Book 1 Chapter 22: Put through Hell, Part 2
Chapter 22: Put through Hell, Part 2
With the last rose turning to ash, Jaeger stepped forward into the nearby tree line as he surveyed the area.
No eerie feeling struck the back of his mind, no smell of death, hell for now it felt mildly neutral albeit for the darkening sky and blowing leaves.
*Pit* *pat* *pat*
The first few drops struck the ground and soon after a down pour came following it. Jaeger didn't mind though, in fact he felt even calmer then before as the smell of the rains scent pervaded his nose. The cloak billowed and the wings of it folded up and over Jaeger's head to act as an umbrella.
With a spin, before Jaeger finished his next smoke the bracelet had already charged two of the three runes on his hand to full capacity. Frog spewed a pile of carbon steel out onto the ground, which soon disappeared into Jaeger's body as his skin color turned a matte ash black.
"Okay…check the stats"
'Str: 43 (+30)
Spe: 48 (+30) (+200)
End: 35 (+30)
Per: 48 (+30)
Dex: 44 (+30)'
The numbers is the parenthesis, were the possible boosts he could achieve through skills, the carbon steel applied a +15 to strength and endurance whereas lightning applied +20 to Dexterity, Speed, and Perception. This was static, but such a boost was godly regardless of the situation.
Although the lightning boost differed with how much energy he had stored left, it was still good. The 5 from the mercury boots of speed had a base increase to speed of 5 which now made it greater than the strength stat.
*Rustle*
The chain blade was already in hand by the time a branch broke, with a twirl it severed the head off an undead before it even had time to look back at what hit it.
'Undead too huh…damn'
Following the one that was just killed included, with such a high perception Jaeger noticed countless shadows moving about in the forest ahead.
Jaeger stepped on the ground hard enough to crack it as he propelled himself forward, wind rustled the hair flying about his face before turning sideways as he flipped towards an undead.
With a slice it spewed forth a dark iquer onto the ground and swayed backwards before collapsing.
An undead flew headfirst at Jaeger, but only served as a vault as he leapt over it and continued further into the darkening forest.
"ROAR" The undead struggled to let loose a wet noise alerting those around it. Shadows flashed within the streams of light barely poking through the forest under brush. Jaeger leapt branch to branch as he raised his height away from the ground. Step after careful step Jaeger moved across the trees like a monkey. Below him the horde grew larger, but they couldn't leap like he could and by the time they climbed the tree he was already onto the next.
'Move…keep moving…'Jaeger urged himself further through the forest as he caught his breathe as best he could when given the chance.
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Ito rubbed his cheek with his palm without stopping even as the other hand brought a smoke to his mouth. His eye's glued to a mirage like screen playing out in front of him. The keeper wouldn't let them go without seeing what Jaeger was up to. This however, in some ways wasn't a good thing because the more they watched the more they understood the difficulty of what he was combating.
"NO!" Ito screamed as he leapt to his feet.
On the screen Jaeger had looked down for merely a second, when a silver monstrosity shot through the trees and broke tens of branches before sending Jaeger flying with its body.
"WEREWOLF!" Tao yelled next to his brother while cursing profanities the group had never heard from him before.
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"Fuck you!" Jaeger screamed as his clothe wings flew out and latched onto whatever it could to slow his decent. The silver beasts speed was unimaginable as it caught up to him in mere seconds even as he flew backwards through the air.
*Boom!* Two silver stakes flew out of the derringer, the monstrosity of silver fur and burning red eyes clutched its chest before falling to the earth below. Jaeger forcefully turned his body and threw the chain blade out. It pierced into a branch, hundreds of clink sounds rang out as the chain tried to keep up with Jaeger, extending its chain out from the handle.
The length reached its max and ripped the branch off from the tree before flying towards Jaegers hand as it contracted. It didn't hold, but the force and lurch albeit painful had stopped Jaeger's speed. With a shaking hand Jaeger pulled himself up onto a branch and coughed up blood. Spilling countless drops, a potion was chugged back, and only then did the trembling stop.
Jaeger laughed as a *ding* sounded off from his watch indicating his kill.
Another silver shadow flashed in the far distance, Jaeger quickly wiped his hand on the branch he was on before washing his hand off with a flask of water and stepping off. The wings flapped, but this was only by instinct. Jaeger had far from yet the ability to fly as naturally as walking, hell he only got these damned things less than an hour ago.
'Hour?' The watch indicated it was true; an hour had passed since he had stepped into the forest.
