As I stepped down into the broken building, the ghastly sight in front of me came to life.
'One, two, three…' no less than seven beasts lurked in the abandoned home, feasting on corpses, both animal and human alike, all too grotesque to tell apart.
The Current surged through my legs, accelerating my momentum in a single burst. I landed beside one of the creatures — its skin pustulating and grey, broken by patches of ragged fur. It looked like a cross between a rotting hound and some parasitic mushroom. Pink fluid — a mix of pus and blood — leaked from its boils, giving it the appearance of something half-decomposed.
My blade lashed forward, one quick strike slicing across its face, carving through flesh and deep into its rotting bone, splitting its eye down the middle. Before the beast could howl in pain, I thrust the ivory pistol in my left hand to its throat. As I pulled the trigger, an invisible blast of Current ripped through its body, its neck turning into a flying mist of blood, flesh chunks, and vertebrae. The severed head flew through the air and crashed into the wall, splattering into red mush. Luckily the corpse was mostly intact.
By now, the others were aware of me, turning towards me, growling. There was an unyielding hunger deep within their eyes, directed at me. Each had a different build and form, but they shared the same bloated, twisting, rotting, and festering flesh.
The smallest lunged first. Stupidly, I didn't dodge. Instead, I waved my blade, a cluster of ice shards launching forward, shredding the surface of its flesh. The damn beast didn't even flinch, as if impervious to pain. Its jaws locked down on my shoulder.
'Shit!'
I stabbed my blade backwards, the sharp blade piercing its skull. To my surprise, its jaws didn't loosen, but it bit down harder. I yelled out in pain, and I pushed electrified Current through the blade. The beast's head bubbled and sizzled, and then burst, brain matter, blood, and bone exploding across my face.
Wiping blood from my eyes, I fired three shots from my pistol in the direction of another beast. Two missed, leaving cracks in the stone floor, while the 3rd ripped through the beast's ankle, tearing away its foot. The beast crashed to the ground mid sprint, and shrieked in pain.
Knowing I needed to evaluate the situation, I pulled on the shadows in the room with my Current. The shadows rose and surrounded the area around me with darkness. While the beast couldn't see me, I couldn't see in the dark either.
Dropping into a defensive stance, I analyzed my situation.
'Two beasts dead, one injured… Only one injury myself…'
I pulled the Current into my brain. The world slowed around me, and my senses sharpened. The stench of rotting corpses hit me first, nearly throwing off my balance. I could hear wet growls, buzzing flies, and paws slapping against stone.
On my left, 3 yards away, charging. It seemed these beasts possessed some form of intelligence hidden behind the ceaseless hunger and madness, aiming for my injured side. I shot with my pistol towards the beast and then stepped forward, a spear of ice shot from my right hand ripping through the shadows.
To my left there was the sound of cracking bones, and the wet thud of a crashing rotting corpse. As the shadows dissipated, I saw the spear break into fragments before hitting the target, barely piercing its skull and brain.
'Damnit, my ice needs some work… well, only two more beasts at least...'
As the darkness fully cleared, I could feel the wear on my body, and my Current reserves. While from the outside the battle seemed like a one sided slaughter, the magical energy enhancing my body was the only thing keeping me alive. These things, for lack of a better term, were far faster and stronger than any human could match without Current.
I pushed forward again, current ripping through my body, my vision blurring due to the sheer speed of my body and due to fatigue. I couldn't see the target – I just hoped the strike would hit.
The rapier met resistance at first, and then carved through. Blood painted my vision as the sword cleaved the best in two – spine severed, hind legs flopping away from the twitching remains.
I steadied my breath, scanning the room for the last beast. The building was silent and painted with gore. I looked down at myself, realizing i was painted with blood, cuts, and beastly remains
'Great… Lilia's going to kill–'
The sound of cracking wood overhead interrupted my thought. I looked up, a shadow dropped from the rafters. Before I could react, I felt warm, wet teeth against my neck. Before they could bite down, I flashed away with the last of my current. Even with that speed, I couldn't escape unharmed. The beast's jagged teeth tore across my throat, ripping skin apart.
