Part Twenty-Five

With the twins injured and Kalia indisposed, only Alicia and I were fit to fight, which would obviously put us at a severe disadvantage if we were attacked by another large group. To counter this, we set out away from the city, heading southwest. We’d discussed it, and if there were monsters that strong in the edges of the city, then whatever was lording over that place was bad news. Another encounter could kill us. A temporary retreat was the best decision for us right now.

That trip through the suburbs was perhaps one of the scariest moments of my life. If the monsters hadn’t been so distracted by each other, we would’ve died for sure. As it was, we were forced to detour into nearby houses several times, avoiding fights we otherwise would’ve easily won. I think I nearly cried when I finally saw the car we’d driven in with. Getting as far away as possible was the only thing on my mind.

On the way back, Kalia finally recovered from her Mana Exhaustion enough to heal my injures, so I was currently fine. As for the twins, she’d activated one of her backup [Soothing Aura] stones and placed it in the room with them, so they’d be fully recovered by morning. From what she told me later, Gwyn's injuries had been so bad that his stamina was consumed to help heal them, which would’ve left him weakened for days as he recovered. I was actually the luckiest of the three of us, since Skanda had given me just enough of a chance to dampen the impact I took from the explosion.

Still, it had been a close call all around. A single mistake would’ve killed us. It showed just how dangerous the world was now.

I knew there’d be danger. Any amount of monster hunting will be dangerous. We’re fighting for our lives against creatures that want to kill us, but that was beyond what we were ready for. But I also don’t think we should stop. It might have been bad, but there’s too much to gain by continuing. Maybe not what we could’ve gotten there, but our lives are more important than any promises of loot. Even if I hate it.

While we’d escaped immediate danger for now, there was still the question of whether the unusual concentration of monsters there was connected to what we’d experienced elsewhere. I’d been to large cities before, and they hadn’t been packed anywhere near that full of monsters. It was unusual, and I found that weird and suspicious things were often related.

Even if their culprits weren’t the same, it was possible that one was the cause of the other. What was cause and what was effect were as of yet unclear, but it obvious something bad was happening. Not that I’d figure it out myself. We’d already decided to report this as soon as we could, though I wanted nothing to do with it afterwards. I’d had enough close-calls here. I didn’t need more.

Hwaaaaah….it’s getting late. Almost time for Alicia to take over.

Because Gwyn and Gwen were still recovering, Kalia, Alicia and I had volunteered to take over all the watches for tonight. We were far enough from the city that I didn’t fear any serious attacks, but one couldn’t be too careful. Monsters lurked everywhere.

Still, having to maintain this level of vigilance wasn’t easy. I was exhausted. Today had been rough, and it only seemed to drag on.

“Kwuuuuu…”

Even Regis was tired, and the little furball was almost always hyper. He was curled up on a chair nearby, sleepily looking at me. Since he normally slept next to or on me, he was probably trying to stay up until I went to sleep, so I couldn’t just leave him somewhere else. He had good reason too, as I’d done just that before. Kalia had found him the next morning, and had begun petting him in his sleep. It didn’t go over well.

*…*

The only being not tired here was the Spirit, though I doubt the thing needed sleep in the first place. It was floating in front of me, looking as ominous as ever. Despite our connection getting stronger, I didn’t understand it any better. Though maybe that was for the best. It kinda creeped me out.

“I don’t have any more for you. You already ate most of my Gems, and I’ll need to find a Dungeon to stock up on more.”

*…*

“Yes, I know that’s technically not true, but-. Wait, how do you know about that? Aren’t you a newborn Spirit? How can you understand anything about such complicated magic?”

*…*

“You just do? ….that’s bullshit. I have to study stupidly hard to figure this shit out, and you can just know how to do it? Does that mean you know how to do that stupid Ritual?”

*…*

“Ah, you just know of it, not about it. Well that’s….better, in a sense. Still, it’s not an easy spell to use, even if I wanted to. While my sword would probably work for the carving, the number of glyphs required would make this quite an endeavor to go through with. You’ll just have to wait it out for now. I’ll see that you get the Miasma and Grudge you need.”

*…*

“Uh-huh. You could show me a little appreciation, you know. Yeesh, why am I surrounded by gluttons?”

The unrelenting greed the Spirit showed towards my Gems of Hatred was off-putting. The creature didn’t seem to care how much it ate, so long as it was satisfied. Regis had at least calmed down a bit, and no longer begged as often, though that was because I was feeding him parts of monsters. They seemed to fill him up more than regular meat did, so it helped tide him over longer. I was just worried that it might harm him in the long run. Hm, should I try some next time we kill one? That could be pretty different.

