With no more preamble than that, the scoundrel dashes in to attack. His black, wickedly jagged dagger comes flying in for a low, upward stab, not appearing to be aiming for any of my vitals. It’s an attack purely meant to cause pain.

  Etheri be damned, this crazy bastard is fast!

  Even as I think this, the man’s jab seems to slow down a fraction, allowing me to move my own weapon to intercept his blade.

  What the hell?! Is he purposely allowing me to block? But… Why would he do that?

  “I’ll kill him! I’ll fucking kill him! Father, let’s gut this man like the filthy hoglin he is! Bwahahaha!”

  “Language! You’re way too young to be swearing like that! Especially the f—”

  Before I can finish my mental statement, the man turns his parried swing into a slash from the right, aiming for my chest, where the attack would once more only cause pain. His blade slows just before impact again, allowing me to jump back out of his range.

  “GOOD! Make it interesting… Make it fun! It only excites me more… when it takes longer…”

  Ending his strange declaration in a low moan, he licks the side of his blade, relishing the fear that simple action causes to radiate from me.

  He’s fucking insane!!! This fucking lunatic is bat shit crazy!

  “I learned it from you, Father! It’s really fun to say, too! We’ll cut out his fucking liver and offer it as a sacrifice to Frorn! Fuck you! Prick! Tehehehe!”

  Oh no… I’ve created a monster… Maybe I should have a conversation with her about this sort of behavior…

  The man jumps back as well, circling around me. I stand with my back against an oak, trying to keep him in my sight. That act of futility quickly shows its true colors, as the asshole passes behind his own tree and doesn’t come back out. Following this, laughter echoes from somewhere to my left, then it comes from the right.

  “Great job, Human, you’ve taught the child bad habits already. Where did you learn your parenting skills?”

  Despite the words she’s projecting through our bond, Delilah’s tone has a hint of mirth to it, as if she’s enjoying the dagger’s enraged antics.

  “Now is not the time! And no, Koa, we will not be sacrificing anything to the evil Maxetheri of blood! Just… no!”

  The echoing sound continues to appear in random places, with the question, “Wherrre ammm I?” scattered intermittently throughout the horrifying procession. It’s just after one such question that something new happens.

  “Here I am!”

  The sound comes from directly above. With no time to think, I dive to the right. I’m a bit too slow, however, the blade barely nicking my left shoulder. That tiny scratch sends waves of pure agony through my body.

  “Aaagh!”

  The cry of pain escapes my mouth without the intent to do so, causing the man to chuckle evilly, once again hiding somewhere in the forest around me.

  That fucking hurt! Why did it hurt so much?! He barely touched me!

  “Yessss! Cry out! Let the agony consume you! I love the sound of your screams!”

  Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! Where is he? He’s toying with me, the crazy fucker!

  “Come out and… and fight me like a man… coward!”

  My tone is laced with terror, as even I know that I’m no match for this lunatic.

  “Tut tut. There’s no need to be rude… We’ve only just started having our fun!”

  With the last word, I feel his breath on the back of my neck. I have no time to react as the man slashes a gash across my shoulder blades. I once again let out a scream of pain, as the slash causes ten times the amount of agony the glancing blow had.

  “YES! YEEESSS!! Feed my urges! Feel the pain!!! You are the perfect toy…”

  The way he said that last word almost makes me think he can somehow read my mind, which I really hope isn’t true...

  I spin, slashing Koa in a wide arc that slices through the air with nothing to show for it, as the man has disappeared again. I turn my head left and right, trying to keep the entire area in my line of sight. That impossibility aside, I fall back on my only lifeline.

  “Delilah! How long?!”

  My mental shout is laced with panic and terror. This situation has me on edge to the extreme.

  “Mind spike has two minutes, 45 seconds. Stasis stun’s cooldown is too long to be useful! Hold on, Human!”

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  “Fuck! I don’t know if I’ll last that long!”

  “We’ve got this, Father! We’ll make that fucking prick bleed!”

  “Yeah, we fucking will…”

  Futile reassurances aside, I’m still not sure if I’ll be able to drag this out for another three minutes.

  It’s a damn good thing this asshole is cocky as fuck… the longer he wants to drag this on, the better.

  As I think this, the pain in my back flares anew, sending a flood of fire through my shoulders into the rest of my body. I stumble, only barely catching my balance before almost falling to the ground.

  “You know, boy… I can control the amount of agony that any wound inflicted by my dagger… You want to see me take it to a new level? I promise it will be fun. For me…”

  His ominous claim is punctuated by an evil cackle.

  I can just imagine him licking my blood from his blade… He’s fucking psycho…

  I spin, seeing the man come out from behind one tree, only to disappear behind another.

  “You’ve never known the kind of… torture… that I can bring you.”

  Once more turning to face the voice, I glimpse him again. Without warning, a wave of unadulterated anguish consumes me. I scream as I fall to the ground, dropping Koa in the process.

  “That’s right boy. This is nothing yet, it can become much worse. Much, much worse. Would you like to find out? To see how much pain you can endure?”

  For the briefest of instants, the pain disappears, allowing me to feel the boot of my attacker flip me onto my back, pinning me to the ground, grinding my gash into the dirt beneath me. I see his rictus smile just before everything I’d ever known about agony achieves a new definition. A height I could never have imagined before now.

