A voice inside my head

'There's another one! Don't let them get away, slaughter, SLAUGHTER! AHAHA!'

Raising his gaze from the bisected body lying below his feet, Cedric glanced at a nearby bush rustling ceaselessly.

Running up beside the bush, he finds a fellow trainee clutching a bleeding stump, his arm missing. 'Huh, this one got away.'

Looking up into the amber colored eyes seeming more beast than man, the trainee breaks out in a cold sweat. Fear grips the trainee as they let out a startled cry, their voice trembling and faltering.

"Aaah, N-No! Get away from me! You monster!"

Raising his sword in a bid to decapitate the terrified trainee, Cedric slashes down.

'Ah. Inner peace at last.'

"CEDRIC! RETREAT! NOW!"

Hearing the panicked voice of his temporary team leader, Cedric stammers out a sigh.

Begrudgingly he withdraws the sword stopped merely inches from the prone trainee's neck.

He flicks his wrist, sending a spray of blood off to the side. Then, Cedric breaks into a sprint in the direction he heard the retreat call from.

As he runs, he releases his grip on the blade, and it vanishes, transforming into tiny specks of light.

The trainee watches in astonishment as the nightmarish figure retreats, and a soft voice emerges from where the attacker stood.

"Well, it seems luck is on your side today. Pass my regards to your boss."

***

Cedric could be seen running through the forested path, weaving to dodge the branches blocking his path, deep in thought.

'Now, judging by the location I heard Siegward's call from, he seems to be running towards Gemspring cave.'

Not long after, Cedric finds his friend as well as team leader, Siegward, standing beside the cave's entrance, waving at him.

"Over here!"

Sprinting inside, Cedric is assaulted by a strong smell of rot.

'Someone was struck with venom'

Cedric manages to find his teammates thanks to the soft light provided by an unassuming white colored pebble attached to the cave's wall, a light stone.

A voice echoes out from beside Cedric, turning his head, he sees his elven friend, Siegward, with his disheveled emerald green hair and brown eyes. Standing a full head taller than Cedric's already tall 1.88 meter self.

"Alright everyone is here, Ivan do your thing."

Their newest addition to the team, the injured human trainee currently clutching at the wound on his chest, nods in affirmation. Raising his hand, Ivan chants [Collapse]

With a rumbling groan, the mouth of the cave heaves and closes in on itself.

As the dust settles and the surroundings fall into silence, Cedric feels a tug on his shoulder. Turning around, he is greeted with a punch from Siegward.

Stepping back a couple of steps from the impact, his gaze glaring, Cedric asks "What was that for?"

'Kill him'

Surprised by the minimal amount of effect his punch had on Cedric's cheek, Siegward begins to seethe with rage.

"Why did you leave your position? We were meant to watch each other's backs. You just had to go and start a massacre, you left us to fend for ourselves. They injured Ivan with some strange poison-" Pointing his hand at the gash covering Ivan's chest, Siegward continued "And they fucking killed Kenny. The bastards."

'Kill him…kill him…KILL HIM!'

Walking up to Cedric, Siegward grabs him by the collar "You know they were after Meifeng and you still gave in to your stupid desire to fight. You lost us an important teammate. Now you will have to carry that burden."

Releasing Cedric from his grasp, Siegward's gaze turns soft as he sighs "What's happened to you man? You weren't like this a year ago. Something changed since I last saw you, Ced."

'Dismember the bastard, let him know true suffering. How dare he lecture us! Battle is all we need. BATTLE IS ALL WE ARE-AAAh shut up already. For fuck's sake. He's my friend. Go back to sleep'

As Cedric was engaged in his mental struggle, he failed to notice a brutal expression was now covering his face, coupled with a chilling gaze befitting that of a beast observing it's prey.

Feeling a chill crawl up his spine, Siegward avoids meeting his friend's piercing gaze. He joins Ivan and Meifeng, a skilled female swordswoman, as they all sit down together.

Trying to sneak a couple glances at Cedric, Meifeng utters softly: "So, what now?"

Looking at his sheepish teammate, Siegward answers "Now we rest and let Ivan's vitality to do it's thing. Once he's back in fighting form, we advance to our initial goal. The mini-boss at the end of this cave."

***

Standing in a forested area with blood splattered all over, Baccus observed his surroundings, seeing his men butchered like animals, cut up into pieces that appeared charred as though struck by lightning.

Their body parts were scattered all around, making the previously beautiful glade appear like a painting created by the grim reaper himself.

Turning his livid gaze onto one of his surviving subordinates—an utterly terrified young man shivering and murmuring like a lunatic—Baccus demanded, "Can anyone please explain WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED HERE? WHO DID THIS?!"

Walking over to the enraged man's side was a trainee clutching the stump where his left arm used to be, a shell-shocked expression painted over his face.

Shivering and stammering, the trainee with bronze-colored skin addressed his leader, "B-Baccus, s-s-sir. We managed to kill one of them, but the rest managed to escape. I have no idea where they went. The 'Monster'. We should not have attacked them. I-I'm afraid we bit off more than we could chew."

"What!? Monster? What do you mean?"

"We did like you asked, sir! We ambushed them while they were traveling towards one of the challenge caves. The tall guy, Ivan, started flinging his earth spears at our men. Larry managed to sneak in a hit with his poisoned dagger."

"And what of this 'Monster' you spoke of?"

Appearing shell-shocked and shivering, the trainee stammered, "Hi-He was the one who caused this!" Flailing his arm towards the field of bodies decorating the glade in a grim tapestry. "He alone killed 20 of us. He just kept appearing all over the place, cutting us with lightning. T-Those eyes-" the trainee's stammers were cut short as his head was separated from his body.

Appearing next to him was a dark-skinned elf, his sabre painted red with his former ally's blood.

"Good to see you, Baccus. I've only just arrived." Looking at the gruesome scene, the elf exclaims with a sigh "I see your plan failed. Again. Why don't you ever listen? I told you yellow eyes was dangerous."

Baccus, A large smile plastered on his face "Ah, Irhan. Boy, am I glad that you're here." Exclaiming in a hearty laugh "I have decided that I want that eastern girl for my collection."

'Sigh, if only you were as smart as you are strong, Baccus.' "I managed to find out the bastard's name. It's Cedric."

Licking his lips in delight, Baccus replies to Irhan "Good work. I'm going back to town. You on the other hand, take some capable scouts and scour the forest for the group. I await your call once you find them. I want to hear how this so called 'Monster' squeals as I skin it alive."