[Sage's studio apartment - Friday, 8:30 pm]
Chop! Chop! Chop!
Sage was chopping up some potatoes for her dinner. Why at 8:30 pm? Well, she came home and immediately flopped onto her bed and slept for two hours straight. She was just too tired from school, and the conversation she had with Stephan made her day even more draining than it already was.
She only woke up because she realised that she had not eaten and was craving some mashed potatoes.
Yes, she's random like that-
"...Look, I know you hate the idea of coming back, but give it some consideration. Please..."
Why? Why now? The idea of returning to the world of elites was too much for her. She hated how she controlled she felt, and going back will make her relive that experience.
However, she also could not stand that lives were lost in exchange for her freedom-
"Fuck!" Sage hissed as she felt a stinging pain on her index finger. She looked down, and it took her a few seconds to register that she had just cut her finger.
She rushed to the sink and ran water over her cut. She sucked in a quick breath and started blowing on her wound as if it would miraculously heal.
She reached for the cabinet above her head and pulled out the first-aid kit. Flipping it open, she quickly found the plasters and ripped one open with her teeth. She wrapped it around her injured finger and kept the box back to its rightful place.
"This sucks."
She tossed some of the bloodied potatoes chucks into the bin and washed her cutting board before continuing.
Suddenly, she felt a strong presence.
A corrupt, probably a mid-tier.
A gust of wind blew through the window, and the air felt electrifying. In the next second, a loud crashing sound came from outside. Her eyes went wide as she stumbled to the window.
She looked around the dark streets and spotted that the nearby café had collapsed. Next to the debris, she saw a glowing figure.
Sage immediately put on a hoodie and wore a facemask, before jumping down from her bedroom window.
(Don't try this at home, kids!)
She landed perfectly at the centre of the intersection with her daggers in hand. Without thinking, she charged toward that figure.
She jumped and swung both her daggers in a diagonally right motion collectively.
"Oh?" It spoke before stepping back to avoid the collision.
Sage landed in the rubbles but managed to push herself away with her feet to avoid crashing into the wreckage. She stood upright, and immediately the monster was intrigued.
The creature had grey skin, and as usual, it had black veins that threatened to pop out his skin. However, contrary to the earlier one, electrical sparks were dancing all over its body.
Not to mention, it had four eyes.
Now, that was not something you will see every day.
"Look who's late for the party." It grinned creepily. He placed one of his hands on his hip and tilted his head, "You're an elite, right?"
Sage resisted the urge to say 'duh' but instead replied, "I guess I am."
Upon hearing that, its grin turned even wider, and it was no longer creepy, but sinister.
"Wonderful! If I kill you, I'll get even stronger, right?"
Sage was too distracted to listen to what the corrupt had to say. She was just too busy figuring out what makes this particular corrupt so unsettling to her. Was it the eyes? Or what is the smile?
Hmm, she couldn't quite figure it out.
The tainted figure noticed that Sage was silent and laughed hysterically, "Oh my, are you so scared that you went speechless? Don't worry I'll give you a quick death."
Or... Was it the laugh?
The corrupt lunged towards Sage in a fraction of a second, attempting to launch its electrified fist into her chest.
Luckily, she had fast reflexes. She crossed her daggers in front of her and successfully blocked the attack.
Although the blow was heavy, she could hold it off somehow. However, the current from its fist created an even bigger spark against her metal blades.
She tsked and pushed back as hard as she could, causing the corrupt to fly backwards.
Without missing a beat, she sprung up and lunged towards the monster to take advantage of its opening.
She held her blades above her head and drove them into its chest. However, the tingling sensation in her hands stopped her for a split second.
It from the previous attack.
Although it was just a split second, it gave the corrupt enough time to land a kick towards the side of Sage's neck.
In a flash, she rose her arms and guarded her side, allowing her to block that kick. But, the impact of the strike sent her flying through a broken window of the café.
She fell onto the floor and involuntarily rolled for a couple of metres before coming to a halt.
She huffed heavily for a moment before pushing herself up. "Ow. Well, that hurts. I should probably start focusing." She thought to herself as she wiped the blood off her forehead.
She looked over and saw that the corrupt was standing just outside the window. It raised one of its hands and leered, "I guess it's time for you to say goodbye."
