"Steve, Derrick, you're with me. Phoebe, stay here with Becky in case we get caught up and can't get back before noon." I ordered my squad exiting out of the settlement gate. The Pylon Defense waves would commence at exactly 12, meaning we had a little under 4 hours to at least shew away these Gryphons for now. Until we can officially hunt them down for the sake of Porphynaen recruits morale, that is.
"Don't be late. If it's anything like last time…we'll need you." Phoebe said in a far more serious tone than usual.
"We won't. I promise." I said, nodding with a smile as Derrick and I hopped on the back of Steve. Derrick held on tightly, nearly pulling off of Steve as we launched out into the plains headed for the forest. I forgot most people don't ride giant feather-winged water snakes very often, or a 'K'iche Coatl' as his race now appeared as through Identify, and never made any accommodations for a passenger.
Cassi had informed us the Gryphons were seen dodging long ranged magma missiles southwest from our new settlement, not more than 6 miles out. The ride was relatively short, though I had to inform Derrick to latch on tight, making both of us rather uncomfortable. Unfortunately, it was either that or letting him fall off as Steve lifted up into the sky, hoping to spot the gryphons from a gliding Birds Eye view.
Much of the sky was inhabited by birds, some admittedly larger than others. None fitting the description of a half lion, half eagles spewing water from their mouths. Considering their build, I was surprised to hear they were water based beasts. Part of me was curious if I could subjugate one, though my taming title earned through Perunious' contract specifically stated it functioned on oceanic predators, not necessarily all water based ones. Meaning, freshwater beasts might be off the table, for now.
In any case, an eagle at the very least sounded more of an air leaning race based on their nature. It's entirely possible they possessed both water and air, a combo I could see being rather annoying to chase down. Still, from my admittedly little understanding of their mythological history, I wouldn't expect a half lion to wield the power of water.
Dozens of predatory beasts ravaged the peaceful herbivores of the forest we explored, though none dared to bother us. I'd like to say it's because all three of us would be a problem for them, however I'd be ignorant not to assume the 30 foot serpent we rose in on wasn't doing most of the heavy lifting. Regardless, we ventured further into the forest in hopes to locate the pestering Gryphons.
"Hey, if they're not this far out, shouldn't we turn back?" Derrick asked from over my shoulder.
"Hm…yeah, you're probably right." I said, turning my attention to Steve.
"Hey buddy, start heading back. They're not out here right now." I mentally messaged my serpent friend.
"Damn, I was a little excited for an old fashioned hunt before another Pylon defense." Steve replied disappointedly, turning his body around heading back toward the settlement.
"We can hang out closer to the Pylon and wait for a few hours. We got at least 2 to kill, and they might come back for an early lunch." I offered, hoping to console both Steve and my own discouragement. I too, hoped to enjoy something simple before the utter chaos that was our defense waves.
"I take it we're going back?" Derrick asked, making me jump, having forgotten he was still there.
"No, we're going to hangout nearby to see if we they come b-"
Before I could finish explaining the plan to Derrick, a thunderous lion roar rumbled across the forest, causing the early birds to disperse collectively into the sky.
"…Steve?" I asked, hoping he could pinpoint the location better than I could.
"Smells like cats. And…I'm not sure." He said, leaning forward and bursting forward. It was rare for Steve to not recognize a smell with his rather impressive senses, giving me a tinge of worry for what we were heading toward.
"Tom, please tell me what we're doing!" Derrick yelled directly into my fucking ear from behind me.
"Killing Gryphons! The fucks so hard to understand?" I snapped back, annoyed at my ear still ringing.
"Brace!" Steve yelled, my head facing forward just before he thrusted up into the sky, slapping his feathered wings. Gathering my bearings, I looked forward at what he was gliding towards, finding a flock of giant four legged birds waiting a long tail behind them.
The flock flew at least 50 feet away from us, Steve's speed not at all keeping up with theirs. Seeing a golden opportunity to test my new ability, I gathered Lightning mana through my chest and into my arms, my twinblade splitting at the hilts. The mana channeled into the length of my limbs toward my blades, which I was about to smack together when Steve nosedived back toward the Forest floor, flinging my arms up and forcing me to clamp around his neck. Derrick's arms wrapped around my waist, his full weight pulling on my midsection.
