@ImportantNobody

Deep within a forest and far from the prying eyes of the average man; a storm was raging. It's clouds were as black as night and held lightning the likes of which had never been seen. It's color was as red and dark as freshly spilled blood and hundreds of thin bolts danced along the surface of the clouds. Each was created upon the outer edge of the clouds and they all arced further into the storm. With each day that passed the clouds stretched further while the arcs of lightning got thicker and more visible.

It would grow in this method until it's thick black clouds stretched from one end of the forest to the other. It caused a drastic change in all life of the forest. It was only at this point that someone from the local village took notice: a lumberjack out to make a haul. A man standing around 6 foot high with a slightly tanned face and a large muscular build for tearing down trees.

The man had been felling trunks a mile north of the phenomenon. With three mighty blows he tore through a trunk that was 2 men thick .

“Ti-imbe-e-r-r!” his deep voice boomed just before the tree cried out with a sharp *snap*. As his wrists flung the axe up on to his shoulder, his head rocked backwards to allow him to watch the trees canopy, emerald green eyes glistening in the sun. It was important to enjoy the little things in life. For the lumberjack it was watching the leaves and branches twist and heave as they fell. Sometimes creating a brief but beautiful symphony of cracks and snaps. It was as the canopy tore through the air and exposed the scenery that the man saw his first glimpse of the dark storm.

The sight left him awe struck for a few moments. The streaks of red which lit up the dark clouds were enticing in a subtle way. Showing the way to something greater and also beckoning him forward. In just a few seconds he did exactly that and set on towards the storm and the shadows it casted on the forest.

As he drew nearer it became more apparent that most of the darkness in the clouds shadows was simply the forest itself. All plant life in the area had begun to turn a sickly black color. Even the grass was black as night and it crumbled to dust with each step the man took upon it. The trees had lost their leaves and had turned an ashen grey, not yet dead buy certainly dying. Concern and curiosity fought for supremacy within his mind, but still he continued further into the forest.

Above him the energy was beginning to grow more frantic, creating more arcs than before that grew not only in frequency and intensity. As more time passed by and the energy became more vibrant the man found it harder and harder to look away until he was simply looking to the sky as he walked. Guided with an unseen hand through the forest towards a clearing on the woods. The center of which held a large lake filled with what would appear to be extremely dirty water. It was only upon reaching this clearing that the mans mind was partially released, allowing him to look away from clouds and onto the clearing and the lake. Confusion danced across his face for a moment, for in his mind the scenery had simply changed out of nowhere. The powers that be in this place would not allow his mind to wander very far though and so yet another distraction was thrown into the mix.

Upon the bank of the strange lake a small burst of red sparks lit up the darkness for a brief moment, grasping the mans attention immediately. As they dimmed away and fell to the earth yet another show of red light came about, a tiny set of twin lights no bigger than the tip of a needle that danced and twirled around one another just above the dirt. As they spun they released a shower of sparks onto the ground which sparked some growth within the soil as a small, pitch black plant stem broke through.

The man began to take small steps towards the light show just as the tiny orbs began to rise into the air, the black stem stretching up in unison. Both the lights and the stem would rise up to around the mans knee height before stopping, allowing the orbs to expand their rotations. In that same moment the orbs began to dim in brightness as the amount of sparks they created increased dramatically. The black stem split thinly at the top with a light shower of sparks, allowing 3 additional stems to curl away from the tip and drop lightly towards the earth.

At the very tips of these hanging stems gathered the sparks of the now faded light orbs and with just a few pulsations they took form. The light on these stems faded with time as well to expose a plump red plant bulb whose folds glistened with a red light hanging from the stems. The beautiful sight painted a soft and stupid smile upon the lumberjacks face as he dropped to his knees with outstretched arms. The tip of his finger had barely grazed the surface of the nearest bud when all three blossomed in unison and with strange force. With their forceful opening they released a hazy red cloud of toxic spores that would hit the lumberjack square in the face and send him reeling. A howl of both pain and surprise echoing into the darkness as he hit his rear, scrambling backwards away from the lake and the plant.

Upon impact the spores would infect the body and cause instant sensory hallucinations, which is why the man howled as he did. To him, that simple burst of air felt as though it had torn straight to the bone of his jaw and on top of this there was a bright red flash as the spores touched his eyes. Frantic pawing and a copious amount of fear filled tears made cleaning his eyes relatively easy and allowed him to get his bearings.

While he had not thrashed about he strangely enough, was no longer facing towards the plant or the lake but rather away from it and towards the forest. Quick as a whip the man turned 180 degrees to face the lake and plant again. A deep sense of Dread welled up within his chest as he stood and stared the plant down, a cold sweat dripping down his brow. From inconceivable place a deep and throaty chuckled endlessly, standing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end.

Deep inside his mind a voice was screaming, urging him to turn and run but this voice was silenced by an undying curiosity. This time a curiosity to see exactly what it was that was starting to bubble beneath the surface of the dark lake. From the murky water a single pitch black tentacle stretched towards the sky until it towered high above the man. Whose eyes were glued to what was going on.

When it reached around 12 feet high the tentacle finally stopped growing but it began to make an ungodly noise. As though a large creature was heaving and readying to spew vomit. With each heave the tentacle would quiver, eventually making a small orb appear at its base. With each heave that would follow the orb would rise higher and higher until with an audible *pop* it reached the top; at which point the tentacle would spring into movement once again.

