"Don't you dare touch me again like that! It's not because I let you go between my legs once that it means I'm your toy, do you hear me?" Akemi barked angrily at Sinthe after the fight had ended. Her mood was still very foul because of the alcohol, as it was evident by the fact that her breath still reeked of it.

When Akemi's gaze met the indifference in Jenniver and Macey's eyes, she draped her cloak tightly around her body and hissed like an enraged animal "Let's go, before anything else happens," then, she turned to Tatsumi as if reading his mind "And don't you congratulate me, or anything like that. I helped that old beggar out of personal interest, I'm not the Samaritan you think." Even if those words were not entirely true, Akemi didn't wanted another newbie clinging to her, she already had enough problems the way she was now.

Also there was the fact that a certain someone seemed to be following them but still preferred to remain in the shadows, so it was safer for the hunters if they didn't do anything to provoke a reaction from that person, or so Akemi thought.

---

A few hours later...

As the hunters finally arrived at Paraanon Ravine, they would be able to hear the howl of the spine chilling wind that coursed through the dark crevasse, carrying away the sounds of whatever horrible creature inhabited its shadows. "From here on, you'll probably need some kind of light, to navigate. I can deal with the darkness easily, but your human eyes won't be able to see a feet ahead of yourselves. I get that you have brought torches, didn't you?" Akemi sat at a flat stone while waited for the hunters' reply, hoping that they hadn't been stupid enough to come out in the dark without bringing at least a source of light. All the while her devil eyes glinted with an unnatural light, not different than those of the beings that inhabited this realm of nightmares, and her ears swung from a side to another, as they kept track of their mysterious pursuer.

"Teasing me, huh? Is that kind of thing even needed?" The vixen's expression seemed to say.

Paraanon Ravine.

Mayor Parker had said that strange activity was occurring in this very place, though he failed to mention exactly what that entailed. For now the place howled with the movement of the wind, a cold gust that sought to crawl up the spines of mortal and sane men alike. There was a monster laying in wait through the darkness and Akemi was right in stating that light was something that was a must for this hunt.

Scattered remains of those most unfortunate lay everywhere, the pale glimmerings of bones that appeared to be crushed along with stinking and rotted red mush that looked to be human flesh. The ravine itself was wide enough for a battle between whatever awaited them though it was also small enough where the possibility of being surrounded was also a factor. Something sharp and bristling suddenly broke the silence, the sound of flesh being stabbed into and feasted on drawing its owner out into the public.

Just around the corner from what appeared to be a miniature volcano of sorts was a monster. The rocks steeped up and jutted into an opening behind it, smoke softly billowing out of the structure while the creature feasted down below its shadowy arc.

The monster was simple enough, and yet horrendous and considered an abnormality of animals in the real, waking world. A massive spider it seemed, each of its eight legs no appendages, but in fact eight long snake heads, hissing as they were forced to support the massive body of the arachnid. Dozens of open holes covered its furry back and it feasted on what appeared to be a poor, unlucky traveler with a row of several mandibles, teeth clicking and clacking as it gnawed on fresh bones. Finally, it was a dark blue color with gray and red splotches surrounding its frame.

This was perhaps the disturbance Spencer wanted slain.

The creature was a Roushta and was quite large for its size, at least two times as big as a regular member of its species. Its intent was focused on the meal it was so happily indulging in, giving the Hunters a first chance hit. Meanwhile, the lingering presence that Akemi was dutifully tracking down stayed back in the shadows where only the fox woman could see her. Both of them knew it would only interfere if her life was put in danger.

Nothing more and nothing less.

Farther away from them, Alto would find the trail of his fellow Hunters in the form of raven corpses. However, it looked like some of the bodies had gone missing in that short time frame. The same could even be said for the dead woman in the well back in Iredele. Rotting Bone knew all this and shook his head to Roless’ question.

“She’s already reached a point that I cannot see,” he answered before a chuckle escaped his lips. “Best go find the other Hunter staying in the Tavern Roless. Something is coming close.”

And indeed it was, for the temperature around the entirety of Iredele suddenly spiked downwards, bringing the air into almost an unnatural coldness. Of course, the citizens weren’t concerned and merely continued on with their lives. They’d probably continue moving about even if their feet froze off.

Back in the Tavern, Maribel paused in her happy endeavors with Donny and frowned. Yes, something was coming and it wasn’t good. Another monster with ill intents towards the people of this village. Finishing her cup of blood, she looked to Donny now with the expectance of him to do something.

Sinthe shot Akemi a look as she landed, he knew what he did was wrong and expected to be berated by Akemi, or complemented if she were to landed a hit. But she just berated him and when she finished Sinthe didn't get angry but he did speak back." Calm yourself down ! You gotta control yourself, right now your drunk ! I can smell it on you all the way from another relm !" Sinthe told her right after she tried to explain she didn't help the man just to help him and called her self a Samaritan, Sinthe shook his head and kept in the back of the group as they continued. @KoL

When they arrived to the ravine it was pitch black dark, Sinthe couldn't see too far, but he could see anything that could get into his personal space, when Akemi asked if they had a torch Sinthe couldn't provide a torch, but he could make one, he pulled a bandage off his forearm and found a really big stick from the ground, he wrapped the bandage around the stick and took out a small silver like tin he took from the tavern, he opened it and inside were numerous matches. Sinthe struck the match against the side of his boot and it ignited, he pressed the lit match against the makeshift's bandage and the bandage ignited and the fire burned brightly," I got it." Sinthe told her.

Then before he could react the light revealed a giant spider with snake like legs, wait the legs were actually snakes that hissed and had small tongues that stuck out at everyone." Really ? With the snake legs it just makes the monster less scary, honestly I'd rather take just a snake fight." Sinthe spoke aloud, he then noticed that he probably wouldn't be able to fight this one since he's holding the torch and those snakes looked a little poisonous, he also didn't have a weapon like everyone else since he didn't rely on one like they did.

