Ghouls!

The Cave was dark and gloomy. With Link's extremely good sight, it did not hinder him in the least. It was what one would expect the inside of a Cave would look like, but instead of water on the ground, there was blood like liquid flowing out from deeper in. The smell almost made Link vomit. Outside, the stench was already bad enough but now that he was in an enclosed space, it got worse.

"By the gods, this is torture" Link muttered. He kept walking in trying his best to avoid stepping on anything.

<There are waves of creatures outside, but in here it's as empty as your head. Something's wrong Link we need to be careful>

"Did you j.." Link took a deep breath "Nevermind. Doesn't matter even if all those things rush in, we can escape easily using 'Recollection'"

The smell got worse the more Link walked inside. The walls became darker while the blood became darker.

Blop!

The sounds of footsteps came from deeper in. They slowly got closer and closer until the source appeared.

A three headed rabid dog with grey fur and shark like teeth appeared. On its back, the upper body of an Orc was attached to it with an axe in its hands.

"What the fuck is that?" Link muttered.

<A Chimera>

"A what?"

<It's what you call a Creature created artificially. What is a Chimera doing here?>

"Did the Beast create it perhaps?"

<Can't be. Why would a Beast have enough intelligence to make something like that? I don't understand>

Wosh!

The Creature jumped towards Link, the heads reaching to bite while the Orc part swung its axe.

Link dodged as he swung his Dagger, colliding with the Orc's axe. It couldn't do a thing against the Mana Powered Dagger as it shattered to pieces and went straight into the Creature, cutting it in half.

"That was easy" Link muttered. Suddenly the Creature started seizing. Its body twitched and turned. Link looked at it with disgust, that was when he noticed the body becoming a bit bloated and slowly melting and turning it black goo.

<It was not a living Creature, but a summon>

"What?"

<This is interesting, Creatures can't summon other Creatures>

"Then who summoned this thing?" Link asked.

<We'll have to find out. Let's go>

Link walked in, meeting other Creatures on the way. They were the same kind as the one they killed before but they differed in looks. Some had 2 to 4 heads with other type of Creatures attached to their backs.

Link mauled through them with ease. Although he noticed how they were getting stronger the deeper he walked.

"What?" Link frowned. He looked ahead seeing nothing but a wall "A dead end" He muttered, walking forward.

Link walked up to it, he took a few steps only for another Chimera to appear out of thin air. It materialized from the ground as if it was a golem. Link looked down, seeing an odd drawing of a circle with symbols all over it.

<A Summoning circle? What is something like that doing here?>

"What's a Summoning circle?" Link asked, killing the Creature as quickly as he did the rest.

<A Summoning circle is something anybody can set up. It's similar to what you'd find on a scroll, but with a few adjustments it can be set up anywhere. I'm guessing there is a Mana Source somewhere in this place. Attack the ground, it should destroy the circle>

Link stepped forward, lifted his leg and slamming it onto the ground with enough force to to turn it into pieces.

<Chimera Magic Circle Destroyed>

"Who do you think put this here?" Link asked.

<I don't know. This place seems off>

Link looked around, trying to find where to go from there. He looked at the wall that blocked his path and punched it. A hole was created revealing the large space behind it. Link peeked inside, finding bones and corpses everywhere. He could not see further in due to the dark but he noticed how big the space was.

He passed through and started walking in, he had his guard up as he looked left and right.

"This is not what was reported, where the fuck is the Undead Bear. This is becoming more complicated by the second" Link muttered.

<Not sure. Something does seem off>

Crunch!

"The fuck was that?" Link whispered as more and more crunching sounds came from the darkness.

Link walked forward carefully with 'Shadow Walk' trying his best not to alert whatever was making such noises. He started to see a sort of trail. Blood and flesh were scattered on the ground forming a path. As if something was dragged inside.

Sniff!

"I.. Smell… Food" A hoarse voice spoke. It sounded off. Like it ate glass and tried to speak after.

Step!

Link got shivers all over his body. He looked up, and saw the source. Link was stunned. He took a step back.

"What the hell is that?" Link asked as he took another step backwards.

What Link saw was not one creature. There were 3, each with a terrifying smile full of blood and Unorganized Sharp teeth. The Creatures were slumped, bipedal humanoids, although 2 were scrambled and crawled on all fours. The other one stood like a normal person. Their bodies appeared emaciated and doglike. They each looked different, but particularly the middle one. It looked quite fat, presumably due to its endless dining on all the indecent delicacies provided in this place. Their skin was gray and pale, and the flesh itself appeared hairless, rubbery and for one of them it appeared even scaly.

<DANGER>

<DANGER>

<RUN>

Messages started to appear, filling Link's vision.