The strange tentacle fell back and downwards towards the surface of the lake in an almost free fall like state. Curling itself at the last second so that it shot through the air just above the water with such speed it rippled the water behind it without ever making contact. It moved at this incredible speed towards the bank the man stood upon, angling at the last moment so that it was now headed towards his face. A sinking feeling entered the mans stomach as he was overwhelmed with fear but found himself unable to move other even close his eyes as it closed in on him.

A quiet gasp slipped from his lips; the tentacle stopped only an inch from his nose. Again the voice inside him screamed to run and again it was smothered by sickening curiosity as the mass began to heave once again. Almost out of nowhere a slit began to appear on the surface of the mass. A slit through which long and thick strands of matted black hair began to protrude, more and more falling through as the tentacle heaved.

With more and more being exposed it wasn’t long before patches of lightly tanned skin began to come through. A severe chill ran through the mans spine as everything came to a rest, his jaw dropping open in a silent scream. Staring back at him was the severed and mangled head of a man with emerald green eyes whose days of glistening were far behind him. For the lumberjack, it was the very same face he saw staring back at him from his looking glass every morning.

Adrenaline began to flood through the mans body, bringing about a light tingling across his body showing that things were coming back online. Even now his scream was beginning to come through piercing and loud. But, it wasn’t from his mouth. The muscles of the face staring back at him had not moved an inch, yet through its slightly open mouth came a terrified and ear splitting yell. Horrified as he was the man tried harder still to scream and still his voice was stolen from him.

Just as he thought it could get no worse, the once distant eyes and relaxed muscles of the face began to distort and change. A look of intense ferocity crept over the once dead face as its gaze locked with the lumberjack, its once terrified scream twisting and distorting until it became a beat like roar with its mouth still hanging open.

In one quick movement the doppelgangers face closed the tiny sliver of distance which remained between itself and the lumberjack. Going so far as to graze the tip of its nose with his own so as to inspire the most amount of fear possible; with great success. The lumberjacks voice was his own once again and it came out in a shrill yipe as he spun on his heels, turning away from the tentacle and the lake and starting on a dead run.

The moment he turned from the creature he felt a brief moment of peace at not having to see it anymore and he seized it. Putting his feet to the ground with as much force as he ever had before, hell bent on never seeing this place ever again. However the man only felt the glorious thud of freedom beneath his feet for three steps when it was suddenly ripped out from beneath his feet. Almost to literally.

On the 4th step the mans monstrous, adrenaline fueled step met only air as it came down and it sent an icy chill through his entire body before it suddenly met a thick, gooey substance. Just like moments before his vision was suddenly masked by a horrid flash of red light, revealing everything for as it had been all along. Where he had thought that he was running back to the confines of the forest he had infact turned and ran directly into the black lake. While he would never understand it in his last moments, a hallucination had caused him to misread the position of the black lake and caused him to run straight into what he wanted to avoid. What he did understand, was this lake was far from being filled with water.

The black substance was thick as syrup and worse than that it seemed to grasp at his body and yank him down further now matter how hard he struggled. In an effort to scream one last time the man opened his mouth and reached to the sky, only to have the thick substance shove its way down his throat just moments before his vision is covered entirely.

---

All at once his senses clicked off. Darkness, emptiness, nothingness. Visions of horrific, mutated animals clouded his mind. Images of them tearing people and cattle apart again and again. Then just as fast as they left his senses came flooding back. Starting with a sense of cold rigidity against his back and followed quickly by the ear splitting yelling once again. With a loud gasp the man suddenly sat up, blinded by what felt like ridiculously bright streams of light coming in from the familiar surrounding of his bedroom back home.

Frantically his eyes scanned the room while his chest rose and fell with his frantic breathing. It was obvious that there was no one in the room with him, but still his ears were filled with the incessant screaming. It drove just to the point of panic before they started to die down, allowing his hands to fall from his ears where they had apparently pinned themselves.

Calm began to spread throughout his body as he dropped his hands to his lap and tried to lay back down on the bed… But for some reason he couldn’t lay down. It wasn’t that it hurt, his body simply wouldn’t move the way he told it too. No matter though, perhaps it would pass as he sat here.

*Pound..Pound..Pound* The noise came from the door to his right.

“Benudan!” A gruff mans voice cried through the door.

“Benudan you can’t hide from us! We know it was you!”

There was a clear sense of urgency in the mans voice. Was that the town guard? The voice seemed distantly familiar…

Pound….POUND….POUND….SMASH!! The door lunged in a few inches before falling flat to the ground, allowing three men to come barreling through along with it. Each man was dawned in a set of gleaming steel armor and brandished a longsword in hand. Were they here for him?

With what seemed like almost sloth like speed Benudans gaze turned towards the doorway and the men there. The men were no longer staring at him, they were looking at something further to his right and so his head also moved, but he could feel that it wasn’t him moving this time. As his vision shifted he was immediately greeted by a wall covered in splatters and strings of blood, which would only grow in size and gathering. Worse than that were the bodies… not just one, but three. A woman and two men in assorted pieces. The only thing to give them all an exact number, were the heads piled in the corner.

Benudan screamed with as much force as he could muster, but to absolutely no avail. The only thing that could be heard coming from his chest was a deep and sinister chuckle. There was a deep urge to move away and run for his life, but his body was rooted firm to the spot. Slowly his head turned to the side, turning what felt like an incredibly icy gaze to the guards in the room. It was now that his body began to move, only now he would have given anything for it to stop.

It was creepily apparent to him that he was no longer in control of his body and some abnormal force was responsible for his body standing up from the bed. Nor was it him that approached the guards with a slow and sure stride, despite their very obvious warnings against it. Despite also Benudans multitude of attempts to stop his own body.

