(Hey guys! Hate to break the immersion real quick, but since I didn't see an opportunity to show this in the near future, I thought I'd show you Akil's stat block, since he's currently a party member and all. For those who still need a scale, I'll give it to you.
1-4: The worst. It is almost impossible for normal humans to have any stat lower than 5. If you have a stat lower than that, you can't function as a human being.
5-9: Bad.
10: Average Human capability
11-15: Good.
16-20: Fantastic.
21-30: Impossible for humans to obtain through natural means. Magical enhancement or divine blessings are the only ways to obtain a stat higher than 20 for humans.)
Akil's Stats:
Strength: 6
Dexterity: 19
Constitution: 9
Intelligence: 17
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 18
(And with that out of the way, let's get on with the story.)
At camp that night Felandria made a point to sit as close to me as possible.
Akil watched her and Agnes with interest, a smirk stretched across his face as he was eating.
"So..." Akil said, in between bites of food, "As you know, I'm here to acquire a special artifact from some ruins..." he laid back leisurely, his eyes shifting to my side for a second before returning to me, his smirk growing a bit.
I then felt someone push between me and Felandria as Agnes settled down with her food, shooting a look at Felandria.
The fire light was keeping her in check, but I assume Agnes didn't want her getting close to me in case it went out or she tries a stunt like last night.
Agnes looked over at me, the fire light painting a subtle orange glow on her face, it almost seemed to make a faint red color spread on her cheeks.
She quickly turned to her food, and a dark shadow loomed over us.
I let out a loud grunt as Felandria dive-bombed onto my lap, smiling happily as she pressed up against me.
"Get off of him!" Agnes grabbed her wing, tugging at her.
Akil slid another piece of food into his mouth and watched, grinning from ear to ear.
"No!" Felandria wriggled on my lap, trying to break free, "I'm getting to know my Anon!"
I sighed. Don't I have any say in this?
Squish.
"Hm?" Felandria looked down. Agnes noticed and followed her gaze.
My face turned red.
Felandria's rear end was pressing up right against "mini me," and I was having what I would call an "adverse reaction" to the contact at the moment.
Agnes squealed and backed off, her face practically glowing red.
Felandria looked back up at me and smiled, a pink blush on her face.
"I don't mind..." she pressed her butt up against me again, "if you want, we can-"
A loud shockwave suddenly burst in between us, knocking me backwards and sending Felandria flying up in the air. The flames flickered for a moment, then resumed burning.
Akil was looking away, his face flushed a bit as Agnes clutched her holy symbol.
Felandria caught herself in the air, glaring at Agnes.
"Ow..." I clutched my head. Luckily it was all sand, so nothing serious happened, but that didn't make it any less painful.
"Before I was interrupted..." Akil began again, "I'm looking for this artifact for someone of great importance. I suppose it doesn't matter whether you know or not, so I'll be frank. I'm on orders for the Sultan."
Everyone stopped to look at him. He seemed unfazed by our stares.
"He wishes to push our country into a new, prosperous age, and that artifact has the power to do it." Akil smiled. "That's it. I just thought you all needed to know exactly why you're here."
A silence fell over the camp.
"How about I take first watch, then?" Akil said with a grin.
That night was relatively uneventful. Having Akil stand guard made taking shifts much easier, dividing the work in three was better than two, after all. He was informed of Felandria's behavior in the dark, so he kept a close eye on the fire.
The next day, we quickly packed up camp and set off.
We approached the town near those ruins at around noon.
As we got close, Akil motioned for us to stop.
"What is it?" Agnes asked.
"Look." Akil pointed at something in the distance.
Agnes and I squinted.
There was a caravan carriage, toppled onto its side. No, there were several carriages, boxes carelessly flung to the side and emptied of all goodies.
"Proceed with caution," Akil murmured, "in the open sands were about as obvious as a hippo in a fish pond. We'll get spotted if we aren't careful. However waiting until night wouldn't be ideal either... we'd be at a disadvantage. We can't see in the dark, but Gnolls most likely can. And even if Felandria here was our eyes, there's no guarantee she wouldn't turn on us when the sun sets..."
"Hey, I'm not going to hurt any of you!" Felandria sounded wounded by his statement.
"Aren't you stealthy?" I asked him.
