Chapter 4

Name: —

Race: Demon

Class: Vampiric

Age: Immortal – 24days.

Crystal Essence: [Pink]- Lvl.4— 20ESQ

[Available Essence Points— 0]

Faith:12

Agility: 7

Perk: {Reais Smite}, {Blood Rush}

There is something wrong with the earth. A pounding and thumping, a billowing wave of dirt that follows several moments later. The demon could tolerate it all before but now, no longer. With its slumber disturbed, the demon crawls out from the mud home it'd built with the four-armed brute's ribcage and bones.

Having digested the beast and more in entirely, the demon has grown well in its slumber. Joints, new and old crack all up and down it's body. From the fragile, curious knees holding up its flatfeet to the soft, thin ears and bone perking them up as it squeals with pleasure from a satisfactory nap.

Smacking its lips, the demons licks it's nose and sniffs the air, on the hunt again but also curious of what's wrong with the earth. Today nothing has died near it, no skirmishes were fought in the night— it would've spurned awake to watch if there had and possibly participate. The air tells nothing of why the earth rattles but it does still.

Another boom carries through the forest of sick trees, billowing a wave of sand and dirt across, the demon catches a some in its mouth and spits out distastefully. Looking about it wonders if there's a place other than here, where the earth doesn't rumble, send sand into its mouth and disturb its sleep. However, all around it is the forest and the demon realizes for the first time that it's lost its way back home but it questions whether it ever intended to return to its old birth crevasse— surely the demon has grown too large for it now.

It strides, walking tall without the wobble of its waddle prone feet, it's strong new knees provide this. The demon let's itself follow the thumping and pounding, perhaps that is where it will find food.

Trekking further into the forest the demon takes stock of its surroundings, it's ear twitching at the slightest breeze and nose crinkling at piles of dung it passes by. There is life here. Though the trees are sick, twisted and charred black, often oozing some fluid that smells as worse than the replica did after days of rotting…there is life.

Among the sick, oozing trees there are boiling puddles on the path the demon follows. Crawling out of some are worms, snaky little things but without wings, fangs or even Crystals. Too small for Crystals the demon figures as it lifts one out of a puddle overwhelmed with sand— it seems it is not the only one suffering with the thumping.

Staring at the wet, black sludge body of the worms between its pinched fingers, the demon ponders, "Can I eat that?"

It does. Swallowing and grimacing as the sludge of worms slide down the back of its throat, bitter and thick but having more crunch than the demon thought. And somehow, even without a Crystal the demon absorbs some modicum of ESQ from it. 

0.023ESQ Absorbed!

The demon decides that the black puddle worms are to be eaten but not as much as other creatures with Crystals. As it treks it picks up one other but not another after that.

Something that looks like a tree draws the demon's attention as it travels. The base is thick and a bright green with deepening streaks of orange travelling up to its veiny canopy. Standing underneath it smells different than the other sick trees. It sustains some life as well, just as the sick trees had their puddles of slick, slimy worms the umbrella tree has pockets of tiny singing birds. A bit too tiny to be birds the demon thinks as it snatches an entire pocket out of the air with a snap of its maw. 

0.33ESQ Absorbed!

The demon notes other trees like it further ahead and some quite unlike it, some with six broad petals, littered with sensitive villi that curls up at the demon's touch; their stems straighten and sink into the ground leaving only a bulb behind.

The bulb's top is orange too, the same as the streaks on the giant umbrella tree. The demon walks past to touch another and it too curls up, sinking into a bulb in the ground. When the demon brushes the third, every one of the flora bulb down to the earth and in sync they begin to inflate. Starting from the first a burst of blue gas permeates the forest as far as the demon can see.

Sniffing the gas, the demon crinkles its nose but soon chokes on its breath, noting how the buzzing pockets of flies fall out of the air, dead at the stench. It's not long before the demon's sprinting away.

However, before it can get past even the first bulb the demon is thrown off its feet as the earth quakes and trembles. The massive boom rattles everything in the forest and sends a clearing wind across that wipes away the blue poisonous mist, loose branches, whole trees and even screeching creatures that fail to hold their ground.

Tossed around on the ground the demon is quick to grab onto whatever its hands blindly touch. What it grasps yelps and kicks at its face, sending the demon crashing back into a tree trunk with the vicious wind.

When the worst of the wave passes the demon pulls itself together, recalling being kicked in the face as well as the blue mists it resolves to escape. Wherever to it doesn't know, but as soon as its eyes peer a path it starts sprinting down it. In its burst of momentum, the demon slams headfirst into a fellow sprinting creature, both repelling to their asses only to skip back, stare and snarl at each other in the wake of the shockwave's destruction. The forest is no longer the same, many of the umbrella trees are fallen and flung, taking their broad canopies with them and revealing a blood red sky dusted filled with dark clouds of smog.

The demon only spares this sky as well as the monuments within it a short glance. It bares its fangs at the creature responsible for knocking it back instead. A creature not larger or smaller than it, not one it can grasp and throw, or one that can throw it. Matted with dark brown fur, arms as long as its body, a curly tail and a set of white teeth, there's not much worth nothing of this creature at a glance. But the demon knows better, it can smell the blood of hunt on it, the creature means it's challenge as much as the demon does. Its yellow irises stand a contrast to all else as they send a wary feeling throughout the demon. It backs up and the curly-tailed creature does the same.