Something else got her, huh? Roless mused, rubbing the back of his neck. Three of the dog humans had also gone missing when he was doing his corpse-collection run, even though it should have been impossible for people to not notice that someone was dragging them away. He didn’t spend any time looking for signs that would indicate where those dead mutts disappeared off to, but…well, he was a Hunter, not a detective or whatever. Storing away his thoughts into the part of the brain reserved for superfluous information, the brunette nodded at the old man’s instructions.

“Don’t catch a cold and die,” he said to the sack of bones. With brisk, ringing steps, he walked out of the Church of the Absolute, back into the dreary, dilapidated town of Iredele. The temperature had dropped significantly, but it was a small mercy that no winds passed. Frost had already began to develop on the opaque windows of a few houses, and yet, most of the civilians chose to continue their routine as if nothing had happened. They shivered and sneezed, but like the perfectly disastrous marionettes they were, they followed the script to a t.

It sorta made Roless want to shoot them in the head and harvest their blood for usage in the near future…but that old man was busy enough as it was. No point in tossing more work in his direction, after all, even if Rotting Bone would have to deal with those deaths eventually.

His long, black coat wrapped tightly around him to ward off the wintery temperatures, Roless grit his teeth to stop them from chattering like a jackhammer, pushing his way into the lukewarm atmosphere of the Winter Wolf Tavern. Few looked in his direction as he arrived, too immersed in either their drinks or the barmaid, and it was only a single individual that stood out in that lifeless crowd.

Well, two individuals.

Maribel, the resident creepy little girl, and a new face that looked sorta like a zombie.

It was really clear who the Hunter was, but, despite that, Roless really couldn’t suppress the urge of kicking at least a little bit of shit up. Taking in a deep breath, he called out loudly, hands pressed to the sides of his mouth, “Good morning meatsacks! Which one of you is a Hunter?!”

In retrospect, he realized that the Hunter the priest had been referring to was probably a new arrival, and that he’d probably have to do babysitting for the poor sod.

Welp, probably just payment for the monster blood.

Oh… of course… I… have a… HOW IN THE SEVEN HELLS DID I FORGET TO BRING A TORCH WITH ME?

Macey was just about to find a way of rather tactfully asking whether any of the troupe just happened to conveniently know fire magic to make up for her idiocity, before Sinthe produced a rather well thought out torch making kit. And now that the hunters could see more than a few fox-leaps ahead of them, they could all get a good look at the absolute beauty in front of them.

Macey’s eyes glittered and danced with the fire light. Yes, she was far more captivated by the giant spider monster than a normal human should have been - in fact, Macey hadn't been brimming with this much enthusiasm at any other sight in this world; much less another human being. Sure, it might have been not such a pretty sight for the poor sod caught between its jaws, but still. The fox woman just saved a raggedy old dying man on the path behind – you win some, you lose some. A unique species like this, in the real world, would have scientists’ minds buzzing from the field all the way to journal publication back round to the…

“Ahem.” She coughed, reining her thoughts back to one place. “Nice to see no one’s just rushing in this time. In that hollow that the volcano’s made, Mrs Spider Queen doesn’t have a lot of space to move around in, so we should keep her there as long as possible during the first attack.” Unlike Sinthe, Macey seemed rather worried about the snake heads. Although they seemed rather occupied with holding up the gogolithic arachnoid mass at the moment, Macey knew that some breeds of snakes could detect infrared radiation, and large bodies of heat. Heat like fires. Macey frowned – and living bodies. So much for the element of surprise, she thought with a groan. Still, with any luck, those snake eyes would be pointing downwards for the most part. Or backwards. Or in any direction that wasn’t towards them.

“Well. I’ve got a gun” Macey said, drawing the shotgun out of the holster again. “And Jenniver has a crossbow. Anyone else with a ranged weapon, we can climb up the rock ledges on either side of Mrs Spider and just rain down fire and brimstone from above, and hope for the best. You know, assuming no one else has a better idea.”


"Also, if it isn't too much to ask - could we please save the face? The spider one that is. I mean, like don't crush it or anything, it looks like it'd make an awesome wall mount. It's just so pretty."

Tatsumi sighed. Akemi was wrong, at least in his opinion. Despite what she said she didn't help the old man for her benefit. After all, what would she get out of helping him? But he decided not to push it. She just wants to look like some kind of cool uncaring badass... so I'll let her. He smiled again, to himself. I know you're a good person Akemi. They continued their path to Paraan Ravine, a suprisingly uneventful journey.

The ravine, however, was anything but uneventful. The path ahead was pitch black, and Akemi suggested they should have torches. "You tell us we need torches now? Maybe that should've been something you mentioned earlier, we're not exactly locals." He shook his head. Sinthe, luckily, had the situation covered. Tatsumi nodded in approval at his resourcefulness. With a solution like that this guy must have some kind of survival experience...

The light spread throughout the ravine to reveal... a very ugly monster. Tatsumi was quick to draw his sword, and almost jumped into action until Macey spoke aloud. “Nice to see no one’s just rushing in this time." He quickly halted. "Yes... good thing." He agreed, nodding thoughtfully. Tatsumi was surprised at both Sinthe's seemingly careless attitude towards the monster and Macey's reverance towards it. Are these guys used to stuff like this?! They treat a hideous spider-snake so casually! Tatsumi sighed. He was with a bunch of weirdos.

At the very least he agreed with Macey's plan. The part about attacking it from a range, not saving the creature's face. "That's a good plan Macey. I don't have any ranged attacks, but if it's still alive after our barrage I can go in and try to finish it off."