Without any Current enhancing my speed, the beast was on me before I could react.
I swung my rapier, the blade barely grazing the beast's shoulder. It barreled through the hit without slowing. One paw lashed out, claws catching my right wrist. Pain flared and blood poured, as the weapon flew from my hand, spinning out of reach.
I instinctively reached for my pistol, but with my Current reserves empty it was useless.
The beast swiped again, claws aiming for my neck. I ducked away at the last second, but just too late, its claws leaving a group of thin cuts across my throat– shallow but too close to being a lethal hit.
"Too Close–!"
Another slash came, leaving me twisting away and taking a cut across my left forearm. Before I could recover, it lunged, jaws open wide attempting to crush my skull. Desperately, I shoved my good hand upwards, catching it in the belly midair. The impact threw it off course, causing it to violently slam into the ground behind me, growling in frustration.
Without wasting a moment, I lunged for my rapier. Just as my fingers brushed the hilt, pain exploded in my leg. The beast's rotten fangs sunk deep into my ankle.
I screamed in agony, and desperately reached for my pistol and hurled it. The ivory grip smacked into the beast's head with a dull thud. Not enough to seriously wound it, but enough to make it loosen its jaws.
As soon as I could move, I grabbed the hilt of my rapier. Without time to aim, I stabbed blindly, the tip of my rapier punching through the beast's neck. The tip hit something hard– the spine– and broke through, the guard of the sword pushed against the beast's skin.
The beast spasmed violently, and then collapsed.
I staggered to my feet, blood soaking into my boot. Limping, I stepped towards the body of the beast I had wounded before, and drove my rapier into its skull ending its life quickly
"...That's… That's today's job…"
I retrieved the pistol and holstered it with shaking hands. I then wiped the blade of my rapier clean, removing the blood and bodily matter, before sheathing it.
***
I limped through the streets, soaked in blood, dragging behind me the corpses of seven mutilated beasts.
In most cities, I'd have drawn a crowd. Here, in the slums of the City of Sorrows, no one gave me a second glance. Just another Hunter returning from a night's work.
The peacekeeper station loomed ahead. A small, humble, rust-stained building, half-swallowed by fog. I hauled the corpses inside, the door creaking open under my shoulder.
"Lucien! You—" the receptionist started, then took in the sight of me. "You look like total shit."
Wright, A familiar face. Wearing a worn leather vest, ink-stained hands, tired eyes from too many sleepless nights. Just a desk clerk for the peacekeepers, but he handled all the Hunter payouts in this district.
I gave him a tired smile. "Got seven little guys for you."
I dropped the corpses in a heap. He crouched to examine them.
"Seven?" He raised an eyebrow. "Must've been a good hunt. Alright, I'll give you three thousand Scrounge."
I kept my face still. But inside—
'Three thousand? I nearly died out there. That's barely enough for rent — forget food, forget tax.'
"Just three thousand?" I asked, voice calm. "Come on. You can't do any better?"
***
Nearly an hour later, after plenty of pointless negotiations, I left the station covered with bandages, and with a coin pouch heavier by thirty-five hundred.
Three thousand and five hundred Scrounge. Hardly fair, but better than nothing.
The streets felt colder now — less fog, more silence. I passed broken lamps and shuttered stalls, the usual scent of rain and rust in the air. Home wasn't far.
A small house nestled against the city wall. One of the old ones, long forgotten by the tax collectors.
I slipped through the back window, careful not to wake anyone.
Inside, I removed my gear and scrubbed myself clean, blood, bile, and monster viscera swirling down the drain. My shoulder throbbed, my leg burned, just about everything else felt like it was going to burst open like the pustules on one of those beasts, but I was alive.
And for now, that would have to be enough.