As the 1st guard swung his sword for his head, it was not Benudan who stretched out his hands to catch the blade and use it to cut the guards head off with his own weapon. It was Xavier Bloodbayne; and it was he who heaved that same blade through the air and into the skull of the furthest guard. Ending it all by shattering the facial cavity of the remaining guard before he could compose himself.

As the final guard pawed at his shattered face in his final moments of death, Xavier walked towards the doorway. To the left of the door was a looking glass and Xavier turned his head towards it for only a moment to give Benudan one final look of what his prison would now be. What was once an admirably handsome and tanned face was now ashen and riddled with a number of scars Benudan had never seen before. In his head, Benudan cried out in anguish to see himself as he was. However on the outside, Xavier smirked and chuckled once again as he crossed the threshold to the village beyond. It was at this moment that Benudan was all but snuffed out of the consciousness, removing his voice and opinion but allowing him to despair in everything done using his body.

She could feel that a great darkness had descended upon the town. A frenzy of townspeople chattered anxiously amongst themselves, speaking of rumors of a horrible killer that was on the loose. A group of men dressed in armor clattered down one of the dirty streets on their way to the residential district, the same direction where pointing and conversations were directed towards. Her suspicions were confirmed.

She took large strides that way with her nearly 6 foot tall frame. She had an athletic, sturdy looking body encased within form fitting black fabric underneath an expensive looking white colored breastplate, pauldrons, vambraces, and greaves made out of hardened steel. She had shoulder length blonde hair that had a somewhat spiky feel to it, no effort put into styling it or wearing makeup. She looked quite tough, including her face, although she still retained some femininity about it. At her hip was attached a white colored steel longsword that appeared to be slightly thicker than average, although not to a ridiculous degree.

This weapon now found it’s way into her armored grip as she advanced the point of interest; the house of the culprit who was the cause of all this commotion. Guards were attempting to form a defensive line around it so that their target would be unable to escape. They appeared to be hesitant to actually advance into the house. From what she heard, something horrible must have happened to the last poor saps to attempt such a feat mere moments ago.

“My name is Myrda Strongwill, Grand Paladin sent by the holy order to investigate claims of horrible darkness that we have sensed brewing in the area. That has lead me here,” she informed the captain of the town guard, a man with an impressive mustache.

“Ah! Ma’am, it’s a pleasure to have you. We-…ah…I think he’s coming out!” He said, turning his attention to the doorway. The rest of the guards shifted nervously, preparing themselves.

“Let me handle him alone,” she said, stepping forward. She didn’t activate much of her power yet, only a slight glint of light radiating off of her body every once in a while.

With heavy feet Xavier crossed the threshold of the man whose body he now possessed, his gaze shifting side to side as he entered the street. In that moment he could feel the weight of a thousand gazes falling upon and the terror that echoed behind them all. Not even the guards charged with protecting the town could hide their fear. For Xavier could hear a symphony of quaking metal plates from the front lines as they literally shook in their boots. A shaking that only began to soften as a woman spoke, claiming the right to battle Xavier on her own. How interesting… Xaviers gaze lingered upon blonde haired woman for only a moment, revealing a constitution superior to even the Captain standing beside her.

As she finished speaking and the wave of relief began to cascade over the defensive line there was one man who allowed his emotions to show far too much. This was the only man to breathe a very audible sigh of relief at not having to go into battle; deciding to also bend over with his hands upon his knees and pant as though he had just run a mile.

Xavier could feel his anger level skyrocketing as he saw this, a man with a weapon happily hiding behind a woman with a weapon. The sword which Xavier held by the blade in his right hand began to tremble, the metal quaking in unison with Xaviers muscle as he clenched tight to the blade. Causing a stream of his blood to cascade towards the tip. The blade and arm had been resting limply at his side, but now they moved backwards as Xavier coiled his arm.

“Cowards…!” Xaviers voiced boomed as he released the bulk up tension, firing the blade through the air like a spear. “…and cock fondlers!” the move had been so simple that Xaviers upper body didn’t flex in the least as the blade was thrown, allowing for a successful surprise attack.

In an ordinary situation such a move would have been able to create sufficient speed that it would be impossible for a mortal to track. Now though, every guard who was not bent over their knees could see it coming and managed to get moving before the impact.

The blade had been given a light spin as Xavier threw it to allow the tip to reorient itself to pierce the guard in the neck just below his helmet. The soft target allowed the blades tip to slice in along side the spinal cord for a perfect slice, allowing the tip to travel through the mans entire body cavity and protrude from his anus. It was all the man could do to fall to his side, choking first on the pained gasps that were trying to come out only to have them turn to bright crimson streams as his lungs filled with blood. The man attempted to grip and remove the blade until his muscles went limp and a loud gurgling signaled the mans last breath.

Surely the men of the defensive line would be at the very least slightly distracted by what just happened. But would she?

For the moment after Xaviers thrown blade found its mark he had retreated back into Benudans home with a quick back pedal. With two heavy and long strides away from the interior doorway Xavier heaved his left shoulder against the stone wall. This sent a crack along the stone from floor to ceiling as well as sending a small crack into Xaviers shoulder; he had dislocated the shoulder of this still feeble body.

No time. Xavier thought to himself and turned to ready another charge at the wall when he noticed the door just behind him. Using his left arm Xavier braced the door against his entire left side body and ran as fast he could at the crack in the wall. At the last moment Xavier threw his body at the wall again and it practically exploded outwards with the force to open a new exit. Behind the houses was a small alleyway for the disposing of trash or hanging of linens and as Xavier burst through it through the alley was filled screams and gasps.