He smirked. "In most circumstances, yes. My training as a Rogue leaves me quite capable at slipping into the shadows. Unfortunately we're out in the middle of a desert. If only we had a Ranger..." he squinted, looking at the town. "If we could slip into the town unnoticed, we could the shadows as cover and slip through out the other side... but who knows if it's been overrun by Gnolls or not, and even then we have no idea the full extent of their senses. Monsters can have enhanced senses, like Felandria's enhanced hearing. Who knows if Gnolls have a similar ability, or a better sense of smell, or what if they could taste us in the air? It's risky. But so is maneuvering around..."
I exhaled. Maybe I should try and use that sense ability. It let me know the presence of the Ghouls and how many there were, so maybe it could help here?
I closed my eyes and tried to recreate that feeling...
Six auras appeared. I could sense them nearby, but couldn't tell where. They had the same feel as the Ghouls did. An unnatural aura that seemed to carry the feeling of a perversion of death. But... there was something else.
A larger presence in the town. It had an aura that felt... different than the other one. It felt hot, and strange, like a swirling darkness that consumes everything it touches.
Then I sensed another one, but it was far smaller, a weaker presence than the other.
I couldn't tell where they were... but there were definitely monsters present in the town.
"There's something in the town. I feel eight monsters... I think."
"Eight? Gnoll packs have been reported to have dozens of monsters in them. Not just Gnolls, either. Supposedly they aren't picky with who buddies up with them, so long as they possess a level of savagery on par with theirs..." Akil thought for a moment. "Maybe it's just the eight, but I think we err on the side of caution and assume there's more..."
Agnes and I nodded.
"So, do we sneak around, or do we go through?" Akil looked over, "we have the chance of completely passing through without getting spotted if we go around, but if we're spotted, I'd be almost worthless. If we go through the city, we'd have to be even stealthier, but in a fight we would have a bit of an advantage. Either way, if we get spotted, we'll likely bring the whole horde down on us."
Both ideas weren't great.
I looked over at Agnes and Felandria.
"We could also just walk around it at such a distance that they don't see us." Agnes said.
"But that could add a day or two to our journey, and I'll be honest, I don't want to keep the old man waiting." Akil said.
"But surely there's a way that doesn't involve the Gnolls." Felandria said.
Akil looked over, "I don't think there is. But maybe they'll be satiated for a bit... hopefully. They just finished raiding a village, they surely must be resting for a day or so..."
We continued to debate this before deciding to do it the old fashioned way. We flipped a coin.
"Okay, heads we go in the city, tails we go around." Akil said.
He flipped it up in the air, catching it and slamming it onto his wrist.
Heads.
"Alright. Suicide mission #1 it is." Akil said, "let's go."
We entered the town without much issue, and slowly crept through the main district, sticking to the shadows.
As we progressed, a loud scream rang through our ears, and we froze.
"It came from the right!" I said, and I dashed towards it.
Akil leapt after me, quickly outpacing me, and Agnes caught up to my side. Felandria flew through the air, soaring a few feet above our heads.
We hunkered down behind a piece of rubble, and Akil made a hand signal telling us to stop.
We slowly peeked over the rubble, and looked down at a large crater.
A human woman was tied to a post, a metal collar around her neck. She struggled and cried out as she was surrounded by several monsters.
The monsters' skin ranged from dark brown to light gray, and they had tall and muscular builds. They were again all female, I could tell because of their... bountiful curves. They wore nothing but a fur bra and loin clothes, and each carried spears and bows that appeared to be made of wood and bone. The blades and arrow tips all had a strange pinkish gleam to them, like the greatsword I took from the Ogre, and they looked sharp.
Their hair was shaggy and thick, far more wild than even the Ghouls had, and it was a strange grayish color with black spots. Their ears were round and furry, like some type of wild dog's, and they slowly advanced towards the woman. From their elbows and knees down, their arms and legs were covered in grayish fur, with black spots adorning it. Large black fangs hung from their mouths, and they had ear and bellybutton piercings made of bone. Some had even pierced their noses as well. Aside from that, they looked mostly human, just like Felandria.
The one closest to her had strange black markings on her face, stomach, and arms, and she pulled out a large bowl filled with a black substance. The monster dipped her claws into the bowl and began applying the substance to the woman, who screamed again.
"Wh-what IS this? Get away from me!" The woman kicked at the monster, who cackled at her in response.
The other monsters began growling, and one of them let out a sharp bark. The woman stopped, her eyes widening a bit as one of the monsters stepped up beside the other one.
"Gnolls..." Akil muttered, and I turned to Agnes, who's eyes were wide with horror.
"What're they doing?" I whispered.
"I don't know. But there's so many of them. I'm counting just ten here alone. Who knows how many there are in this town?"
