Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Gore

Morning came, and Flaze finally woke up. We had for breakfast, the sheep kebab we made last night.

It was a wonderful view. The monsters had woken up, and more sheeptaurs were out and about on the streets.

Flaze pointed at a cluster of them.

"Is that... is that a werewolf?"

I squinted my eyes at where she was pointing, and found a humanoid wolf walking among the sheep. It made me wonder, and Flaze voiced out my thoughts.

"Why aren't they attacking each other?"

No clue. I neighed. But we'll probably find out eventually.

"It's not even wolff in sheep's clothing... It's just a wolf!" Flaze said, annoyed, and irritated.

Yeah. Because the apocalypse so far has made so much sense. I scoffed, and pointed at everything else.

Flaze rolled her eyes, but didn't argue further.

We finished our meal when she suddenly restrained me, holding me down with two of her Samurai forms.

Wait, what? Huh? Eh?

I thrashed and I neighed until Flaze finally spoke up to explain herself. I was this close to throwing around my hellfire.

"Use your skill Jackal! Use it!"

Ah. Right. I'm still figuring out my new skill.

But at least warn me first!

I noticed then, that there was indeed a connection that I felt, and it was to the both of them. Curse of The Horse eligible to be used on either one. But I may only choose a single recipient of my blessing.

I picked the clone, and her grip suddenly loosened, albeit still present. I kicked her away, and the original released me.

Flaze Clone got up, very slowly and deliberately, as if weighed down by an invisible force. I watched and waited, the clone was at level 40, yet the duration and effects were only comparable to the sheep we killed last night. A consequence, perhaps, of her being a tank.

Flaze Original shivered from beside myself. "Your curse feels damn creepy. Holy shit."

She paused for a second, and it was her clone that spoke up next. "Do it again!"

Both Flazes looked disappointed, when they remembered the cooldown.

It's a good skill! I swear!

I make jokes about it, but I really do think so.

~~~

My distracted mind suddenly snapped to one direction, towards an ethereal form of Flaze in knight's clothing. A primal rage was awakened within my weary soul, and I realized that she was my enemy.

My neighs came out in a growl as I charged, galloping across the distance in a few bounds. I felt a different sensation among the rage, one that curses her for what she has put me through. I relished the feeling, and unleashed it.

[Curse of The Horse].

The spell took hold, and knight form of Flaze suddenly stiffed with her shield still held aloft. I remembered something, and I instinctively flowed healing into myself just before I collided with my... friend.

I crashed into her, and received little resistance. We both rolled together in a pile, skidding across the ground and smearing sheeptaur guts all over ourselves. We had killed so many of the motherfuckers just to clear this third floor.

I coughed and spat out an eyeball that had somehow gotten inside my mouth.

Taunt. Right.

Not the first time I've faced it, but we've been fighting non-stop for a while now and I'm tired. I'm usually much more on top of it, it's not hard to notice and heal the debuff away. But still, it's important to note how much more effective it can be in a distraught target. It's something that Flaze has used to devastating effect, against her enemies.

Not that I'm worrying over any real conflict between us!

I've been testing Curse of The Horse whenever it was off cooldown, and it's good to know that Taunt is something that very strongly sets it off. The feeling in my head that informs me when the conditions are met to curse someone seems to vary in intensity, but I have not noticed a change in the power of he curse itself in relation to it. I can also use it as some sort of signal, if I'm being hindered or tampered with in any way.

I sighed and hacked, getting the last of the bloody bits off my mouth. Flaze had walked over in that time, and had extended a hand out to this exhausted traveler.

"Hey, horse." I heard a voice from above. I looked up to see Flaze, the real one, peering at me. "I must have missed that class where it was thought that horses love eyeballs."

She tapped a finger to her chin. "Or maybe that's just your poison."

I searched around my mouth, and found that I haven't actually gotten everything out yet. I spat out a piece of spleen onto Flaze's face.

She paused for a second, a moment of silence.

I didn't honor the peace. Instead I guffawed, very loudly. I pointed my hoof at my friend, who had gone in shock, unable to react.

She recovered, and then began her vengeance, throwing large pieces of gore at me. I did the same, shoveling brain matter at her, our little game making a whole mess of the place.

Somewhere along the line, we've forgotten how fucked up this was supposed to be.

~~~

We were currently camping out in the second floor, having dinner after yet another day, amongst all this death. Oh won't someone save me from the melancholy.

Flaze's Clone was scouting out the next floor down, as we've decided to do, given just how many of the sheeptaur monsters are present now. We don't want to walk into something we cannot so easily escape.

