Within the vast and timeless archive of the Association, countless records were stored and preserved. The slumbering records depicted the journey of adventurers. Among those fleeting journeys, one in particular told the story of a group led by a charismatic and powerful master swordsman who was also an expert in the art of magic. With strong leadership and understanding of his members' uniqueness, the man was able to establish effective coordination within the group, enabling them to promptly complete every taken quest. In a little more than two years, they had already become full-fledged silver rankers.
This achievement invited unprecedented fame for the group. The Association put them in high-regard for their potential, and the people trusted them. It was not an exaggeration to say in some part of the kingdom they were referred to as heroes. Nevertheless, their conduct was far from the definition of conceited. Each member did not neglect their daily training, and continue to act in the highest standard of professionalism.
Though, they secretly had common expectation that with this group reaching the prestigious gold rank, and even achieving the summit platinum rank might not be a dream anymore.
That was, until they realized the harsh reality of being high-ranked adventurers; the accompanying dangers and unpredictability were world-apart from their lower rank-counterparts.
In a seemingly simple, quest they unfortunately met wandering beasts; a pair of one-eyed giants. Slashes from the leader's fine blade and his magic bombardment proved ineffective against the beasts' rock-like layer of skin. Rain of arrows launched by one of the members were also unable to pierce it. Fortunately, the beasts lack swiftness in its movement, and the group was able to dodge any attack that came.
'An opportunity will certainly show' was what they were thinking, while looking for an opening to launch a decisive attack.
An opportunity to launch a decisive attack did present itself, sooner than expected. At the moment the leader made a foolish mistake on his footing after evading an attack, one of the beasts thrust its bulky arm and successfully grabbed his head using its wide hand. Unfortunately, the one taking the initiative to grasp the opportunity was not the adventurers, but the beasts instead.
"Let g…!!!....."
The leader frantically tried to escape, but that certainly never happened, as the beast that had him easily crushed his head like a cheap egg that could be found anywhere a moment later, and his struggling body became silent all of a sudden. Afterward, the beast tossed the body away like disgusting garbage.
"Noooooo!!!"
Realizing their leader, the strongest among them killed so abruptly without that man being able to put up meaningful resistance caused the remaining members to be stricken by bottomless dread, and what happened next was a plain-old massacre.
"Shittt!!!"
The archer who had been able to maintain distance with the beasts was finally caught after he ran out of arrows to shoot, and was beaten repeatedly by the two violent abominations until a minced meat and broken bow were the only thing left from him. Not even his parents would have the ability to recognize him in that state.
"Guuhhh!!!"
The tank, the biggest and sturdiest person in the group, had his flesh literally became one with his bulwark after receiving merciless assault from the beasts, making him unable to move ever again as he was now tuned into a grotesque existence and perpetually writhing in pain. Death might seemed sweet to him.
"It hurts!!! It hurts!!! It hurts!!!!!"
The healer was shrieking, and might be the one who had the worst experience, as she had her beautiful limbs torn off slowly one at a time before the beast playfully twisted her head until it was parted from her body and fountain of blood emerged.
"Get away from me!!!"
Seeing hellish scene in front of him, the fighter lost any remaining will to fight and ran away with all his might. He was not to blame, as this was a very normal reaction. A little luck was still on his side, the beasts were too occupied playing with the bodies of his deceased teammates in a wicked manner, and did not chase him. Since then, as the only survivor, he was never the same person ever again.
Upon coming back, not remorse nor guilt that he felt, instead it was shame. The fighter could not shake off the feelinga and voices that people around him were always talking behind his back about his cowardice and failure, causing the man to be mentally unstable. Soon, driven by a sense of inferiority, ironically he developed immense thirst for superiority, and began to commit abusive doings to those weaker than him.
Unexpectedly, tremendous joy was coursing through his veins while doing these barbaric acts, and he even claimed to understand the beasts' feeling when doing what they did to his deceases comrades. Seeing the victims' twisted expression due to fear and agony was addictive, and the rawest form of pleasure.
The Association gave him warnings to stop his behavior that was deviating from the norm countless of times, and the fighter just dismissed it as something unimportant and annoying. He simply could not return to how he was before. Usually, the Association would take swift action to restrain a broken adventurer like him. But, the hope that the man would return to sanity and his inherent potential made them hesitate to do so.
....In a bright afternoon, the fighter visited the biggest brothel in town, hoping to have another thrilling moment like he did with a 'model' several days ago. Paying 250,000 rune for a session was ludicrous, but the luxury service he received and the vicious beat up he gave the 'model' afterward more than enough to make up for the money.
"Hold! You are not allowed to enter!"
As expected, because of his past action he was denied entrance to the vicinity by the securities who were doing their jobs dutifully.
"Move aside yáll…"
But, no one should ever, ever, deny him from what he desired! The fighter decided to make these ugly men in uniform learn of their miserable place in the world, as he began thrashing them mercilessly in his irritation. Even though there were dozens of them and one of him, the many clearly did not hold a candle against the man.
He was, after all, a veteran silver ranker with numerous battle experiences.
This unplanned activity turned out to be entertaining as well, since he could feel bone-breaking sensation whenever his fist made contact, and heard their beautiful screams. After a few minutes of brutal scuffle, he leisurely walked inside the building, leaving the pitiful securities unconscious outside.