<Ghouls. This place even attracted these cursed Creatures. What the fuck is happening in this place. Use 'Recollection' and get out of here>

Link listened without a second thought. He chose a spot nearby and Teleported out.

Blergh!

Link vomited as he appeared. He summoned Zasho and got on its back feeling nauseated, he knew he wouldn't be able to get back on his own.

Zasho was not bad, it ran without issues with impressive speed. Link got back to the City in no time.

...

He sat on his bed as he thought about what happened.

"Why did you panic?" Link asked.

<Those were Ghouls>

"And? Aren't Ghouls Undead Creatures? Why were you scared?" Link asked.

<Ghouls are not just Undead Creatures> Zero explained <You know what Vampires are right?>

"Yeah, who doesn't"

<One must worship the god of the dead to receive the Vampiric Curse. Immortality, strength, scary regenerative abilities and many more. People would do anything to become one>

"I can see why, but what does that have anything to do with Ghouls?"

<It might sound good, but it is still a Curse. When you turn, there is no going back, and when The God of Death gets his hands on your soul, you become his eternal servant>

"It doesn't sound so good now"

<When a Vampire fails the task that The God of Death gave it. He condemns it, removing his Control over the Curse, making it go wild.

Without The God of Death's control, the Creature will not be able to bear with it, and its hunger grows with every second. No amount of blood could satisfy it, until it slowly starts craving flesh.

With that turn in its food consumption, its body starts to change, becoming like that thing you saw back there. They are always hungry, and food is all they can think of.

They mostly can be found in graveyards or tunnels, eating anything with meat.>

"That sounds scary and all, but couldn't we have killed them?" Link asked.

<They were attracted by the smell of death and Flesh. God knows how long those things have been there for. Ghouls grow stronger the more they eat, and looking at the middle one, it ate enough for it to grow fat.

They can be considered as Level 5 Creatures at this point. You got lucky by escaping in one piece.>

"What? Are you sure? They looked intimidating but i did not see any Mana in them" Link frowned.

<That's because Vampires, Ghouls and everything of their kind can not use Mana. They have pure physical prowess. We need to stay away from that place>

"What if they come to the City?" Link asked.

<I don't think that'll happen anytime soon. They have enough food to last them a lifetime.>

"Were they the ones that set up the Magic Circle?" Link asked.

<I don't think so. As i told you before, they do not have any Mana, so setting up something like that even if they had the Intelligence to do so is impossible.>

"Then how did that get there?"

<Well, i came up with an idea about what happened.

Necromancers formed parties and hired Guards to go to that place and kill the Undead Bear right?>

"Yeah, that's what we were told"

<Then what if the Undead Bear was dead a long time ago, and those Ghouls lived there for a while now?

What if the Parties that went there did manage to get inside, and set up traps just in case the Undead outside would decide to go in and attack them from behind while fighting the Undead Bear.

What if the Ghouls were the ones that wiped out every party, and since people never came back from that place, it was only presumed that this was the Undead Bear's doing>

"That sounds logical. The Summoning Circle was so out of place after all"

...

Link sighed and went to sleep. He couldn't get his hands on the Undead Bear's Core as it probably no longer existed. The territory's boss must have been killed for god knows how long ago and Ghouls have taken residence in the Cave. This thought made a lot of sense to Link.

...

In the morning, Link reported his findings to the Adventurer's Guild. Creating panic within the Guild's staff. Link was a well known Adventurer, and his word must be taken seriously.

Word of the Ghouls reached the City Lord. He thought about inviting Link over to hear about what happened from him personally but Link informed the Guild about everything he knew, even about what Level they could be so there was no need to invite Link to explain once more.

The Lord did not panic though, and sent a messenger to the palace requesting assistance.

"This might be my chance" A man wearing a noble robe spoke. He had a scar on his face, going past his right eye. It was the City Lord "I can use the Ghouls as an excuse to take care of those Kaibol Scum. They dare disguise themselves as Bandits to attack me? When I'm done with them, that bastard Jankin will wish he never sent them."

**********************************************************

Don't stop the comments and votes, it helps. <3

--- twitter.com/Moncef_Zm ---

--- instagram.com/monopia.wn ---

If you're interested in joining my discord server, here's the Link ;)

--- discord.gg/PWexCp6D ---

It's still a work in progress btw :p

**********************************************************

Currently :

****

-- Beast Souls :

<Dire Wolf's Beast Soul> <Pet> <Basic Level 2> <550 / 2 000> -- New --

****

-- Status :

<User: Link>

<Race: Divinity>

<Level 1> <3rd Tier>

<8 000 / 1 000 000 Exp> (1 000 Exp per Chimera killed)

<HP: 100 / 100>

<MP: 53 650 / 53 650> (Chimera had no Cores since they were Summoned Creatures)

<Strength: 15>

<Agility: 20>

<Stamina: 13>

****