Chương 8: (8) B1 C8: Temptation

Over the last two weeks, I'd been exploring the forest directly surrounding my cave in a counter-clock wise fashion. On night one, I cleared out the northern area, then went slightly west on night two, so by night nine, I was already searching through the woods located to the east of my cave. The forest didn't change much between the various areas, other than a slight rise in elevation toward the west, and was filled with the same type of prey regardless of where I went.

Night nine began peacefully, with a pleasant stroll through the woods that eventually turned into a fruitless first few hours. Even after I'd walked a few miles from my cave, I saw no sign of nearby prey. There were no hounds, squirrels, or even any rabbits, nor were there the droppings belonging to the animals I was hoping to find. A part of me was almost tempted to turn around and head back toward the cave.

Perhaps I'd get lucky on the way back, but the mere possibility of missing out on something in front of me motivated me to continue moving forward. Once the forest began to dip back toward the earth, any thought of turning back disappeared when the sound of a distant explosion echoed through the woods. I turned my gaze, my entire body freezing in an instant as my eyes widened in alarm. The explosion had been loud enough to reach me, even though I stood miles from the source.

The remnants of the carnage poked out from above the horizon, painting the surroundings in a dark orange hue. Whatever had exploded had done so loudly, as a flock of birds I hadn't seen until now rushed into the air with panicked flaps of their wings.

"Holy shit," I whispered, brow raised in shock. I knew it wasn't a good idea to approach the explosion, as I had no idea what'd be waiting for me there, but my feet were already moving before I had half a mind to stop myself. As I ran through the forest, the ground and forest around me turning into a blur, I abandoned all attempts at stealth. My high Thirst attribute allowed me to run faster than I could've before, considering it was my replacement for Agility.

The difference between my initial Thirst value of 10 and 150, my current total, might as well have been the difference between night and day, although it was important to note that I wasn't necessarily turning into a speedster. My feet slammed into the forest, kicking up dirt and twigs alike as I ran toward my destination. The explosion must've been a few miles away from me, based on how far away it sounded, and I used that distance as an opportunity to truly test myself.

As I pushed my body through the forest, I jumped across puddles and over roots, bounded across entire ditches and ignored hazards such as bushes and fallen trees. Ever since I'd awoken, only a week and a half ago, I'd never had the opportunity to truly test my limits. Sure, I'd fought hounds and other such animals, usually in a way that allowed me to kill them in a single hit, but every fight had been too easy.

I was already relying too much on the low intelligence of my opponents and the lethality of my attacks, and I felt that continuing as I was would only do more harm than good. The forest around me was nothing but colors and motion, now. Minutes passed as I ran through the forest. The occasional rabbit and fox, few of which I would've hunted only days ago, bolted from me as I ran past them. They were appearing everywhere now, yet I ignored each of them, my goal still focused on the explosion a mile or so ahead of me.

I'd never faced a true challenge. The reward I'd received after every hunt—that being the brief few moments where I tasted scarlet victory—was beginning to feel undeserved. It was feeling too… simple. It was too easy. I cheered as I leapt over a ravine, laughing and gasping in shock as I did so. Then, as I landed back upon the earth, I looked up and found my destination. Before me was the river I'd seen on my first day, only miles south of the waterfall.

Built on the beach was a small dock: two piers just long and wide enough to comfortably fit a small sailing ship between them, with three buildings located behind the dock. Each building was larger than the previous, with the biggest built parallel to the river. As it was now, the dock and the buildings near it were in total chaos.

A large explosion had erupted near the docks, as the piers had been blown to smithereens, with what remained was left to either be dumped into the river or scattered in burning pieces on the beach. The two buildings nearest the docks were simply gone—only the foundation remaining—as their structures were nothing more than chunks of burning wood chaotically spread throughout the vicinity.

The largest building hadn't come out of the explosion unscathed, though, as half of it was burning down even as people tried to put out the flames. Luckily, a large majority of the nearby forest had been cleared away, so only the dock and the nearby buildings were damaged by the accident. When I looked closer, I found several dozen figures running around the dock in a panic. Some were carrying buckets of water, while others were rounding up other figures and gathering them in a group away from the fires.

