I'm exhausted.
That was the only thing on my mind right now. Fighting three dark arts healers tends to do that to a person.
The real issue, however, was my inability to sustain myself. As a threadripper, I'm meant to follow a rather distinct combat style in prolonged battles.
I need to keep eating the vitality strings of the people I'm fighting, and by doing so I could theoretically go on indefinitely.
The caveat here is that I, under no circumstances, am supposed to kill any of the three Black Lake healers - or their head will fuck me up.
So I've been doing my best to lock their healing down by messing with their internal structure, tangling their muscles up using thread manipulation.
But even that's becoming increasingly difficult, as an exorbitant amount of focus is needed to do so without permanently crippling them.
"Fuuuck, I'm getting hungry, fellas."
I spoke with hitched breath.
When's that head of theirs coming in? My mind's getting too clouded.
Voracity - that's what the innate hunger of our tribe is called. It's a great power, sure, but also a double-edged sword. Can be an issue at times, just like now, when it's pushing me to devour them even though I'd rather not.
Slash
Another strike landed on me, this time on my shoulder.
"Wow, that's a deep cut, isn't it?"
I laughed again.
The people I'm fighting - they're not helping my situation one bit. At the start of our battle things were pretty good, and their spirits were strong.
But it seemed that somewhere along the way, fear settled into their hearts after witnessing my 'slightly' unhinged demeanor.
But how does this make sense? Don't these fucks fight the same way I do? I mean, they're casually taking damn near lethal wounds like nothing, healing each other as if oblivious to pain. And yet these idiots started getting scared. Tch.
Though I suppose throwing one of them out through a window like some sort of garbage bag didn't help morale.
Thanks to that, their tension intensified my hunger manyfold.
Shit, I really need their boss to beat me the hell down right now - !!
*BANG!!*
*Crash*
"Eugh."
Out of nowhere, a punch landed squarely on my gut, the strength so high that an explosion of wind pressure erupted from the point of impact, and I was flung into a wall with a crash.
"Ha, hahah. Took you long enough, syndicate head."
Speak of the devil, I suppose.
I propped myself up against the wall I'd crashed into, blood streaming out of my mouth.
Though even my blood didn't behave as it should. Instead of what should've been a gush of dark liquid, the blood quickly condensed into dark threads, swirling about chaotically like countless tentacles.
"Hooh. Heup!"
I let out a slow breath and then inhaled sharply. In a swift motion, the strings of blood were sucked back into my mouth, worming their way through my esophagus and into my bleeding organs to weave a makeshift cover for the wounds.
Seems I won't be dying today, then. How nice.
Processes like that happen without my control, much like a human's breathing or heartbeat. Though I did have to manually force the blood back in, which was a bit of a chore given how tired I was.
"Wow, what a monster. Anyone else with your cultivation level would've died on the spot from a hit like that," the syndicate head noted.
The hell? So I could've died just now? I figured he'd be holding back. This man's ruthless, huh?
"Still, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" he said, glancing over my crumpled, cut-up figure.
"Heh! Same goes for your goons, syndicate head. Or should I call you Dren? You know, I smelled your presence outside the door a few minutes back. Why didn't you step in sooner to help your men out?"
With a raised eyebrow, he replied, "How peculiar. You seem to know quite a lot, despite your seemingly reckless actions. To answer your question, threadripper, it was a test of your intentions. If you fought with the intent to kill, this would've been the end for you."
"Hmm, cough, figured as much. But please, I have a name. Call me Ori. Don't like associating myself with those brutes from my tribe. Khah! Hah, cough. Damn, I'm in rough shape."
His second eyebrow also went up, and he looked at me like I'd just said something ridiculous.
Meanwhile, I was still retching from the accumulated injuries.
"This won't do. We can't hold a proper conversation with you in this state."
At those words, a wave of black - uhh, something - erupted from him and rapidly closed in on me, enveloping me whole.
*Tshhh*
With a quiet sizzle, the substance started seeping into my cuts and bruises, sealing them up fast.
My vision was obscured by the black mass.
Is it something like a fog? No, seems more like jet-black water. Not that it matters.
What did matter was that he didn't seem overly hostile to me, even if his first greeting was a bit rough.
Dren's healing speed's at least five times faster than that of his branch head, and I'm not even sure if this is his full power.
This is great. I think I really picked the right people to hire. With this, even our insane plan of breaking into the royal detention center doesn't appear as impossible anymore.
"Cheers for patching me up, sir Dren. My throat's parched, though. Hey, could one of you fetch me a jug of water?"
The branch head, along with one of his numbered men - thirteen or fourteen, can't remember - looked at me with incredulity.
"What? Can't a man have some water after mashing our sweaty bodies together for so long? Look, I even kept the ceramic water jar intact, so please fetch me a glass. Actually, a whole jug would be better."
Their expressions were priceless. I suppose seeing someone act so brazenly in front of Dren himself was quite a shock to them. But what could they do? If their boss is okay with it, they'd have to be as well.
Unexpectedly, it was Dren who moved to fetch me a glass. At the same time, I felt a subtle energy emanate from him, and the next moment his two men vanished from sight.
