A strange sight left every witness speechless, making them doubt their own eyes. Right in front of them, a horde of monsters was currently trying to run away.
But these fierce monsters were not fleeing due to powerful magic, they were escaping from a group of players, which hunted them down full of passion.
This burning desire was emitted from every pore on their bodies. Their eyes were entirely focussed on the monsters ahead of them.
This deep state of concentration caused an eerie feeling in every onlooker. No one dared to interfere in their affairs as they kept watching from a safe distance.
This safety did not apply to these pitiful creatures, those were forced to endure the relentless pursuit from the players. Instead, they had no other choice than running for their lives. The consequences of them slowing were not pleasant, that much was easy to imagine.
Their appearance was pitiful and it almost caused them to feel pity about their misfortune. But since they were monsters, this thought was quickly forgotten and attention was paid to the circumstances that caused this situation in the first place.
What have these players done that these beings react in this way? These bitter and wild monsters are acting like that now? This event eluded their logic and they could only shake their heads in the face of such absurdity.
But the opinion of the outsiders was of little interest to the situation itself and it continued to unfold undisturbed right before their eyes. The swarm consisted of only 8 players, but their number seemed significantly larger for all those who observed them. This appearance was created by their behaviour coupled with their distinct aura and made the spectators shiver in the face of this spectacle.
Who were the players who could do something so absurd? That act was the most unlikely thing they had ever seen, and despite its almost impossible possibility, it happened at that moment.
Their horizons, whether they wanted it or not, were inevitably broadened. With this expansion came more and more questions that brought more doubts and confusion with them.
They were at the mercy of these circumstances and the only thing they could muster enough strength for was to open their eyes as far as they could to perceive everything as best as they could.
As silent spectators, they experienced an event that would happen even more frequently, but at that moment it was not the time to think about what would happen in the future. The present offered enough tinder for these poor souls, it is hard to imagine how they would have reacted if they knew that this event would not be a rarity in the distant future.
When it came as it had to, they experienced the terrible end of the creature that could not outrun its fate. The bloodthirsty players attacked it and one life came to an end under brute force.
The body covered in wounds was lifted without any regard and carried into the distance, where it will be seen for the last time. This body is carried by a single player who struts away blissfully with his prey under the envious gaze of his cronies.
Each of them wanted to be in his shoes, but their turn had yet to come. Unfortunately, the monsters found themselves facing these players who had just smelled blood. It didn't take long before a motivation was born out of their deep envy.
Before the monsters even had the chance to breathe, the hunt continued with an intensity almost bordering on madness. This fever forced every spectator to hold his breath and to completely rethink his assessment of the situation once more. Nobody would have thought it was possible that the already crazy situation could become even more intense.
However, they found themselves disproven once again by the reality they are currently witnessing. This day will be remembered for a long time to come, although no one would believe them since none of them thought of broadcasting this event. The stimulation was just too much and left every viewer unable to think for themselves. Their confused and baffled facial features were proof enough for the strong effect the situation had on them.
Though neither the monsters or the frenzied hunters had any time to pay attention to details like that, as their primary focus was entirely elsewhere. A battle concerning life and death was vastly more important than some minor details, of some characters that were bound to be forgotten.
This hunt had only stopped when a monster fell victim to the hunters and was resumed after a happy soul disappeared with its prey.
After a short time, one of the players had joined the group again, this time without monsters in his hand. The player seemed to be happy, but the greediness could be seen in his eyes as he resumed the hunt with zeal.
This pattern was repeated over and over again until they were satisfied with their yield. However, this case never seemed to occur as the numbers of monsters began to decrease.
This trend only came to an end when the herd of monsters no longer existed. The monsters that were bursting with life some time ago were mercilessly wiped out.
Only a glance into the eyes of the hunters was necessary to recognize that they were already looking for the next group to hunt. They were not content with the number of monsters they had hunted.
Under the gazes from the audience, these group of players ran past them without even sparing them a glance. Monster carcasses were the only object of their desire, and judging by their behaviour, they hadn't received nearly enough of them.
Their quest would continue and the rumours of a crazy group of players striking fear in the heart of every monster would only spread more with every successful hunt. Some would claim that these rumours are just a stupid con and that it would only serve as a way to get people on the wrong track.
With the vast amount of rumours circulating in the world of Primal Survival, it was no wonder that some people would make this assumption. When news like this are spread from mouth to mouth rumours will find themselves exaggerated and certain details will disappear.
Some might hear about the group of ferocious players, whose lust for blood was palpable and caused even the monsters to run in fear after encountering them. Others would learn about strange magic, that caused monsters to flee in terror just by being in its close vicinity.
Every player mixed their own explanation into the story causing the rumours to deviate more and more from what happened originally. Until the census had turned it into something, which was put down as yet another hoax.
Despite these rumours refusing to die, thanks to the actual sighting of this group of players, it was only a minority who actively believed in these rumour thanks to their own experience. But this small minority was very vocal about their theories and speculations.