"Slavers," I realized as I looked closer at the second group. Those that weren't dealing with the fires were busy rounding up a group of about ten slaves. Each slave wore a similar set of rags as the three women I'd seen a week ago, and though some were injured, by some miracle none of them were dead. The slavers, of course, did not fare well in comparison. Even from a hundred yards away, I found dozens of burning corpses and living slavers too injured to move.

They were surrounded by burning debris in every direction, which only made the situation more chaotic. Then, before anybody could react, a second explosion erupted from the opposite side of the docks. The last remaining building tore apart, the roof and support columns alike lifting into the air as a plume of fire rocketed toward the atmosphere. A few of the remaining slavers were disintegrated while some were thrown away by the force of the explosion.

The rest began to yell in fear even as more debris landed around them. Again, not a single slave was killed. Before the remaining slavers could begin to put out the new fires, the peculiar sound of smaller explosions began to echo around the docks. Each one spread through the air with a pop as the slavers began to drop, each falling to the earth one by one. Some turned to the forest, though they were the next to fall.

Then, a plume of fire, almost like a moving snake of flame, shot out from the forest across the river. It wriggled forward, rushing through the air with the finesse of a sailing arrow, before striking one of the slavers in the chest. He was pushed onto the ground as a second snake moved from the forest to his location.

The slaver tried to lift himself to his feet, but the attacking snake exploded into hundreds of little sparks, each of them soon exploding with the force of miniature bombs as they tore his body apart. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Holy shit," I mumbled quietly. I silently watched as the crowd of slavers began to drop like flies. Over the following few minutes, they were systematically eliminated. When one would drop, two would follow, and absolutely none of them were able to do a thing about it. Once the dock was clear and silent, save for the burning wreckage remaining, the attacking party finally revealed themselves.

They stepped out from the treeline across the river, and though they were too far away for me to get a good look at them, I knew exactly who they were.

"Elves," I mumbled to myself. In FFO, the available races were slightly different from the usual stereotypes seen in popular fantasy media. Unlike their usual counterparts, the elves in FFO didn't care about being fancy or proper. They didn't have stylish blonde hair and soft green eyes, but rather wild brown hair and flaming orange eyes. They were loud, boisterous, and brave.

Players who liked to play the game for the sake of combat usually chose to play as an elf, as they loved innovation, progress, and most importantly: guns. The long barrel-shaped instruments hanging from their backs confirmed as much. It was, of course, only a coincidence that most of the elven playerbase happened to be American. It took them a few minutes to cross the river, thanks to their lack of water vehicles, but they eventually arrived on the other side with a group of thirty strong.

Each of them wore dark clothing to blend in well with their surroundings, which must've explained how they'd managed to approach close enough so that they'd be able to attack the slavers without being spotted, but the glowing carnage surrounding them allowed me to watch as they spread around the docks. The largest group, a gathering of seven, quickly moved to the group of slaves. When they met up with each other, one of the slaves confidently stepped forward.

The two groups exchanged a few words, though I couldn't tell exactly what was said due to how far away I was hiding. Then, the slave who'd stepped forward joined the group of elves to take one of the packs. Then, to my surprise, the remaining elves lifted their weapons to the remaining slaves. With one loud pop, the remaining slaves dropped to the ground, each of them killed before I could even react.

As they did so, the other elves not among the group of seven began to flood through the camp, each of them carrying a torch as they set everything they could find on fire. It didn't matter what they found—wood, thatch, or flesh—they set it ablaze regardless. Only the slave corpses they'd killed were left alone. Once the blaze had spread to just about everywhere, the elves quickly left the dock, each of them surrounding the last remaining slave in a defensive formation. Two minutes later, they were gone.