"I'm dead." Flaze suddenly spoke in between bites of Sheeptaur flesh. We've found that they're quite delicious, seasoning stacked inside Flaze's bag in her base form.

I tilted my head at her, and booped her nose with my hoof.

I neighed. Feels alive to me.

"Ah. No, not me me." Flaze pointed away, downwards. "My Clone. The ground floor is just... It's crawling with sheeptaurs."

I raised a brow upon the new information. They're not walking like humans anymore? They crawl on all fours?

Flaze groaned. "You know what I mean, Jackal."

Yeah. I do. I laughed in her face.

She ignored my taunting and walked close to the windows instead, so close to the ledge that she could easily fall off. A crow did take notice of her and attack, level 46 and a rogue. Flaze just switched over to her samurai form and cut the creature in half with one stroke.

"Let's just jump." Flaze said, her gaze still to the outside. "It'd be much easier than trying to get through just how much sheeptaurs there are below."

I paused, at Flaze's words. It's what I've been saying, this entire time, except in the way only a horse can. To just jump out the window, and get away from this accursed place.

By all accounts I should be happy r8ght now, that Flaze finally made the suggestion herself. And yet, I'm not.

I don't want to run away anymore.

[Your Party has defeated a Level 45 Warrior!]

[Your Party has defeated a Level 51 Warrior!]

...

[Your Party has defeated a Level 49 Warrior!]

[Your Party has defeated a Level 53 Handler!]

[Your Level Has Risen to 51!]

[Your Level Has Risen to 52!]

[Your Level Has Risen to 53!]

_____________

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[Longstrider] (Level 2 / Integration 100%)

Increases your running speed by 100%. Skill lasts for as long as you do not stop running. 10 minute cooldown (After the skill is broken).

Level 2: Provides a larger grace period where you can be delayed or even stop without breaking the Skill.

_____________

And also the levels. The levels are very good. I like seeing those numbers go up. I like seeing the skills go vroom.

In all seriousness, a quite subtle addition to Longstrider, but I can already see it being instrumental.

Flaze! I turned my attention back to her and neighed. I pointed at the door leading back to the traumatic hallways. Let us fight!

She looked at me, like I've suddenly becomes a horse--Oh wait, I am a horse.

"We're literally on the second floor, Jackal. It's not that high of a jump. Don't be scared. Scardey Horse." She chuckled at the end, and I fumed.

That's not what I meant! I swung my hooves around. And then I wrote down my reasoning.

NO RETREAT! NOT COWARD! LEVELS!!!

Flaze blinked, looking at the burning letters.

"Jackal..." She began, so serious that I really thought she had something smart to say. "I think your human intelligence might be slowly deteriorating into that of a horse's."

HORSE NOT DUMB!!! NEIGHNEIGHENIEGH!!!!!

Flaze deadpanned, and went towards a nearby shelf, grabbing a bottle of water. She walked right back up to me, and then poured all the contents on my head.

I nodded, walked away on four feet, grabbed a simillar bottle, and then poured the contents on her after crushing the plastic with my mouth.

We both nodded, still refusing to speak. Flaze was the first to break the silence. "Seriously. Jackal. Are you sure you want to stay here to grind and kill the sheepmen?"

I nodded. Absolutely.

She smiled, water still dripping from her dirty face. We actually do need a bath. Very badly.

"Well. I've no reason to disapprove. Let's go cook ourselves some lamb."

Flaze changed back to her knight form and summoned another clone. "Wait a few minutes, until my clone Skill resets. I'll try and lure a few here."

We switched rooms while we waited, one closer to the stairwell leading down. We entered one of the apartments, a unit that we should have passed by when we first got here. When we still believed that Darkvoid may be alive.

There were smears of blood across the walls, the door was broken in, and there were corpses lying around. Of birds, and of a single sheeptaur. It had changed, since we were last here. It mattered not.

We positioned ourselves just by the door, the both of us in position. Flaze finally sent out her clone, and I got news from her shortly thereafter.

"No luck. Clone's dead. Not fast enough to outrun them."

I thought about it for a second, before neighing and writing on the floor. I know I suggested it, but if it's that dangerous then we should just leave through the window.

Flaze didn't immediately respond, finally shaking her head after a short while. "No."

She cleared her throat. "Well, maybe. But, let me try this out first." She seamlessly transformed into a samurai before making a clone out of it.

"My Samurai form can lure them." She pointed at the door. "And then I can lead them to this narrow pass."

