When Clouds Rain Red

The screen appeared. It was bright, vibrant, and in the fucking way as always. Harper wished it wasn't as annoyingly view-obscuring.

[Quixroth System]

Name: UnNamed

Titles: Killer (Increased mental fortitude against taking lives, increases overall physical strength by 32%.), Transmigrator (Grants the other worlder a unique skill. Skill granted: Walking Tomb.), Ruthless (Every kill increases physical strength by 3.6% within a short time frame.), Poacher (Killing animal-like creatures satiates hunger equivalent to the creature's size.).

Skills: Walking Tomb (Passive- The other worlder is cursed never to remain dead. With each death, the other worlder will return 5 minutes prior to their death.), Killer's Wrath (Active- 33% physical strength increase, 29% physical speed increase. Time- 5 minutes.), Genocide (Active- 112% physical strength increase, 97% physical speed increase.), Man Hunter (Passive- Physical damage to human and demon creatures is increased by 5%.), Physical Damage Resistance (Passive- Physical damage is reduced by 82%.), Blunt Damage Resistance (Passive- Blunt physical damage is reduced by 73%.), Thrusting Damage Resistance (Passive- Thrusting physical damage is reduced by 70%.), Air Magic Resistance (Passive- Air magic damage is reduced by 59%.), Impact Resistance (Passive- Impacts are reduced by 64%.), Pain Resistance (Passive- Pain is reduced by 31%).

Magic: (Poison)

Stage I Poison Magic

Abilities:

Health- 95.88% (16.3/17)

Strength- 941.75% (105.48)

Speed- 197% (19.7)

Mana- 100% (15/15)

Harper didn't have to look long; he just wanted to see what his current stats were, and damn were they quite high. The strength boosts appeared to stack rather than add together, increasing his overall strength by leaps and bounds.

Spinning on the ball of his foot, Harper threw a punch into a nearby tree. His gauntlet rattled as the sky-blue bark cascaded into the wood beneath, blowing out the other side. A gaping hole was left in the tree, and sap and water quickly began dripping into the new hole.

Cra-ck

The tree couldn't handle its own weight, bearing down on the two small supports that were the remainder of its base. The trunk, with a second large crack, began to tip. As it passed the center of gravity, it crashed into a nearby tree, bouncing off and catching an unsuspecting harescourge off guard.

Seven harescourge dropped down to six.

Harper felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. The killer turned and slashed as an Air Shot came into contact with his sword. The blast of air shook the blade in his hand, and his arm tensed as the ball of condensed air burst. The pressure pushed him back half a step, the weapon refusing to quit resonating in his hand.

Thump

Released from his hand in a chucking motion, a demented wail escaped the landing harescourge. It fell, dead, with his sword now laid askew on the ground, out of reach. While the tool made exterminating the vepis easier, it wasn't necessarily required. Harper had more overall unarmed kills, though most of the currently deceased harescrouge were slain with his cobaltine blade.

With five remaining, it was eerily quiet. He couldn't hear them jumping around in the trees any longer. Gaze trailing up, Harper swallowed hard.

Above him, staring down as if curiously observing a neat insect, a gargantuan creature hugged a tree. Golden, silver-speckled, beady eyes stared at him, not even registering him as a threat.

This thing was a rank three vepis?

Harper fell, his breath escaping him as the creature remained still, just staring at him. Those two to three minutes of still-stricken terror passed like hours, not a single wisp of air entering or leaving Harper's lungs.

Its mere presence seemed to freeze the air. Not even bugs went towards this forest's apex predator. The size made bears on Earth look like wolves, with legs more powerful than industrial pistons and an overwhelmingly sharp, speared tail that sliced even the air.

Every milligram of this creature was made to kill.

Harper could feel his lungs begin to beg for air, his brain trying to deal with the dwindling oxygen in his state of despair.

Then it moved, Harper, freezing even more if possible as if any movement would incite the creature into striking him down as Harper had done with so many of the harescourge he had previously slaughtered. His heart raced, pounding against his ribs.

It slowly turned around, climbing up the tree's sky-blue bark, hiding its massive frame in the cyan leaves above.

Harper didn't move for another few moments, only breaking his frozen state when he could no longer deny himself the ability to breathe.

