months immobile.

Mating behaviours: The armoured chameleon will never see their mate after the eggs are laid, as they have to spend so much energy just to move, they can't hang around another of their species for too long, as they will steal each others prey and eventually starve the other.

Symbolism: The armoured chameleon has no symbolism, as all plant life that grows near the iron forest is inedible for humans, and all animals have tough meat, to the point where many break their teeth trying to eat it, and due to their elusive nature, almost no living human being has seen one.]

The three remaining members of the party quickly grouped up, backs pressed closely to each other.

The tension in the air was palpable, no one made a move, each party to cautious to approach the other, or so it seemed, Alex was relaxing in a bush, undisturbed by the tension in the forest.

[You have defeated a true level 12 player

6000xp awarded

due to external factors, the player killer penalty will not be applied

half of the players inventory is lost to the void

half of the players inventory will be directly transferred to you]

The amount of xp was very nice, thinking of how much xp he could earn from killing the remaining three, but it may be better to let the wolves and trees have them, he did have to make sure that they grew strong after all.

Another notification popped up, making his worries vanish.

[Would you like to activate general mode

while in general mode, all subjects will be treated as if they are in your party

any items that the target would drop will be transferred directly to you

orders can also be given to your subjects remotely]

Well that got rid of that problem, now, time to finish the job.

Tristan was looking around wildly, he was scared, he came here to play a fantasy game, not a horror, why did he pick eighteen plus battle settings, he shouldn't have picked up this game. As these thoughts rushed through his head, he suddenly heard Leo yell out a warning that barely registered for Tristan, but he still turned to face Leo, only to find a large, gnarled hand blocking his vision.

As the hand wrapped around Tristan's head, he had only one though, how, before he could contemplate any longer, the world spun, turning into a colourful blur, and Alex slammed the poor kid into the ground as hard as he could, head first.

Tristan experienced the unpleasant sensation of having his skull near shattered, and his world went black, unable to hold it together.

The elf raised her bow in defiance, ready to send an arrow straight through Alex's head, she did not know how or why Alex had suddenly appeared out of thin air, but she didn't care, as long as he was dead.

But as she let the arrow fly from it's notch, a root like tentacle sprung from the earth, showering the onlookers on flecks of dirt, and shattering the arrow in half, deadening all momentum it once carried.

The elf barely had time to cry out in surprise, before two more roots shot from the ground and pierced through her hands, gore splattered and grotesque.

Before a cry of pain came from the elf's lips, the roots wrapped around her hands, crushing them into bloody pulp, before dragging her her down with the force of a freight train.

As she lay on the ground, groaning in pain, innumerable roots shot from the blood stained soil, making the poor girl look like a particularly mutilated slice of Swiss cheese.

[Your subject has defeated a true level 14 player

3500xp awarded

due to external factors, the player killer penalty will not be applied

half of the players inventory is lost to the void

half of the players inventory will be directly transferred to you]

Leo was not faring much better, without the aid of his comrades, he could not do much, once the wolves pounced, there was little he could do, after all, he only had his heavy iron plate as a weapon, he may have been able to crush one wolf, but he was to slow and the wolves where too nimble.

Eventually, he was taken down, the pack ripping him into bloody shreds, his cries ringing through the forest, only stopping when one of the wolves tore out his windpipe, gargling the only sound he could make, though not for long.

[Your subject has defeated a true level 13 player

3250xp awarded

due to external factors, the player killer penalty will not be applied

half of the players inventory is lost to the void

half of the players inventory will be directly transferred to you]

Tristan stared up at the sky, he stopped thinking about what was going on, his will to fight leaking out the back of his head, along with a concerning amount of blood, he didn't really care anymore. All around him the bodies of his dead comrades lay, bloody and broken.

As he stared up at the monstrous figure standing over him, he managed to cough out one final question.

"Why"

In response, Alex simply called over one of the wolves, blood still dripping from its muzzle, panting happily all the way.

Alex removed his gauntlet and scratched behind the wolves ear, the wolf showing no sign of resistance. Tristan let out one final laugh.

"Fuck you and your dogs" he spat through a fading conscience, "I hope you get a splinter just below your finger nail"

And with that, Alex plunged the knife deep into the man's chest, piercing his heart.

[Your have defeated a true level 16 player

8000xp awarded

due to external factors, the player killer penalty will not be applied

half of the players inventory is lost to the void

half of the players inventory will be directly transferred to you]

Alex stared down at the corpse, he felt a little remorse, they where just trying to have some fun playing a game, but they entered the wrong place at the wrong time, guess fate just really had it out for them.

He continued to scratch behind the wolf's ear, it was kind of therapeutic, it reminded him of when his family had a dog.

"What the hell happened here"

Alex turned around to find Nicholas emerging from a nearby bush, a small pack of wolves trailing behind him.

Alex shrugged, and returned to the wolf next to him, now fully in dog lover mode, stroking the wolf all over, feeling the still wet hair slide through his fingers easily.

"I mean," Nicholas continued, unperturbed by Alex's lack of interest, "someone would think that you had caused this"

He then turned to Alex with a worried look, "you didn't do this, did you?"

Alex nodded in conformation, barely listening as he continued to pet the wolf.

"Why?" Nicholas screamed.

"They wanted to hurt the puppies" Alex said innocently pointing at the other wolves present, a hurt look in his eyes.

Nicholas let out a sigh, "never mind, nothing I can do now, just go with the other wolves, there is a territory dispute brewing, I was coming to get some extra help but since your here , you can go settle it, I'm going to take care of the bodies"

Nicholas marched past Alex and began to gather magic in his finger tips, an acrid green glow emanating from them, Alex watched the whole process with interest.

"The dispute" Nicholas hollered in an annoyed tone, "if I have time to clean up your messes, you can clean up your dogs' messes"

Alex got the message, and promptly left, the sound of flesh burning filling his ears.

The new pack of wolves led Alex and the old pack to a clearing, an eerie atmosphere hung around the clearing, there was no sounds made, except for a persistent low growl that echoed throughout the clearing.

The reason for the constant growling became apparent as soon as Alex passed the clearing, revealing a large chasm that opened its gapping maw for all the world to see, as if trying to swallow something that was just out of reach.

On one side of the chasm, a pack a wolves stood, bodies held low to the ground, blood red fur glistening in the mid day sun. While on the other side a sloth of bears was gathered, navy blue fur letting the sunlight dance over it in shimmering waves, muzzles pulled back in snarls revealing razor teeth, beady black eyes staring daggers at the wolves, and four large sword like claws attached to each foot, and small white crescent patterns on their foreheads.

Alex moved forward, placing himself firmly in front of the pack of wolves, trying and failing to not look down into the ravine below, it may be best to face this problem head on.