Alto sprinted through the fog, having just left the town boundary. Considering how late he was, the others were probably at the ravine by now, which normally would've been a two or three hour trip, but Alto was sprinting. Even with his Zweihanders he could sprint fast, much faster than normal hunters, and he could keep it up for a lot longer too.

The temperature dropped suddenly as he ran by a few dead bodies, probably remnants of a battle. The fog was thin enough so that he could identify them, there was one human body pretty badly torn up and a few beast bodies he didn't bother peering at too closely. But his experience as a hunter did tell him something was off.

He felt like there were too little bodies. The beast was weak looking, meaning they probably fought in a large-ish group. The hunting party today was reasonably large, and the ratio of those beasts to one person looked like 3:1 considering the old man.

It doesn't matter, I can't be late, He thought dismissively, I'm the heavy after all.

As a a rule of thumb, almost all hunters wore light armor, used light weapons and were generally light on their feet. But he was capable of using heavy weapons without compromising speed as much as it probably should have so he had the unique advantage of basically being able to go toe to toe with a beast. Although, considering his weapons, it would be toe to toe with one beast, and one beast only at any given time.

I'll need to arrive in... 10 minutes, He thought, I need to pick up the pace.

He sped up his sprint, going even faster than before. The hunters were probably fighting already, he wanted to be there to finish off the thing the mayor said was there. It's not like he didn't think they could handle it, the Half-Demon Akemi was there so he wasn't worried. He kind of just wanted to make a good impression on the new hunters.

I wonder what this beast even is, He thought.

Donny stopped drinking the putrid drinks that he called "Wine" and instead drank a slightly less putrid drink that passed as "Water". It was... Stale and plain, like it's been sitting in a bucket in the sun all day. Not the most pleasant drink but at least it didn't make his stomach churn over and over.

There was a few moments of silence between him and Maribel. Moments of quiet contemplation over what had happened and what was going on. "Alright. Reality check: My name is Donny Lee Yang. I... I had a family, before I left them. I know that much. Let's see... I think... I think I worked on machines. Machines. Maaaaachines. Or rather just metal stuff? I don't really remember what I made before if anything at all... I remember gears and springs. Lockets. These skills might be useful. I remember what else... Darts. Bottles, balls, I threw things a lot. Hmm. I wonder where I learned those skills from. And these," Donny looked at his waist to see the axe, dagger, and rope. "I chose these for a reason. The rope is familiar to me; I used it a lot. The knife's a knife and does what a knife does. As for the axe... Hmm. I guess I'm just partial to it. But what does this mean? Was I some sort of... Woodsman? An inventor? And how would I end up here?"

Sipping his water Donny felt a chill come into the tavern. He wrapped his coat tighter around his body. He noticed Maribel looking at him, as if she expected him to do something. At first Donny wasn't sure why she was looking at him and smiled at her. But quickly he realized that if Maribel was looking at him so expectantly, something was about to go down. Sure enough shortly after he smiled at her a new person came in.

“Good morning meatsacks! Which one of you is a Hunter?!”

Donny looked at the fellow. He could easily see his armament; a large pistol, some sort of gatling gun, and a folding spear. He seemed like more the hunter then Donny, and if he had to guess he was likely one of the local inhabitants. Still, Donny didn't answer the boisterous fellow. As far as Donny knew, he wasn't a hunter. Just a stranger. A nobody. "Morning? It's the dead of night." Donny stood up and stretched his body out. Once he was nice and limber Donny flicked his wrist, and his axe was in hand. "Ah well. Got a feeling that something exciting is about to happen. And I wanted to axe some questions anyways." This was going to be a long night.

The sound of feasting flesh and crunching bones would soon die down to a halt as the Roushta’s snake-like limbs would pause in their task just briefly. Two of them from the spider’s midsection coiled up and inspected the air, sensing the heat signatures of the group of Hunters as well as the torch Sinthe was carrying around. It seemed that Macey’s predication would become reality as the other serpents began hissing out loudly to alert the spider of more prey.

Thankfully though, the hulking arachnid let out a whirring screech that made the snakes docile once more. It would pursue these newcomers only after it had finished this meal. This symbiotic relationship between the two seemingly different creatures was enough to buy the Hunters some time in striking first and developing their plan. But they had best act soon because the Roushta was consuming twice as fast now, its instinct to taste fresh meat overriding all other senses.

Back in White Wolf Tavern, Maribel rolled her eyes and sighed loudly at Donny’s lame pun. Really, could he be any more immature? Still, the rising chill in the surrounding area was a cause for concern. The cold didn’t affect her but she still stayed close to Donny’s side, knowing that something was coming.

Despite her many travels, there were still numerous monsters and nightmares that she had yet to encounter. On this occasion, she had felt the oncoming chill before but only once. She frowned in thought, trying to remember where she had experienced this phenomenon and what had caused it.

Her pondering would have to be put on hold however, as a shrill scratching sound echoed from the ceiling, along with several large and loud bumps. Casting her eyes up to the noise, she motioned for Donny and Roless to follow her outside to the front of the Tavern.

Whatever sought to plague Iredele now was lying in wait on the rooftop.

Roless laughed at Donny’s pun, not because of whether or not it was actually funny, but because it gave him a reason to make lots of noise and piss off all the townspeople trying to be grungy and edgy and sad. He almost didn’t catch the pun, until Maribel reacted so melodramatically about it. For something that was supposed to be a little girl, she really sucked at acting the part. As something on the roof made noise, the brown-haired hunter brought out his Hammer, the heavy weight of the flintlock pistol a welcome sensation. Whatever was up there, it was at least going to be obvious about its approach.

“Guess you’ll have to axe your questions later, kiddo. Go on ahead. I’ll cover you.”

