Baranor riding on top of Talon, feeling the wind hitting his face and taking in his surrounding admiring the nature as they went forward. Baranor not knowing what way to go simply followed the way the sun was rising from. Baranor and Talon traveled the rough terrain all day with little to no breaks until finally the sun started to flee from sight prompting Baranor to set up for the night. Baranor seeing Talon deathly tired felt quite bad for the bear as he pushed it all day long.
"Cheer up Talon! Tomorrow we'll eat up and rest for a bit before continuing on, that sound good?" Baranor said to Talon as he rubbed the bears head
Talon seemingly understanding Baranor pressed its head against Baranor's body while making low growls. Baranor giving a faint smile before attempting to find some form of proper bedding to prevent any insect or at least camouflage from the forest beasts. Talon watching his owner closely with glowing blue eyes started to hear sounds coming from deeper within the forest. Talon as if trying to alert his master start to make deep intimidating growls and snarls towards the forest, Baranor hearing Talon looked his way and started to peer into his surroundings. When Baranor's eyes started to glow blue as well he finally saw what Talon was on alert about, seeing what was in the forest Baranor said
"Shit! Ghouls, huh?"
Baranor remembering the worst thing about ghouls, their intense pack mentality and their variations, as a ghoul by itself wasn't a big enough threat however with enough of them there they could use their sheer numbers to overpower opponents several times stronger. The worst part yet were the variations, as ghouls had a shockingly high adaption rate making any environment for them suitable enough to survive in. Even if they had a high adaption rate their were still ghouls who were rather normal and had no real abnormality, as it was only a select few every time a new batch was born that had this mutation. Baranor remembering this, was on high alert preparing for any sudden movements from the forest, Baranor could see the bushes shaking tree leaves falling and even started to hear low snarls and twigs snapping. The sounds he heard and the things he saw only made him more on edge, then all of it sudden everything just seemed to freeze, all of the sound, all of the obvious sights of movement he saw through the forest....
*SCREEH
All of a sudden a ghoul screeched as loud as it could and pounced on Baranor, with its humanoid body, hunched back, with long arms and sharp claws as sharp as daggers, along with its teeth just as sharp. The ghoul attempted to gnaw and slash at Baranor's face, however Baranor was quick enough to block all its attacks as it let out a loud snarl and Baranor took this opportunity and stabbed his sword through the beasts throat out the other end. Talon reacted just as quickly and put up his guard standing behind his master making sure none of the beast could attack from behind. The ghouls still scurrying about in the forest, could be heard from all sides snarling and growling at Baranor and Talon seeing them nothing more than pray. The ghouls confident in their numbers started to get cocky, as one of them had the confidence to take a step forward and rushed at Baranor, the ghouls in Baranor's eyes looked like nothing but a few feral beast that needed to be put down.
Baranor instantly slashed at the ghoul nearly slicing it into to two, as even more rush in from the forest, a few went towards Baranor and a few went for Talon. The pair not wasting anytime continued to cut down the ghouls horde, Baranor doing it in the most gruesome way he could think of to scare away the rest. The ghouls were nothing but simple creatures with simple needs, they simply lived and survived based on their instincts, whether it was hunting in packs or mating and laying eggs, it was nothing but instinct even the variations would only live off impulse. Baranor continued to hack and slash, however he noticed no matter how gruesome or how much he killed the ghouls kept coming, the ghouls didn't even seem to fear the fact Baranor and Talon were leading a one-sided massacre. After a few more minutes of the senseless slashing of a sword and talons the ghouls seemed to slow down and Baranor grew slightly complacent thinking he was nearly rid of them, however he couldn't be more wrong as he heard a nasty screech and a sudden ball of what seemed to be mucus was shot towards him.
Baranor remembering a similar instance from what happened to his leg from Talon, dodged as fast as he could narrowly escaping it, as he followed the trajectory of the ball as it hit a branch from a tree and melted it off. Baranor looked at the creature surprised at its capabilities, Baranor seeing an imminent threat of the potential 2 way attack instantly rushed down the ghoul commanding Talon to do the same and support him as to not get stopped by a horde of ghouls. The ghouls somehow seemed to organize a small defense group for this ghoul and attempted to rush at Talon and Baranor having little to no effect. Baranor got close enough and decapitated the beast head clean off leaving it rolling the dirt, as Baranor breathed a sigh of relief he instantly felt something else headed his way.
*swoosh
Another ball of mucus headed his way, however it wasn't just one or two it was a volley of them, Baranor looked on with horror and disgust at what was coming his way. Talon, with the connection with his master sensed what was wrong, not wanting to get his by the volley of mucus, grabbed Baranor and threw him on his back and ran as fast as he could. Within that 3 seconds window Talon with his speed was able to run a good 15 meters away effectively dodging the disgusting mucus. Baranor genuinely confused and lost about how the ghouls were even coordinating all of this had look of worry and confusion.
'Should I escape? Can I escape? How are the ghouls even capable of being able to coordin-'
As Baranor was in the middle of his thoughts something finally clicked inside his mind as if he realized what the issue was.
'You've got to be joking with me!' Baranor thought to himself finally realizing what it was
It was a ghoul krol, a ghoul who was twice the size of a regular ghoul with twice the intellect as well, making it have near human intelligence making it able to coordinate those who were lower on the hierarchy. Making it a natural born leader, Baranor realizing he had to get rid of this ghoul no matter what found new found determination and rushed forward with a new idea coming to mind.
'A natural born lead? Is that right.' Baranor thought
Baranor still atop Talon hopped down and caressed the bears fur as he looked at the swarm of ghouls heading his way with the ghoul spitters in the back going slowly towards Baranor and Talon making sure to keep their distance. Talon looking at the horde smirked to himself, even Talon who was next to him found it weird was wondering what he was about to do.
'If its true your a natural born leader, then lets see what a natural born conqueror can do to your servants!' Baranor thought to himself
As Baranor witnessed the swarm of ghouls running to him he started to feel excited with this strange heat rising from within as his eyes began to glow blue. As faint whispers made his mind clear yet if felt like he was spinning in a circle at the same time, to him it felt weird yet he didn't pay attention to it and took a deep breath and looked at the surrounding swarm. The instant the swarm of ghouls was close enough with the front row easily having around 10 ghouls, his thought process increased in speed as time slowed, however slight it was enough for him to focus.
"On your knees!" Baranor Commanded while attempting to impose his will on the first ghoul he saw
Surprisingly the first row of 10 ghouls started to squeal and fell to their knees while screeching only for it to be paused a second later. As the ghouls all rose in a kneeled down position Baranor felt a connection to them as he commanded them to charge forward. Although Baranor was confused on how he was able to dominate them surprisingly easy and how many he dominated, he decided to push this thought for later. Baranor feeling as if he could change the tied of this battle heard a familiar ringing sound once more.
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-Mission: Dominion
-Quest: Fill up the Domination bar
-Current: 11/50
-Reward: Skill-Dominate: Level up
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Baranor looked at the newly arrived mission with a grin on his face.