Forcing my head up, I looked down at why the hell my snake decided to barrel for the ground, spotting a dark hooded figure with a chrome face mask standing below, a scythe in hand. Steve spread his wings out wide, rapidly slowing his descent with a few flaps. The figure grabbed onto the dead Gryphon lying beside him, both dissolving into dark sand sinking into the ground. Steve crashed to the forest floor semi-gracefully, his body bouncing only once off the foliage.
My feet pressed off his back, leaping forward spotting the strange hooded figure reanimate 20 feet away, with the Gryphon corpse still beside him.
"I do not wish to fight with you, soldier of the Chosen of Beloris. I'm simply passing by." The figures' raspy whisper danced through the air, sounding eerily familiar. Not to mention he knew far too much about Korbin's god.
"How do you know that? Who the hell are you?" I asked, slowly walking toward the hooded figure in all black robes. Their face mask shined like a dark platinum, contorted in a devious smiling face.
"You act as though your mere existence could possibly go unnoticed, Chosen of Perunious." The figure replied.
"Name another fucking God we're associated with and I'm sending the snake after you. I'm going to ask this one more time. Who. The fuck. Are you?" I growled, quickening my pace toward them. The figure knelt down, placing their gloved hand onto the dead Gryphon.
"I am the inexorable nature of life many observe but fail to accept. The inevitable abyss feared by the majority, neglected for its nature. The end that precedes the beginning." The hooded figure cryptically hissed, his gloved hand glowing a deep crimson and black energy. That weird ass monologuing was definitely familiar, realizing I knew all too well what unsettling fuck had stumbled onto our territory.
"You're Hayden. I remember you!" I called out pointing at him. The gryphon's body started twitching and convulsing violently, jerking its legs clumsily under itself. The massive eagle's head flopped limply through the air as it thrashed to its feet until its eyes fluttered open, their pupils hidden by the complete lack of pigment in their eyeball.
"Relax, please. I'm not your enemy." Hayden pleaded, the gryphon now standing stiffly behind him.
"Okay, then why are you here?" I asked. Derrick and Steve stayed back some 15 feet, apparently unsure if Hayden was a problem or not as well.
"I've never been too far. Your work is rather impressive, albeit messy. I've yet to see someone wield your flavor of infernal mana before. And its effectiveness has spoken for itself, don't you agree?" Hayden answered, sending plenty of flattery my way. Still, he didn't answer my question.
"I appreciate the kind words, however I'm not using any infernal energy. Nor did you answer why you're here." I clarified, trying to stay on topic without perpetuating any misconceptions. I'm no Korbin.
"What? You…you don't even know?" Hayden asked, sounding genuinely shocked.
"Hayden, answer the question." I repeated, yet again. He sighed, turning toward his risen gryphon behind him.
"This is why. There's been another necromancer causing mayhem at Pylons all around this region. They arrived recently, just as recently as you have." Hayden said, pointing his gloved hand to me.
"Okay, but we don't have any necromancers so, you don't have to check here." I said, hoping to dismiss him from our territory as soon as possible. We have a defense soon, and the threat of a necromancer trying to invade now was too high.
"Oh, I know. I followed you here, Tom. As has whoever has been accruing an army. Hence why I'm here, trying to create one against them." He said.
"You're saying they're following me to steal the bodies I leave behind, and that you have been doing the same thing? So, why are you good corpse lover and they're not?" I asked, confused at how even if there were a second necromancer stalking me, why he was any different.
"I'm neither. Frankly, I don't think you believe you're good, Tom. Yet, you serve a noble purpose on behalf of utter strangers. It's something that's emboldened you, unleashing your…misunderstood control over the lightning affinity." Hayden replied. To his credit, he had a decent enough point, even if he didn't know me. There'd be plenty of times which I wondered if I was a truly good person, having even found joy in performing rather violent acts. In my mind, they were never just for the sake of my own gain anymore. That our cause gave my growth meaning, other than to be the strongest version of myself.
"That's fair. Still, how am I supposed to believe you're not the only guy following me around, stealing the bodies I leave behind for your army?" I asked, walking closer to Hayden.
"Well…if you must know, Tom. The only reason I started tracking you was to find him. They used their little army from the first Pylon defense on my group, completely wiping everyone out. That included my…my grandm-" Hayden's quiet raspy voice cracked as he choked up recalling his experience. He took a deep breath before continuing.