Well, that wouldn’t really discount the possibility of the punny youth from getting snatched up by the monster’s appendages the moment he passed the doorway, but life was hard like that.

Sinthe saw that nobody was getting off their asses to do something, Sinthe stabbed the large stick into the ground and cracked his knuckles." We can't just stand around gawking at the damn thing, we gotta attack." The tall stoic like man broke off into a running start towards the large monster with snake like legs, he still found the giant creature ridiculous in his opinion, when he got close to the the monster, he leaped onto one of the snake arms and began to climb up the monster's arm heading for it's head to attack it.

Macey watched on tentatively as the spider hushed two of it’s snakey heads, treating them like misbehaving children. Okay, so they clearly don’t share the same mind… that’s good. That’s very good. Life just got easier.

Just as she was wondering whether her plan would actually work in reality (after all, how many times one had to slay a giant spider snake daily?) Macey noticed Sinthe whiz straight past her, and right onto the monster. He had guts – Macey had to admit that.


“Oh you absolute... Genius! Sinthe, that’s actually a brilliant idea!... Is what I would be saying, if you had brought the torch with you.” Macey uprooted the branch from the ground and hurled it towards Sinthe – from it’s higher vantage point, the orange flame seemed to glare even more angrily, illuminating the monster in its full glory.

“If there’s a giant fire blazing right on top of the spider blocking out the other heat signatures, those heat tracking snakes won’t have a clue where we are. We’ll just attack from the shadows and bring it down.” Macey couldn’t quite bring herself to admit that actually lighting the spider on fire might work much more effectively – she still wanted to salvage its face. But what the fire had also done, was reveal the spider’s pattern of holes and dents along its back. Macey had no clue what they might be for, but she assumed it to be a weapon of some sort. These thoughts were quickly pushed to the back of her mind, as she sprinted up the miniature hills that arced on each side of the spider.

A few shots sniped a serpentine head through its skull, and another through its neck. The snake closer to Macey with the neck wound staggered for a moment, while the head shot stayed completely still, suspended in the air. “Shoot the snakes, Mrs Spider Queen won’t be able to stand. Or attack. Or defend. Easy hunt, we get paid, Leo recognises what an amazing hunter he’s left behind, and we’re one step closer to finding clues about this strange world.”

"Ah come on now my angel, it's already chilly! Don't give me a cold shoulder now!" Donny continued joking around despite the growing fear in his stomach. His first monster, and while he had this other hunter fellow watching his back, who knows what's going to happen? Still, Donny stepped out of the tavern and into the darkness. He knew whatever was here was on the roof top, and at some point he was going to need to be up there. Even if the beast would have moved by them better for him to get the higher ground right?

Once outside Donny turned to face the creature, ready to move out of the way if it attacked. He had his axe held in front of him to slash or deflect, while his other hand crept near the handle of his knife. For some reason, dual wielding felt natural to him, though he would continue to keep a free hand for now. Looking over at Roless, Donny remembered that he hadn't introduced himself.

"Knife to meet you by the way. Name's Donny. Now what the hell is that?!"

The snakes were beginning to notice their group, and Tatsumi knew they had to get moving. Sinthe went first, without consent.. Tatsumi sighed as the foolhardy man rushed in. We had a plan... at least I'm not the one rushing in this time. Either way Tatsumi knew he had to back him up. He freed his sword from its sheath, running after Sinthe. "Right behind you Sinthe!" Tatsumi called out reassuringly.

As he was closing the distance between himself and the monster Tatsumi decided to make and effort to replicate the strange magic he used before. Still running he raised his hand and focused, forming an image of the desired effect in his head. Just like that a shadowy spear rose from the ground, flying towards the spider creature's cephalothorax. It worked! I must have some sort of control over the shadows in this world... strange.

Meanwhile, as the spear zoomed into the creature's body, Tatsumi reached the hideous snake legs. While Sinthe attempted to climb, Tatsumi decided to try to limit the creature's mobility and senses. He raised his sword and hacked at the nearest snake, attempting to separate it from its 'body'.

Akemi observed as the fight unroll but decided not to interfere directly, instead looking at how the newbie hunters had trouble to deal with a quarry as simple as the Roushta, while blissfully ignoring the real threat. "It's a trap!" she almost wanted to shout when Sinthe jumped into the maw of beast willingly, but if he couldn't survive what was to come, what use would he have in the World of Wasted Dreams?

The next one to do a foolish action was Tatsumi, using shadow magic again after so little time. He probably will have a hell of a time when he go to sleep, that's, if he can sleep at all on the next few days. "Why don't you glue a target to your back, instead of using shadow magic over and over?" Akemi asked mockingly, still without getting up from her impromptu bench.

But, the cake this time went to Macey and her absolutely ecstatic attitude towards the Roushta and her know-it-all way of doing things, forgetting that this isn't the other side. So, whatever knowledge she may still have is as useful as a map was to a blind man, most of the time at least. "What do we have here? Are you getting wet because of thing like this? Ha! And some people still have the gall to call me a bitch. Even though I think it's better to be treated like a breeding animal than to be a psycho that gets off from things like that." Akemi didn't wanted to say half of the crap that came out of her mouth, but it looks like the alcohol was still affecting her very strongly.

Nevertheless, she stuck to the stone while keeping her eyes on the real threat that laid hidden in plain sight and her ears on their mysterious tracker.

Frowning, Maribel was the first to walk outside and turn towards the roof. Yes, the overall feeling was very familiar and slowly coming back to her. The chills were the most notable sign of what was to come, but surely there had to be more? As she narrowed her eyes, scanning the worn rooftop of the White Wolf Tavern, something cold and wet latched onto her ankles. With a cry, she was quickly forced down onto her back, driving the breath out of her. Catching her beatings, she stiffened as two pale arms clutched her closely, dragging her underneath the Tavern's floors.