Their wild theories tried to explain, what happened to the monster corpses and why they returned empty-handed to hunt for more flesh. Explanations ranged from a hidden event just waiting to be discovered to a cover-up from players trying to draw attention away from something.
Discussions like these only caused others to shake their head. They could not fathom how they could spend so much of their time on something so useless. It was nothing more than a wasted oppurturnity if they did not spend their time on something of use to them.
With the upcoming competition, people could not afford to idle when there was so much on the line for anyone participating. They would rather train or think about strategies, then following such a stupid rumour.
The ones responsible did not think much about what their acts would cause in others, as they just continued to do what they had been doing. Monsters after monsters they resumed hunting to satisfy the greed, that had clouded their minds. Killing these monsters did not alleviate this kind of state, it rather fueled it.
It was not hard to see, that these monsters were no more than a means to an end. The purpose of the deceased monsters had not been found, even after some players tried to secretly follow a player carrying a corpse. Sadly, this endeavour did not yield any results and all of their attempts ended in vain. Everything that they tried was to no avail. All the could do was stare, as the killing continued.
Although not one of the people involved seemed to care about the growing interest in their affairs. All they did was what they have been doing from the beginning. They were too preoccupied, to be concerned about something like this.
As long as no one interfered in their business, that is. Someone found out the hard way, as he placed himself in between the players and the monsters. He was taken care of in an instance and respawned promptly not knowing what exactly had happened to him.
From that point in time, some players decide to test these NPCs by sending their NPCs to stop them. But these experiments ended as soon as they had begun as these NPCs were not enough to stop them at all.
The instigators spectated the gruesome end of their slaves without much worry in their eyes, as they considered this to be a necessary sacrifice. Though they failed to realize, that although the players did not act against them it did not mean that they did not take notice of everyone who was currently wronging them.
They had drawn their ire, but it was only thanks to the enticement in front of their eyes, that they gritted their teeth and endured this kind of treatment for the time being. This behaviour was mistakenly interpreted as a sign of weakness and only lead to spectators to act a lot more brazen.
The 8 players found themselves confronted over and over again by NPCs standing in their ways and more and more frustrations began to pile up. They were quickly suppressed but even their patience started to run thin.
It was not them who actively sought to provoke them, the others were at fault going against them over and over again. Thoughts of revenge had started to appear in their others mind so earnest mind.
Even the greed, that had appeared in their eyes was born out of an earnest desire. But these secluded disciples found themselves riled up, after suffering this kind of treatment at the hands of other players.
The atmosphere became a lot tenser and the group of 8 players were just about to burst. It was just a matter of time before a poor soul would do something, that he or she would end up regretting.
None of the people surrounding them took notice about their change and it was apparent that one of them was going to be the lucky person to pick the straw will break the camel's back. They were still laughing merrily, without any worry in the world, not knowing what was about to erupt.
The upcoming event, would not spread as much as the previous rumours, but they would be a lot more credible.
The catalyst for the escalation was not another attempt to stop the players by throwing NPCs at them or by the spectators trying to directly meddle in their business.
No, the cause for the chaos that was about to erupt was a simple remark. All it took, was one comment, that was made after seeing one ülayer accompanied by an NPC approaching the 8 players.
" What a lousy NPC." These words were spoken without any regard and as a matter of fact, but everything changed after those words had been spoken.
Before everyone could even realize what had happened, everything had already been razed to the ground with the corpses of every onlooker spread around the close vicinity.
These group of players could manage to endure the others gossiping and judging them, but this comment about the NPCs crossed a line, that should not have been crossed.
Although the one person, who had doomed all of his colleagues would surely not know exactly what he did wrong to cause such a scene. Not one person would know for certain, why their lives came to a sudden end at the hands of these players.
Walking through the bloody mess, with corpses strewn all around, the NPC could only sigh. " So much for not raising more attention towards myself than absolutely necessary." the voice sounded a bit lament.
" Benefactor"
The 8 players bowed in unison as they faced the NPC with admiration in their eyes. The longing on their expressions was still visible as they stared directly at the NPC in front of them.
The NPC did not appear to be surprised at their behaviour as he just casually stood there taking in everything that was happening right in front of him.
" Moirai can we move? We should not stay here unless of course, you want to be seen."
A slight scoffing could be heard, as Moirai looked at the scene of carnage.
" Check their corpses for valuables and you burn them once we are done." After the order had been taken care of and everything valuable changed owners, the corpses were lit ablaze.
Moirai did not even take another look and just turned around and wordlessly walked away followed by the disciples from the temple and Tom walking right beside him.
Every evidence of this event taking place had been cleared and only eye testimony was not enough to generate a ruckus. All that was left, was a space, that had been razed to the ground.
As if a swarm of locusts had devoured everything in their path, leaving nothing behind. They returned back to the ghost town as if nothing had ever happened.