A lean young man stands on the top of a hill, staring down at his soon-to-be adversaries—not with a look of courage or bravery, but despair. How is he supposed to fight these menaces, anyway? This is absurd!
"I'm not even a fighter!" He gazes at the grassy terrain, then at the unsettling creatures—back at the terrain, and then his sword. The world feels like it's rolling. "I'm an office worker, for God's sake!"
The first Veilborn lunges up the hill incredibly fast, reaching him before he can think.
Out of fear, he swings the sword one-handed, like a fly swatter. The abomination easily ducks under his clumsy swing, and its claws rake across his left thigh. Fire surges through his leg as the fabric tears and blood soaks his suit.
"SHIT!" He stumbles back, almost dropping his sword and clenching his thigh with one hand.
[Adrian! DON'T panic! Two-hand grip! TWO-HAND GRIP!ヽ（≧□≦）ノ]
'Two hands. Right', he thinks, taking a deep breath—already somewhat winded.
He adjusts both of his hands on the hilt, and goes for another swing. The blade turns mid-air onto its flat, and the Veilborn pounces at him at the same time.
Its side collides into hard steel as it gets flung into the dirt and temporarily stunned.
Two more approach, jaws agape, hungry for his flesh.
However—
Two silver, shining swords block the two beasts, the blades sliding into their slobbering maws with a sickening screech as it runs across their fangs.
'I'm saved!' Adrian thought, his grip loosening on his sword. He turns his head left, then right, noticing two people: Mira, and someone unknown to him.
They attempt to fully slice through the creatures neck from the inside of the jaw, but their blades are stuck.
Both Veilborn had caught their blades in-between their fangs, and with an effortless crunch, the swords shatter to the ground like twigs. Despair floods in quickly, for all of them.
"...Screw this!" Adrian drops the sword, limping toward the tower as if it will save him. Unfortunately, he trips and slams backwards into the cold hard spire, sliding down and against the obsidian wall.
The wind escapes his lungs, his world becoming narrowed. His vision is a mess of blurs, everything distant but close at the same time. The screams of the unknown villager and Mira fade into nothing but white noise.
It's too much.
The twisted wolves finish up their assault on the other two villagers, and they turn towards him.
'I guess...this is the end...' He chuckles as one Veilborn approaches, its deep crimson eyes fixated on his bloody leg. His legs kick and flail, but to no avail.
The beast lunges at him, and something truly strange happens.
[Quest Override...100% Skill unlocked! (￣_,￣ )]
[Beginner's Instinct]
[Determination drives you to your core, just like a special someone. It's the foundation for your everything.]
The world slows for Adrian, and he can see the beast's jaw open slowly, as if he was watching a singular frame animation.
His body rolls to the left, unbidden, just as the creature's maw slams into the obsidian where his head was. He sprints to the sword with a robotic control over his body, and his muscles move with a fluid grace as he finds the hilt and he raises the sword in a perfect arc, catching the other wolf as it jumps at him with pure bloodlust.
Dark, black blood sprays across the grass.
But, right after, the feeling is gone. Just like that. The world registers as normal once more, and he's back to being an office worker in a torn suit with a bloody sword.
He fumbles and hits the ground, but something invigorating flows within him. Some sort of power after that skill has refreshed him, and he lifts off the ground with the sword.
He can't even feel the injury running down his leg. He grips the sword, and prepares as the first Veilborn that was stunned finally shakes it off, ready for its revenge.
It dashes toward him, going for a chunk out of his thigh.
He chops the sword downward, slicing right through its head and slamming it into the ground with a loud thud. 'I...I did it! Yes!'
Not for long. The last creature shakes its head as it recovers from the pain of the tower, blood covering its face.
'Damn it!' He smirks bitterly, admiring the irony, and lifts the blade—it may as well have been made of tungsten. He heavily sighs, and lines up like Gath had shown him, his knees so far tucked in they threaten to buckle.
The blighted monster pounces forward with a claw, threatening to rake his chest open, jaws wide.
He slashes, hoping to catch it by the neck.
Unfortunately, it ducks under and catches his right thigh in its fangs, sinking into its treasure. A bloodcurdling scream escapes from his body as foreign objects pierce his legs, holding on like fish hooks.
He swears loudly as he wildly chops the sword at it's behind, yet it doesn't yield. The beast yanks and yanks, his skin giving way more and more. He falls down, dropping his sword as all he can do is scream.
The beasts pressure in his leg finally weakens as a clean slice to its nape severs it from the rest of the body. He blinks as the fangs in his leg still.
He turns his head to see a man in his prime next to him with their blade buried in the dirt where the beast stood. The man smirks at Adrian as he notices the stare.
"Well hello there friend! My name is Hendrix Checkends. Yours?" He outstretches a hand toward Adrian's sweat-drenched, freshly bloodied body.
He exhales a quick 'tsk!' as he notices the creature's head is still clamped on his leg. "Ah...it's Adrian, sir. Adrian Caldwells." He grips Hendrix's hand, cursing as he lifts up, really feeling the fire of his injuries.
He looks at Hendrix with a weakened smile, and then turns towards Mira and the unknown villagers body, the shock of the situation finally taking him.
He falls back to the ground on his hands and knees, and in a matter of seconds all he can smell and taste is vomit. He shudders and goes a second round, viscerally sobbing.
"Oh god—did they die trying to save me?" He slams the ground with his hands, biting his lip.
"No...no they didn't die—not yet. Look closely." He points at their limp bodies.
'I'll be damned'. He shifts his sickened gaze at both of the individuals chests faintly rising and lowering, their eyes flickering with life.
He wipes his face, and picks himself up. Even though the blood and bile is wiped from his face, his hands continue to shake and tremor. The creature's head vanishes from his leg, ash by ash, and the wound is closed up.
He can still feel some sort of phantom pain as he stumbles to Mira's body, picking up her legs. Hendrix understands the assignment and picks up her arms, but the system blasts in front of Adrian's face again, making him drop Mira's legs in shock.
[WARNING! ANOTHER VEILBORN WAVE!]
[ADRIAN! DO SOMETHING! (Pssst I healed your leg, it was life threatening! (^◕.◕^))]
"Do WHAT?!" He slaps his face and turns around.
'Damn. There really is another wave.'
At first it looks just like the same wave he fought, three wolves. But as they come further and further across the plains, their numbers keep increasing. At first, three. Then six. Then eleven. Finally, it reaches a devastating fifteen. He glances around him, and notices the Veilborn's bodies disappearing around him.
He gazes back down the hill, fifteen pairs of crimson pupils ready for his blood.