There was a group of women who had been hanging their laundry when the commotion had begun and now had stopped to watch and listen in the alley. They could have never expected in a hundred years that a man would come tearing through walls behind their homes. All they could do was watch and stare open mouthed and the bulky man shaking dust from his shoulders with a door in his hand before he turned to look at them.

Their trembles grew in strength now as they met his pitch black, unwavering gaze that seemed to stare down to their soul. Though it was only seconds it felt like a lifetime before Xavier turned on his heels and started down the alleyway. The women all shared an unsure sideways glance as he walked away, they were almost positive that something would go wrong. Xavier was 2 houses down the alleyway when he heard the women sigh in unison, that was when the smirk crept upon his cheeks.

Xavier didn’t even look back, he simply brought the door he was holding to his chest before flinging his arm backwards over his head along with the door. In one quick motion the door was flung with a massive spine down the alleyway, kicking it towards the women like a speeding tire. A quick bounce off a wall sent the tire into the air horizontally, clipping the women in the neck and snapping the bones like twigs before they could scream too much.

Within his shoulder a sickening crunch and snap could be heard as his body corrected itself as it found new power. In comparison to his true level it was but a drop of water in a lake; but it would have to do for now. The more people he was able to kill or destruction he was able to wreak the faster he would see his powers come back to him. However there was a good chance he would be pushed to the limit were he forced to do it alone.

Between each house was a small 1 foot gap to allow access to and from the back alleyway. When he was only 3 houses down from Benudans he slipped into an opening on the side of the alley opposite Benudans house. Hiding momentarily here Xavier took in a long deep breath before closing his eyes and rising his head towards the sky.

From deep within his chest an ear piercing howl began to fill the airwaves, similar to that of a wolf but this was much deeper. As he howled a plume of dark red energy could be seen slithering across his lips, part of the reason why this howl was so different than a wolfs.

Xaviers howl died away and a few seconds of silence would pass by before Xaviers howl was answered by another…and another.. and another until an orchestra of deep howls filled the air around the town. When it was answered Xavier slicked towards the main street outside the alleyway, where there were no guards as of yet. That would undoubtedly change when he stepped out of the alleyway and civilians began pointing at him talking about seeing him howling. This alone wouldn’t gather the attention of the guards but there was a man approaching Xavier with haste and anger in his step.

“Benudan!” the voice hollered at him, sending a brief look of confusion on Xaviers face. “What are you doing howling behind my hou—“ the mans eyes suddenly went wide as he was cut short. Mouth and lips floundering for words that wouldn’t come. Xavier had shoved his right fist through the mans throat and was now wiggling his fingers one after the other to wave at the shocked crowd behind the man. Before too long, screams once again filled the air as Xavier removed his hand, allowing the man the slink to the floor.

---

In that stretch of time that Benudan had lost, he had been guided back to town by the dark forces which now control him. Xavier knew that he would need death and despair to regain his former power and stationed 20 Hounds around the town in secluded caves.

A hound is a large, canine like creature that has undergone a similar transformation as Xavier; however their bodies did not take to it as well as his did. They grew in strength and size like one wouldn’t believe, just barely shadowing over a Siberian tiger and carrying almost twice their speed and striking capacity. Their skin was practically torn away in the change, leaving each of the creatures with disgusting exposed muscle that would leak a thick black substance with every move they made. The change also took away their eye sight and replaced with advanced heat vision mixed with sonar. They were one of Xaviers favorite pets.

As his howl tore through the air each hounds head perked up within its cave and answered the call, tearing through the forest towards the town. It wouldn’t be long now until they reached it.

Myrda could do nothing to save the dying guard who had been skewered by the flung sword. She grimaced at the brutal sight despite being pretty battle hardened. This was exactly why she wanted to fight him herself. Normal people would just get in the way and get killed like he had. She implied as much to the other guards, “Make protecting the civilians your priority and aiding the injured. Avoid confrontation with him unless absolutely necessary to achieve that purpose. I will try to lure him away from the population centers.”

She gave chase through the house, out into the alley, and past the women laying motionless on the dirty ground with hardly a second glance. Although she had compassion, she knew that stopping the villain as soon as possible would do far better good than stopping to check on them in what was likely a futile effort. Besides, that’s what the other guards were for anyways, if they followed her instructions. They were not legally obligated to obey a Paladin’s orders, but they tended to do so if they knew what was best for them. It was more of an unspoken rule than anything.

At first she couldn’t locate him, although the echoing howl down the narrow corridors got her on the right track. She caught up to him just as his hand was punched through the man’s neck. He sure seemed to have a fascination with attacking people’s necks, didn’t he?

She charged forward to cleave at the attacker’s waist from right to left with a powerful swing, although not enhanced to her fullest extent. He was more powerful than a mere mortal but not powerful enough to warrant her “powering up”, so to speak. If he was still a danger to others than she would have to do so to stop him as quickly as possible, but now that she had him in her sights she wouldn’t have to do so. She didn’t have anything against doing so, it was more like she didn’t feel the need to bother. Perhaps he could give her some more excitement if they fought on more even terms for a bit before she finished him off. That is if he survived her opening attack.

(Base roll bonus = 15 | All rolls account this already)
(Initial Awareness Roll 59/100) - Shit lol

As the screams filled the air Xavier couldn't fight the chuckle that rumbled from within his chest. As panic began to spread amongst the crowd it would serve to trickle charge Xaviers power. Xaviers righ foot moved to take a step towards the crowd for instigation, when he suddenly heard abnormal metallic scuffs behind him.

