I walked through the tunnels below the human city, scouring the place for a way to the surface. The closest things I could find were little holes covered in reddish hard earth, that were much too small for me to enter and exit through. The tunnels were long, and I easily got lost. Luckily, claws make good tools for marks. There were many dead ends, and I felt like I would never get out. However, on the 15th tunnel I chose, I found something… interesting. This tunnel lead outside, where all the water left the tunnels. Looking through it, I saw it was suspended on the cliff. Using my claws, I dug into the earth, and began to traverse up the Cliffside. Once I reached the top, I stared at the top of the cliff, and saw the city, with nothing in between it and me.
With a feeling of accomplishment, I reentered the tunnels below. I have discovered my way up.
There were few things more unusual than reports of a Grimm in the sewers. Especially when this Grimm is supposedly a Beowulf major. However, when you are a hunter of Wyverius, trained in the nearby hunter training facility, you're supposed to go check out the problem, no matter how ridiculous sounding it really was.
Supposedly, a group of sewer maintenance workers were down here, making sure that the sewers were in working order, when one of them saw strange claw marks on the wall. he followed the marks, and when he saw the faint red glow of the eyes of a Grimm. Immediately he, and the rest of his group left, in hopes of not becoming Grimm chow. Totally unbelievable, right?
However, this was the problem Primum Mortuus was having. This Grimm in the sewers, even though it seemed next to impossible, the signs of such a Grimm living down here were here. Deep claw marks in the walls same as the worker supposedly saw, as well as impressions were something moderately heavy stepped on some weak stone. Well, one thing is certain: something was, or still is, down here. and he was going to stop it.
Now, even he would admit it: he was easily one of the weakest hunters in the city. In fact, he was about 12 spots above the number one worst hunter. However, when even the weakest hunter in the city can take down a group of 5 Beowolves alone, that does not mean much. He began to notice a more frequent appearance of claw mark: a sign that he was getting closer, even if it is only by a little bit. He pulled his weapon, a war axe named imperator, off of his back, and turned the corner, to see a sight he hoped he would never see.
It was a Beowulf alpha, that much was for certain. so, the sewer maintenance worker wasn't lying about the Grimm in the sewers. But how did it get in here? the closest entrance to the sewers that was large enough to let the beast in was suspended 50 meters up a cliff, no way the Grimm could have crawled up such a long distance! However, if it did, that would indicate that this Alpha is much stronger than the others, and could be a problem. He needed to eliminate it right now if it really held that much of a threat. Primum approached the Grimm, his war axe held high, intent on eliminating the threat before him. As he got closer though, the Grimm didn't even move, as if it didn't even notice him. This was going to be even easier than he thought. He approached the Grimm, axe held high, prepared to strike down the beast. However, this is when the Grimm struck.
The Grimm's claw shot out from the mass of fur, bone and shadow, grabbing Primum by the face. Dropping the war axe, Primum began to grab onto the fingers of the Grimm, desperately attempting to tear the hand off his face. However, the Grimm, was stronger and then proceeded to submerge Primum's head in the sewer water, making him unable to breathe. He flailed wildly, desperately attempting to escape the deathly grip of the Grimm holding him down. His lungs screamed with pain, desperately trying to take in oxygen that wasn't there. He started to black out, his movements slowing. His aura couldn't protect against this! This Grimm, no, this demon, it was smart enough to realize his weakness.
It was far too dangerous. This was the last thought of Primum Mortuus, the first to die, and the starting point, of the 60-year-genocide.
I looked at the human that lied still in the 'sea'. I was tempted to stop it now, but I remembered the instructions that the Vendahoj said. So, I waited. Waited for the human's 'soul' to escape its body. The human's chest began to glow, as an orb of light escaped the human. Was this the soul? Releasing the human's corpse, and took the soul into my hands. The orb was so foreign to me, almost like the anti-thesis of Grimm. Well, no risk, no reward, right? I took the orb of light to my mouth, and ate it.
