URGENT!

  NEW QUEST!

  D-FENCE!!! D-FENCE!!! D-FENCE!!!

  A Nevind is attacking the city you are currently in. Defend it.

  Reward:

  Twenty EXP to each team member. Five gold.

  Failure:

  More than half the city is destroyed or a member of your team dies.

  "Rosie!" I hollered into the air, accepting the strange quest. Rosie sprang from Lia's shadow, landing lightly on four paws, and gave me a determined look. I turned to Lia and said:

  "You get that too?" She nodded, her emeralds refocusing on the world around her.

  "Yes. What's..."

  "I'll explain latter." I said, cutting her off. She looked a little miffed but let it slide. "Right now, though, we have a test to pass." I looked over at the Guild Master who was starring at Rosie with wide, terrified eyes. I snapped and pointed at him.

  "Right. Forgot. Tzolob, this is Rosie, my Shadow Wolf. Rosie, this is Tzolob, the Guild Master here in Lingholm." Rosie looked at the man and gave him a single nod before turning back to me. Her tail wagged slowly and I got a sense of excitement coming from her; she wanted to fight. I felt a smile come over my own face as well.

  "Shadow Wolf?" Kiltont asked. "I thought she was a Cave Wolf."

  "Can Cave Wolves hide in shadows?" I asked. When no one responded after a few seconds I continued. "That was a genuine question. I really don't know. Can Cave Wolves hide in shadows?" I asked again, looking down at Rosie this time. She shook her head 'No' and dove into my shadow.

  "No, Cave Wolves cannot meld with shadow as I can. It would take too long to explain fully, so I'll say this. In short, my uninformed Master, I evolved when you became our Lady's Blessed Champion. The power she shared with you was also shared with me, giving me the necessary energy to complete my evolution into a true Shadow Wolf." I glanced over at Lia as Rosie spoke.

  "So you became a Shadow Wolf after I became Lia's Blessed Champion?" I asked aloud for the benefit of everyone else. The room's occupants looked at me oddly but didn't say anything. Rosie exited my shadow and stood between me and Lia, keeping her eyes on the Guild Master. No one moved for a moment and I stood there awkwardly. "Alright, then. Let's, uh... let's get goin', yeah?"

  Downstairs, the Guild was in confusion. I had no idea what was going on and it seemed like I wasn't alone. At least a dozen people clamored around one of the counters, a woman dressed like Railey doing her best to hold them back. She was doing well, all things considered. I looked around the room and noticed the man from earlier behind another one of the counters, doing nothing to aid his employee and trying to hide behind his counter. I frowned, looking between the two stations. Fuckwad Fred's counter had bottles behind it and the other counter had papers. I wonder what the difference is?

  "Manager Klimpot!" Tzolob thundered, interrupting my thoughts. The shorter man advanced on the other and seemed to grow in size, a blue glow surrounding him. When they came face to face, Tzolob towered over the Manager. "You have failed me for the last time. We will have words once this is over."

  "Y... Yes, sir." Fred said dejectedly. He looked at the ground, avoiding Tzolob's gaze. Turning back to the gathered Hunters, Tzolob said:

  "Hunters. A Nevind has been reported in our area. I am initiating an emergency quest. All Hunters of Crystal Rank and above must participate. Are any such people present? I ask on your honor as a Hunter that you step forth." Silence. No one moved; I don't think any one even breathed. Tzolob nodded after a moment. "I see. If none who are able are present, it falls to us. Halinth, alert Lord Martil of the danger and summon the Guard. Hunters, ready yourselves for battle. We have a city to protect." Tzolob shrank back to his normal size as he returned to us. He looked me in the eyes, his intense gaze holding me in place. "I have high hopes for you, Mr. Tank. I expect great things from you." I smiled at him, praying that it was more confident than I felt.

  "I will do what I can to help." Tzolob nodded.

  "Come, then. Let us go to the Walls."