(Defensive Maneuver Roll = 54)
For a brief moment the cocky smirk on Xaviers lips began to falter to a grimace. The woman responsible for the noise was already upon him and beginning to lash out. It was all Xavier could do to shuffle a step forward before the all too familiar bitter sting of a razors edge tore through his hip. In reaction to this Xavier spun to his right, allowing a clean slice an inch deep and around 3 inches long at his right hip. What came out of the wound was not like any natural blood, but much thicker and a color as black as onyx. The pain of this wound barely registered to Xavier as he spun upon his right foot. Focusing more on what he would do instead of what had been done.

On the ground to his right was the twitching body of the man he had just wounded. The spark of an idea lit within Xaviers mind and caused his legs to buckle, putting the mans body within reaching distance. With quick grasps Xaviers left hand grabbed the waistline of the mans pants while his right grabbed the hem of his shirt. With a heave Xavier extended his legs to raise his body, pulling the mans body along at the last possible moment. With graceful footing Xavier both spun on his ankles and moved away from the woman's current attack zone. All with the mans body in his powerful grip.
(Execution Success Rate Roll = 70)

A thick rivulet of black blood oozed from his wound as his body torqued, allowing him to heave the mans body with great force at the woman. While it was headed directly for the woman's abdomen, there was a fair chance she could still avoid it. The outcome made no difference to Xavier.

After the throw there was only a small amount of force left within his body and it allowed Xavier to continue his spin to point away from the woman. As Xavier moved away from the scene he moved faster than one would expect for a man of his size, already upon the crowd before they had the chance to react.

With folded arms Xavier braced himself for the impact he had chosen; a man of averge build watching from the sidelines. The mans face twisted into a horrific scream for a moment before Xaviers arms met his and forced the air from his lungs. Xavier extended his arms and stopped for only a moment, knocking all sense from the man and throwing him limp as a ragdoll into the crowd.

As the man went flying and caused more of the crowd to fall to the ground Xavier moved once again. With what seemed to be delicate but quick steps Xavier leapt through the crowd, various wet crunches sounding off with each step. It was the heads of the 6 different people that he was leaping upon; Shattering their skulls like clay pots under the immense force of his body.

The crowd had barely begun their horrified screams at what transpired as Xavier attempted to disappear once again. Crossing the street and entering the alleyway on the other side. Before he entered he cast a look to the street, not stopping to gaze but taking a snipet of the moment to rationalize as he moved. This look would allow any gazing his way to see that his eyes were now aglow with a strange dark red energy.

Once in the alleyway Xavier began to hoof it down the cobblestone, no longer utilizing the same speed as before. To do so at this moment for an extended amount of time would be draining. This would need to be drug out just a little more to put things on an even playing field...

---

It was as Xavier dove into the alleyway that the first of the hounds descended on the village. From the northern and western parts of town came the first screams as townsfolk were gouged and gored. They attacked in two groups of 10 to allow them to properly overpower the already thin guard at the gates. From there they moved into the village, slaughtering the stragglers of those who currently fled inward.

(Roll 72)

Rather than avoid the man’s body being thrown at her, she instead released her left hand from the handle of her sword mid swing, extending it palm outwards to stop the man’s body dead in it’s tracks, no pun intended. She didn’t move back at all from the force of the impact, remaining rigid while the man crumpled and fell like wadded up tissue paper at her feet. By the time she could attempt to execute another swing her target was once again fleeing out of range off the heads of civilians. Curses. On one hand she was impressed with his abilities for managing to evade her thus far, but on the other hand she knew that she was failing at her primary objective of limiting casualties. That should be all she was concerned about. She knew it. However, she could feel a tingling sensation of anticipation when observing this man that was bubbling up, like he was capable of giving her a fun battle more so than simple cat and mouse play. Did she secretly want to prolong this as long as possible? See what would become of this feeling that she had?

She gave chase after him through the panicked crowd; even the heavy clanking of her armor being nearly drowned out by them. The muscles of her thighs in the tight fabric underneath her armor bulged, a radiant glitter of holy energy surging through her lower body to aid in her quick physical exertion, carrying her faster than the man had been moving and faster than she was previously. Even still she had tons of untapped power within her.

(Roll 4)

Unfortunately for her, although she could easily clear the distance without incident, the others around her weren’t in the proper mental state and awareness level to spread to the side and give her the proper room to do so. She had to slow down as a panicked young woman fled right in front of her out of the blue. She sidestepped this intrusion gracefully, only to find herself lunging face first into the rear end of a startled pack mule. It galloped forward as fast as a donkey could go, dragging the screaming owner behind it from it’s leash.

She stumbled back into a run, only to slow down yet again to weave through the oblivious crowd, not able to make proper use of her increased speed like she had planned. Despite the slow start, once she managed to break out of the dispersing crowd there was nothing stopping her from closing the distance with breakneck speed. She surged forward, leaping up onto some crates, and then spun in midair to land in front of him with a loud clattering noise. He was once again within range.

“You’re a slippery one, aren’t you. Any more tricks up your sleeve?” She said. “I’ll give you the first move, just so long as it isn’t as annoying as attempting to run away again.”

(Rolls are based on a 20/100 system. Any additional roll changes will be made known.)





There was a largely unseen beauty hidden behind the pained screams that tore through the air waves. A beauty which Xavier currently reveled and experienced an electric shiver dance along his spine; adding a visibly giddy skip to his step. Now even though he was enjoying himself, it was not enough to stop him from picking up on the rough metallic sounds of armor once again. As his left foot met the hard dirt Xavier allowed his momentum to decrease as his head turned to the right. Allowing him to gaze over his shoulder just in time to see the woman throw herself into the air. It was becoming clear that she was not going to be as easy to frighten off as the others.

