Chapter 2
Nightfall.
Deep within the "Whispering Forest," a group of four adventurers could be seen sitting in a makeshift campsite, counting and distributing shards among themselves while a blonde teenager butchered and grilled meat next to a campfire.
"You did better than I thought you would, kid," a brown-haired man said as he handed Adrian two red shards, one measuring 2.4 inches while the other was 4.1 inches.
"Thanks, I guess?" Adrian replied with a slightly confused expression on his face before taking the shards and placing them in his leather coin pouch.
Haha.
The brown-haired man laughed softly in response before moving away from Adrian and heading over to the blond boy who was tasked with grilling "meat" over the campfire.
"How's the grilling going?" the brown-haired man asked while observing the skewered meats that were next to the campfire.
Ahh.
The boy screamed and jerked backward after hearing a voice directly behind him.
"Oh... It's... Ah, the meat's looking good, but I don't know how it will taste, " the blond boy said as he got over the slight scare from before and continued to cut up a vaguely canine carcass.
"It'll taste like crap; that's just how demon flesh is, no matter how you prepare it," the brown-haired man said before taking out a shard from his pocket and handing it over to the blond boy.
"Here, I know it isn't much, but it's better than nothing," the brown-haired man said as he handed over a 1-inch shard.
"Thanks..." The blond-haired boy wanted to thank the man properly, but he didn't even know his name yet.
"Lucas, and my brother over there's Samithy , but you can call him Smith, " Lucas said with a smile, pointing to his brother , who was currently trying to charm the red-haired witch.
" Alright, I'll try to remember to call him Smith . And also, thank you so much for the shard, Mister Lucas," the blond teenager said a bit shyly, but he quickly stopped that embarrassing act.
"And I'm Jinx, " Jinx said as he reached out his bloody hand for a handshake.
" Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jinx, " Lucas said as they shook hands.
.....
(twenty minutes later)
Within the "Whispering Forest," a group sat down beside a campfire while a few of them forced themselves to eat a single skewer of meat.
'Hmm . This isn't actually that bad ' Adrian thought as he bit into the "demon meat" skewer.
Chew. Chew.
Chew.
'Though I'll admit it is a bit hard to chew on,' Adrian thought while enjoying the slight, almost unnoticeable strengthening effects of his meal.
Chew.
"I think I am about to lose my lunch," Jinx said with a pale face after taking one bite of his skewer.
"Suck it up and be a man!" Lucas said in a serious tone that a father would use to discipline his children before he bit into his second skewer.
"See that, it isn't that difficult to keep down, and it's good protein!" Lucas said, chewing the meat in his mouth.
Jinx tried to give his skewer another try forcing himself to eat one third of it. Before Jinx felt his stomach rumble, as the skewered meat had found another exit, knowing it was only a matter of time before his meal exited his stomach, he decisively ran into the forest to save some of his dignity before it was to late.
Hahaha.
Both brothers , Lucas and Smith, started laughing uncontrollably at the fact that Jinx didn't have an iron stomach.
"That's enough out of you two!" the red-haired witch said in annoyance as the two brothers wouldn't stop laughing.
"Or do the two of you want to grab the attention of every beast in this damn forest with your laughter?!" she asked them, a murderous glint in her eyes.
"Oh, lighten up, woman," Lucas said in a mockingly cheerful tone, while displaying the kindest expression he could muster.
Hehehe.
"Woman?" the red-haired witch laughed for the first time since they formed this party.
'Hmm. Do I get a free show while I eat?' Adrian thought with a smile as he consumed his sixth skewer. But before he could get comfortable, a strange tingling feeling arose within him, urging him to run.
"Wha-"
!!! (x 3)
In front of the group, a towering giant human head descended from the sky and bit the man named Lucas in half.
But that wasn't the whole creature; as the head lifted itself back into the air, the group froze, for they could faintly see what stood before them: a gigantic all-black giraffe with three necks and three faces-one belonging to a vaguely pale human woman, the other to a dog-like creature, and the third to a member of their own party, Jinx.
*Mmm. Now that tastes delicious~* : Jinx" said with a content smile on all of its heads.
....
February 1, 10:46 PM; a childlike figure dashed through the forest with reckless abandon and fear while being chased by a group of demonic beasts .
Ha. Ha.
Ha.
'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.' These were the words the figure thought as it ran from a pack of human-faced dogs.
(fifteen minutes earlier)
*Mmm. Now that tastes delicious~*
"RUN!!" Adrian yelled in a panic before dashing into the forest. Why didn't he just run into the forest without saying a word, instead choosing to warn others?.
'That's right , be good little adventurers and lead that thing away from me ' These were Adrian thoughts as thoughts as he looked back and watched as the monster took off and chased after the witch in
Adrian then looked ahead and continued to dash through the forest. But just when he thought he was relatively safe after escaping from that three-headed monster, fate then reminded him of his place in the forest.
*AtE Hii- hiM! * *HiM!*
*AtEe!*
....
A few minutes after Adrian ran away from the campsite, three dog-like creatures with human faces and varying numbers of bloody crystal shards protruding from their necks emerged from the woods and started chasing him.