The mass of adrenaline caused time to blow away in a quick stream.
Jaeger slowly crept into some bushes as his hand touched a branch and transformed it to metal as the rune on his hand disappeared. A new one for wood appeared in its place as his scratched up skin from the fight vanished, in its place hard darkoak bark.
Frog appeared silently only long enough to take the metal branch into its inner space and leave again. The smell of iron no longer lingered as his presence became invisible amongst the leaves. The silver shadow swiped at the branch and severed it from the tree like a knife to butter. It struck the ground with tremendous force before revealing its face to the surroundings.
The werewolf was at least 6'7 if it stood up straight, with muscles to match it. Its whole body was stream line, wolf like yes, and yet humanoid. It picked the branch up and sniffed the air looking for Jaegers scent. Undead that came near quickly ran away as some unseen force emanating from the werewolf kept them at bay.
Silver fur covered its body like a thick carpet of steel and grey. Its teeth each could be made into small knives, just the glint they gave off hurt the eyes.
The real horror of it was the aura it emitted. It was like some primal beast was merely 10 meters from Jaeger, staring death at him. In some ways, it was unknowingly exuding such force.
It slowly crept closer and closer to Jaeger somehow picking up on the tracks he had left in a hurry to hide in the bush. It sniffed the air several times, and then darted off unseen.
Jaeger was bewildered, and hated himself for not taking the shot because the next second something grabbed him from behind and ripped him out from the bush. He landed amongst several branches and watched on as the werewolf continued to dig through the bushes he was just in.
'So it didn't know if I was or not…' Blood slowly trickled from the shoulder that was grabbed. To the werewolf he was just a small tree, but as more blood trickled down and it sniffed the air it became aware of Jaeger behind it. It whipped around and pounced towards him, but the derringer had already planted two shots into its chest.
It continued to move steadily towards him before collapsing to the ground. It's red eyes glinted blood lust before fading to a matte crimson color.
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Apart from Ito and the rest, others at the fountain were watching Jaeger just as intently. They couldn't see through Ito's eyes, nor tao's or anyone else's: Just Jaegers.
A crowd had come into being the second Jaeger had entered the forest alone. Nobody understood what was happening, and fervent debates were happening left and right about whether or not he was the last alive currently.
Solomon had left with Ana a while back and so didn't know of the current situation. Malcom and Jack had left long before that, and knew nothing what so ever of what their friends were going through.
Even if they did, nothing would change the situation.
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Jaeger coughed hard, before picking himself up slowly from the ground and looking around. Nothing was near; the aura of the wolf was still keeping the undead away luckily.
The werewolf had quite the body, Jaeger dug into its body with a knife countless times before he felt satisfied. Like any creature, all things had a weakness and for the Werewolf it was the space between its ribs. When it transformed, the rib cage would expand and this tightened the skin and muscle in the area considerably. At the right angle, a blade going into this gap wouldn't even have to go in all the way for a large wound to open up. The skin itself would tear apart due to being so taught.
A bit of hesitation filled his chest, but soon was suffocated by the carbon of smoke invading the lungs. With a breathe, the old habit kept the stress down.
The stress and anxiety came from the unknown, but after measuring up your enemy it felt less like fighting a demon and more like a game of cat and mouse. Currently, Jaeger was a church mouse in comparison to a dog. However, his luck was high enough to either run faster or bite when the time was right and hold on for dear life.
The thought of being so close to death didn't escape Jaeger's mind, but it wasn't something he could afford to think about currently. It was a luxury.
For now, Jaeger tossed the wolfs corpse into Frogs inner space. This type of creature, or man if that was the origin, was quite rare outside of certain areas. He would have to examine it later, or give it to someone to examine.
Another potion was chugged back, the wood that had covered his skin before was cast out into the ground. In its place, Jaeger took out a pile of rubber from Frog and filled a rune up with it. His skin became dark and elastic, while his muscles retained the heightened reaction of the first and second rune for lightning. Although he couldn't conduct energy out now, that was fine as he never planned on getting close to anyone anyway.
The forest was still dark, no sign of morning to come and so Jaeger looked at his watch and headed in the direction of the cabin.
Many hours later, the cabin came within view but an eerie mist surrounded its walls. Something didn't feel right, but now wasn't the time to be a chooser. The mist parted to allow Jaeger to walk forward towards the cabin, up to the front door and inside.
*clunk*
A large wood board fell over two iron bull horns on either side of the door to lock it. Only then did Jaeger back up to the wall farthest from the windows and collapse on the ground.