We'll have to fight even more at once, but... it's not a terrible plan. I neighed my consent.

Flaze acknowledged, and then switched back to being a night after the appropriate amount of time had passed.

"Operation Dumb Horse. Commence."

The Samurai Clone moved before I could protest, running towards the staircase as we both peeked out of the door. She disappeared beyond, and I thought I heard her shouting some profanities towards a presumed audience down below. They responded with their own bleats, the sounds of many footsteps approaching.

"They're coming." The Flaze beside me said cooly. I saw her grip tighten on both her sword and her shield.

I too prepared myself, readying the biggest fireball I can manage. It was larger than the door was wide. Flaze stepped back a little.

The samurai clone jumped back into view, running at a blistering pace and followed by many more.

Sheeptaurs.

The monsters were close, the leading one mere moments away from grabbing ahold of Flaze's clone and dragging her to be feasted upon by their monstrous appetites. And yet the clone showed no hint of panic, actually pausing for a second in order to crouch and gather power upon her legs.

She blurred in the next moment, just before the monsters reached her. She sailed through the air like a human bullet within a single bound, easily making it to the entrance of our quarters, with a trail of sheeptaurs behind her.

They were only stunned by what had happened for a second. Their approach barely slowed down, and they gave further chase to Flaze's clone who stepped inside the room we were hiding in, sword at the ready.

The sheeptaurs arrived in the next moment, they barreled through the doorway just as I set my fireball loose on them, an explosion that rocked the entire area with its force.

The enemy stumbled, they were set alight. They bleated in a panic, and Flaze Clone fearlessly strode forward, an impetuous charge that slashed at whoever got in her deadly range. Burning flesh was sliced away, and blood evaporated against the blistering heat. Meanwhile, the original taunted them to further add to the mania, the sheeptaurs falling over each other by the door, more than half still relegated outside.

I jumped in as well, not willing to be outdone. I reared up and kicked one sheeptaur, prompting a burst of light. I immediately turned to the next one, once I'd knocked the other down on its ass, giving them zero time to recover.

[Hellish Fireball]!

The opposing group clamored over each other, having lost all semblance of coordination. There were two Handlers at the back who had elemental attacks of what I presume to be some sort of enraging poison, and the other in possession of electrically charged wire wool. We easily evaded the woolen projectiles aimed for us, they were only blindly attacking, damaging their own squad in the process.

The sheeptaurs didn't even know who or what they were attacking anymore, fists and kicks landing on the walls and pillars, along with their friends. Pieces of concrete cracked and fell, the rubble only further adding to the pandemonium as the monsters tripped over them and attacked each other, while me and Flaze attacked them as well.

I stomped and kicked on their squirming forms with my Horsekick Gambit, further disorienting or burning them each time. I heard the crack of one's skull, followed by the fanfare of a kill notification. Flaze and her clone also killed one each at the same moment, the former having copied her clone and donned a samurai's garb.

The monsters have been cut down to half, my energy was running low but they were also almost dead. A few dozen more kicks and fireballs, and the hostile lamb were well and truly routed. All of their wool burnt off, flesh flayed away, and the entrance to our ambush site severely widened, if not blocked by rubble.

It'd still work really well, to disrupt the enemy's movements.

[Your Party has defeated a Level 45 Warrior!]

...

[Your Party has defeated a Level 59 Handler!

[Your Level Has Risen to 54!]

Flaze was panting, and so was I. I looked at her, and saw a smile on her face.

She coughed and tried to hide it, but then decided otherwise.

"That was... fun." She said, hesitating.

It was. I agreed. I neighed tiredly and slumped to the ground. A moment of rest, in a world restless.

"Wanna do it again?" She asked after a while.

My horse face contorted into an evil grin.

 

I wanted to do more chapters, but I was only able to do the promised two this week. I'll try an do better next week.

Do tell me what you thought about this chapter though! Specially that last fight. Shorter than normal, shorter than what it was originally, but that's what I felt best about. I got to reuse like a tenth of a backlog chapter.

This was honestly an arc that I wanted done faster, it was originally shorter, but Jackal's breakdown prolonged it--It felt too abrupt originally hence the change. And as mentioned before, I added a new skill and shit. But hopefully, I'm back on plan now! Maybe....

Oh, and very minor changed last chapter. Just to add some better continuity, and subtle characterization. Or well, that's the hope anyway.

CHANGE:

"I demand a raise." Flaze Clone said so drily, I had to hold back a laugh. It was a joke that warmed my heart to hear.

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