“Kuu!? Krrrrrrrr!”

As if he’d heard my thoughts, Regis suddenly jumped up from where’d been sitting and began growling at the room. I thought he was growling at the Spirit at first, but he’d turned to face one of the windows we'd barricaded shut.

Odd. I don’t hear anything out there, and Survival Instinct isn’t reacting. Is there a wild animal out there? Why else would he be growling so-. Wha!?

A horrible shiver had gone down my spine, like a piece of ice had gone directly into my brain. I followed my first instinct, which was to roll forward out of my chair to the other side of the room. The sensation immediately stopped, but I couldn’t see anything else in the room.

Regis had started looking around, barking at thin air, and the Spirit was simply floating and staring at me, unmoving. And yet, I knew I hadn’t imagined anything, for the sensation came again seconds later.

I desperately rolled away again, knowing that whatever this was wouldn’t be good. I’d never felt something so unnatural before, not even when I’d fought Finnél after he transformed. That had been bad, but this felt much, much worse.

“Regis! Do you know what’s going on!?”

“Ku! Ku kyu ku kyu!”

Shit, he won’t be any help here. I don’t have the time to decipher his or the Spirit's thoughts. I need an immediate course of action. Whatever’s attacking me is either invisible or incorporeal. [Rot] might be able to deal with it, but I can’t tell where it is to hit it! I need to think!

Thankfully the room I was in was fairly large, so there was tons of room to dodge around whatever was hunting me. But since I couldn’t see it, I was unable to completely avoid it. Each time the sensation returned, it felt like more and more of my body heat was being leeched away.

“Regis, go get Kalia!”

“Kuu!?”

“NOW!”

Regis went scampering off into the house after I yelled at him, a first for me. I hadn’t wanted to, but I needed help against whatever this thing was. Ordinarily, Alicia would’ve been the better choice since she knew magic, which was usually what you’d use against incorporeal enemies. But Kalia had once told me of a Blessing Magic Spell she knew that allowed physical weapons to harm incorporeal or energy-based enemies. All that remained was to actually detect the damn thing.

Damn, never thought I’d need to actually use this particular Skill. It’s a good thing I kept my helmet with me.

Mind's Eye was an Equipment Skill that came with the helmet, and it allowed me to sense everything around me by using my mana as a medium. I never really used it in battle because it kept me from using other Skills at the same time, but I at least knew the basics of it. I’d need to keep my eyes closed to maintain the skill as well, but if it let me sense the mystery enemy, I’d cope with the negatives of it.

Shit, it really is an incorporeal enemy. I’d hoped it was just something invisible or camouflaged, but I really can’t tell what it is I’m fighting.

All I could sense of the entity was a mysterious blur. A haze on the edge of my consciousness. I knew where the creature was, but not what it was. Though, there were a handful of such beings that came right to mind in this situation. It was probably a ghost of some kind. Maybe

“M-Michael, what’s going on!? Did you send Regis to wake me? And, what are you doing?”

Kalia's surprise wasn’t unexpected, nor unwarranted. Not only had I had her woken up in the middle of the night, but I was doing some kind of odd dance in the middle of the room. Even though I could see the ghost, I couldn’t actually block its attacks or hurt it, thus forcing me into an endless game of dodgeball.

“Kalia, you know a spell that let’s physical weapons hurt incorporeal enemies, right?”

“Ah, y-yes, but why-?”

“No time. Cast it on me, quickly.”

Every time the ghost landed an attack, my body grew colder and colder, like it was sucking my life away from me. It was only landing glancing blows for now, but it would’ve been far worse if I couldn’t see it.

“[Blessed Charge]!”

A wave of energy settled over me, focusing on my swords. The ghost recoiled, as if sensing the change. I lunged for it, swinging both swords at where I sensed it, though I still felt no feedback. However, an unearthly screech filled the room, and I heard Kalia gasp. I opened my eyes to finally see what I’d been fighting.

Wraith

Rank: D

Description: One of the most feared kinds of Undead, Wraiths are lost souls that have been corrupted by Miasma, transforming them into horrible specters. Wraiths are soul-eaters, consuming the vitality of their prey to sustain their twisted existences. However, this makes them highly vulnerable to Soul-based attacks, which can destroy their very existence.

When I realized I could be fighting a ghost, I’d thought it would be something like you’d see in some two-bit horror movie. But what I actually saw was basically a see-through rotting corpse with hollow eyes and yellow claws and fangs. Its appearance was so distorted that I couldn’t tell what it had once been, but it looked like some kind of monster.