When Jaeger awoke from an hour long nap, the darkness outside had ceased to dissipate. It was either still into the night, or somehow the night was meant to stay. Either way, it wouldn't be easy to navigate and plans had to be made. Vampires had yet to appear, and 8 more werewolves were present in the surrounding forest or the area periphery to it.
*creak*
No lights were on in the cabin, having long been turned off when they had left for the coordinates. Jaeger's perception was quite high and so after hearing the slightest creak his gaze wandered to the windows to his left. A shadow was floating around the cabin, every time it went past a window the surrounding area seemed darker than others as if it absorbed what little light came from the sky.
Crimson eyes were the only noticeable thing to this darker then dark background.
'Werewolf…' Jaeger slowly lifted his body and stuck to the wall like a gecko. The clothe wings rose forward and shrouded his body. Since he had a rune of rubber, the wings had become darker and made of the same substance as his skin. It could stretch more than before, and with a thought mold into almost any geometric shape he desired. It folded several times until it made him look like a square cabinet without drawers. The shadow disappeared around the window near the front door, and seconds later faint scratching sounds filled the room as it fiddled with the handle several times.
*crrk* *BOOM* The door exploded inwards and sent countless fragments of wood into the nearby walls at the speed of bullets. Several bounced off the cape, but with its molecular make up anything that struck it simply bounced off. Jaeger didn't react, holding his breathe he peered through the thin crack in the cape to the werewolf moving forward into the room.
Its heavy weight caused countless creaks and groans to issue from the floor boards. It swung its arms at the nearby tables and chairs, ripping the room apart most likely out of boredom. It seemed to have tracked Jaeger here, but it couldn't smell him what so ever. It must have felt the trail go dead, and was just breaking things on a whim.
*click*
"RRooo…" It swiveled its head around and looked at a strange matte box hugging a wall. It heard a random sound come from within it just a second ago but now silence, it was a strange metallic click. It slowly walked forward until it was merely several feet away, it raised a long arm to knock it down but stopped when a shiny barrel poked out from the box.
"ROOAR" It yelled and swung but was too late to stop the two silver stakes piercing through its rib cage and into its heart. It's arm swung down regardless with the last dreg of strength within its flesh, sending Jaeger flying into a wall. The cape instantly became round and like a spring bounced him off the wall back towards the Werewolf, a blade came out from within and pierced right into its neck before a chain wrapped around its head and slammed it into the ground heavily.
Jaeger emerged from his rubber cape shell with a mad grin, "Fuck me….thank you for the cape Ito…"
*creak*
'Fuck'
Jaeger hid against the same wall, hiding himself in an even smaller shaped shell made of the rubber cape. He had learned from the last time that even if it was around him, it was too large the first time and jarred the living hell out of his body as he was knocked around inside.
A looming creature stalked into the room, but this time it had a desolate and cold aura. This wasn't a werewolf at all, and in fact had no hair across its body. It was humanoid yes, but the large ears hugging its skull-like face and sharp fangs instantly told him this was a vampire. It wasn't as large as the werewolf, about 6 feet tall but it seemed swift in every movement it made.
'Not good…' The derringer was loaded with the stakes made of silver, which was said to be good against both vampires and werewolves alike. However, this seemed to be some dumb myth as it was the stakes into the heart that killed the beast not some metallurgic property. If the stakes didn't kill the vampire, or he missed, it would be quite the fight to live through on skill alone when your opponent was equally as dexterous as you.
The chain blade slowly slid out from its sheath to the thigh and pointed forward as it separated between blade and handle within the air. It wasn't telekinetically being moved, but in fact the two invisible arms manipulating it that Enigma had given to Jaeger. Jaeger had little use for them but now considering it, he needed more hands. His two real arms held a gun in each hand, one the derringer and the other the modified pistol.
The vampire seemed unaware of his preparations but in fact was both highly intelligent as well as greatly heightened in the field of senses. It was leading him on, and showed this by sniffing the air casually and walking out of the room.
Jaeger was taken aback, how did the vampire not guess he was here if there was a dead werewolf on the floor? No, something wasn't right.
'If the wolves travel alone…lone wolves…then what if versa the vampires travel in packs…that would not be good. If there are ten, then a pack consisting of ten would make just as much sense as 5 being a possibility…this is dangerous.'
Indeed, as Jaeger crept up and peered out the adjacent windows shadows were moving over the tree lines like silent assassins. It wanted to lead him out of this cramped cabin, out into a field of death where he would be surrounded and slaughtered regardless of how well he fought one specifically.