It started to channel a ball of spark on its palm. As it got larger, the nearby street lamps began to go out.
There was no way Sage would want to counter that. It would probably be wiser to dodge it.
Within half a second, she came up with a strategy, "I'll dodge this, lunge at him. Cut both its arms off and stab it right in its heart-"
Under the nearby pile of debris on her right, she heard a soft groan.
She looked down and saw a girl.
A girl that was all too familiar.
It was Katelyn.
She was in her work uniform and was working night shift today.
Sage cursed under her breath as her eyes shot back up to the corrupt. The ball of spark was already the size of a basketball, and if she does dodge this, Katelyn would definitely be caught in the blast.
"Okay! Calm down, Sage." She told herself silently, "I'll just cut off his arm-"
Too late.
The ball of electricity sliced through the air and it headed right towards them.
For some reason, time seemed to slow down.
She had two options. One, she could dodge this and have a 100% chance of cleansing this monster. Or, two, she could be stupid and risk this chance and risk her life.
Well, she is dumb.
Sage rushed toward Katelyn and managed to pull her out of the debris in the last second. With Katelyn in her arms, she jumped to the side, covering the back of her friend's head.
Sage gasped.
She felt an excruciating pain crawling up her right leg. It felt as if thousands of piranhas were biting from her foot to her thigh. She looked over her shoulder and saw that the blast has hit her bottom part of her calf to her ankle.
Her skin in that area had completely melted off, and blisters were already beginning to form. To make matters worse, the surrounding skin had this spiderweb pattern that trailed up till her thigh, and it was red and swollen.
Despite that, she bit down hard on her bottom lips and checked on Katelyn. Luckily, the slab of debris only caught her ankle and nowhere else. She was also not injured from the discharge.
Right now, she was just unconscious, and this was the best-case scenario.
Even though Sage knew it was an inappropriate time to relax, she still did heave a sigh of relief.
However, that did not last long.
Sniggering, the corrupt crossed over the broken window and headed towards Sage.
Sage attempted to push herself to stand up and fight. But, just as she wanted to, a sharp pain exploded in her leg.
She screamed discreetly, and in a blink of an eye, she was in face with the corrupt.
The corrupt bent down, grabbed her hair and pulled her head towards it.
She shot him a glare.
"Well, well, well. I didn't know elites are this weak." It giggled. Retaining its grin, it looked over to Katelyn, "Who knew that you would risk your life for a pathetic human? Well, not that I care or anything. But, it just amazes me how this girl is the cause of your downfall-"
Exasperated, Sage clenched both her blades before trying to swing one of them across its chest. The corrupt caught her wrist effortlessly and snatched her dagger. It held it between its index finger and thumb and inspected it for a few seconds. Once it was satisfied, it shrugged and threw the blade behind its back into a pile of rubble.
"How rude." The monster seethed. It grabbed Sage's injured leg and dug its claws into it. She screamed, and the corrupt was finding pleasure in her pain.
Once he released her, she laid on the ground. Too exhausted. Her vision blurred for a moment, and she could already see black dots forming.
The corrupt smirked at the sight of Sage. It squatted down directly in front of her and rested his forearms on each of its knees. It laughed a little more before speaking again, "I'll take your heart now, alright?"
Snap.
"Huh...?" The corrupt blurted out as thick black liquid began to drip down from the top of his head, partially blinding his vision. It could not comprehend what just happened. Shakily, It touched the centre of its forehead and felt the sharp end of her dagger.
The corrupt collapsed onto its knees and grabbed the grip of the blade from the back of its head, attempting to pull it out.
"...I wouldn't do that if I was you." Sage chuckled tiredly.
However, the corrupt did not listen and did it anyway. Once the blade was out of its skull, disgusting black blood gushed out of its head.
Within a minute, the grey skin began to crack and dissipate into the cold night air as Sage laid there, watching.
When the cleansing process was finally completed, her dagger fell onto the floor, about a metre away from her, making a displeasing 'clink' sound.
She snapped her finger once more, and the dagger came flying toward her and into her free hand.
Once she got both her blades in hand, she dismissed her weapon.
"...Ah, I think I got it now. I think I just don't like monsters with more than two eyes."