The woman whimpered as the tattooed Gnoll began painting the substance onto her, mimicking the markings and sigils inscribed on herself. The other one beside the woman licked the woman's face, before moving to her ear and biting her earlobe.
The woman squealed and struggled again, and the Gnoll bit down harder.
A spurt of that strange white liquid I saw gush out of me from the Ogre's attack came out of the wound, hitting the ground and vanishing.
"We need to intervene. Right now." I said.
"Already ahead of you." Akil was currently aiming a dagger right at the tattooed Gnoll, and threw it.
It soared through the air, and with barely a sound, it slammed right into the Gnoll's neck.
She let out a howl of pain and clutched at the dagger, dark crimson blood gushing out from the wound.
"Woah, that looked like it hurt!" I muttered.
"Yeah, but Gnolls are pretty tough. I've heard you could cut off all their limbs and they'd still crawl after you." Akil said, "so I gotta make sure this next one's fatal. You guys get out there and start hacking away."
"Don't kill them!" Felandria said.
"They're attacking that woman." Akil said, "unless you have a better idea, killing them's the only way to stop whatever they're doing."
Felandria looked over. "I mean, we could just let them do whatever it is they're doing..."
Agnes and I stared at her for a moment.
"It's not going to kill her!" Felandria said, "don't look at me like that! I wouldn't let that woman get hurt, no matter what!"
"Even if, it's a little late for that." Akil said, and we watched as the Gnolls began approaching our location. They sniffed the air, and I saw them begin to salivate as they got closer.
The tattooed Gnoll and the one next to the woman turned back to her. The tattooed one pulled out the dagger imbedded in her neck, the blood gushing out again. She put a hand up to stop the flow and continued using her free hand to paint the sigils.
"We need to get through these Gnolls fast and get to the woman." I said, and Akil nodded.
"Already on it." And then he covered his head with his hood, and his form shimmered, then vanished.
"Woah." Agnes and I shared a look, then turned to the advancing Gnolls.
Felandria looked over at us, but didn't say anything.
The Gnolls saw us, and let out a cacophony of howls and cackles, and they lunged.
"Stop!" Felandria dove in front of them, spreading her wings out to block their view. "We don't need to fight!"
The Gnolls tilted their heads, and turned to each other. They growled and yipped at each other, before turning back to Felandria.
"Get out of way." One of them barked, her voice harsh and rough.
Agnes and I shared a glance. Her grasp of language was clearly rudimentary, but they were intelligent enough to speak.
"No. I won't let you take him!" Felandria said.
One of the Gnolls sniffed the air, stepping closer to me. "He not yours. He smell..." she paused, looking like she was looking for the word, "fresh."
"That's because... we haven't done anything yet..." Felandria twiddled her claws.
The Gnolls actually started laughing. "Not yet? Not yet?" They cackled wildly, and Felandria's face slowly turned red.
"Not yet? Not yours!" One of them said, and they pushed her aside, brandishing their weapons.
I unsheathed my sword, and Agnes clutched her holy symbol.
One of them lunged at me, thrusting the spear right at my chest.
I rolled out of the way, knocking the spear back with my shield.
Agnes sent a bolt of energy at her, and the blast staggered the Gnoll backwards a bit, clutching at her stomach.
The Gnolls all snarled, and they all leapt at us at once.
I swung my sword at one, cleaving into her side. Blood gushed out as the Gnoll howled, thrusting the spear at me.
It ran through my shoulder, but once again, I didn't feel hurt. A burst of that glowing white fluid spurted out from my wound, but I didn't feel any pain. I just felt a little tired...
I gritted my teeth and kicked the Gnoll backwards. The Gnoll let go of the spear and staggered back a bit, but two more Gnolls jumped at me in her place.
I ducked under their spear thrusts, and brought my sword upwards, slamming it into one's jaw.
It pierced through, and hot, crimson blood rained down onto my face as she let out a guttural scream.
The other one threw her spear aside and leapt at me, and I felt her teeth sinking into my side. It pierced through my armor, but again, the wound didn't hurt...
More white fluid gushed out as the Gnoll sank her teeth into me, and I felt her rip... something out... again nothing vital, cause otherwise I'd probably be dead... but I felt so tired...
I looked over to see the Gnoll's jaws dripping with that glowing white fluid, which she licked up and grinned at me.
"Tasty!" She licked her chops again as I fell down onto my knees. Everything was going dark...
"Want more from the source..." I heard her purr, before I heard another loud scream.
"Anon! Anon! Get up!" Agnes put her hand on my chest, and I felt warmth flood through my body. My senses returned, and I looked around.