Could, could this thing have followed us from Bristol? There was a decent number of Undead there, so it’s not entirely implausible that this was lurking about there as well. Not like it matters. I don’t intend on letting it get away.

I lunged forward once again, slashing at its now revealed form, but the Wraith pulled away from me, only receiving a glancing blow, though it was enough to draw another inhuman shriek from it. As it pulled away from me, I fired a [Rot] at it, but the projectile just went through it.

Seeing that the Wraith was heading for the wall, I threw my sword at it in a last ditch effort to kill the ghost. The blade slid through its body, but not without causing a degree of damage, though it was hard to judge just how badly it was hurt. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough, and the Wraith slipped through the wall and out into the night. I tried to follow it, but it had once again gone incorporeal by the time I’d gotten outside, giving it the time to escape.

Shit. That was, not good. I never expected to just run into a ghost out of nowhere like this. That chill I felt, that was it eating my soul, wasn’t it? Which means….

I turned back to the room to see Kalia still flabbergasted by what she’d seen, but I’d deal with her in a moment. There was someone else who needed to be thanked right away.

“Kuu?”

As if sensing my approach, Regis poked his head out from under where he’d taken shelter, looking at me inquisitively. Ignoring his unspoken question, I reached down and picked him up, before hugging him tight.

“Kuu? Kuuuuu~.”

“Thanks little guy. Couldn’t have done it without ya.”

“Kuuu~.”

“Awwww, this is so touching. …..Can I have a hug too?”

“Kyu.” “No.”

“Ah! You’re both so mean!”

Despite the touching (?) atmosphere in the room, or due to it, no one noticed my familiar floating in the corner, uninterestedly watching everything. It too had noticed the Wraith, but it felt no desire to warn anyone.

***

The Wraith flew through the night, its soul on the verge of falling apart.

Wraiths were fragile creatures, despite being amongst the most feared Undead. The wrong kind of attack could wipe them out immediately, and all the rage and hatred in the world wouldn’t prevent that. Life Magic was particularly effective at that, especially the Holy school, which was the bane of all Dark creatures.

This particular Wraith wasn’t very old or strong. In fact, it had existed for approximately eight days, and was based on the Kobold Shaman that had led the nest Michael’s group cleared the week prior. Though it hadn’t inherited the Shaman's memories, it had kept his hate towards humans, particularly this group. That was why it had hounded them across miles and miles of terrain.

As for why the Shaman had become a Wraith, well, why don’t you ask the perpetrator?

“So this is where you got to. You are no longer free to make your own decisions, Wraith. Didn’t I tell you this before?”

The Wraith came to a standstill. Before it was the being it had once called master, and even now was forced to serve. Its hate and obsession towards the humans had led it to disobey its orders, and now the shadow had caught up to it.

“You were generously given a new chance at life, and yet you wish to throw it all away on a mere grudge? The Lord could make you very powerful, beyond your wildest dreams. This world will soon be a paradise for our kind. Why waste this opportunity?”

The Wraith tried to convey its feelings to the shadow, but the eldritch creature was incapable of understanding the feeling of mortals, or the formally mortal. But it was also true that Wraiths were very rare. It was unusual for a soul to linger in the physical Realm long enough to be corrupted by Miasma. The one before it was actually resurrected, albeit indirectly, by the shadow itself.

In the past, the shadow had treated the Shaman’s former tribe as disposable. They were useful for a time, but would inevitably be converted into Thralls and Undead for the Lord's army. However, they also had their uses while alive, so it had stayed their execution, for a time. But it had still done many things that could’ve lead to their destruction.

One of them had been to entrust a certain kind of stone to the Shaman, who’d then tried to use it in a last-ditch attempt to safe his tribe. However, what he’d thought had been a mana crystal was instead a massive Gem of Hatred. When the Shaman tried to channel a spell through it, it had backfired, and the resulting Miasma had eaten through his body, leaving nothing but ash and dust. But it hadn’t stopped there. The Miasma had also corrupted the Shaman’s soul, transforming him into a Wraith.

With all that in mind, the shadow was hesitant to throw away such a useful pawn. The Wraith was injured and ‘bleeding’, growing weaker by the second. If the shadow did nothing, this Wraith would fade away forever. But Undead are often slaves to their old grudges. They cannot and will not let them go. Forcing the Wraith to comply could also destroy its mind, as could trying to enslave it.

And at the same time, those humans had meddled a fair bit in its plans. Granted, nothing they’d done had been a particularly major setback, but perhaps a small bit of harassment was due, if for nothing else but to satisfy the Wraith for a time.

With all that in mind, the shadow began to formulate a plan, one to get the most out of its current situation.