"I lost everyone. The only reason I survived was because of my resistance to the death affinity. So, when I followed his carnage to your Elysium, I asked my god about you. They're very well aqcuanted with both yours and your leaders' god, and informed me of your budding reputation." Hayden explained. Halting my approach a few feet away, the rancid stench from the gryphon wafted through my cowl, invading my sinuses. I fought hard not to dry heave, taking one step back hoping to remain out the repulsive stenches range.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Hayden. I lost mostly everyone on day one too, it's not a burden I wish on anyone." I replied, genuinely. While he definitely came off as an odd guy, he didn't seem like the type to hunt us for the entirety of the tutorial. Especially if he were to let us catch him now, before a Pylon defense the hypothetically best time to capitalize on us.
"It's not their death that vexes me. Death is inevitable, something oftentimes more necessary than we give credit until it's too late. I'm glad they didn't suffer long, for pain and death are not synonymous." Hayden explained thoughtfully.
"That's…actually a good point." I said, memories of the state the brutes who used to control my castle pylon kept their Komodo Dragons in. The lash marks, and blatant displays of brutality for the sake of it. That was a fate I feared far more than death.
"I do apologize for not having confronted you sooner. I…feared you'd think negatively of me, given your experience with the undead thus far." Hayden admitted reluctantly.
"I don't like sneaky shit, but I get where you're coming from. Tell you what, we're out here to kill these gryphons anyways. They've been giving this settlement trouble, so we figured we'd bring some of their corpses home to boost morale." I explained, Hayden rubbing his mask's chin while listening intently.
"You wish for me to exterminate this species from your territory?" Hayden asked.
"I mean, you can help? Seems like you're good enough at it." I said, gesturing to his undead ooze leaking gryphon standing completely still.
"Of course. May I first become acquainted with your party?" He asked, gesturing to Derrick and Steve behind me.
"Oh, yeah, GUYS!" I yelled, waving them to come over. Derrick hopped onto Steve as they zipped through the foliage, stopping right next to me.
"What's up, who's the comic villain?" Derrick asked jogging up with a chuckle.
"The names Hayden, chosen of Valshera. It's a pleasure to meet you." Hayden said, introducing himself.
"Ah, well uh, nice to me you too pal." Derrick replied, giving an odd look.
"I think Hayden here's going to help us deal with our pesky Gryphon problem. If he's willing?" I said, looking back to Hayden.
"Of course, it's no trouble at all. In fact, allow me to speed things along, if you will." Hayden said, pressing his hand onto the undead gryphon's giant eagle scalp. The beast launched into the air, letting out a thunderous roar into the skies before gliding back down beside Hayden, standing motionless.
"Why'd you do that?" Derrick asked, removing his hands from his ears. I smiled at him standing casually as the undead beast let out an uncanny raspy roar. That screech was nothing compared to the mother orca Steve and I had to deal with…
"Patience." Hayden whispered, holding a finger up to Derrick. Almost on queue, a chorus of powerful roars harmonized through the air.
"We should relocate, my friends." Hayden said, backing away from his gryphon. Shortly after following his lead, a group of 4 live gryphons landed beside the undead one, circling their sickly friend. Without warning, the undead Gryphon unleashed a jet stream of black ooze onto the gryphons that arrived at his call.
"Now!" Hayden yelled, launching scarlet shards of mana from his twirling scythe. The shards ripped through a gryphon's wings, causing them to twitch erratically. I hopped on Steve as he slithered by, my serpent launching up into the air with a powerful flap of his wings, landing a Flow Bite on the hind end of a fleeing gryphon that hadn't been sprayed with muck.
The second gryphon trying to flee was a few feet ahead, though they flew straight rather than in any evasive patterns. Feeling the man's generate through my chest, I built a charge for only a few seconds before clapping my blades together, pointing the tips at the gryphon. Pressure escaped from my arms into my weapons, culminating at the ends and sending a surge of lightning straight into the wing of the fleeing gryphon's wing. My head jerked upward as Steve plummeted down on top of the first escaping gryphon, watching as the one I'd hit with Lightning Bolt spiraled head first into the forest, landing out of sight. I wanted to pursue, until the 'ding' of the death notification popping up relaxed my nerves.