Such a realization was not a terrible one though, Xavier had felt her power levels and there was barely anything to cause him concern. It simply meant they would have to fight for the moment.

As the woman began to land and Xaviers right foot began to move forward Xavier called upon a buildup of energy within his chest. It was the collective chaos in the town fueling his powers and allowing him to call upon more of it. The problem was that the energy would be able to choose it’s own shape, meaning it could either come out as Dreadful Flames or Dreadful Lightning. It was time to find out.



Now the two would face one another as the woman touched the ground and Xaviers right foot did as well. It could be seen now that Xaviers face was covered in considerably fewer scar tissue and his ashen grey skin was beginning to regain color. Then there were his eyes. A dark glowing red which seeped into the veins surrounding his eyes and lit them up. It was the only indication that could be found of what happened next as Xaviers lips parted.

Around the two of them the surrounding light seemed to dim away as a dark red energy spilled forth from Xaviers throat. It held a physical form comparable to a thick smoke cloud and upon the rolling red surface danced several small red bolts. It shot towards the woman as she would have began to speak, intending to catch her as off guard as possible with the tactic.

The cloud moved forward as quick as a whip but would hit with considerably less force or damage than the other two forms. What it lacked in striking power it made up for in tactical power. It was designed to attack a fighter at a mental level, as prolonged direct contact with the smokey substance was known to cause hallucinations. In massive amounts; even death.

Xavier would hope that the tactic would be enough to create a sliver of an opening, in which he would attempt to act again.

The air surrounding Xaviers hands and feet gave a high pitched whistle as they suddenly began to rotate. With a quick flex and a couple muscular twitches Xavier would find himself lifted into the air and placed upon the roof of a single story house to his right. This time he would choose not to run away completely, but hoped he would gain a couple of advantages here.

(Basically my rolls kind of screwed me lol I would say IF you get hit by the energy than you can use your own judgement on what happens.)

---

The screams that had once filled the perimeter of the town now began to fan inwards. Not only because the hounds had killed a good portion of the people. But also because those who did remain were currently fleeing towards the center of the city. At this rate it would be not much longer before the hounds found their master.

From an unknown position in the village comes an ear splitting, blood curdling howl. It’s vibrations were hear for a full 5 seconds before it ended abruptly. It was followed by a mixture of whoops and hollers from the guards; it would seem they had managed to kill one of the monsters. Their cries of victory were short lived and soon the air was filled once again with pained screams.

Hounds remaining - 19

If it wasn’t just Myrda’s imagination, the man appeared to be growing healthier in addition to the far more obvious eye glow. Fascinating how he was able to use healing magic on himself in such a way, or perhaps it was some sort of innate ability that he possessed? She didn’t have much time to wonder as he rudely interrupted her planned speech with a burst of energy. She sprung to her right side to partially avoid it but some of it managed to latch onto her left gauntlet. She looked over at it, not changing her facial expression from her casual look. With a powerful flick of her wrist, she hoped that it would be enough to dislodge this invasive energy.

As she did so she looked back over to him.

“Hey, you better not be running,” she ordered, still shaking her arm around if the energy wouldn’t come off, although she suspected that it would.

[Rolls use a 23 bonus.)
As the Dread Energy tore passed Myrda it seemed to hit an unseen wall, causing it to suddenly spread out in all directions. The energy which clung to Myrdas gauntlet could be seen wriggling and writhing in an effort to climb higher. It was however still weak and was thrown aside by her quick and heavy movements, dissolving from eyesight in the blink of an eye. While it would appear that the Dread Energy was gone, it had simply spread itself throughout the section of alleyway around them. Unless otherwise protected from its effects, it is possible that Myrda could suffer hallucinations after sustained contact. (Several minutes fight time). It would also provide its own special assistance in stretching out a confrontation here.

Xavier watched it all from atop the wall, arms crossed infront of his chest and a small smirk upon his lips. As smoothly as he could Xavier allowed his legs to bend at the knee, cooking his body towards Myrda just as a gust if wind picked up behind him.


In an instant Xavier seemed to be gliding through the air just as soon as his knees had finished bending. The entire action was helped along by a hard flex of his legs throwing him towards his target. In his wake the top of the stone wall had been scarred with a pair of perfectly smooth gashes where the wind had torn through it. With arms still folded Xavier tore through the air, aiming to simply crash into the heavily armored woman. With any luck, the entire action would have been so quick that she at least wouldn’t be able to draw he weapon on him.
(No other rolls simply because it’s a kind of basic attack. And I will post the Hounds on my next post. Since this one is a quick exchange.)

As Myrda finished discarding the energy attached to her arm, she watched it dissipate around herself and then turned back to face him.

“I see you are-“ she began, only to find him virtually flying towards her on the wind, an odd sight to be sure. Unfortunately for him he would be crashing into what could be described as a wall of metal. She didn’t budge from her position, instead bracing herself, hoping that he would take himself out when the two collided, which would be quite a hilarious way to go if she did say so herself. The two hit and her feet slid back a couple of inches. She let out a grunt, but managed to maintain her balance enough to remain on her feet. She attempted to deliver a powerful headbutt against his own head while the two were in such close proximity and his chances of avoiding such an attack was more slim. As she did so her arms began to extend on either side of him to envelop him in her grasp. Her sword was too large to stab him at the moment so she preferred more of a grapple match for the time being.

