Sworded Affair

Chapter 4: The Wolf Among Us

In contrast to the previous detour, two more hours of walking along the winding suburban roads produced no more surprises. Emma encountered no people along the way; nor any bears for that matter, only small creatures far more common to the local area.

“Why don’t they have levels?” Emma asked, turning the hedgehog over in her hand as she ignored its struggling; its quills utterly unable to penetrate her steel gauntlet.

[I could show all non-threats as Level 0, but do you really want to see ‘Rat - Level 0’ everywhere you go?]

“Never mind,” Emma chuckled, recalling that the man in the cabin hadn’t warranted a level either, placing him on a similar tier as the hypothetical rat. “You’re perfect just as you are.”

[Flattery will get you everywhere, my dear.]

Setting the hedgehog down and watching briefly as it scurried away into the undergrowth, Emma returned her attention to the road ahead. Another ten minutes or so later, and she was starting to hear the noise of civilization once more, growing gradually louder with every step she took. Eventually and inevitably, she exited the forest’s protective canopy and arrived at her destination. The good news? The houses here were mostly standing, and plenty of people were visible even at a glance. The bad news was that a horde of Demons were doing their level best to change the latter.

Furthermore, whilst Emma had never attended Brick Lane Academy and only visited a few times when the family went to watch her brother’s games, she was reasonably sure the Academy didn’t used to hover a hundred feet in the air in the middle of town: gardens and walls included and all bathed in a soft golden glow. The yellow brick roads descending to ground level, from which a horde of Wolf Demons emerged to hunt human prey? That was new too.

[Dungeon discovered! Academia Mortalis]

An agonized scream brought Emma’s attention back to the ground: where she witnessed a man wielding a meat cleaver topple over, a Demon’s jaws clenched tight around his knee whilst another got him around the neck, silencing him once and for all. Similar scenes were repeated everywhere she looked, as people with improvised weaponry tried and mostly failed against creatures born for battle. Some had a measure of success, most notably a trio of what she assumed were off duty soldiers, moving as a unit whilst mowing down demons with precise bursts of fire. Even then, it barely made a difference; turning back to the Dungeon, Emma saw another pack of Demons spawn at the top of the road, ready to join the hunt.

Maybe I could turn the tide?

The thought briefly crossed Emma’s mind before she discarded it. She was only one person despite her newfound strength, any contribution she made wouldn’t change the bigger picture, not whilst an endless tide of Demons could spawn. Victory was only possible if she stopped the demons at the source; that meant defeating the Dungeon.

[Quest obtained!

When In Rome

Objective: Defeat Academia Mortalis

Reward: First Hint (The Apocalypse)]

Her decision made and seemingly validated by the System, Emma set a straight course towards the Dungeon, ignoring the chaos playing out all around her. With the element of surprise on her side, Emma managed to make it just over a fifth of the way there before the first Demons noticed her presence. A trio of Wolf Demons approached, each equidistant as they slowly encircled her.

[Wolf Demon - Level 1]

Not bothering to play their games, Emma headed straight ahead, daring them to make the first move. The one that took the first lunge received Epitaph down the throat for its trouble; with Emma breaking into a sprint and dragging the Demon along for the ride, effectively acting as her blade’s sheath as she raced ahead of her pursuers.

Emma didn’t escape completely unscathed, as glancing swipes from behind left rents and tears in her back glowing with baleful black fire: but with her captive Demon feeding her a steady stream of Anima thanks to the Arcanivore trait, these injuries shrank by the second and soon faded into nothing. Halfway towards the Dungeon, her captive finally expired, its corpse vanishing after being drained to the last drop.

[20 EXP gained]

Emma abruptly spun in place, catching one pursuer by surprise with a horizontal slash that cut it square in half.

[20 EXP gained]

The final Wolf Demon clamped its jaws around her left forearm, tearing it away with a twist of the head.

[-30 Anima]

Emma’s first retaliatory stab went wide as the missing weight of her forearm threw her off. The second took the Demon in the eye whilst it was busy swallowing her forearm, an echo of her first taste of battle in the basement not long ago. That said, the Wolf Demons were proving far less durable compared to the Parasite variant, though they boasted greater offensive prowess in return with their unnaturally sharp claws, so it only took a few twists of her wrist to bring the battle to an end.

[20 EXP gained]

Turning back towards the Dungeon, Emma resumed her steady advance whilst her forearm regenerated from the fresh glut of Anima, staying alert all the while for more enemies approaching. Surprisingly, whilst many more Wolves descended, some passing quite close by her position; none paid her any heed, preferring to charge headlong towards the townsfolk.

“Going after easier prey?” Emma wondered aloud, her guard relaxing slightly as she made it to the foot of the yellow brick road without further issue.

Another wave of Wolf Demons spawned; like all the others, they parted around her in their descent, leaving her to climb along the middle of the road unimpeded. Far more unusual was the Centurion who greeted her at the Dungeon’s gate, looking like he’d stepped straight out of a Roman period drama.

[Gate Guardian - Level 1]

“Welcome, brave aspirant!” He bellowed before Emma could get a word in. “Your bravery has been witnessed; threefold acts of valor affirmed. The trials await you, should you wish to prove your worth before the Imperator!”

“Threefold acts of valor?” Emma echoed, turning back to the scene below in lieu of replying.

Now that she had a hint as to what to look for, Emma could see a pattern playing out amidst the chaos. Most of those below were being actively targeted; most, but not all. None approached the trio of soldiers, leaving them free to shoot despite there being more than enough Demons around to overwhelm them all in a coordinated charge. Similarly, a man wielding a crossbow fired from a hilltop entirely unmolested, while a woman sat under the cover of a tree, pouring gasoline into a portable chainsaw. The latter in particular was watched by a Demon the entire time, but only when she revved up the blade and charged back into the fray herself was battle rejoined.

“You’re only targeting those who’ve yet to slay three wolves?” Emma asked the Centurion for confirmation. “Why?”

“Purge the unworthy and welcome the brave. Thus do I direct the legions of Romulus. Thus declared Imperator Felix Knight, may his reign endure forever!”

Emma hadn’t felt any pain since the moment of her rebirth; but hearing her brother’s name in that context, she couldn’t help but rub her head amidst the phantom sensation of a budding headache.

“Of course. In all the madness, it somehow slipped my mind that he's right in the middle of his Roman history phase. Wonderful.”

[Blood Borne

Objective completed: Find your Brother [X]

When In Rome

Bonus Objective added: Deal with Imperator Felix Knight

Reward: ???]