Behind me, Steve was just finishing biting through the neck of the gryphon he'd snatched from the air. A few feet away however, Hayden's undead gryphon was getting pelted by two streams of water, ripping through its rotting skin. Hayden was pelting the two remaining living gryphons, who were covered in the dark liquid his undead one spat onto them. Their skin shared the same rotting characteristics as the undead ones, the dark ooze wriggling along their bodies.
"Steve, don't touch them." I warned, the serpent nodding in understanding. Derrick however, couldn't hear my mental command. His charges toward the backside of the gryphon closest to him, slamming his axe into its side with his purple rune glowing weapon. The creature twisted its head, directing its spray at Derrick who phased from existence entirely. After almost an entire second, he reappeared a full foot away, unleashing another violet glowing slash into its neck.
Extending my arm in front of me, I fired my grappling hook out toward a branch above, pulling myself into the air. Swinging with the momentum, I willed my grapple release a second before it needed to, slinging me aloft descending toward the gryphon now scratching its claws at Derrick. The bright blue light illuminating my face was almost comforting, slamming into the neck of the sludge-covered gryphon. The lightning mana surged through its body, only its intensity multiplied dancing unstably across the dark sludge that covered the gryphon's body. It roared as it locked in place from the electrical currents surging along its skin, emitting steam from its body.
Not seeing a reason to focus on it any longer, I turned my attention to the final gryphon. Before I could dash over to land any strikes of my own, the undead gryphon pounced onto the remaining live one. Its claws slashed across its small eagle eyes and body, knocking the living gryphon to the ground. The undead gryphon unleashed its dark liquid all over the living one's face, muffling its roars of despair. Hayden made his way over, slamming the blade of his scythe into the neck of the living gryphon. It stopped its thrashing, now laying motionless in a puddle of dark sludge.
"Great work, Hayden. That undead beast thing is pretty strong." I said, seeing the few exterior parts of the undead gryphon maintain its strong posture. Most of its skin was completely washed away by the high pressure sprays of the gryphons it lured here. I suppose killing something that's already dead was no typical song and dance.
"You're too kind. I suppose you'll be needing all of these gryphons for your people's morale?" Hayden said, looking at the collection of bodies strewn across the forest floor.
"…to be honest, I can't really show them these goo-covered ones. That is, unless you agree to my next proposal." I said, raising my brow at Hayden.
"Oh? I'm intrigued." He replied.
"Come back with us, and help out on the pylon defense. Right now, I know my general is still trying to figure out the undead problem we've been having. I can't help but feel like you'd do more help working with us to find them than alone. What do you say?" I offered, walking over to Hayden.
"I…are you sure they won't believe me the necromancer we search for?" Hayden asked, sounding hesitant to join.
"Not if I say you're not. Especially if you help defend our territory. Who knows, maybe you can run with us for a while?" I said, considering the boons having a necromancer on our side could bring. Plus, he truly struck me as someone who wasn't all that bad. Maybe a little weird but, that might just be because he's all by himself. Lonely, a feeling I'm all too familiar with. I extended my arm for a handshake, hoping he'd take my offer.
"Hm…I suppose it makes sense to combine our wits. Alright, I'll accompany you." Hayden said, shaking my hand with his black cloth gloves.
"Alright. Follow us closely, so no one thinks you're chasing us back." I said, hopping onto Steve.
"As you wish." Hayden replied, mounting his undead flying steed. Hayden hopped on Steve behind me.
"Hey, are you sure we can trust this guy? I watched some of his fights after you eliminated me from the tournament, he was pretty brutal." Derrick said in a low voice.
"If I judged you solely off of our experience at the tournament, you'd be dead before your class hit level 4. Give him a chance." I shot back over my shoulder as we headed back to the settlement. We still had over an hour before the pylon defense, and the arms and feathers Derrick collected from the bodies should suffice as proof we took care of the problem. Of course, Hayden's undead gryphon carried the corpse of another in its paws, clutching it close to its chest. So, that should do the trick too.
As far as I'm concerned, we may have gained a powerful ally today, as much as he gave me the creeps at the tournament. In truth, there's a solid chance a large population roaming the planet thought me a monster in my own right, given my behavior during my matches. Besides, part of me was curious on how his affinity worked, considering how differently it affected beasts compared to others I'd seen.
As we arrived back out the front gate, my stomach sank at the realization of the only challenge that remained in recruiting our new deathly friend. I had to convince Cassi he wasn't the bad guy she's been trying to track down for well over a week.