There are no words to describe the feeling that happened next. The best I could come up with was a combination of pain, pleasure, euphoria, depression, sweet and sour. My entire thought process was scrambled, and I could barely stop twitching. However, when this process was over, and I reoriented myself, I felt better, somehow. Stronger. But I needed more. If I wanted to be human, I needed more. I looked up to the ceiling above my head. Up there, there was my key to being human.
I just needed to take it.
The four greatest hunters of Wyverius; Sol Forge, Orion the Dragonslayer, Ukabachi of the Heads, and Layla Hunter, were out in the forest, once again on a mission to discover the source of the Diseased Grimm. However, something different was on the mind of Layla Hunter.
"damn it, where the hell did that Grimm go!?" Layla shouted, frustrated out of her mind. The Grimm she was referring to was the Beowulf major that they captured about 3 weeks ago: the one that somehow escaped, killed all of the guards that were surrounding it, and made it so the only remains left were the bones.
That one.
Sighing, Sol didn't even try to get Layla to focus back on the mission. Once she got like this, it was pretty much impossible to stop her. Everyone in the team knew this. So, they just followed her, as she tracked down the Grimm.
Funnily enough, this proved to both be easy, and impossible at the same time.
First of all, even though the tracks were still enough for Layla to follow, they were horribly faded, most likely due to the fact that it has been about 3 weeks. Because of this, Layla had some trouble following them. This was not much of a problem, as it just something delaying them from their objective.
However, they got to the hard part when they reached the cave.
After following the faded tracks for however long that was, they came across a cave, where the tracks ended.
Looking to this, Layla said, "the tracks go in, but don't come back out. The Beowulf is still in there."
The other three nodded at this, and pulled out their weapons, prepared for a fight.
Sadly, no weapon on Remnant could have prepared them for what was resided in that cave.
The first thing they noticed once they entered the cave was the sense of purified dread that permeated the air. Something unusual because there was nothing to dread about in the cave as far as they knew, other than a Beowulf major. However, as the traveled deeper into the cave, they noticed a dim, crimson light inside one of the tunnels to the right.
They entered through the tunnel, hoping that the Beowulf major was inside of there, hopefully asleep. However, this was not the case, as they turned the corner of the tunnel, and in the chamber before them, sat an absolute monstrosity of a Grimm.
Four red eyes, head shaped like a dragon skull, sharp antlers protruding from its head, long legs and arms, hooves, sharp nail-like claws, and a thin body, the Grimm looked like something straight out of a horror movie. In one of its hands, it held a staff that looked to be made of birch wood and bone. In front of the Grimm, there was an abyss filled to the brim with a black liquid made of something only the gods, and the beast, would know of. From the moment they saw it, they knew they were underprepared to face something like this.
"tactical retreat?" Sol asked nervously. Everyone nodded to this, and began to back out of the tunnel, and back into the main cave. However, once they got to the end of the tunnel, they saw the Grimm from the room standing before them, blocking their way out. They had only one question: how the hell did it get here?
However, before they could ponder this, the Grimm opened its mouth, and asked, "Why do you invade my home, humans?"
Did the Grimm just talk?
The Vendahoj sighed. The four humans weren't very stealthy, contrary to what they most likely thought. As soon as they backed out from the entrance to its chambers, it created a portal, to intercept them before they could escape.
Looking at the humans before itself, the Vendahoj said, "Why do you invade my home, humans?" a simple question, with a simple answer.
Instead, the humans decided to gawk at the Vendahoj like it was some sort of albino Grimm.
Growling, he said, "answer the question!"
One of the humans, the one in the brown and red armor with a mask replied, saying, "I am sorry for my companions' actions, we were just surprised to hear a Grimm speak our language."
The Vendahoj said, "obviously, but you still haven't answered the question. Why are you here?"
This time another human, the one dressed in armor that was the same color as fire said, "well, mysterious talking Grimm, we are looking for a Beowulf major that entered this cave, but never came out. Do you know about this?"