Either the creature was fast or it used the roof as a distraction. Despite Maribel's words of the monsters avoiding her, that still didn't make the unfortunate experiences of being mistaken as a villager any less traumatizing and horrific. With a scream, she twisted around and desperately tried to claw herself away from her attacker.

"What?!" Donny saw Maribel get taken down. Two arms, vaguely humanoid, seemed to be trying to drag her under. Donny did grab his knife, but only so he had a weapon as he hurled his axe at one of the arms. "Unhand her!" He may miss, but he at least aimed it in such a way that it wouldn't hit Maribel. With any luck she may even be able to get his axe and use it herself. Donny moved forward to try to save her, but kept his eyes out above and below himself. One of those hands could try to grab him from any direction.

The axe caught onto white flesh, the blade sticking in and causing a wound to surface. But no blood wept from the crevices of this lesion. Only oily, black fluids rose up to the skin's surface. The arm let go for a mere moment and Maribel kicked it away from her. She couldn't do much about the axe but she had enough room now to completely twist her body, reaching out for Donny to pull her out.

Oh, Maribel went first and got herself snatched. That was stupid.

Oh, Donny threw his axe for a pun. That was silly.

Oh, those arm things didn't actually bleed blood. That was disappointing.

All those cringe-worthy events passed in such rapid succession that Roless considered just leaving this monster hunt to the new guy and the creeper girl...but as it was, Rotting Bones would probably throw up a hissy fit about it or something. Gritting his teeth as a blast of cold wind sent shivers up his spine, the hunter drew out his Hammer, aimed at the bone-white arm that had an axe as a flag, and shot out a regular musket ball, a plume of smoke and sparks jetting out of the black-iron barrel. If things went well, the arm would just get blasted off.

And if things went perfectly, the axe would magically ricochet back into Punman's hands.

Roless' plan would bear fruit as the musket ball made immediate contact with the arm, the limb sagging at once as it was blown off completely. The resounding impact loosened its other grip just enough for Maribel to wriggle out, getting to her feet and running beside Donny. The axe that had embedded itself in the creature's flesh now flung back to them, black liquid dripping off its blade.

Donny was going to reach out and grab Maribel when his axe nearly flew into his face. Fortunately he got hit by the handle only, and it bounced mostly harmlessly off his chest, though it likely left a bruise. Still he caught it before it dropped and put it into his axe sheath. Seeing the arm lying slack on the ground Donny couldn't help but quip. "Alright! We disarmed it."

The two Hunters were met finally with the creature's cry. It sounded like a hard cracking sound, as if the wood of the Tavern was groaning in protest and being overturned by strong metal. Whatever was there scurried out from the other side in a scuffle of feet, crawling out of from under the Tavern and lying in wait on the side of the building.

Hearing the noise all around the tavern Donny was getting the feeling that there was more than one monster. Being on the ground floor would be risky; it could come back and pull them all under. They needed to get to high ground.

As the monster slid away, its severed arm still flopping around aimlessly like a dissected frog, Roless flicked out his spear and poked it a few more times from a safe distance. Yup, definitely not blood.

"Well then, since we have the time and all..." the hunter began, opening up his long coat, "Wanna get some injections before facing the snatcher-thing?"

He opened up one side of his dark leather coat, revealing rows of syringes strapped to the sides, full of a viscous red liquid. "I'll give you a trial run for free, though anything after that is going to cost a bit, kay?"
Looking at Roless, Donny was initially hesitant. But after putting his knife into his sheath he smirked and offered his hand. "Alright, lay it on me. Just take one of those and stick it inton my neck or something?"

"Don't," she warned Donny, glancing at the syringes and already knowing their contents. "Or at the very least, just know that there are consequences to using magic in this place, especially blood magic. But hey, it's your life. Don't let me stop you from fighting that thing. It's called a Vexture by the way. It's supposed to be a ghoul that steals children. That's why it went after me."

Looking between Roless and Maribel, this only made Donny continue to question if he should risk it. He had no idea this place was magical, though he now figured that shouldn't be a surprise. Also whatever they were fighting was a vexture, some sort of creepy zombie that went after little girls. Donny just continued to keep on smiling, taking one of the sygrines from Roless's coat. "Thanks for the tip. But I think I got a shot." Donny tucked the sygrine in one of his pockets. Hopefully it won't shatter if it gets hit. A quick scan around the room allowed him to find a stair case, then he took Maribel's hand. "If that thing is after you then you're coming with me. This way when it decides to try it again, I'll be there to introduce myself."

"H-Hey! What do you think you're doing? I already told you the monsters don't bother me," Maribel protested as she was half-pulled, half-dragged by Donny. "The moment it smells me, it'll leave me alone. There's no need to try and impress me. Or are you trying to show off in front of Roless?"

"Well, humans enjoy odd smells, and hey, maybe that particular monster has that sort of fetish as well, Maribel~"

Holstering his Hammer and bringing out the Rain, the hunter internally laughed at the puppy romance that was developing between the two, before walking back into the Tavern. It was a shame that he'd be losing a chunk of money out of his, but, well, he'll make up for it in the future. Fucking shitty non-bleeding Vexture shit.

"Once you two are done flirting, go listen to the sound of my greeting, kay? I'm fairly certain that at least a few of my love taps will hit the thing, Punman."

"Ha ha! Well no, it's a bit more selfish then that. You're my guardian angel after all, I don't think I'll last more then a minute without you. And I certainly know that if you weren't there, I wouldn't be fighting this thing at all. Now come on, you could at least come and watch me get my butt handed to me."

"Glad to see you're focused too Roless."