Frog appeared out of a thin mist and landed on the cabin ground, Jaeger looked at his Frog with so much love at this very moment. This was the perfect situation to test an escape plan, risk it all.
All the runes to materials fell off at once including the lightning runes. The three lines left in place of the runes began to glow slowly with a stored purple light. The greatest thing about the teleportation ability gifted to Jaeger was the mere fact that the energy wouldn't need to be regathered, but stored for use. The only drawback it seemed was the fact no other runes could be up when he was using it. Or rather, one could but he would only have a third or two thirds the distance of travel with every rune slot taken up by another element or material.
450 feet.
This was the max he could do with all the lines combined, but for now it was a lifesaving skill. Jaeger briskly walked to the front door and gazed out as if he was careless, looking around like some lost child.
The vampire stood solemnly outside the cabin, just a mere 40 feet away. Just far enough to be mysterious, but close enough to still be deadly.
"Hey mister! You shouldn't be out here alone, come on in!" Jaeger shouted without a care in the world towards the vampire. It raised its hand to its chest as if to say 'Me?' and Jaeger nodded before turning around.
The creature hesitated, but with the looks of several eyes amongst the tree lines slowly creeping towards the cabin, it walked forward sealing the fate of its prey.
Jaeger had just walked to the front door when his arms spread out pointing down either side of the cabin. The vampire thought that he may have caught on, but was even more bewildered when a small pistol poked out of the cape and shot directly at it. The vampire was cautious, but didn't think Jaeger had 3 arms and thus watching his other arms didn't think much of the small glint of the pistol before it was shot.
The stakes drove right into its chest, and left its backside. Jaeger peered over his shoulder and was happy to find that the vampires weren't as robust and thick skinned as the wolves. That would prove to be a trouble if combined with their possible speed.
Grass around the cabin was silently cut, but even out of the peripheral vision green filled up all space, as if some great storm was brewing and it was made of wind blades. This of course was the vampires moving at rapid speeds back and forth around the cabin.
One shot forward from around the house and took several shots to the body. Jaeger left his back exposed and focused solely on his left and right.
A little ball floated in the center of the cabin, Jack in fact had taken this from the underground colosseum and without a need for them handed one to Jaeger before he left. It was the equivalent to a mage bomb, all it needed was the mana or energy to drive it and it would explode. Jaeger couldn't off handedly manipulate energy, but this didn't mean that someone else couldn't give him a crystal to feed it. Tao had spent some time pouring holy infused energy into a crystal for everyone to wear incase a ghost or apparition attacked. This same necklace was wrapped around the crystal ball like mage bomb. It was the very first thing Jaeger set up before leaving the cabin, and at the rate it went, it would need another minute before hitting the climax.
*Boom!*
*Fwhoo* *Fwhoo*
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
The vampires were unbelievably fast, and without the boost of bodily reaction as well as higher mental capacity it would be a stretch for even a sharpshooter like Jaeger to hit them. Not only this, but they were slowly closing in on him as they tested out his attacks. Every miss meant they would take another meter towards him in their movements.
A black shadow dashed at swift speed before flying through the air at Jaegers back. The only feeling Jaeger picked up was the hair on his neck standing on end before he was smashed through the door. The creature had stuck its hand straight into the cape on either side of his shoulders and although it stopped him from being pierced through, some of the bones in his shoulders were crushed.
"Gah!" Jaeger flipped his body around and the ethereal arms shoved the chain blade up into the vampire's chest. It looked at him with cold eyes, unmoving in its grip on his body. It looked up hesitantly at the floating golden ball that was pulsating several feet away. Somehow though, it didn't react as heavily as it should and most likely because it was willingly to die to make sure Jaeger was caught.
"AWOOO" A loud howl shook the forest as several silver monstrosities pounded out from the trees. The vampires turned from the cabin towards the werewolves, it seemed they weren't on good terms but Jaeger didn't have the time to pay attention to this. He was currently pressed to the floor by a vampire, with several others just feet from the cabin currently.
*Boom!* The derringer shot a stake up through the vampires rib cage from its stomach. Blood shot out from its shoulder and poured from its torso dousing Jaeger crimson in color.
Jaeger with all his strength left threw it off his body, checking its vitals to find it was thankfully dead.
However, outside things were heating up as the Vampires and Werewolves screamed and roared at one another. Obviously thinking Jaeger was just some trophy to eat up, they were well prepared to fight over this sitting duck of a mortal.