True enough, a normal man would find that using his body as a battering ram against an armored opponent to be rather futile. Even for a "normal" meta-human they could find it a challenge; but Xavier was far from the normality of either. Within the few days of Xavier overtaking Benudans body one of the first changes would have been to the skeletal structure. Through means of Dread Energy combined with an affinity to Earth Elements Xavier was able infuse his skeletal structure with Dread Metal. Allowing him to double the bone rigidity along side of tripling their weight. The weight of his bones alone was almost identical to a suit of armor.

That being as it was, Xavier was more than ready to take the exact amount of force he was dishing out. More so, she was in for quite the surprise with the headbutt that was she was throwing forward. It would comparable to headbutting a concrete wall and made only worse by Xavier throwing his own head forward to smash against hers. Hoping that he may daze her for even a moment with this incredible force she was about to experience.

Watching intently Xavier would be looking for any sign of faltering in the womans pupils; pouncing upon it in an instant. While his muscles still had a long way until full power, they had enough to leave a mark as he would attempt a quick a 4 hit combo. A strike to the plating of her lower abdomen from his left hand and followed by another strike to the abdomen from his right. Following it up with a shunting forearm strike that would force her upper body to remain upright and allow him to end with a hefty blow to the dead center of her chest plate. Nothing meant to kill or maim her, but he wanted to cripple the plating of her armor if at all possible.

(My thinking behind this is that your character misjudged her headbutt and is getting hit very hard like I said. A daze is pretty reasonable and what happens in that moment can never really be up to you. But, as always, I'm up for debating!)

---

The outskirts of the city have been abandoned; the guards and people who have survived the attack have begun to spread word. There are cries of the stranded that still echo at random as the beasts hunt down the prey for their master.

Amongst the cries of the tormented and dYing a blood curdling howl pierces the air once more. Itself full of pain and agony as its creator tasted the bitter sting of steel. A single mighty cheer tore through the air; setting off a reaction through the entire village much like the howling of the wolf's. The guards had downed another.

The Hounds would need to regroup now. The guards have been able to successfully gather their forces and set up defense posts to aid the fleeing.

Remaining Hounds: 18

(Dice roll 8)

Myrda was indeed surprised by the unexpected weight that he managed to put into his attack. She stumbled backwards, seeing stars from the impact placed on her brain rattling within her skull. She was not able to do anything to stop the combo, letting out a grunt as the last attack hit, causing her to once again falter away from her opponent. She could feel her armor crumpled awkwardly against her body. It was now more of a hindrance than a help. With a quick flash of movement she unlatched the steel, allowing it to fall heavily at her feet.

“You’re far stronger than I give you credit for,” she’d say if he gave her the time. Her body began to glow all over. She was beginning to get more serious, upping her body’s defenses in place of the armor as well as increased her physical abilities in general. Now that her vital organs were exposed she was going to need it. She had to admit that he was impressive. Not nearly as powerful as her if she were to go all out, but far more powerful than the average foe that she would come across. She wanted to see more of what he was capable of. Perhaps learn the backstory of where he got this power. Such intelligence could prove vital to snuffing out the source.

(Dice roll 74)

The dread energy dispersed around the area hadn’t begun to affect her yet. She was powerful enough to disregard it for now without even knowing it was there. For now she was remaining within it’s zone, oblivious. If he still did nothing for her to react to, she'd make her way forward and attack with a series of slashes and stabs towards various parts of his body, hoping to wound but not kill him.

(Rolls use 28 bonus)
It was all Xavier could do to hold back his shit eating grin as he watched the woman's armor be thrown aside. What did push through his efforts was a small arrogant smirk; though it's intensity faltered as he continued to watch the woman, his arms at his side. Seeing her in pain brought him great joy, until he saw that she needed barely any time at all to regain her composure. They were nonfatal hits but their power should have been sufficient in putting her down longer than that . It would seem that he would also have to step up his game and gain some more power, though it would be easier said than done at this point. The woman was ready for more.

(Energy Gather Roll 87/100)
(Energy Appearance Roll - 1-33 Dread Energy 34-66 Dreadful Lightning 67-99+ Dreadful Flames Roll is... 54)

In an instant Xavier eyes were alight with dark red energy once again. The red hue of the Dread Energy in the air began to waver as it was siphoned into Xavier, leaving the air with a strange electrical charge in its wake. Something that would tingle the skin of most normal persons.

(Energy Release Roll - +15 for high gather roll. Roll is... 86)

Xavier turned the palms of his hands towards the woman as she would have begun to advance upon him. Both hands lit up with a dark red energy for only a moment, before a massive bolt of Dreadful Lightning tore from the skin on his left hand. A simple ruse to make it harder to predict which angle the attack would come from. This bolt would carry half the electrical charge of an average lightning bolt; more than enough to cause possibly fatal damage in normal humans. It also carried an added effect for those that would not be killed by its charge. The Dread Energy has a more direct access to the brain when contact is made from the lightning. It does not necessarily ensure a mental issue with the target, but can make it easier to achieve.

(Yet another quick exchange, so the Hounds will join us again next time!

Her hair reacted slightly to the static charge as the spell built up in power. She didn’t have time to react to the lightning once it was released, allowing the attack to strike her dead center in the chest, causing an explosion of lights upon impact. She let out a grunt and forcefully stopped in her tracts.

Her magical barrier had taken a tremendous hit from that single attack. She knew that she had severely underestimated her opponent. She let out a grin at him.

“Guess you aren’t disappointing after all,” she remarked. “But I have a similar trick up my sleeve.”

She held out her own left hand, which glowed majestically. Unlike him she made no efforts of trickery. A glowing bolt left her hand as fast as an arrow and twice as deadly.