Maribel glared at the Hunter, the statements of both men grating just a little more than she had liked on her nerves. She ignored Donny's remarks about the guardian angel thing again and followed up the flight of stairs into what appeared to be the Tavern attic. The area that greeted them was dark and dusty, the temperature dropping even more compared to the air down below.

Once more, Maribel seemed unaffected by the cold though she did become worried. Darkness was the natural environment for most monsters, a Vexture included. The sound of loud pitterting and pattering filled their ears, the sensation that the thing was literally just inches away from their faces becoming all the more potent.

It was a good thing he did bring Maribel, cause this attic was creepy. Pitch black and smelled of mold. "Do these people have a natural night vision or something? Damn, get some candles or something..." Tightening his jacket Donny took out his rope and knife. He wrapped the rope around his arm first, turning it into a makeshift gauntlet for punching and blocking. The knife was to stab anything that came out at him. "Alright... The hunt is on!"

"Most of the time they don't care what happens in the dark corners," Maribel answered, her eyes adjusting faster to the blackness. She looked around for the...there it was! It was fast and heading right for Donny. Before she could call out, it pounced on the Hunter and pinned him to the ground roughly. It peered into his face and let out an unnatural sound, the wooden clacking from before.

It looked like something straight out of an Eastern horror flick. Pale skin latched onto equally devoid clothing that clung onto its bony frame while black hair swayed all around its head in long strands, ending in dark pools. It had no pupils, no eyes with which to read its motions, only dark holes staring back into Donny while its mouth was agape in a soundless wail. A single eye blinked from within the grip of its lips, staring back with a red rimmed pupil.

This was but the upper half of its body, for the lower half...ended in much of the same thing; the same arms, the same ugly face with long dark hair. It was as if someone or something had cut off the top portions of two female corpses and sewed them back together, leaving them to reign unholy terror throughout the land.

This was a Vexture.

A heavy thump above him made it clear to the Hunter that the child-snatching Vexture had outmaneuvered them, making the flanking maneuver useless by preemptively meeting one of them head-first. Turning around and running up the same stairs that Donny and Maribel had gone up on, the cold chills could be felt once more, a clear indication that the monster simply climbed up the side of the Tavern and opened a window to get in. It was too dark to see properly, but at the very least, the sounds from before made it clear what had occurred.

The gatling was replaced with the spear, extending outwards to its maximum length of seven feet, before he thrust out with it as he crouched. Hopefully, it wouldn't hit Donny.

Then again, he DID need some more human blood...

The monster knocked Donny to the ground, but before he raised his roped-up arm between them. This allowed a bit of breathing space for Donny as he quickly analyzed the situation. Seeing one of the hands next to him, Donny was able to take his knife and stab it through the monster's hand, pinning it to the floor. But that wasn't all.

With his now free hand he was going to show off his rope use. Grabbing a trailing end of the rope that made up his rope gauntlet, he was able to tie a noose around the monster's neck. Fortunately, right before Roless took a stab, as it would have almost pierced Donny's arm. "Now then... HANDS OFF!" Donny pushed against the Vexture as hard as he could from his position, holding onto one end of the rope that was around it's neck.

"I swear, if I have to hear one more stupid pun," Maribel muttered, backing away from the bucking creature. The Vexture raised its hands to the rope lashing its throat, black bile spitting and hissing out of its two empty eye sockets. But the other half was free to move around and it grabbed Donny's ankle with its single arm from its position on the bottom.

Clacking, it began to climb upward on his body like an enraged insect, dragging his hand away from the rope holding its other head. Free, the creature coiled around him with its two upper halves, bringing all three arms to lock around his own throat in the attempt to kill him in the same method.

As for the knife, it still remained pinned to the floor but now soaked in the sickening black fluid. It seemed that the Vexture had forced its hand through the blade and handle of the knife in its rage against Donny.

The spear hit something solid, and there was no terrible human scream that followed after, so...a shame, that. Holding the spear and using it as a mark for where the monster would likely be, Roless tucked the shaft of the pole arm under his arm, holding it to his side as the Vexture thrashed about. With his free hand, he drew out the Hammer once more, lining it up parallel to the spear.

"Hey, Donny, stay down!"

An incision appeared in Roless's right wrist, threads of blood coiling up into the gun and weaving itself into a bullet within. A burning sensation ran up his arm, gunpowder mixing with magic within the barrel, before the Hunter couldn't resist the temptation of shooting off another one liner.

"Shoulda taken dem drugs as well, eh?"

With that, he pressed the trigger and the flintlock pistol roared out thunderously, a bullet of blood following the path prescribed by the spear.

"Gaaah!"

Was about all he could say as he was being choked by the Vexture. He struggled to loose it's grip on him with his free hand, though the monster was putting it's whole weight on his neck. Fortunately for Donny, Roless shot the damn beast, giving Donny the chance to buck it off and grab the rope. Now it was time to turn the tables.

The blood laced bullet ripped through the creature, blasting the two halves away from each other at once. Now they once whole creature was nothing more than two, twisted scavengers, hissing around in the dark. Black fluid leaked in goblets at the torn intersections of their torsos but that only impeded their hunger slightly. These Hunters were more than the once single Vexture could handle so now they focused on snatching their prey and retreating.

Scrambling back onto his feet Donny wrapped the rope around his arm again to ensure a tight grip. He picked up his knife from the ground and held onto it, facing the blade towards the Vexture.

One of them, the one with a single arm, leapt on the wall and circled above Donny, daring him to try and attack. The other snaked away with unmatched speed, climbing the sides of the attic's walls and leaping onto Maribel, holding her down. It clacked right in her face, dipping down and searching with gaping eyes. She clenched her teeth and turned away as it sniffed her with the intent of feasting...only to express displeasure in its garbled tones.