  The night air was just beginning to chill and I shivered slightly when I stepped out. It wasn't uncomfortable once I started moving, though, and I quickly became thankful as it cooled my warming skin. The humidity was off the charts and I grinned, feeling my hair slightly stick to my forehead with sweat. We--Lia, Kiltont, Railey, Roise, and I--were moving at a good clip, following Tzolob as he dashed through the city. I took in what I could and got the sense of a fantasy New Orleans. There was a ton of wrought iron everywhere, covering nearly every fence and gate, and I heard what sounded like brass jazz coming from the west, further into the city. Tzolob was leading us east, towards the water and away from the revelry. The cities smelt the same, too, like trash had been burnt, soaked in sewage, and left to bake in the sun for ten days. It landed on my tongue in a terrible, awful thickness that I had to do everything I could to not gag at. I had taken a trip to New Orleans with my fraternity my freshman year and, while I had a blast and would absolutely do it again, there were some parts of that trip that I didn't want to remember. Mainly this godforsaken smell, a crappy toilet, a not-so-good-looking girl, and a really, really bad hangover. I distracted myself from the stench by appreciating the parks we ran by. The majority of the little sections of foliage had those Chao trees that had blocked the road from Rivera and were blocked in by the wrought iron that was so prevalent. Only their top-most branches had fruit and I assumed the townsfolk ate the low hanging ones. When I wasn't admiring the city's sights, I took the opportunity to ask Kiltont some pressing questions.

  "How do you know the Guild Master, Kiltont?" I asked as we ran through a particularly floral section. It didn't last more than half a block but the parks were frequent. They interspersed the buildings every other block or so.

  "We hunted together many times in our youth. He, Marin, and I were a Silver rank hunting team for a few years before we retired. Tzolob went into management in the Guild and Marin and I chose the safety of the Empire." I laughed out loud.

  "No way in hell Marin was a Hunter. I'm callin' bull." Tzolob nodded.

  "She was; it is how they met. Marin handled the logistics; the planning, the assignments and such, while Kiltont and I handled the monsters."

  "She did for us what I thought Miss Ameilia would do for you."

  "I see. Also, thank you for making us run so often. You were right." I said as we wove around another park. We had been running for over ten minutes at this point and were only about halfway to the walls. The city was way bigger than I originally thought. It had only taken us fifteen or so minutes of walking to reach the Guild Hall from the southern entrance of the city. Kiltont laughed loudly.

  "I am glad you have come to see the benefit of training."

  "More so I never realized how essential running is to human survival."

  "We are not human, asshole." he grunted as he leapt a low wall.

  "Fuck you, you know what I mean. Why is Lia automatically part of the Guild? I thought the Empire and the Guild were two different things."

  "They are." Tzolob responded, taking over the explanation. "As a rule, the Guild accepts all nobles so as to not anger any particular house or nation. While the Guild is its own entity, cooperation is always more beneficial."

  "That makes sense. Do all the nobles actually do their job, though? Newendom was a complete douchebag and everything I've heard about Martil makes him sound like an asshole."

  "Newendom is not one of the Hunter Houses. It is a Merchant house, part of the Merchant's Guild. They have different standards and administration than we do, meaning he does not have to follow our rules. As for Martil..." Tzolob trailed off and I picked up.

  "That doesn't answer my question, though. Do the nobles actively help? Where I come from, most nobles suck. Granted, I never met one, but the stories all say they're stuck up assholes like Martil, who crush those beneath them and backstab the ones above."

  "What kind of hellhole do you come from?" Tzolob asked. "That is not how it is here. The nobles of the Empire are stubborn and set in their ways, yes, but those ways are beneficial to their lifestyle."

  "They... help... those... they... can." Railey added between pants.

  "Hmmm. I'll believe it when I see it. Regardless of my personal beliefs, why are you here, Railey?" I asked the girl. She was panting heavily and doing well to keep up with us. She struggled to answer but did.

  "Not... leaving... Miss..." she gasped, pointing at Lia. I nodded in understanding.

  "Totally understand. Welcome aboard, I suppose. You sure you want to be here for this, Lia?" She nodded, giving me a fierce look.

  "Absolutely. I want to see my Champion in action. I want to see what you can do." Her words filled me with a heat I hadn't felt in years; the urge to impress a girl. I felt my body heat up and prepare for action, a smile curving across my lips. I did my best to suppress the feelings and keep my head but failed miserably. I couldn't help but imagine what my reward for impressing her would be. I forced those thoughts way down and refocused on my questions.

  "If all nobles are automatically accepted," I said as Tzolob bounded up the stairs attached to the wall and onto the ramparts. "doesn't that endanger the noble houses? How often do Hunters die?"