(Rolls use a 30 point bonus)
The smirk on Xaviers face grew into a wide grin as he felt his Dreadful Lightning sink into his target. While it appeared she had managed to avoid the fatal shock he had been looking to administer. In truth, Xavier was having difficulties deciding whether that was a good thing or not. She had yet to fail to surprise him at any opportunity.

"Tricks are for kids!" Xavier yelled in response as she threw out her hand. The fluctuation of energy that emanated from her hand was small, leading Xavier into over confidence.

Making no effort to move out of the line of firenn Xavier charged forward once again; looking to take the brunt of the attack and counter immediately.

(Total Xavier Energy Weakness Roll = additional 56%)

In the charge Xavier had taken care to position his upper right chest into the direct line of fire. What Xavier had not been expecting was an energy finely tuned to combat the Chaos Energy which was the foundation of his Dread Energy.

The impact of the bolt of energy seemed to stop Xavier I'm his tracks for just a moment before sending him reeling backwards. Upon his skin a ripple of Chaotic Energy cascading from the impact point. It was for only an instant, but it had felt as though it had burned into what was left of his soul. The rippling was halted and repaired almost as quickly as it had appeared but the shock of it could still be read on Xavier face.

Xavier managed to catch his footing after stumbling twice and brought his left hand up to grope at the impact zone. Where a circular singe as big as a dollar coin now rested.

"Well then.." he spoke quietly; both to himself and to the woman. The look of shock on Xaviers melted away and allowed his familiar, entertained smirk to return to his lips. "Let's see what other surprises you have in store."

As he spoke Xavier moved his hands and arms infront of his body; mocking the position of holding a sword at waist height and aiming the tip at the woman. It could even be seem as a ride gesture, as Xavier was still in the process of gathering the resources to create his weapon.

[Hr]

The hounds were wild but not stupid; they could tell the guard has gathered themselves and it would take someone detail work to get passed. A loud but deep howl pierced through the skies once again, beckoning the hounds to amass their forces outside a single guard outpost.

Myrda smiled as her foe was struck by her attack and gave off a splendid expression of bewilderment. She held back a laugh. She could have finished him off here while he was distracted, but the mood didn’t exactly strike her. It was indeed secretly fun to toy with him and she still wanted to know what his strange power was all about.

Upon seeing his stance, she wondered if he had an invisible sword or if he was just trolling her. Or perhaps he would create a sword, but it was odd that he’s be stuck in that pose while it wasn’t there yet. If he was just trolling with her then she’d loose interest and patience in him. He wasn’t a funny enough guy to make that work.

She marched with powerful, long strides towards his position and did a horizontal slash from left to right at the level of his heart. If he had an invisible sword it would clash against it without him having to even move, but if he didn’t have an invisible sword and remained as he was then he’d be cleaved in half by her immense strength unless his durability was very high.

Xavier had not planned on his blood reacting in such a slow manner; it oozed like setting cement from the pores of his hands. In the time that he had challenged her and she marched in response Xavier had gathered a mound of blood roughly the size of a large meatball between his enclosed hands; it would have to do. The blood between Xaviers hands had pressed itself flat against the palm of his left hand, creating a half inch thick metal slab atop his skin. Xaviers grip began to separate with his right hand beginning to drop towards his hip while his left began to rise towards his right shoulder. As they moved so did his legs; bowing and stretching respectively to begin propelling him forward and now the blade was nearly upon him.

If all went according to plan Xavier would have begun moving forward when impact was made and with a quick shift of his weight and a twist of his hips Xavier fought against the blade with the metallic plate upon his hand. With the hopes that he would be able to exert enough force to halt the blade midflight for a moment. While his hand and arm would be pressing against the blade Xavier began yet another complicated series of movements; beginning with his feet.

All of Xaviers muscles twitched and shivered methodically as his feet each shifted quick and hard to the left in a counter clockwise circle. They were planted once more just as quickly as they had been lifted, creating a wave of muscular power through his thighs and hips that allowed him to spin in place very quickly. Before he spun though Xavier made sure to begin a drop in his height via extra bowing at the knee. Allowing him to drop just momentarily below the height of the blade.

As he spun Xavier did so upon his left foot, allowing his right foot to drag along the stone; free to plant itself as soon as Xavier had spun roughly 280 degrees. Hopefully ducking below the blade and coming up slightly to the woman's left. From here Xavier extended his right leg and arm in almost the same instant, aiming a fast flying and devastating punch toward the woman's stomach. Intent on following through in an effort to send her crashing into the wall once again from the power.

(For this post I have not done a roll, but may do it again depending on what goes on. Hound post will follow this one. Sorry for the delay! Let me know of any issues!)

Myrda was surprised to see him forming blood onto his palms. She wasn’t sickened by the sight like some people would be, but such an ability was still undeniably within the realm of unsettling, as if there was something inherently unholy or wrong about it. Of course it was clear that this being was of such a nature before displaying this foul talent, given his penchant for wanton murder.

As her blade clashed against his blood she found it stopped. Her eyes narrowed. This fight was growing more troublesome by the second. The muscles in her sword armor bulged and glowed with energy as she forced against him. The man wouldn’t be able to withstand her for very long, but the man didn’t give that clash much time at all before moving onto his next attack, a forceful kick to her stomach that caused it to cave in.

“Gurk!” She grunted, flying backwards into the wall with great force.

“I’ve just about had enough of you,” she snarled, her hair falling disheveled around her face. She would make a move to power walk towards him, this time thrusting forcefully towards his chest. If he grabbed onto her blade then she would yank him forward and try to punch him in the face with her free hand.