Lux stepped out of the abandoned building, his eyes scanning the dimly lit streets. He picked one direction at random and begin to move with purpose. The Abyss System had assured him that if he paid attention, he wouldn't miss it. And Lux intended to pay attention to every detail.
Before leaving, he had taken the rusted knife and iron pipe, fastening them together with a length of rope. The result was crude but functional makeshift spear. It wasn't perfect but it would do the job.
With his weapon in hand, he strode forward, slipping into the labyrinth of alleys where the city's forgotten lurked.
The scent of filth and decay clung to the air, making him suppress a grimace.
The slums were alive in their own way. Figures huddled under tattered blankets, curled up against the cold. A few shuffled aimlessly and muttering to themselves, lost in whatever substance they had consumed to forget the misery of life they were in.
As he walked deeper, a sharp voice cut through the silence.
"The hell you staring at?"
Lux's gaze snapped toward a filthy man slouched against the wall, his eyes sunken and filled with hostility. He was glaring at Lux, his lips curled back to reveal yellowed teeth.
Lux blinked, realizing he had been staring too long. He nodded once. "Sorry."
The man spat to the side but didn't press further, and Lux kept walking.
This place was bigger than he had expected. He had never realized how large the slums truly were, how far they stretched beyond the cleaner parts of the city. It was as if the world had forgotten this place and just leaving it to rot in the shadows.
His boots pressed against the damp ground as he walk further.
["Focus, Host. If you observe closely, you will not miss it."]
Lux exhaled sharply. He was trying. His eyes scanned every movement, every twitch, looking for the signs the Abyss System had described. But so far, nothing seemed out of place.
Nothing but filth, suffering, and silence.
Once, Lux might have felt sympathy for the poor people in this wretched place. But the night his family was slaughtered had altered his brain. Now, compassion felt distant. Only the burning desire for revenge that remain.
He continued forward, weaving through narrow passageways between crumbling buildings. The deeper he went, the more the air felt suffocating.
Then he heard it. A faint wet sound from the darkness.
Lux stopped in his track.
It was coming from the next alley over. He turned his head and listening for more.
Schlk. Schlk.
A rhythmic squelching noise. Flesh against flesh. Something being torn apart.
His heartbeat quickened.
He moved carefully, stepping lightly as he approached the alley entrance. The shadows swallowed most of the light here, but his eyes adjusted quickly.
Then he saw a hunched figure crouched over something.
Lux's breath caught in his throat.
The thing in front of him was human-shaped but wrong. Its limbs twitched unnaturally, he can also see muscles spasming under sick pale skin.
The hunched figure was eating. Its hands buried in a torn-open corpse and digging its fingers into the flesh.
The stench of blood was thick. Lux's grip tightened around the pipe.
["You have found your prey."]
The System's voice was calm and emotionless.
Lux swallowed. This was it. His first real hunt.
His muscles tensed as he took another step forward. The Lesser Thrall suddenly froze, its entire body going rigid.
Then, slowly, it turned its head and Lux can see its milky glowing eyes.
A wide, bloody grin stretched across its face.
Lux stood frozen. His eyes opened wide, his breath shallow, and his grip on the makeshift spear trembled.
He had thought he was ready. He had cleared the Tutorial stage and killed a supernatural creature and survived, or so he thought.
He had trained his body and strengthened his resolve.
But none of that mattered now. Turns out, the sight of a real bloodthirsty monster with its mouth dripping blood and grin that stretched unnaturally wide was still too much for him.
He was just a boy who had spent his life sheltered within the city's walls, protected by its knights. A boy who had never truly faced the horrors that lurked in the dark.
And now, that horror was staring right at him.
The Lesser Thrall straightened, its movements jerky and unnatural. Its bloodstained grin never wavered as it tilted its head, watching him with those inhuman eyes.
Lux's stomach twisted. His breath came in ragged gasps. His feet felt rooted to the ground. His body refused to move.
"Shit! Move! MOVE!"
The Thrall's grin widened. Then, suddenly it lunged.
Lux's instincts screamed. His body reacted on pure survival.
He dove to the side.
The creature's clawed hand slashed through the space where he had been standing just a second ago and cutting the air.
Lux hit the ground hard, rolling onto his side before scrambling to his feet. His fingers clenched around the spear so tightly they ached.
The Lesser Thrall let out a distorted wet chuckle.
Lux swallowed down the terror clawing at his throat. He couldn't afford to freeze again.
["Steady your stance, Host."]
The System's calm emotionless voice cut through his panic.
["Do not think of it as a monster. Think of it as prey."]
Prey.
Lux exhaled sharply, forcing the fear down. Yes. This thing was prey and he was the hunter.
The Thrall licked the blood from its lips and charged again.
But this time, Lux able to moved first.
"HAAAA!!!"
Lux roared as he lunged forward and driving his makeshift spear straight at the Thrall's chest.
The jagged tip of rusted metal penetrated flesh. He felt resistance then feeling of something being pierced.
Yes!
A wild grin spread across his face. He had landed a hit!
He look upward and his grin vanished.
His spear hadn't hit the Thrall's heart, or even its chest. It had only pierced its hand placed in front of its chest.
Lux barely had time to react before the Thrall's other hand attack.
"CRACK!"
Lux felt pain in his face when the creature's clawed fingers struck him and sent him sideways.
His body slammed into the alley wall with a sickening thud. The breath was knocked out of his lungs. And the Thrall walking at him with hungry eyes.
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