That must've been some sort of signal for them to leave.
I downed the cup, stood up shakily, and plopped down on the same chair that was initially there for me when I first entered the building.
Dren took a seat in front of me and stared at me with his impassive expression.
Guess that's my cue to speak. But it's strange. I expected him to have a ton of questions to ask me. I mean, I did beat his people up, even if it was kinda unavoidable if I wanted to reveal my cards.
"Alright, so my proposal is simple. And when I tell you the plan, please don't lose your shit right away."
"Hmm? What could you possibly be trying to hire us for, to be more wary of asking me than beating up my people?"
I scratched my head awkwardly. That was definitely a jab, right? He did a pretty good job not showing it, but I suppose it makes sense he'd be pissed.
Imma have to phrase my next request very carefully.
"Haha, how should I put this? Umm, okay, so I'll need to hire a solid half of your syndicate - I mean, of this branch - to break into Stone Cauldron's Royal Detention Center."
"…"
Oh, shit. I failed.
He slowly and deliberately reached down for the sword at his waist.
"Wait wait wait! Hold up, let's not go to violence just yet, at least hear out the rest of what I'm gonna say!"
"What more is there to say? You simply have a death wish, and I shall fulfill it."
He looks serious about it.
"Vitality pills!"
His hand, now already on the sheath, slowed down.
"First-grade! Six first-grade vitality pills! I'll have them delivered by tomorrow morning."
I flashed a smile, confident that would have him convinced.
"Haah, so now you're playing games? I truly don't understand why you value your life so little."
His sword was at my neck before I even processed him unsheathing it.
Fuck, I thought he was playing along with my bit. Welp, now my life really is on the line. Nothing new, I s'pose.
"Any last words?"
"Yes, actually. There's quite a lot I wanna say before I die. So I'll write it all down before going out. That said, now's not the time. Give me half a day."
"And what, pray tell, do you believe you can prove within that time?"
I smirked. It seems he's at least going to hear me out. I can work with this.
"I'll have the six pills delivered to you before half a day passes."
"You have no way to prove your words."
"So what? Just wait to kill me until after the allotted time passes. Surely you don't think I'll try running away, when you're at least a dozen times faster than me?"
"Hmm."
He was lost in thought for a moment.
Way too tense of a moment! God… Gods, I mean; plural.
"Very well. But you shall stay under my supervision for the entire time. Can you do that much?"
"Fine, whatever. Just don't watch me while I'm in the shitter, please. That'd be a bit too far, even for me."
"Are you really joking at a moment like this?"
"Nothing better than to change the moment to a lighter one, no?"
Finally, he moved the sword away from my neck.
I breathed a silent sigh of relief.
Now, things from here on were simple - but that's not to say they'd be easy.
"I'm heading off to set up camp at the meeting site with my 'deliveryman'. Uhh, follow me I guess."
Without a sound, he appeared in front of me, waiting for me to lead the way.
Argh, again and again! Every bloody time, I end up in the weirdest of company. At least this 'bodyguard' is a nearly undefeatable one. What's good is good is good, right?
"But, umm, sir. Are you not taking the rest of your people to watch over me?"
"Am I alone not enough to incapacitate you?"
"N-No, not at all. Let's go, then."
That was a stupid question. A man of his caliber wouldn't need the help of others.
And so, we headed out, toward the spot where we agreed to meet up with Lyrael.
***
The night passed, and we were standing next to a long-extinguished campfire.
Just then, in the distance, some sort of sound could be heard. It was a repetitive drum of footsteps, clearly rushing in our direction.
"Haha, the crazy girl actually did it!"
It seems she'd succeeded in escaping with the pills, judging by the fact that a whole convoy was marching our way.
Dren looked down at me, a whole head taller, and asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Is this the deliveryman you were talking about?"
I nodded with an ear-wide smile, relieved that Lyrael survived.
Her sprinting silhouette showed through the trees, followed shortly by dozens of armored soldiers.
"That's right. Oh, but she seems to have a bit of company. How can this be?!"
I exclaimed in surprise, shock written all over my face.
"You… Do you think we're close enough to make jokes?"
I stuck out my tongue.
"Looks like I've been caught. Whoopsies. But hey, wouldn't it be unfair to get paid upfront, without putting in at least a bit of work? Take the guys chasing her down for me, will you? She's got your pills. High-value client, that one."
I made a coin gesture with my fingers, a flash of light reflecting off my oddly white teeth.
"This is outside of what I promised to deliver. Looks like my rate will be going up."
Before I could even respond, he was gone, a pool of black water left behind where his feet stood.
Voracity's been kicking in after that battle with Dren's goons. May as well take this chance to fill my stomach.
I cracked my fingers, stretched my back, and got on all fours.
It was time to hunt these soldiers that dared lay a hand on my friend.
I mean, even I haven't had a taste of her flesh yet, and we're pretty close. Who do these fucks think they are, trying to lay a hand on my possession?
My clothing pulsed dangerously. The arm, once broken, had healed back up when I unleashed my full hunger against the branch manager.
The grass beneath my feet curled in on itself, and then, with a springing motion, expanded rapidly, propelling me forward with explosive speed.