The Vendahoj knew exactly whom the human spoke of. The Vendahoj just sent the Grimm to the city a week ago.
Grumbling, the Vendahoj said, "well, you're looking in the wrong place. The one you are looking for is most likely in a place with lots of humans, such as yourself." Half the story. This has to trip them up-
The human in minimal clothing shouted, "my God, the Beowulf is in the city!"
Spawn of a Beowulf.
The Vendahoj lowered into a stance and said, "well, now I'm going to have to kill you. Don't take it personally." Lifting his clawed hand, he struck at the golden warrior, whom moved out of the way faster than his eyes could follow.
"God damn it!" the least armored human shouted, and pulled a weapon, which, if the Vendahoj remembered correctly, was called a sniper rifle, off of its back, and aimed at the Vendahoj. A great booming noise originated from the gun, and projectiles began to fly towards the Vendahoj's eyes. Of the four shots, three were blocked. However, the last one hit its mark, taking out one of his eyes.
Roaring in pain, the Vendahoj lifted its staff to the air, preparing to obliterate the annoying as hell humans. However, when he looked down, the humans were gone. Turning around, it saw the humans running for the exit.
Now, he couldn't allow that. Using a vortex, he teleported in front of the humans, once again blocking their exit.
"I'm sorry, but I really can't let you leave. Don't take it personally." The Vendahoj snarled. Holding up its staff, it made a great orb of dark power at the tip of the staff, and slammed it onto the ground, creating a shockwave of dark energy, throwing the humans away, and back into the cave.
The humans got up off of the ground, and brandished their weapons once more.
before they jumped back into the fray, the one in the mask asked, "why do you insist on doing this?"
the Vendahoj, being a civilized Grimm, answered, saying, "well, I can't have you killing my comrade, can we? Especially when they could be the key to ending the Siren."
The human in the golden armor made a confused noise, and asked, "the Siren?"
The Vendahoj shook its head slowly, and said, "Yes, the Siren, the whole damn reason for all these tranced Grimm."
The human in minimal clothing had a brief look of shock on its face for an instant, before quickly morphing back to a scowl.
Then, the said human asked, "well, how can a simple Beowulf be key in ending such an opponent?"
The Vendahoj said, "The bugger's smart. Even when outnumbered and outclassed, the kid can use his wit to defeat adversity. Sadly, you would need to be more than smart to fight the Siren, so I sent him to the city to… grow up."
The one in the fiery armor asked, "What do you mean, grow up?"
The Vendahoj growled, and said, "Aren't we supposed to be fighting?" with that, the Vendahoj charged at the group of hunters once more, continuing the fight.
The three humans in armor pulled out their weapons; a spear, a sword, and a katana, and charged at the Vendahoj, while the human with the rifle remained in the back. The Vendahoj and the armored humans met in the middle, both intent on killing the other side.
The Vendahoj struck first, sweeping its hand at the golden warrior, throwing the human backwards. The human slid across the stone, the friction of the stone on the feet of its armor slowing the human to a stop. The human leveled the tip of its spear to the Vendahoj's chest, and lunged towards the Vendahoj, hoping to kill the monster in a single blow. The Vendahoj jumped to the side of this attack, only to jump into the path of the fire-armored human's sword, which found its marks, creating a deep gash in the Vendahoj's torso. Roaring in pain, the Vendahoj held up its staff, and using it, made an orb of pure dark energy, which the Vendahoj then threw at the human in the mask. The human quickly dodged the orb, which hit the ground, creating a large explosion of dark energy. The masked human pulled the katana from its sheath, and attacked the Vendahoj, creating large cuts with deadly precision. Enraged, the Vendahoj lifted its staff up once more, and created a shockwave of dark energy, originating from itself. The three offending humans were blown away, giving the Vendahoj some time to recover. However, the human with the rifle began to take shots at the Vendahoj, which began to pierce its flesh. Roaring, the Vendahoj pointed its staff towards this human, and shot a beam of pure dark energy at it. The human's eyes widened, but it was too late.
