Angel - 13
A yawn cuts through the silence, waking those that had tried to cut their senses and go to sleep.
"Seriously!"
"Come on!"
"We were trying to sleep!"
It was all light hearted, yeah, they didn't mean it. They were only so mean in a playful way.
Yeah, that was it, they weren't mean for being mean's sake, they wanted to play a bit of a prank.
Yep, that had to be it. Yet though he had deluded himself that he was right, that his truth was God's truth.
There still was a bit of doubt left within him. That they truly disliked him. Was that true, was he truly that disliked among them all to be boo'd out.
No, he wasn't. And so he apologized, letting the insults wash over him.
Doing so, he went to sleep.
Moments later after he was done, after he had gone to sleep. The others had woken up.
No, it was more accurate to say they had never been asleep. Lying in wait, yes, that was the better term.
And so they stood from their positions, they took their belongings, and they turned back into the forest.
"Poor guy."
"He must be so lonely."
Words such as that washed over him, yet he was not awake. He could hear neither the praise, nor the truth of their words.
A delusion that he had trapped himself into.
For once it was not his fault. It was the fault of his skill. A grand delusion that sought something, whether that was good or bad. Well, was that not up to the wielder to decide.
…
…
…
A blade cut through flesh, bringing with it grand spouts of blood. It cascaded over him, as if a shower, washing him in crimson blood.
He turned and allocated his stat points, letting the strength and speed he had just appointed flow over his muscles.
A delusion, a ghost, no, something greater.
It was a sight for sore eyes. He tried to separate himself from it, to let the demon do its thing. But that was not possible.
"GO!"
"Do it"
"Kill"
He obeyed, ignoring those around him and turning his spear on the nearest beast. And just as the beast's he hunted, he ripped, he teared, and he killed.
Once he woke to reality though, his hands stained with blood, there was nothing for him to do, but watch and listen to those teammates of his ridicule him.
"So strong" "Such a dumbass"
"So cool" "Why is he doing something so cringe."
He grabbed his head, and strode off. The voices had overlapped again, and he knew not what to do about it.
So he stomped off, to grab fresh water, or maybe fresh air. Even he did not know what he wanted.
Only that was not what he encountered.
It was not the fresh air of a bloodstain free area, or the refreshing cool of the nearby river.
A camp, filled with hundreds of people, fewer horses being cared by stable boys.
'Was this a town? Or was it something else?'
His mind could not comprehend what he was looking at, a sort of madness exclusive to him..
And so, with that madness in mind, he found his hand stained with blood. Little metal bits sticking through and a sickening smell that arose hidden instincts.
"KILL HIM!"
Voices coalesced together into one that he could barely hear. Only the hostility itself.
And so, with blood on his lips, with a delusion standing in front of him.
He slashed, killed, and healed. All over again until he was forced to run, yet not before killing tens, if not more than that.
Maybe it was because they were surprised, or that they were weak. But as he came down from his high, his delusion.
He found himself not even a level further. Stuck at that perpetual level 5. Weak yet strong.
"Do those monster's not give out much xp?" He asked, to no one in particular. Yet it was answered all the same.
Just not in the way that he would have preferred.
Another delusion, this time an illusion of some being. One that seemed to take some manner of amusement in his words.
"Of course not, you don't get much for killing one of the same species, say one-hundredth of the total maybe. Maybe even less."
"Same species?" he asked the delusion.
"Oh~" His eye twinkled and a stomach churning thought came to mind, "Did you not know who you were killing, don't worry, that phase will go away soon."
He hurled, vomit coming from his mouth. All of his dinner, and even breakfast had come out. His stomach couldn't have felt emptier if he had tried.
"Monster… I'm a… a…"
"A monster~ Was it not clear?"
He threw up once more, yet there was nothing more to heave, only spit and acid.
It burned his mouth, his cheeks and even his tongue. But as the delusion disappeared, reality came back to him.
He couldn't help but feel the screams of the damned, the look of those metal people's eyes on him.
It haunted his morning. And just as usual, Irin felt lost, hopeless, and with a pessimistic blink he let himself fall to the ground. Tears prickling over his eyes.
…
…
…
"Twelve dead, fifteen injured. How the hell did this happen?"
There was no yelling, no anger that could be visible heard. Oh but felt, oh yes, anger could be felt.
If someone had told her that the captain was not angry, then she would have accused them of being some sort of dunce.
Could they not read the room?
Eh, but either way, they didn't really have the moral high ground anyway. She stood straight, listening to the quiet rage that the captain was outputting.
"Incompetents, I'm surrounded by idiots." She muttered to herself, "We march today, all will be vigilant, if I am to hear about one death, one more injury, then let it be from my own sword."
With that final warning she left, the captain took her sword and placed it on her waist. Settling in for the small journey left.
They had made it so far from their hometown, all to burn some incompetent town for the sin of existing.
So even as she herself made her way to the line of people. She felt nothing at the deaths. Only disappointment that she had not been one of them.
Maybe then her conscience could be sated.