For the creature that appeared in their path couldn't be called anything else. It was grotesque-looking. Hideous human-like in appearance, coming straight out of a person's worst sleep-paralysis-induced nightmares, and standing on both feet with a hunched back. However, the comparison ended there, for the creature in front of them possesses nothing else in common with a human.
For starters, it was devoid of skin and pale too, almost translucent with alabaster bones and sickly reddish putrid flesh. The flesh itself appeared to be rubbery or even scaly at first glance, and the fact that its rib cage was visible and put on display for anyone to see – courtesy of it being skinless – gave an emaciated look to the monster.
Under the light of the blazing sun, it casted a long shadow on the road beneath it.
Ian was surprised by the fact that it took even this long before encountering a single ghoul. On their way, he didn't even see a single one of them laying around on the ground. Which was unusual. Because from his memories of the Tutorial, the city was absolutely infested by them. Normally, you couldn't walk for 100 meters without meeting an inert ghoul or the rare occasional active ones roaming around the place– like the one in front of them.
By nature, ghouls were mostly inert monsters that slept most of the time, staying in a state of hibernation in order to conserve as much energy as possible– only to wake up in the presence of danger or food. The fact that by acting dead without making a single noise, they can potentially lure in and take by surprise unsuspecting players and some monsters unaware of their habit was another plus.
'Is it because the game has just started?' he thought, 'It's a good thing for us if we only have to worry about the active one. And even better, if we encounter an inactive one, I won't have to pull out of my ass some Conan's level deduction to convince them why it's a bad idea to make noise near a ghoul or to get too close for comfort to one or to even try examining the stinking decaying corpses.'
Unfortunately, nobody else shared his thoughts and opinions on the matter of coming face-to-face with a monster.
As was Laura's case who let out a strangled sound akin to a drowning pig.
"This…" Michael gulped.
"... no way…" Brian intoned, shaken.
"Saint Mary, mother of Christ…" Alejandro muttered soullessly.
Àlvaro started to hyperventilate.
Olga Čakarević shrieked, her scream booming throughout the street like a freight train.
The monster swung its head in their direction and stared at them with dead white eyes as sightless as the eggs of spiders.
The ghoul's gaze made their skin crawl.
"Oh shit," Nathan said.
And as if possible, Olga Čakarević let out an ear-piercing shrill even higher in pitch than the previous one and the ghoul combined.
The creature opened wide its dripping mouth, showcasing a row of sharp mean-looking teeth afflicted with a bad case of gingivitis.
Letting out a blood-curdling yowl, it started running toward them. Or more accurately, it started sprinting.
"Oh shit," Nathan repeated with growing urgency entering his voice as the monster started to rapidly clear the distance between them. "oH sHiT, OHSHITOHSHITOHSHITSHISHITSHITSHIT!"
By virtue of standing ahead of the group, the ghoul's first target was the regressor.
Ian planted his right foot forward, slightly bent his leg, lowered his stance, tightened his two-handed grip on his baseball bat, and placed it diagonally behind him– the end of it almost touching the ground.
Taking a slow and measured breath, he briefly closed his eyes. He could feel his heart steadily beating against his chest, hear the ghoul snarling as it approached him, and smell his awful scent. As his senses were starting to gradually heighten, minute details like Olga's scream of terror, Àlvaro's panic attack or Brian frenzied rushed toward him as he yelled for him to run back, fell into the background in his focus state.
He exhaled. Then rev up his engine, willing his body's natural response to danger.
His eyes shot open, revealing enlarging pupils, adrenaline started to rapidly pump through his veins, making his blood pressure rise and causing his heart rate to increase. Lung working more efficiently and heart beating wildly against his chest, his world came into sharp definition. Colors became heightened, and his hearing enhanced while other senses like touch, taste, and smell sharpened.
{Exalted} Lvl 8 Morningstar, SPECIAL — Esprit Sain, Corps Sain.
For a brief moment, he was acutely aware of his body capabilities, even while his mind was lagging behind, struggling to register all the information being convened. Though his body wasn't faring much better, with the lag and information delay, his body couldn't respond as fast as his mind could proceed and send the order. It shouldn't be. An exchange ought to not even exist. Yet it was. Yet it did. This was the result of attempting to access an extremely high-rank Special without the frame of mind or body required.
But for his current enemy? It was more than good enough.
2 meters.
It was the distance separating him from the ghoul as the monsters snarled at him, having covered a good 30 meters distance in less than five seconds.
As the putrid scent of decaying flesh assaulted his nostril…
He reached out to his other sense, and it responded.
The world talked to him.
Like a quiet lullaby sung by a mother soothing her child on a thunderstorm night, like the slow, gentle, rhythmic, breathing of a sleeping child or similar to the soft moan generated by your other half while in a loving embrace– a voice whispered in his ear. Briefly. Quietly. Softly. Methodically.
***'Quick, direct burst of acceleration. Muscle subtly pivoting and shifting. Center of gravity lowered. Legs bending. Torso slightly leaning towards its left.'***
Lvl 3 Swashbuckler, SPECIAL — Combat's intuition.
And as always…
… He listened.
Then acted.