  "Not as often as you think." Lia answered. "Some houses, like mi-, like ours, train to become Hunters from birth. Other houses were made nobility because of their history of Hunting. Noble families tend to stay large to avoid dying out as we did. We only had the one house and when..." she trailed off. "It doesn't matter. What does matter is why you keep sporadically introducing yourself as 'Tank'."

  "I didn't want Newendom knowing who I actually was and it seems I made the right call." I said as I came to the top of the wall. I slowed and turned, holding my hand out to Lia to help her up.

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  "Uh huh." Lia doubted. She gave me a look that told me she wanted to hit me and ignored my hand, continuing to follow the others. I sighed, catching my breath.

  "Fine. It was my nickname back home and I want to keep using it. Sue me." Rosie came up next to me, carrying a heaving Railey on her back. The girl had her arms wrapped around Rosie's chest and the wolf looked at me happily. I pet her head and praised her.

  "Halt!" a high voice called. I turned and looked up to find fierce pink eyes and frazzled jade hair sticking out from under a silver helmet staring back at us. The guard, a female, looked at us with fearful eyes. They continually danced between Rosie and the rest of us, particularly me. The girl, whom was no older than Lia, had dark skin and green hair that stuck out at random intervals. She held a spear and shield in her hands and pointed the pointy end of the spear at us. I smiled at her comfortingly.

  "No need to worry, sister. We're here to help."

  "Who are you?"

  "Stand down, soldier." Tzolob said, stepping forward. "I am Guild Master Tzolob Maribo and you will take us to your commander." The girl's eyes went wide and she nodded.

  "Yes, sir. Follow me, please." She turned and led us further down the wall without any further delay. I glanced to our right, out into the fields. The black water of the bay glinted at me about a hundred yards from the walls and got closer to the city a little further down the way where I could dozens of sails bobbing in the water. Bells began to ring as we moved towards the harbor.

  "A Crystal-class monster is attacking the city." a female voice said over some sort of loud speaker. "Seek shelter immediately." What the fuck? They have sound systems here? Does that mean they have music? I shook my head. Of course they have sound systems. Lia said they figured out air travel, and my world discovered phonographs only about thirty years before flight. It makes sense, then, that cities like this one have a public broadcast system for this exact moment. I felt a newfound sense of appreciation for this First Emperor as I thought about what kind of horrors he must have experienced to mandate such a system. I was pulled from my thoughts by Lia slapping my arm. I blinked and refocused on the wall. The pink haired guard was leading us towards a group of soldiers clustered around one man. He was fit, bald, and had a scar over one eye. He wore multiple medals on his chest and was dressed in a military uniform of black and gold. His red eyes glared out over his men and latched onto us, narrowing in suspicion. He stepped down from the wall and moved towards us with purpose.

  "Ensign Kertin, what in all the gods names are you doing?" His eyes went wide, then narrowed again. "Guild Master, I see that you have finally returned. How was Martion?"

  "Beautiful as ever, Commander. I heard there is a Nevind on its way." Tzolob responded, getting straight to business. The Commander seemed to appreciate the directness, his eyes loosing some of their steeliness.

  "Indeed. Is Jozey here?" Tzolob sighed and shook his head.

  "No. He is away on personal business and does not know when he will return, if ever."

  "I see. So it is up to us, then?" he said with a smile. It was a vicious, evil smile that promised violence to any who got in his way and I suppressed a shudder.

  "Not entirely. There is a new recruit whom I wish to examine in the field." Tzolob then turned, gesturing at me. "Commander, I present to you Tank. Tank, Sentinel Commander Lucinius Metio." The Commander's eyes narrowed even further as he appraised me and I stood a little taller under his assessing gaze. I seemed to pass whatever test he was giving me and his eyes moved on from me. I watched his face carefully as he examined each of us, though he didn't seem particularly impressed by any one until he got to Rosie. His red eyes went wide and his hand went to the handle on his waist. I growled and stepped forward, putting myself between him and my wolf.

  "Hold your weapon, Commander. The wolf is tame; she belongs to Tank as his familiar." Tzolob said. The Commander's face morphed between disbelief and shock as his eyes moved between us. I smiled at him and nodded, petting Rosie's head. Railey still rode on her back like a pony, Rosie seemingly content to carry the girl.

  "Yes, sir. Rosie is a good girl and wouldn't hurt a fly." Rosie barked, giving me a look. I sighed. "Fine. She wouldn't hurt a fly if I asked her not to. She still likes to hunt and goes out with us." Rosie nodded, a proud look in her eye.