"Get over here!"

One of the Vextures tried to lunge at Maribel only to flee, but failed to remember the noose around it's neck. Donny jerked it towards him with as much force as he could muster. It was a bit of a struggle, but he knew where it was at least. And that's all he needed to know. Quickly sheathing his knife Donny moved towards the Vexture. t was a power struggle between him and the monster, and despite essentially being half a corpse, it was damn strong. But Donny wasn't going to let up.

Finally, the monster slithered off of the girl, clacking furiously at her while she recovered to her feet, stumbling backwards. It seems she was right in that the monsters of this world didn't want her. With no food in sight for the Vexture, it made a last ditch effort to scramble to the window for an escape. Its partner on the ceiling dropped down, this time over Roless and clung on, pummeling him with a closed fist and reaching around to strangle him.

Oh...it was two halves of a whole.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Roless only then realized that the Vexture was two similar beings sewn together and that, yes, they were really fast. Trying to gain some distance before the beast smashed into him from above, the Hunter pulled back his spear, the shaft folding onto itself to turn it into something closer to that of a machete. It would have been great if he had actually managed to do something with it, but the punch that followed its descent was strong enough that his ribs made a distinctive crack.

The wind was knocked out of him, and a crushing feeling encompassed his lungs, but even then, Roless brought up his Hammer, pointing it at the Vexture's arm. This piece of shit was really wasting too much of his money, and if his syringes broke as well...

[i]Shoulda just gatling'd the corridor,[i] he thought, before shooting a bullet into its elbow crook..

White matter assumed to be splintered flesh and bone spread out in a messy manner, the shot of Roless' gun crippling the creature even more. As it coiled out in harsh agony on the floor beneath him, the black liquid that had accompanied it seeped out in a manner similar to blood.

"Fraggin' monster! I'm more than half the man you'll ever be!" Donny was slowly beginning to close to distance between him and the monster, as he slowed its escape by trying to brace his feet against the ground. But despite the injuries and the fact it could only use it's arms to move, it was dragging Donny across the room. He could tell it was making a run for the window, but it'll never make it far.

The Vexture did managed to reach the window and tried to jump out, only for it to be snatched in the air. It still had the noose around its neck and now was being hung, yet still struggled. Likely because it was a vile monster, but Donny was going to put an end to that soon. When he hit the window he pressed his body against the wall so that he could pull the rope and drag body towards the window, but not quite back into the room. No, he just need enough space to see it's head and take out his axe.

"Trying to get away from me huh!? Well I'm way A HEAD of you!" With a mighty swing Donny slashed his axe right at the monster's cranium. Not quite a decapitation as much as he was trying to bury his axe into it's skull, but a kill strike nonetheless.

In one swift strike, the creature struggled no more. A plop down below indicated that at least something was cut off from Donny's attempt. The axe was still buried deep into the skull as bits of its head flaked off into the darkness below.

Ah, that was fun. It was the sort of painful fun that accompanied every hunt, and it sorta sucked that every breath brought a sharp sting to his chest, but...it was worth it~ It was oh so wonderfully deliciously worth it!

As Donny struggled, Roless played, the flesh and the blood mixing into a slimy mixture as more and more thumps could be heard in the background. His arms were tired from it, but his smile never ceased as he made an up and down motion, each impact becoming messier and wetter. And by the time his fellow hunter finished his kill, there was nothing left to smash into bits. Tentatively, Roless licked his wet fingers.

It wasn't blood, but at the same time...it was much, much, much more valuable than that!

Roless' prey didn't bother to struggle after the first shot, and all he would be beating was a sobbing, wet corpse. Maribel watched on in obvious disdain, sighing at the sheer mess he was messing.

"Are you getting off on all of this?"

"Black gold? My my, Maribel, you wouldn't happen to know where to find more of these things, would you? And of course! It's like playing with putty, after you get to a certain point!"

"There's no use in trying to harvest that here. You should know that Roless," the girl answered. Oil was scarce, sure, but it was either tainted and ripe with other things best unmentioned. Overall, it didn't quite fetch the price one would expect back in the other world.

Donny returned to the others, wiping himself down using a bit of his cloth he stole from one of the rooms. He noticed Roless beating the head of one of the monsters which would have earned a quip from Donny, but he was a bit tired from the fight. Seeing that the hunter was fine Donny went up to Maribel, offering her his hand and a clean cloth. "You alright my angel?"

"Will you quit calling me that? I am not your angel," Maribel repeated tersely, though she did accept the clean cloth. She noted the spots where the black oil had gotten on her clothes and gently wiped them away. There was no guarantee those stains would come out soon but at least it was better than nothing.

The area around them seemed to grow in temperature too as the slain monsters no longer had influence now. The air was back to a moderate flow of warmth, though the wind still blew on this night.

"Well now. You've had your first taste of a hunt Donny. Anything to say?"

"Not a taste until you take a bite~"

"Haaa. My first taste? A bit tough."

Maribel resisted the urge to face palm, already heading back down to the Tavern.

"Ah c'mon angel, lighten up! Jeez, this place is too dark to be so moody."

Just as Sinthe made it up to the spider's body he was thrown his makeshift torch, he caught it, and listened to Macey give him a lecture about spiders and snakes that he didn't feel he need to listen to, he did focus on the whole use the torch to blind the snakes by putting the torch into the spider's back. Sinthe did just as she told him, he ripped out a handful of it's bristles, having his hand wraps saving his hands from being badly bruised or injured, Sinthe made a hole and stabbed the torch into it.

Sinthe then noticed Tatsumi using his shadow magic again, while he used it Akemi berated him, Sinthe then noticed that Akemi was just sitting on the sideline yelling at everyone as if she was watching a fight in an arena. Sinthe got a running start and leaped off large spider with snake legs and landed rolling on the ground and stopping him self in front of Akemi.