*DoN't RuN! * *SlOw DoWN!*
*We ScArE! HoWL! *
"Shit! " Adrian cursed under his breath as he looked back and saw the disgusting human-like faces of the beasts chasing after him.
*ArRrAaARr! * *ARrRrAaaRa!*
*ArrrRrRaAaa!*
(Fifteen minutes later)
'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.' Adrian thought after being chased for fifteen minutes straight. His stamina was quickly running out; looking back slightly , he knew he couldn't outrun the beasts behind him any longer . So he decided to fight back when they least expected it.
Firmly gripping the handle of his slender warhammer, he turned sharply, while the spiked end of his weapon was pointed outward.
Pierce! *Ark*
Adrian's surprise attack landed with the skull of the human-faced, dog-like creature that was too eager to strike him when he was at his lowest.
Thump.
Ha. Ha.
Ha.
Adrian then forced his warhammer through the hole in the beast's skull, ending its life with a swift execution.
Drip! Drip!
Drip!
*Raaaa* : A slightly demonic growl then escaped from Adrian's mouth after he pulled out his warhammer from the human-faced creature's skull.
Ha. Ha.
Drip!
"Come at me, you ugly pieces of shit!" Adrian shouted as he looked at the remaining two human-faced creatures.
*ArrRRRraaAaa* : A dog-like creature roared as it madly rushed toward Adrian without any regard for its life, seemingly possessed by some unknown power.
Swiss. Slice!
Adrian swung the spiked end of his warhammer towards the charging creature, slashing through its face and jaw .
*Ark-*
Then, with one swift motion, he swung the flat side of his warhammer onto the creature's skull.
Thump!!
Splat! Thump!!! Splat!!
Thump!!! Splat!!
Adrian continued to hammer into the creature's skull before he was charged and tackled by the other human-faced creature.
Thump!!
*I'll KiLl YoU! I'll KiLl YoU! I'll KiLl YoU! * : The human-faced creature snarled as it bared its sharp, deformed teeth at Adrian's face while trying to bite into him .
"Hahahaha!" Adrian laughed while using his warhammer to stop its advance, as he pushed its handle with both hands, preventing the creature from inching its fangs any closer while it pinned his small body to the ground.
"GET OFF ME! YOU MONGREL !!" Adrian screamed with all his might as he forcibly pushed the creature off him.
....
*ARRAAA!!!* : A dog-like creature howled with its last bit of strength as blood continued to pour from its skull. Steadying itself, it rushed towards Adrian's turned back, directly colliding with the child and piercing his shoulder with the blood-red shards protruding from its neck.
"Ahhhhh-" Before Adrian could scream his lungs out, the human-faced creature he had just managed to push off himself, moments before. tore into his abdomen with its protruding neck shards and its jagged sharp teeth.
AHHHHHHHHHH !!
Adrian let out a blood-curdling scream as his insides and shoulder were ripped and molded by two demonic beasts.
"I'LL... KILL YOU!... I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!" Adrian vowed, refusing to let the two beasts before him take his life. Letting go of his warhammer, he grabbed hold of the skin on the demon's neck, which was busy tearing and feasting on his abdomen.
""I'LL KILL YOU!!" Adrian shouted as he reached into his pouch with one hand and pulled out a sharp crystal shard, which he then used to pierce the beastly demon's neck.
*Ar-*
SLICE!! *Ar-*
SHANK!! *Arck-* SLICE!!
With bloodshot eyes, Adrian sliced and shanked the beast in front of him over and over again until it choked on its own blood and died.
(Half an hour later)
Deep in a forest, a childlike figure sat cross-legged in front of three dog-like corpses, with his eyes closed while holding a single blood-red shard in both his left and right hands .
*Break* : The figure spoke in an emotionless tone as he opened his demonic blood-red eyes, which appeared to shine with an otherworldly light.
Crack! Crack!
Crack!
The shards in the childlike figure's hands then began to crack, releasing a warm , bloody liquid that seeped into the figure's palm.
....
Daybreak
Walking up to the vibrant "Mudfall" town gates, was a child nine or ten years of age, bloody, yet strangely not a single injury could be seen on him. Apart from what seemed to be old scar marks on his abdomen, he looked initially fine.
"I'm back," Adrian said in a whisper after handing a guardsman two copper coins for the entrance fee, then continued on his way .
Adrian moved through the streets of Mudfall, one unsteady step at a time, passing numerous onlookers, beggars, countless drunks, and wandering adventurers, until he reached a building made of stone and iron, a giant fortress that completely dwarfed all the buildings around it :
{MUDFALL'S ADVENTURERS' GUILD}
* Hahahahahahaha * : Adrian suddenly erupted into twisted laughter as he approached the building. After all, he had a story to tell, and what better place was there to tell it than the "Adventurers Guild".
On February 2nd of the holy calendar, in the town of "Mudfall," a child stained with blood told a tale of his chance encounter with a manticore-like beast, with three heads and two human faces one belonging to a woman and the other to a man-while in the middle was a dog-like head that resembled neither a hound entirely .