Ian sidestepped the ghoul's lunge, pivoting to his right, he swung his bat in the path of its arms while putting his entire weight behind the strike, pairing its sharp claws. The weight behind his diagonal strike sent the ghoul helplessly crashing against the hard concrete ground. Flesh shedding and bleeding on the asphalt road, the ghoul growled, shaking his head as it tried to stand back up.
It never did.
Bat over his head, the regressor pounced at the ghoul – not letting it time to regain its footing – before swinging his bat against its head. Hard. Its head violently slammed against the ground, bouncing back against the asphalt road, making its skull crack. Blood, viscera along with some pieces of brain matter splashed against him, scattering around the ground.
The ghoul let out a weak pitiful growl.
Ian stomped its head for some good measure. Again and again, and again.
Until finally, it ceased its trashing. The back of his right hand heating up confirmed the kill.
However before he could breathe out and relax, another ghoul was making its way toward him. And from the corner of his eyes, slightly behind the first one, he could see a second one emerging from behind a crashed car, climbing its rooftop.
Two against one without any real weapon or protection? He didn't like those odds. The risk of an injury was too high. Even if an injury inflicted by a ghoul didn't turn someone into one– and thanks fucking fuck for that huge mercy– its claws and specifically its bite was a mini-habitat for nasty bacterias.
So no, he couldn't take on two ghouls at the same time without risking a major injury so early in the game.
To make matters worse, behind him, Olga was still screaming, further souring his mood and aggravating his headache.
'How annoying😑'
He snapped, shouting. "For fuck sake! Someone make her shut the hell up! She's attracting every ghoul in the area with her screaming!"
"Wh- who?"
"I don't fucking care! Just do it!"
To his credit, Alejandro quickly acted, forcefully smothering her scream with his hand. Olga naturally started struggling before Laura quickly came to the farmer's help in restraining the blonde woman.
Personally, at his place, he would have simply bitch-slapped her for good measure, that would have shut her up real quick. But, oh well, as long as it does the job, then it's fine, the method doesn't matter.
Ian jogged back to the group, keeping an eye on the two monsters while doing so. The first one was already sprinting towards them, and the second one had finished climbing the car, it landed on the ground face first, before getting up.
Once back with the rest, he started firing off a string of orders.
"Nathan, you're the only other person with a weapon that isn't tasked with protecting people, so don't just fucking stand here! You're in the back for a reason! Check behind you for any other ghouls! Don't let one ambush us from behind without any warning!"
"Oh- huh. Y-yes, alright!"
"Àlvaro, you did a good job by not screaming. Keep doing what you are."
The Costa Rican boy gave him a shaky nod.
"Another one is coming, I can't handle two at the same time. Brian covers me, I'll take the first one. The other motherfucker that's coming, I want you to shield-bash it. Just rush it with your shield and pin it under you. Do make sure to avoid its claws and teeth. Understood?"
Brian gulped, nodding.
"Michael," Ian called, the older man didn't immediately respond. He was seemingly in a daze.
I can't have it. "Michael!" He called louder this time, snapping his finger.
"W-what?"
"Pull yourself together! You can space out later but not right now! Help Brian kill the second monster coming our way while he'll restrain it. You'll deal the killing blow. Good?"
"I-"
"No time to think, go, go, go, go!"
Ian didn't wait for his answer before positioning himself in front of Brian, right in the path of the incoming ghoul.
GraahHh!
Head pounding, palm tingling, legs screaming from exertion, he breathed out before zeroing in on the ghoul.
***'Mouth stretching wide-open. Adductor muscle-'***
The ghoul snarled, pouncing at him with its jaw stretched wide open in a grotesque fashion. Shifting his footing, Ian rotated his torso and drove his left elbow into the awaiting mouth of the pouncing ghoul. As the blow connected head-on against his elbow pad, shattering its jaws, blood pouring out along with pieces of teeth flying out its mouth, he followed up with a thrust. Like he usually does. Except he wasn't wielding a sword.
Ian cursed as the round extremity of his bat slammed against the ghoul's throat, instead of piercing through it like he intended. It managed to momentarily stun the monster. However, his mistake still ended costing him. The ghoul snarled, wildly scratching its chest, tearing the fabric of his t-shirt along with a good chunk of his weighted sports vest. Fortunately, it was the extent of the damage.
The regressor regains his bearing and kicks the ghoul's torso, effectively distancing himself from it, making the monster briefly sail through the air before crashing back first against the ground.
From the corner of his vision, he could see Brian charging the other ghoul with Michael following hot on his trail.
'Good.'
Halfway through standing back up, he soccer-kicked the ghoul's head, knocking it down again. The ghoul groaned. Shaking its head, It tried to pounce at him while being on all fours, aiming to bite his legs. Key words being tried.
Its effort was rewarded by a baseball bat slap to its face, bringing it down again. It was quickly followed by another one, and this time, it stayed down after the strike. Unmoving. His hand warming up was the confirmation he needed that it was slayed.
He breathed out, just in time to witness Michael cleaving his opponent's skull open with his axe. The ghoul's lower body having been immobilized against Brian's heater shield.
They hadn't needed his help to finish their prey.
'Nice.'
As a more welcoming silence descended on the place, Ian checked his surroundings, on the lookout for another ghoul crawling out of the venue. The place stayed quiet.
Relieved, he turned toward the rest of his companions who were gaping at him with various degrees of incredulity.
Ian gave them a crescent smile in response.