The beam hit the human with full force, and a scream could be heard from the human, before it died out.
The Vendahoj turned back to the other three humans. One down, three to go.
At least, the Vendahoj thought that until it was shot in the back by the human it thought it just killed.
Snarling, the Vendahoj turned back to the supposedly dead human, and saw how badly the attack hurt it. The thing couldn't even stand, barely on its knees. Its clothes were torn to shreds, and it panted heavily
Simple prey. The Vendahoj pointed its staff at the human once more, and shot a single bolt of dark energy at the human, just enough to finish it off. However, the human in the mask ran in, and moved the human out of the way before the bolt could hit it, saving the human.
Snarling, the Vendahoj focused on trying to kill these humans, forgetting completely about the other two humans.
Until they struck.
The human in fire-colored-armor struck at the Vendahoj's heel, cutting its tendons, immobilizing the Vendahoj. Then, the human in the golden armor struck, charging at the immobile Grimm, and impaled the Vendahoj in the chest. Roaring, the Vendahoj collapsed, and fell immobile to the ground.
Pulling the spear out of the fallen Grimm's chest, Orion turned to his fellow huntsmen, and said, "Let's go. We need to report our findings."
Nodding, the group began to walk out of the cave, Sol in the front of the group, Layla leaning on Ukabachi for support, and Orion trailing behind.
They were completely oblivious to the large hand reaching for Orion.
The hand snatched Orion with a crash, and the rest of the group turned around to see the Vendahoj standing once more, with Orion held in its hand. The two capable of fighting grabbed the handles of their weapons, only to freeze, unable to move.
Surrounding the Vendahoj was an aura of pure darkness, which filled the air with pure fear. Before their very eyes, every wound they inflicted on it healed before their very eyes, and soon, it looked like it never even was harmed. Squeezing its hand, the Vendahoj began to crush the golden armored warrior, and while his aura was protecting him for the moment, it wouldn't be long before it failed.
Looking to his fellow huntsmen, and shouted, "forget about me! Get to the city. They need to know about the Siren, as well as the Beowulf in the sewers! GO!"
The other three huntsmen didn't like it, but Orion was right. Ukabachi picked up Layla from the ground, and the three Huntsmen set off to the city.
Back in the cave, Orion struggled against the strength of the Vendahoj.
The Vendahoj looked at the human in its hand, and asked, "What is your name?"
Orion looked to the Grimm, and said, "If only to talk to something before I die, I say my name is Orion."
The Vendahoj nodded, and said, "it was a tough fight, Orion."
Orion nodded, and said, "I couldn't agree more."
With a noise of shattering glass, the aura of Orion depleted, leaving him defenseless. The grip of the Vendahoj increased, and instantly crushed Orion, killing him. The Vendahoj let go of his corpse, letting it fall to the ground. From Orion's chest, a soul surfaced from his being, which the Vendahoj took hold of, and consumed.
The Vendahoj walked away from its fallen foe. There were three more, so the least it could do is warn the young one.
It needed to make sure its pawn didn't die so soon into the game, after all
Well, that happened. Hi, I used to be I.S.W.F., but now I am The Gravrobber. Why? Because why not. Well, while we didn't see much of the main character in this chapter, we got some action between the huntsmen and the Vendahoj. Who knew the Vendahoj could speak English? One of the hunters dies, the Vendahoj has some aura-like ability, and it turns out that our hero is nothing more than a pawn in a game the Vendahoj is playing. The questions are: what is the Vendahoj's endgame? And will our hero ever escape the clutches of the Vendahoj? Yeah, if you want answers to these questions, you're gonna have to wait a while. Well, this was fun. Peace out, The Gravrobber.
Fun fact: to choose the name for the first huntsman our hero kills, I literally typed first dead into google translate, and translated it into Latin to find the name for this hunter.