Chương 4: Initiation (4)

Scrambling away from the treeline, Rowan kept his eyes peeled for the source of the roar. All around him, others did the same, backing off and staring intently into the forest. All except for one woman, still curled on the ground. Of course, there had been others like her, but even they had gotten to their feet after hearing the roar. For a moment, he was tempted to run out and grab her. To drag her back to safety. Those thoughts died the instant Rowan saw the… thing that stepped out of the woods.

He didn't know how to describe the horror that was marching towards him. Its body reminded him of a lion, but that was about as much as he could recognize. Writhing tentacles protruded from its back, the same obsidian black as its gaping maw. He cringed the moment he laid eyes on the creature's mouth. It was disgusting. With its layered, circular shape, it was more akin to a flower than anything else. Rows of teeth circled the monstrosity's maw, glimmering menacingly.

[Lesser Chimera - Level 9] Rowan, still retreating from the beast, nearly stumbled in alarm as the screen appeared. Given the game-ness of the System, it made sense that things like this would appear, but that didn't make him any less surprised. A Lesser chimera. The name didn't mean anything to him, but its level certainly did. If he was only level 1, did that mean the beast was nine times stronger than him? He shook his head. He couldn't jump to conclusions; he had no idea what the levels even meant.

The chimera continued its advance as he observed it. It was odd. The creature seemed painfully slow. It was the size of a small car, and yet, it was moving at a crawl. The monstrosity raised its head and let out a roar. Rowan felt himself shiver as he watched its disgusting mouth vibrate from the noise, spraying spittle onto the grass. Then, the chimera was gone. There was a blur of motion, and then the beast was standing before the woman who was still curled up on the ground.

Rowan watched in horror as, beneath the chimera's feet, her body split in two. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he looked around at the others. Instinctively, he expected most of them to at least be panicking a little. Rowan could feel a slight tremble in his hands as his heart thundered. But when he searched the faces of the others on the cliff, he found nothing. Sure, some people were visibly panicking, and he could even see a man emptying his stomach into the grass, but the majority showed no such signs.

About a third of the people wore blank expressions, not letting any emotions slip. Either they really felt nothing, or they were hiding their feelings and doing it well. But Rowan mostly ignored these. What truly terrified him were the expressions on the faces of so many others. They looked excited, as if they were barely restraining themselves from charging at the beast. Admittedly, even after the sudden attack, Rowan still harbored a bit of excitement himself.

But it had waned as he'd watched the chimera cleave the woman in half in an instant. But for the others, it seemed like the violence had only increased their anticipation. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. He was pulled out of his thoughts as the creature advanced once more. Several people around him began pulling out knives, with one woman even drawing a pistol. Rowan let out a hiss of frustration.

Most of the others had something, whether it be an actual weapon or just a chunk of metal, but he had no such luck. With so many weapons present, it was a wonder nobody had died before the chimera had even arrived. At least, nobody in the small area that he was in. The cliff he'd appeared on only had about a hundred other people on it. For a while, no one made a move, but the stalemate wasn't meant to last. The beast darted forward, and all hell broke loose.

Most people ran, but not all of them ran away from the Chimera. As he fled, he glanced over his shoulder just in time to see the creature's claws gouging into one man as its tentacles choked another. Gunshots rang out, and before he turned his head away, Rowan saw a spurt of blood spray from the beast's side. Rowan let out a cry of alarm as someone crashed into him, sending him crashing to the floor. Before he could get up, his vision flashed white as a boot struck the back of his head.

Dazed, he braced himself for more, but nothing came. As the footsteps faded into the distance, he relaxed slightly. If there'd been more people on the cliff, he feared he might've been trampled.

"Shit," He cursed, forcing himself upright. Even the smallest of movements made it seem like the world was spinning. Rowan gritted his teeth and forced himself to his feet. He could stand, if barely. At least his vision was fine. He'd been worried the strike to his head might've temporarily blinded him. Blinking, he took in his surroundings. A surprising amount had changed in the brief time he'd been on the ground. Where there had been dozens of people before, there were only four left.

The rest had either fled or—Rowan glanced at the bodies littering the ground—died. While Rowan was still by the edge of the cliff, the other four survivors were closer to the forest. But, in between them and their only escape stood the Lesser Chimera, battered and bloodied. It slowly moved toward them, forcing them away from the forest and towards Rowan. As the four approached, he got a better look at them. Three men and one woman. He recognized Hannah, but the other three were a mystery.

The beast kept pushing them back until they were forced to stop by the sheer cliff. He shivered at the sight of the Chimera's maw just a dozen feet from him, its teeth stained red with blood. Together, the five of them faced the beast, but Rowan knew it was an exercise in futility. Hannah and one of the other men had blades, but the creature had taken bullets and survived. As they stared down the Chimera, Hannah approached him. Rowan did his best to ignore his throbbing head as he turned to face her.

He tensed slightly as she reached into a pocket and pulled out a switchblade. It looked cheap and somewhat rusty, different from the blade she was already holding in her hand. He turned to face her, doing his best to ready himself for an attack. Then, she handed the blade to him. He muttered a quick thanks and turned his attention back towards the encroaching monstrosity. But before he could do anything more, he heard a whisper in his ear.

"Sorry, Rowan. But I want to survive this." Rowan let out a grunt as he was kicked in the back. Then, he crashed to the floor, forced to watch as Hannah and the other men fled from the Chimera. Most of them made it. But one man passed too close to the beast and, before he could even react, had his neck unceremoniously sliced open. Rowan scrambled to his feet, stumbling as a wave of vertigo washed over him. Realizing he still had the knife Hannah had given him, he deployed the blade.

But it was shattered, half of it already missing. All that remained was an inch of dull steel. Internally cursing the woman, he backed further away from the Chimera, drawing ever closer to the edge. If he survived this, he would find her. And he would… Rowan didn't know what he would do. But that didn't matter. He couldn't retreat any further. He looked down at the strange, shimmering lake at the base of the cliff. Then, he looked back at the Chimera.

Letting out one final curse, Rowan flipped the beast off and leaped off the cliff.