" You need to sober up, or at least point us in the right direction, because we're not like you, this is our first time here and we don't know what anything is, you have to give us help. And if not them tell me." Sinthe told her sounding angry." If not that then don't just sit around and wait to sober up, at least fight or give aid the best you can."

The tall man looked back to the monster spider and sighed thinking that he just figured it out." That's not the thing we came here to fight is it ? We're just attacking the wrong thing. This spider is just a creature we saw and just attacked feeling jumpy." Sinthe said to her expecting an answer.

The Roushta reacted almost instantly as Sinthe leaped upon its back. Its meal forgotten, it hissed out and spun around in the attempt to buck him off. Now that the Hunters had taken the initiative to strike first and ruin its feast, it would insure these humans die with its fangs between their throats. The spider smashed itself against the walls of the ravine, wanting to knock Sinthe down and consume him first.

Its focus on Sinthe only increased as the Hunter caught his airborne torch. Now with the flames billowing above it, the snakes lashed out in confusion, the heat signatures of the other Hunters blinded from their sight. That wasn’t enough to deter the monster however, as it turned around and pinpointed eight beady eyes devoid of all light right at Macey and Tatsumi.

Then the creature began to stagger, as one by one the snakes supporting it were taken out by Macey’s shots and Tatsumi’s sword strikes. The shadowy spears formed by the Hunter pierced through its furry hide but did not sink into flesh. Rather, it stuck out like a malformed pincushion, only making the creature angrier. As the battle raged on, Akemi would feel the presence watching them shift in irritation. These idiots were going to get themselves killed alright but it wasn’t their problem in the end. As long as Akemi was safe, none of this was their fight to handle. The mysterious watcher’s presence grew even more annoyed at the group’s methods with Sinthe’s actions.

First he went about plucking out the bristles of the spider with his wrapped hands. The hairs were coated in solidified black tar and stuck to his skin regardless like plastered glue. No effects were noted so far but an experienced Hunter knew better than that. Second was the way how he talked to Akemi, as if he knew everything, as if he knew a fraction of what lay in this twisted world. No matter. The mysterious watcher would enjoy seeing his downfall by his own calculation.

And if not? Then he would die by their hand.

Those thoughts and more were halted though as the sound of forced squealing rang out. The spider was in pain and in fear as the ground beneath it seemed to have collapsed on itself. No…No, it was more like the ground rose up to clench the Roushta into a hardened cage. Whether Macey would choose to leap away from the spider’s body had left to be seen but the Roushta was soon lifted high into the air by what appeared to be the ground itself. It carried the spluttering spider over to the massive volcanic formation nearby and dropped it, the monster plummeting to its death.

---

The Monolith

The world shook. Rocks collapsed into each other as the ravine seemed to get that much more narrow. Something buried, ancient, and huge was unearthing itself from the ground up, rising out to meet the outside world. What appeared to the Hunters was a massive creature that towered to the very top of the ravine. It was impossibly black in coloration, its body being made of the very environment as something resembling molten core pulsed beneath it, almost as if the rocks were armor and the lava rock was flesh.

Four pillars of stone held it up high, acting like legs while a long, stream of boulders swung around the end of its body like a tail. The upper half turned upwards in a sharp manner, highlighting the torso as being composited of many rocks while its arms were made of stone, ending in three prongs.

At last was its head, or lack of it. Indeed, the volcano from before ended in nothing, acting as a throat and neck with nothing attached to form a head. Large buffets of smoke and ash plumed out of the crevice like a chimney before a large groaning sound was heard. Smoke became mixed in with blood as a splatter of red erupted from the creature’s “neck”, spraying the earth below. This was all that remained of the spider; a red mush that matched the other stains on the ravine floor.

It seemed Macey wouldn’t be getting her samples after all.

Akemi had a pinky stuck inside one of her ears as Synthe berated her, screaming like an enraged Grenshaw. She waited until he had finished with his screaming before speaking "For the Absolute's sake, stop that. You're giving me a headache." When he asked if the Roushta was their real target, she said "And you only ask me that after jumping at the first monster you see on the path? Now the only thing you can do is take it down, before the MVP shows itself."

She still watched as they attacked the spider, while playing with a few bottles of incendiary liquid, at least until the Monolith started to wake up "Well, it seems that you won't be getting your little toys, Spider Girl. But don't worry, maybe that bird man can still help you get off, hahaha!"

Once the monster had fully emerged, Akemi got of off the rock and uncovered her face displaying a sharp, predatory smile to the newbie hunters "Well, it seems the main dish is finally here. Who want's to be the first to take a bite?" as she said that, the vixen drenched her scimitar in the burning liquid she carried and used a spell to make it become red hot. At first it would seem futile to used a burning weapon against a lava monster, but Akemi knew all too well that if she used a normal blade it would get stuck on the creature's molten core after it melted, but her blade coated in fire magic was immune to this effect, she would let the other hunters discover this on their own, though.

"Oh, and you might want to stay put just for once," Akemi said to Sinthe "unless you want your hands to be burned to the bones, that is."

Once she said that, Akemi dashed to the creature with uncanny speed, dropping her drunk facade and giving it a swift slash at the back of its knee "Attack the joints, they're its weak spot." She shouted to the other hunters.

Sinthe didn't want to but he stayed out of the conflict this time around, he leaned in the same spot that Akemi was loitering in. Unlike the others Sinthe didn't have a weapon like everyone else, he chose to only use his fist against creatures the in this land, he crossed his arms and stood back while the people with weapons took over and used their weapons to take down the new challenger that was trying to kill them, Sinthe felt mad that Akemi didn't try to tell them mid way through or before they got there about their target.