  "You can communicate with it?" Rosie snapped her jaws, the pop! echoing through the night. She growled dangerously, slobber dripping from her fangs.

  "She doesn't like to be called 'it'." I said by way of explanation as Railey pet the wolf, calming her. "She prefers her name."

  "I...I see. Forgive me, Lady Rosie." Lucinius said, bowing slightly. Rosie nodded and stopped growling, approaching the man. He stiffened and inhaled sharply as she got closer, but allowed the wolf to sniff his hand. She nodded again and returned to my side.

  "Is he trustworthy?" I asked. Rosie arf'ed her assent, azure eyes sparkling. I smiled. "Good." Turning back to the Commander, I said: "If Rosie trusts you, I trust you. What can I do to help, sir?"

  "What can you do?" I shrugged.

  "I don't know. What're we facing?" Lucinius's face dropped as I responded and he turned out towards the water. He pointed into the darkness and simply responded:

  "That."

  I followed his finger and gasped, my whole body going stiff with fear. My breath caught in my throat as I watched the creature rise from the water. The Guild Master was right. The Nevind was crocodilian in shape, but that's where the comparisons stopped. This behemoth was far larger than the crocs back home, at least forty feet long and ten feet at the shoulder. Its legs were long and sturdy, perfect for running or swimming and the tail was just as powerful, swaying from side to side to assist the creature with balance. Its snout was long and slightly pointed, with dozens of sharp teeth projecting from the mandibles. The creature was large and scary, yeah, but what made it terrifying was what it was covered in. Bright moonlight reflected off of the pure white bones that covered the monster. Each step the Nevind took was echo'ed by that same haunting, terrible melody I heard when the skeletons fell from their pikes back in Rivera. A hollow clattering followed the booming steps of the Nevind and when it reared up on its hind legs and opened its mouth, I heard what sounded like the wailing of the dying come from the creature. A spike of primal fear filled my heart and I snarled, forcing it down. Others weren't so lucky and I heard quite a few people scream in response. I looked over at the gal who had led us here and saw that her dark skin was as pale as a sheet. Her mouth moved but no sound came out and her pink eyes were wide with fear. I sighed and looked at the Captain, who was glaring at the Nevind with hate.

  "To arms, men!" the Commander cried, drawing his sword. "Protect the city!" Lucinius stalked a few steps forward, his sword glowing with a blue energy. With a yell, the Commander drug his sword in front of him, leaving a glowing blue arc behind the blade. The arc shot off towards the Nevind almost faster than I could follow, slamming into one of the creature's legs. It sliced into the bone and flesh underneath, spilling a dark fluid into the ground. I watched in horror as the fluid began to give off a distinct black smoke. I frowned in thought. That smoke looked extremely familiar, but I was pulled from my study by Lucinius stumbling. He leaned on his sword and breathed heavily. His attack left a massive gash in the Nevind's front left leg that should have stopped the creature from moving, but it barely slowed. It was like the thing hadn't felt the pain from the attack at all. I watched in horror as the leg Lucinius had attacked took a step and buckled, the bones both within and without the creature snapping as it fell.

  "Something's wrong." Lucinius said, sheathing his blade and leaning his hands on the wall, breathing hard. "That attack should have severed the leg. It didn't, nor did the creature cry out when it got hit. Its leg should be broken, too. And yet..." The Captain and I watched in slowly growing horror as the beast got back on its feet. The same black smoke from the fluid began to pour from the wound, preventing me from getting a good look.

  "It's getting back up. What the fuck is this thing?" I asked, horrified.

  "I do not know, but it is not a Nevind, that much is certain."

  "No?"

  "No. Nevind are solitary, competitive creatures. Their roars are one of their main weapons against flying and long distance prey. This one has yet to actively scream at us. That roar earlier was not its vocal attack." If that roar from earlier wasn't what the beast was known for, I really did not want to hear the actual thing. I narrowed my eyes at the beast, my Zoom kicking in. The black smoke cleared for just a moment and an icy lance shot down my spine. I could see the wound Lucinius's attack had left in the creature. He had made solid contact and there was no way the creature should have been able to walk. I saw the pure white femur bone underneath what appeared to be grey, dried up skin. The bone itself was cracked slightly, though the creature showed no sign of pain, nor was there any blood, which is what sent that shiver down my spine. Every creature I had come across in this world has bled, just like the ones back on Earth. This creature didn't bleed. It left no blood trail, no blood leaked from the wound, nothing. All that came from it was the black smoke. It was like there was no blood at all within the creature. I finished my assessment of the wound and glanced at the rest of the body. Inspect kicked in and identified the creature for me.