Dropping onto his back, heaving for air, his lungs overextending themselves for precious oxygen after that experience. His body was cold, shivering.

I think I'm done for today... I've already hunted more than I need.

Several minutes passed before the otherer finally had the strength to stand again. His body wouldn't stop shaking as he began to tie the dead harescourge together with a thick, durable twine he received from the receptionist. There was a lot, the amount intended to be used to wrap up a couple of vepis multiple times to ensure they wouldn't escape the binding. With what Harper had been provided, he could only tie the legs of the harescourge together, and even then, he had to lay some on top of others as the length was lacking.

It was a long, slow, and careful trek back to Bretchsong. The entire stringing and returning process took a painstakingly long two hours.

A new guard manned the station at the gate where he had died yesterday. The guard just stared at him dumbfounded. Harper wasn't stopped as he walked through the guard, stumbling back and trying not to get dragged along with the army of corpses.

Harper was too drained to pay attention to the guard's reaction, continuing his march till arriving at the guild house. Balling his fist, he slammed on the doors, waiting with a half-dead face for someone to open the doors for him.

His knock was answered by a pale merchant, eyes widening at the haul. Quickly, they opened the second door, turning around.

"An adventurer has arrived with a large harvest of harescourge; everyone, clear a path for him to get through." Gathering the attention of the scattered adventurers, they looked upon Harper in amazement.

"Hey, Bravo!" Harper's head slowly rose to meet the voice to be greeted by Nemmy. "That's a hell of a score. Need help bringing it up front?" She asked, slapping his back heartily.

"Hey, Lilly!" said the receptionist, who was already looking on in astonishment, some of the color draining from her face. Look at the new guy's catch. He's a natural." Nemmy beamed, throwing her shoulder around Harper's neck and digging the unfocused individual into her side.

Far too physical, just like the last time.

"Yeah-"

"Most new otherers almost always die when trying to kill harescourge, right?" She blurted, the receptionist's face paling further.

Lilly was already expecting Bravo to die in the forest. (Funnily enough, to her expectations, Harper had died plenty of times.)

She thought that even if he did survive, Bravo would return by the skin of his teeth, having caught at most two. No, the murderous bastard had massacred them, coming back exhausted but not injured in the slightest. Her plan... Her and Walt's plan had fallen through.

Finding another way to kill him wouldn't be hard, but the issue comes down to Bravo realizing that they are trying to get him killed on a quest. Lilly kept herself from biting her nails, keeping her face neutral and excited.

Replying to Nemmy sub-consciously, Lilly thought about potentially setting up a chance encounter between Bravo and Riley. He was far too paranoid after having kids with his wife, doing damn near anything to ensure their safety. Without a doubt, Riley would kill someone like Bravo if he was given any reason.

A newcomer and otherer with murderous eyes and the ability to hunt tens of harescourge as their first quest was far more than enough to warrant his culling of the irregularity. She could get Walt to initiate it; he was better at scheming than her, anyway.

"What the hell is all the ruckus?" Speak of the demon, Lilly looked over at Walt, who was trying to mind his own business at the bar. Additionally, she wasn't sure how she missed how loud it had gotten. There were even more adventurers than there had been before.

Lilly eyed him and then Bravo, who had come in with a large number of dead harescourge. Walt followed her gaze, dropping his mug. The mug hit the bar stand, spilling draft as it clattered to the floor.

Walt stood, walking over to Lilly, stressfully running his hand through his hair. "By Reius, how did he manage that?"

Lilly didn't have an answer for that.

"How many do you think he killed? I know it is more than most can hunt below level forty, and even then, it's in a pair or a party." Walt fell onto the support beam connected to Lilly's desk, huffing.

Still lost for words, the receptionist just nodded to her benefactor.

Silence passed over them, lasting a little over a minute as they watched adventurers and merchants hounded Bravo. They would deal with him when the vultures were done.

"Sixty-three, sixty-four, sixty-five, sixty-six, sixty-seven," Walt wiped his face with his hand, trying to wrap his mind around how an otherer new to this world managed to pull off such a feat. Even he couldn't do this till he hit level twenty, and he was a special case.

Lilly, to his side, wasn't looking any better than before. The growth rate was absurdly high. Walt's mind sailed back to Rin, his blood running cold.

He might need to put his morals aside.