The Tower King

Sora could not guess the exact number of Flayed Stalkers around him, but he was sure they were more than the three he had just killed.

« This time too, are you going to stay there and look at me? » he asked while continuing to examine the surroundings.

"Obviously... Jarek asked me to train you, so you will train. I am not going to do all the work for you." Took back Nerris, while leaning against a tree a few meters from Sora.

Sora tightened his grip on his sword, still sticky with the blackish blood of the Stalekrs whom he had already defeated. His breath was jerky, his muscles tense, but his mind remained lucid. He couldn't afford to weaken.

A rustle on his right. Then another one behind him. They approached in numbers. Given the noise they were emitting, Sora could guess that there were about ten of them.

He swallowed his saliva, trying to calm the frantic beats of his heart. Ten against one... It wasn't a fight. It was a hunt.

A dry crack arose on his right. He immediately rotated, knees slightly flexed. A Stalkers emerges from the thickets, the skin torn off revealing blackened muscles. His jaw hung aslant, and his eyes, injected with an unhealthy red, stared at Sora with animal hatred.

He knocked down his sword with a circular blow. The creature tried to dodge, but the blade bit deeply into his shoulder. A raucous scream escaped from her throat, but she did not fall. Sora followed up with a kick in her abdomen, throwing her against a tree.

No time to breathe.

Two others jumped in his field of vision. One leapt on all fours like a wild beast. Sora took a step back, with a first claw that ricocheted against his blade, but the impact made his arms vibrate. The second Stalkers, faster, skirted to the left. He threw a claw at the height of the face.

Sora lowered his head just in time, feeling the wind of the blow brush against his hair. He retorted blindly, his sword describing a wide arch in the air. He felt a resistance, a bony crack, then a viscous blood splashed on his cheek.

Another already came from the front, neck outstretched, arms raised. He didn't have time to bring his sword. He dropped his shoulder against the creature's chest, hitting it with all his weight, and violently pressing it to the ground. The shock made his bones crack, but the monster was still struggling, its claws lacerating Sora's arm.

Sora hit him several times, his fist hitting the deformed face. At the fourth blow, the Stalkers stopped moving. He stood up, his shoulder on fire, his arm in blood, and took back his blade.

A hoarse breath at his back.

He turned quickly. Too late.

A claw sank into his hip. The pain was fulgurating. Sora growled, planted his sword on the blind man behind him. She sank into something soft. A guttural rattle. He drew with a sharp stroke, and the blade came out tearing flesh.

He staggered. His legs trembled, but he was still standing.

There were three fewer now. The others, however, did not slow down. They surrounded the tree like scavengers, growling, scratching the ground, excited by the smell of blood.

The one he had sent to waltz against the tree was coming back, head bowed. Sora was waiting for him. He stepped aside to the side and thrust his sword with all his strength into the monster's back. The spine gave way in a dry crack. The beast finally collapsed after this last blow.

The following came in pairs. They no longer had a strategy, no more order, only rage. Sora para the first, deflected the other's claw with the flat of his blade and pivoted in a series of chopped movements. His arm was numb, his breathing jerky. Each movement became heavier.

He severed a leg, dodged a bound, rolled on the ground to avoid a bite, and, in an instinctive gesture, planted his sword upwards. The weight of a Stalker fell on him, impaled. The black blood ran down his chest, sticky and warm.

He pushed away the corpse, sat up with difficulty, blinked his eyes to chase away the sweat and blood that were blurring his vision.

Four silhouettes still stood, grunting, hesitating.

He tightened his fingers on the hilt of his sword. He limped, his abdomen made him suffer, but he held on. The last four charged forward together.

Sora screamed, threw himself forward, blade raised.

Even before the first one could react, Sora had already stuck his blade into his skull. A moist and visceral noise echoed as the blade pierced his skull and came out.

There were only three left. Sora quickly turned around and was able to block the lance that was heading in his direction. He exchanged a few blows with the Flayed Stalker before feeling three claws tearing his abdomen.

The blow was so powerful that his legs gave out; he now found himself on the ground, exhausted. But the last three monsters were still standing: only one seemed to have an apparent wound, the other two were still in perfect condition.

His vision starting to trouble, Sora quickly looked towards Nerris who was leaning against his tree and noticed that she still hadn't moved.

Without really knowing why, it had given him enough strength to stand up and grab full-handed the handle of the lance heading right into his chest.

He felt his forces leave him little by little, but he was still superior to the Stalkers and could quite easily seize the spear of his attacker and stick it into his thin chest.

The impaled Stalkers collapsed into a choked gurgle. Sora withdrew the spear with a sharp, panting, legs flexed. The poisonous blood of the creature flowed into his boots, each breath tore a grimace from him. He couldn't take it anymore. But two shadows still advanced, with their steps felted, their eyes fixed on him like hungry beasts sniffing a piece still warm.

The first jumps.

Sora no longer had the strength to raise his sword. He let himself fall to the side, rolling in the mud, and felt the claws lacerate the void where, a second earlier, his flank was. The second Stalker followed him, more methodical. He rushed at him, ready to break his skull.

Sora brought back the lance in a disorderly motion, by pure reflex. The wooden staff hit the monster's temple with a sharp crack. Unbalanced, the creature vacillated, which left Sora with an opening.

He straightened up halfway, gathered all his remaining energy, and screamed while planting the lance in the belly of the monster. He pushed until the wood broke against the bony frame, then rocked with the creature on the ground, his fingers clenched on the broken handle.

