Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

The elf party was thrown in disarray after their scout died, although neither of them saw it happen personally, they felt it, the connection to nature also united them together in a way, so when their fellow was struck right in the heart, and fell to the forest ground, each of was able to sense it happen.

They could hardly understand how it was possible that the scout had been spotted, he was not new to that sort of activities, and he had successfully scouted against the dirt-bloods before as well, not to mention, the with the downpour that was currently happened, he should have been less visible than ever.

And yet, he had been slain.

Before the other elves could gather themselves and react, a large group of dirt-bloods had already come rushing to retrieve the body, bringing it back to the camp in haste as though it was a most precious and rare item.

With one of their party members dead, the group of elves did not know what to do next, should they return to the top of the mountain, or should they press onward with their mission?

What they were thinking was of no worries to Litrakq, instead more busy on tallying up the spoils that glorious javelin throw had brought to her.

First things first, she was able to get her hands on a genuine, elvish bow, the method of fabrication of those was a tightly guarded secret, humans had never been able to crack the code and replicate the way they built those powerful bows, it also came with a quiver full of arrows, which were similarly crafted in an unknown manner, only known to the elves.

The spoils also brought a pouch filled with various toxins, clothes that could help one camouflage into the jungle, and most important of all, the corpse of the elf scout.

Litrakq was already salivating, devouring what you killed was only natural for any dirt-blood, but this corpse, it was calling to her, she had to feast upon it, it was of capital importance, her hunger for elven flesh had been getting stronger and stronger over time.

She had not shown it, but the commander had felt like she was utterly famished, no matter how much she ate, it always felt like something was missing, the ingredient in question was not right before her, and without ceremony, she dug into the corpse like a feral beast.

Using her recently earned claws to tear into the flesh, pulling bones loose as she didn't even spare those, crushing them in between her teeth to get to the most succulent bone marrow, driven by hunger, Litrakq bit down on the teeth and swallowed the resulting dust, not even the elf's hair was left intact, nothing was wasted.

She even licked the blood that had gotten on the javelin, in the end, nothing was left of her prey.

The commander sat down directly on the ground in the middle of her tent, feeling like something was coming, that familiar sensation, her blood felt like it was boiling in her veins, it was similar to consuming the content of a red vial, but here, it felt more primal, less controlled and refined, her entire body, her whole being felt like it was being rearranged and changed.

Litrakq grunted through greeted teeth as the pain reached levels she didn't believe possible, to the point that she ended up passing out on the floor, but even after that, her muscles kept on spasming, the sound of bones breaking and melding back together continued on for hours, until the rain subsided, and the light of day rose.

The commander rose up feeling like she had been dragged throughout the entire realm by a chariot, it felt as though something was constantly pounding against the inside of her skull.

She examined herself.

Appearance was, nothing much seemed to have changed, but she felt much stronger than before without a doubt, far more agile as well, but that was far from being what was most noticeable.

Her connection to nature was strong, incredibly firm, it felt as though she was a genuine elf, the jungle held basically no secrets for her, even from inside of her tent, Litrakq could focus, and sure enough, she could sense 'fellow' elves moving about, preparing ambushes, discussing amongst themselves in hushed voices.

She could also feel a strong connection to the beasts, and to the toxins as well, she hadn't just awakened elvish powers, it seemed like she had specifically awakened the traits of the local elves.

Although her mana did not feel empowered in the least, it felt like there was something new within her that she could harness.

She tried to do so without hesitation, and at first, nothing seemed to happen, only for Litrakq to quickly notice that her appearance had changed, her skin had grown bark-like, and her patches of blonde hair had noticeably grown much greener in appearance.

That was odd, it had felt like her bloodline was what had awakened, but how could that result in such a bizarre ability? And why could her connection to the jungle grow so firm in such little time? It did not make much sense, but it wasn't like there was time to question it, these changes were welcome and would come in handy soon.

Litrakq changed back to her regular appearance, tidied up as she had fallen unconscious on the ground sprawled like a drunkard all the while being drenched in water.

With her sword sheathed around her waist, and now carrying a bow alongside a quiver full of arrows, accompanied by a pouch filled with all sorts of toxins, she confidently strode outside into view of elves hidden near the camp in the jungle, and more specifically, of the elves atop the mountain.

Seeing the equipment worn by the enemy was nothing short of a direct insult, which was exactly how Litrakq hoped that they would see it.

She enhanced her voice with fighting spirit, and proclaimed something aloud.

"Elves are hard to chew, but the taste is to die for!" she announced, making the enemy scowl, whilst her soldiers cheered, this meant a lot to them, they had never done as much as seen an elf closely before, so to hear that their commander had actually killed one was a cause for celebration!

Truly, it seemed like they were fully capable of taking down the mountain, and that would make them the first to bring down an elven community since the beginning of the war!

"Bring that jungle down, there are many more of them hiding, simply waiting to serve as our nutrients!" she added, and the deforestation efforts began once more, this time with even more fervour.