Only after I knew they wouldn't be coming back did I finally emerge from my hiding place. I slowly approached the docks, my eyes wary for anybody who'd maybe survived the attack, as I slowly moved closer to the center of the carnage. Now that I was getting up close, the true horror of what I was seeing became apparent to me. There was nothing left. It was as if the buildings had been removed from existence entirely.

I watched as another support column, one of the very few left on the big building, fell upon the ground with a loud groan. I turned my gaze to the bodies, each of them torn apart by shrapnel, stray bullets, and the surrounding blaze until their bodies were nothing but bloody wrecks that looked nothing like their true selves. I felt my tongue become wet with desire as my fangs grew out from my teeth, poking at my lips as if begging to be unleashed. The smell was intoxicating.

My mind felt light and my body felt heavy. I quickly coughed and covered my nose to block the smell, but the temptation was already there. Blood. There was so much of it. The smell of it was everywhere and so much more tempting than the smell of animal blood. Not even a thousand rabbits could compare to what I was sensing now. I looked down at the corpse of a young man. He was one of the slaves—the ragged attire covering his chest confirmed as much—and thus was one of the few corpses not turned to cinder around me.

His chest had been blown apart by one of the elven bullets, revealing the gore waiting within. I shouldn't. I really, really, shouldn't. I crouched down, my other hand hovering just inches from the corpse's open wound. My hand froze, shaking, as part of my mind held my body back. Holy shit, he smelled good. This was a person. Sure, they were already dead, but that didn't change the fact that this was a whole person. They weren't an animal, nor were they an NPC.

They had once had a family, dreams for their future, and fears of their own. This wasn't right. I shouldn't, but I really wanted to. What if I just went for a small taste? Just a tiny little bit of blood—not even a sip. There was no harm in it. I slowly dipped my fingers into the wound, only toward the rim where his flesh met with the open air, before pulling my hand away to reveal a small coating of crimson covering my fingers.

My nails, having changed from black to silver since I'd moved on from my Monstrous complexion, were dripping with vitality. Just a small taste. I brought my hand closer to my mouth as my tongue slowly lifted toward the blood on my claws. I hesitated, but only for a moment, before I slowly dipped my hand through the space between my teeth. When my fingers brushed against the roof of my tongue, I felt my mind become blank with shock. I had never tasted anything more divine.

The blood coating my hands was light, rich, heavy, and smooth all at once. It settled in my mouth, almost like tender meat, and gave me a sense of fulfilment that not even a full feast could've given me before my arrival on this world. It was both magical and impossible, far more so than what I'd tasted from the rabbits and wolves over the last week. If those animals were as good as a meal from a friendly family diner, this taste belonged to what I'd assumed might come from a life-changing world-class restaurant.

The taste took over my whole world, clouding my thoughts with euphoria and ecstasy as the desire for more flooded my mind. I didn't care what the taste came from—I needed more. I looked back upon the corpse, hesitation completely eradicated from my mind, and felt the warm welcome of my fangs sprouting even further from my mouth. I charged forward, my fangs tearing into the corpse's neck in the same manner as a lawless beast tearing into its prey.

My fangs carved into the boy's skin until his throat was nothing more than wrapping paper, both in the way I treated it and the way it made me excited to see it removed. As the boy's neck was ripped apart, revealing a large bleeding artery just near where I'd made my cut, I felt a smile grow upon my face. I dove toward the corpse once more and began to drink. My fangs latched onto his neck like anchors of a ship as his blood began to seep into me.

I began to ignore everything around me as only the sensation of my feast took over my mind. I didn't care about anything else. Not the other corpses, the continuous smell of blood, or even the growing fires around me. The minutes passed by in a blur of ravenous satisfaction as I feasted upon the corpse before me. Only when he was dry did I let my grip upon his neck become weak. The meat and bones still remained, but I had no interest in them.

I dropped his remains back to the earth, my mind now blurry from the euphoria coursing through my veins, as I stood back up. My legs wobbled and my balance nearly threatened to push me back to the ground, but the smile upon my face had never been more honest. I had been a fool to hesitate.