There is only one left.

The last one.

He approached slowly. A long net of black slime dripped down his chin, his claws scraped the ground, impatient. Sora felt a spasm in his leg, then another in his arm. His muscles were letting go, one by one.

But he didn't move. He waited.

The Stalkers approached, sniffing his prey as if he wanted to savor the last bite. Sora dropped his sword, pretended to collapse. The creature leapt immediately, all claws out.

That's what he was waiting for.

He seized what was left of the lance, raised his arms at the last moment and planted the broken wood in the monster's throat. A cloying gurgle echoed, mingled with a painful rattle. The body fluttered in all directions, striking Sora with disorderly blows. He clenched his teeth, holding the stake down until the convulsions finally stopped.

The silence returned.

Heavy. Moist. Absolute.

Sora remained there, lying in the mud, under the corpses, his body trembling, his clothes in tatters, covered with blood, his own and those of others. He stared at the leaves, unable to move, unable to think.

Footsteps approached.

Slow. Calm.

Nerris appeared in his field of vision, arms crossed, looking calm.

"Good. You survived." she said simply, without emotion.

She knelt down next to him, gave him a quick glance. "You look disgusting." She added with a chuckle.

Sora opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. He just rolled on his back moaning.

And in a barely audible breath, he muttered: "I hope you enjoyed the show."

Still kneeling next to him, Nerris took a piece of cloth out of his pocket and started cleaning Sora's bloodied body.

She said nothing. His gestures were methodical, almost gentle, strangely contrasting with his mocking tone of the last few days, as if his protective character of the Order took over. The fabric slipped off Sora's cheek, dislodging a thick trail of dried blood. Then it was his forehead, neck, and arms. He flinched when the fabric ran over his injured ribs, but said nothing. He no longer had the strength to play the proud.

"You're lucky, if you had taken a single additional hit, I would have been obliged to intervene," she said finally, as a simple observation.

He closed his eyes, a thin smile stretching his split lips. The silence fell. Just the wind blowing in the leaves, the cries of the birds further away. For a moment, the world seemed to breathe again.

Then a crack echoed in the bushes.

Sora opened his eyes, instantly tense. His body protested, but he tried to straighten up anyway. Nerris placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him on the ground.

"Don't worry," she whispered. "He's not a Stalker."

A silhouette slipped between the trees, fluid like a shadow carried by light. The leaves shivered as he finally appeared, his pace nonchalant, a half-smile on his lips.

Jarek.

He wore his eternal light armor, and in his eyes shone this glimmer of quiet irony that drove Sora crazy every time.

"Nice massacre," he said as he approached, his boots flopping down dead branches on the ground. He leaned slightly over Sora, raising an eyebrow. "You look... alive. That's something."

Sora rolled his eyes, too exhausted for a sharp response. "I almost died..."

"But you're still alive." Jarek sat up, crossing his arms. « That's the difference. »

Nerris, still squatting, continued his cleaning as if Jarek's presence were just another detail in the forest.

"Do you always make yourself desired like that?" muttered Sora, half conscious.

Jarek shrugged his shoulders. "I wanted to see how far you would go."

A silence settled. Then Jarek knelt in turn, his face hardening slightly as he saw Sora's state a little closer.

"We shouldn't be hanging out here," he said, his tone a little more serious. « These critters often move in packs. There will be others."

Nerris nodded. "Can he walk?"

Sora tried to sit up again, his muscles on fire. He winced, but this time, he did not fall back.

"I can." he asserted, even though it was almost a lie.

Jarek looked at him for a moment, then reached out a hand. Sora hesitated, but ended up grabbing it. Their grip closed, firm, almost complicit.

"So get up, kid. We won't wait for anyone."

And with a sharp motion, Jarek put him back on his feet. Sora staggered, but remained standing. Nerris picked up his sword, handed it to him.

"I hope you learned your lesson," she said, a small smile at the corner of her lips.

Sora took the blade, wiped it loosely on his torn sleeve. "Yeah. Never believe you'll come to help me."

Jarek burst out laughing, his echo echoing through the clearing. "You got it all figured out."

And together, they moved away from the scene of the carnage, the traces of their passage etched in the mud, like the first marks of a long way yet to go.

Once arrived at the temple which served as a resting air, Sora collapsed on the cold and hard slabs. "Why did you come?" He added while discreetly swallowing a seed of Alfa Of Oblivion that stood in the inventory of System0.

"Yes, it's true, you were not supposed to join us normally, we have to stay three more weeks in this forest." Add Nerris, who did not seem to be aware of his surprise visit.

With a big mischievous smile, Jarek leans against the walls of the temple a few meters from Sora. "Don't worry, you will stay three more weeks here, but I was worried about our young mercenary."

A nervous laugh came out of Sora's still bloody mouth. "As if we were going to believe you."

Fearing to be touched by Sora's words, Jarek looked at him slightly before responding. «First, I wanted to be sure that you had found the temple that I had indicated on the map. And secondly, I have something to show you in this temple, that's why I brought you here."

"Is this some kind of mission that Sora has to accomplish?" Nerris asked while looking alternately at Sora and Jarek.

« Indeed, one can see things like that. » He replied while passing his hand through his hair.

Getting up with difficulty, Sora blew a big blow when he finally stood up. "And so, what does this mission consist of?"

"You will have to find me an object located inside this temple." Jarek continued while displaying a big smile on his face.