  I don’t know how long the pain lasts. It feels like an eternity. It continues to intensify as he slices new wounds across every part of my body. His laughter echoes through in my ears, the only thing other than the torture that my awareness can comprehend. I think he continues speaking, but I’m unsure.

  From one instant to the next, the pain stops.

  “You have, at most, two seconds, Human!”

  “KOA!!!”

  “Yes, Father! Let’s put an end to this wretch!”

  My faithful blade appears in my right hand as I yank the front of the crazy bastard’s shirt, driving my dagger straight into his throat as he falls on top of me, gurgling his last breath after a moment of futilely struggling to inhale anything other than his own blood.

  I lie there, panting, as the man’s vital fluids drain over top of me. I couldn’t care less as I fade in and out of consciousness. At some point, Delilah reverses my wounds. I pass out again as relief flows through my previously aching body.

  Time goes by as I lie there, unconscious, until I finally wake up, the stench of death flooding my nostrils. I gag and cough, attempting to push the corpse off of me. Failing to do that, due to my weakened muscles, I try the only other thing I can think of.

  “Harv… ahem! Harvest…”

  My voice sounds as feeble as I feel, but the man dissipates into golden and silver flecks of light, bringing the sweet smell and wanderlust with it. More mist comes from my left, temporarily surprising me.

  Ah… right. The hoglin…

  “Human! Can you hear me?!”

  Delilah…

  “Father!”

  Koa…

  “We need to go, Human! It’s late evening! The gates are sure to close soon! Get up!”

  The urgency in the cat’s voice sparks something in my subconscious. Barely processing what was said to me, I stand on wavering legs and begin to trudge back toward the city.

  “Hurry, Human! You must pick up the pace!”

  I try my best to trundle a bit faster, but I’m not sure if it has any effect. I doubt it, as I hear the gate slam down long before we’re anywhere near the wall. I keep moving in that direction, as I really don’t have anything else I can do in this situation.

  “Blessings of the Etheri, kid, you look awful.”

  The kind voice comes from within the gate, which I guess I made it to.

  When did I get here? I’m so tired…

  “Can you… can you let me… in?”

  My voice is hoarse, my pleading tone broken by exhausted pausing.

  “Sorry, kid. Rules are rules. Once the gate’s down, nobody in or out until dawn. I hope you survive out there, but there’s really nothing I can do. Sorry again, kid. I really do wish I could help.”

  The guard’s apologetic voice sounds sincere, with a sadness to it that can only come from true regret and concern, so I just nod as I turn to find a spot along the wall to sit down. As soon as I’m seated, I glance down at my body.

  There’s not as much… blood… as I thought there would be…

  Delilah must have been scanning my thoughts, likely out of concern for my sanity, because her voice chimes in my head a few seconds later, after a brief hesitation.

  “Most of it dissipated when you harvested the bodies. Everything that’s left is yours and yours alone. Are you okay? I can protect you for a while as you rest. Let’s just try and wait out the night. What’s the worst that could happen?”

  “Don’t say that… it’s… bad luck.”

  Rather than immediately going to sleep, I exhaustedly pull out my Heart Scroll to stop the incessant feeling in my chest. I scan the page, noticing, but barely comprehending through my weariness that nearly everything is flashing blue.

  Name: Luck Vidadura

  Age: 18

  Race: Aldkin

  Skill: Box - Summon a box to store things in.

  Affinity: Spacial, ???

  Skill Aether: 97%

  Skill Credits: 85

  Credit Level: 63 SC allocated

  [Skill Tree]

  [???]

  [Permissions]

  [Inventory]!

  [Quests]!

  [Bonded Creatures]!

  [Bonded Items]!

  [Map]

  Ignoring the slew of skill credits I apparently earned, I open the quest page, tiredly deciding that I should claim my rewards, just in case it can do something to help us survive the night.

  New quest found!

  Category: Surprise

  Aspects: Impossible odds

  Level: 10

  Time Limit: Before death

  Description: The assassin, Carl, has been following you for over a week. He has decided that now is the perfect time to take you out. Kill him before he kills you. Good luck!

  Reward: 50 SC and 5 iron rings

  Penalty for failure: Agonizingly painful death.

  2x Quests Completed!

  Claim Rewards?

  Without even reading any of the information, knowing what the query at the bottom entails, I simply give a mental answer in the affirmative.

  Yes…

  55 SC granted.

  5 iron rings, 2 bronze rings, and 5 copper rings have been added to Inventory A.

  The only other thing I want to check before resting is what I got from harvesting the assassin… Carl…

  What a… a stupid name for an assassin… No wonder he went nuts…

  Inventory A: 100% capacity (0% Volume Inefficiency)

  9 copper rings

  3 bronze rings

  4 tin rings

  2 iron rings

  1 steel ring

  Inventory B: 100% Capacity (5% Volume Inefficiency)

  1x botany tome

  1500x air berries

  6500x air berry leaves

  4000x air berry thorns

  Inventory C: 100% Capacity (8% Volume Inefficiency)

  30x various hoglin meat cuts

  4x hoglin feet

  73x hoglin warts

  52x hoglin teeth

  1x hoglin ear

  1x hoglin snout

  1x Woeful Bloodsteel Blade

  1x Carl’s Heart Scroll

  Wait… what?!