  Nevind

  Level: ???

  CAUTION

  I swallowed hard.

  "Alright. In other totally-not-terrifying news," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "it appears as though this particular creature has black smoke for blood."

  "What?" Lucinius' voice held no sense of humor. "I swe..."

  "I know." I said, cutting him off. "I don't believe it either, but I'm looking at it. You broke that thing's leg, yet it's walking like nothing happened. It should be bleeding everywhere and howling in pain, but neither of those things are happening. The black smoke is pouring from its leg like it replaced the things blood and it's behaving as if you didn't hit it at all." Lucinius was quiet for a moment, then I heard him suck in air through his teeth.

  "Gods above. You are right. There is no blood. That... that should not be possible."

  "So I'm not crazy. I don't know whether that's better or worse."

  "I do not see this black smoke you speak of, but the lack of blood is..." he trailed off.

  "Not good?" I offered. He scoffed hard.

  "No. Not good in the slightest."

  "What do we do?"

  "I do not know."

  "Well, I'll tell ya what we don't do. We don't stand here like a bunch of fuckwads lettin' it get closer. We need to stop it. The question is how."

  "I don't know." Lucinius said, panic rising in his red eyes.

  "I have an idea." Txolob said. He turned to Lia and bowed to her, saying: "My Lady. I humbly beseech you, grant us the use of your Champion. We need his power." Lia nodded, answering without hesitation.

  "Of course, Guild Master. When duty calls, the Freyolin's answer. Champion, assist this town in its protection. Defeat the Nevind, please."

  New Buff!

  Sworn Lady's Blessing

  Plus Ten to all Attributes.

  Cooldown: Three days

  I blinked the message away, a gold light shinning from within my chest right next to my heart. My core felt hot and my Spark full of energy, like I had just mainlined pre-workout straight into my veins. I felt like I could lift ten Stebans over my head, like I could do anything. My hands began to shake and a malicious grin drew itself across my face.

  "Oh ho, mama." I chuckled, feeling the power coursing through me. "I could get used to this." I turned and faced the coming horror, ready to take it on. I heard a bark and a yelp from behind me, then Rosie's mind merged with mine. I felt her excitement and power, her need to hunt. It seemed the buff extended to her as well. My hands began to glow with my golden power, the heat growing somewhat uncomfortable. Needing a release, I acted on instinct and clapped my hand towards the Nevind, which was still a good distance away. A wall of golden power that was wider than it was tall shot from me before petering out about five feet away from us. I frowned.

  "Well, that's not what I had intended." I said. I felt the power beginning to pool again and changed tactics. I drew my knife from my Inventory and, as soon as my hand closed around the hilt, I felt my power begin to move into the weapon, the blade glowing a slight gold. I smiled and nodded, holding the blade up to the sky and admiring the craftsmanship. It gleamed in the moonlight, the light from my Spark glowing brighter. "That's more like it." Turning back towards the Nevind, I saw that the creature was drawing closer. It seemed to be looking directly at me, and though I couldn't see its eyes yet, I felt the bloodlust as it stared at me. The creature opened its mouth and I dropped to the ground, holding my head in my hands. My ears hurt beyond belief, though I never heard anything. In fact, I couldn't hear anything at all. I could feel myself breathing, my heart pumping blood through my body, but there was no sound. Not even the ringing that typically accompanied a head wound. I felt around my head, but there was no blood. Then I felt my ears and a sticky liquid pouring from them. I pulled my hand away and found it covered in blood. Ah. So that's what the Commander meant.

  Growling, I grabbed the edge of the wall and hauled myself to my feet, leaning against the ramparts for support. Everyone else was just as bad as I was, if not worse. Kiltont, Tzolob, and Lucinius were all recovering quickly as well, but Lia and Railey were still down. Rosie reappeared from my shadow and ran over to Lia, sniffing her and licking her face. She prowled around the girl protectively, and, even though she wasn't in my shadow, I felt a sense of rage and motherly love coming from the wolf. I turned towards the Nevind, tightening my grip on my knife. The creature was fifty or so yards from us now and thirty feet below me. I grinned, stepped up onto the wall, and walked off.