The Gnolls surrounding us were swinging violently at Felandria, who was now beating her wings in their faces and kicking at them with her talons.
"Get away from him!" She screamed.
Her talons dug into their skin, and a glowing purple fluid began flowing out of their wounds. Upon hitting the ground, the fluid disappeared, just like the white fluid that came out of me.
The Gnolls growled, and one of them swung their spear at Felandria, smacking her out of the air.
A burst of the purple fluid gushed out from the wound on Felandria's face, and she fell down to the ground on her back.
I leapt forward, swinging my sword at the Gnolls, who each turned back to me.
It arched through the air, straight at one's head...
And then she caught it between her teeth.
I froze for a moment as she stood their, her eyes mocking me as she bit down.
The sword shattered into pieces. No way...
My eyes widened as she kicked me in the stomach, knocking me down to the ground.
The Gnolls all cackled at me, but then a blast of energy hit one on the head, plowing straight through the side of her skull.
The Gnoll's eyes widened in surprise and fury, before collapsing onto the ground.
Agnes leapt forward, and began smashing her flail into the Gnolls as they turned their attention back to her.
They must think I'm a non-threat. Well, they better think again.
I dropped my shield and the broken hilt of my sword, and grabbed the greatsword in both of my hands, and swung it.
It took a bit of effort, but I could use it effectively enough to hit them.
It cleaved into a Gnoll's side, but instead of the typical blood I expected to see, the same purple fluid flowed out of the wound.
The Gnoll turned to me for a second, but then slowly collapsed to the ground.
I swung again and again, the Gnolls tried to stop the greatsword, but it was a far heavier blade than the longsword was, and it cut through them like butter. Well, it felt like it did. I didn't even cut any in half, all the sword did was cause massive bursts of the purple fluid inside of them to come out.
But the Gnolls began dropping, and soon we had taken out all of them.
I looked over at the other combat situation.
Akil was currently on the shoulders of the non-tattooed Gnoll, and he stabbed two daggers into her neck, cutting out her throat. He then back-flipped off the falling corpse and threw the two daggers at the tattooed one. She deflected one, but another sank into her stomach.
The human woman's eyes were wide, and she struggled against her bindings, trying to escape in the fray.
Agnes send a bolt of energy straight at the tattooed Gnoll, and it blasted her in her side, catching her off guard enough for Akil to slip forward and slam two more daggers into her skull, and then slamming her head into the ground like a Mortal Kombat fatality.
He then quickly turned to the woman's bindings, and cut them loose.
She fell forward, and he caught her with elegance and grace straight out of a movie.
"Well, I think that settles it-" I began, but then I heard a groan.
I turned sharply around to see the Gnolls I had taken out were still breathing, and I brought the greatsword out to strike again.
"It's not going to do anything." Felandria murmured.
I turned to her. Despite that wound I saw them inflict on her face, she didn't have any marks on her at all. She staggered to her feet, swaying a little. "You've already depleted their mana for the time. They'll be out for a few hours, maybe days..."
"Mana?"
"That sword." She pointed at it, "it's a monster's sword, isn't it?"
"I mean, I took it from an Ogre." I looked at the sword again.
"It's made of Demon Realm Silver, a type of metal that cuts at the spirit, not the flesh." Felandria began, "it behaves similarly to a monster's natural weapons. It won't cause harm to humans or monsters, but it depletes their mana. Once a creature's mana is depleted, they'll fall unconscious."
I looked over at the Gnolls I felled again. They were stirring a bit and making whimpering noises, as if in a dream.
Agnes brandished her flail, "so... do we take them out then?"
Felandria poked one of them. "Of course not. They're not going to cause any problems for a bit. We just needed to sneak past this area, didn't we?"
"But what about the humans here? We can't just leave them!" Agnes said.
"Who's to say there are any humans who want to be saved at this point?" Felandria said.
"That woman certainly wanted to be!" Agnes retorted, "and what human wouldn't want to be saved from these savages!"
They both turned to me.
"Anon, we can't kill them now! They aren't a threat anymore!" Felandria looked at me with big, watery eyes.
"But Anon, these monsters are clearly savage beasts. They aren't like Felandria, they aren't going to change demeanor just because they lost. We need to take them down now, while we have the chance."
"How interesting." Akil interjected, hopping down from a rooftop behind us, "so we have two options here, hm? I'm partial to Agnes's plan, personally, but let's leave it up to you."
I looked at the Gnolls. Why am I the one coming up with the plan?
