23 – Welcome to Almus; not so much

"Shishou, this place is really creepy." (Sasha)

Agreed. Although Almus is not a big town, it has the size and buildings required for it to be labeled as a town. It has a rather gothic feel to it, which is unusual to find in this medieval setting. The town appears rather grim and decadent, but at least the streets are very wide.

What's creepy at this point is that it's a complete ghost town. Sure, it's night and you might think that everyone's sleeping. So it's not out of the norm to not see a single person. But the issue is there are no street lights. Everything is shrouded in darkness.

And there was another issue. We didn't find anything resembling an inn. Do people not stop to rest here? We walked for a while now until we reached the central plaza. A large open space. Our Galleon decided to suddenly stop.

"Hmm? What's wrong, girl?"

*Grrr*

There was something that she didn't like. Animals have a sixth sense. So something doesn't sit right with my mount.

Heavy footsteps could be heard echoing. And eventually the figure of the one that was making them could be seen.

"What in the world?" (Yuki)

"Pfwah! Hideous!" (Sasha)

"My fur… is tingling." (Stella)

Their reaction was natural. After all, that thing… was a beast. But not just any beast. It looked like something out of a nightmare. This bipedal creature is roughly two and a half meters tall with hideous, twisted horns, matted fur and a malnourished figure, and emits shrieks that sound like cries of agony. Its face has a dog-like shape.

Although at first glance this thing appears to have an emaciated and almost skeletal body. The muscles of this creature seem twisted, but I can tell… they are compressed allowing it to demonstrate superhuman strength. Its left arm is notably larger and matted with more hair than his right arm.

And as if its fangs and claws aren't enough, it's holding a bone-like sword. The hilt is literally a mass of pulsing flesh.

This creature took a few swings with its sword.

"I think it wants to fight." (Stella)

"I guess that means more exp for us. We'll take it down and…" (Sasha)

"You'll do no such thing. It seems you still lack judgement in assessing your opponent. Although both of you are level 43, that thing is beyond your reach."

Running away was not an option. It would catch us as soon as we would turn our backs to it. So I dismounted.

"Sasha, take the reins and go. We'll meet up later."

"But Shishou…" (Sasha)

"No buts. It's the only way. I'll play with this thing for a bit."

As instructed, Sasha guided the Galleon away.

"Darling, you noticed it as well, right?"

"Yeah. That thing… whatever it is… isn't alive. It's like it has no soul. Regardless, we got to do this, Yuki."

I took my stance and braced myself. And the beast… charged at me while letting out a terrible shriek.

"Fast!"

A swift swing from above, I used Yuki to parry the attack. The impact sent sparks flying and at the same time, the ground cracked under my feet. Fuh, this thing is tough. I tilted my katana to make his sword slide across it and deviate his push. The Nakajima style is an unrivaled sword technique.

The moment his sword made contact with the ground, I twisted my body and extended my hand to touch the creature.

"[Ice Lock]!"

The beast immediately froze inside an ice block.

"And that's that."

Or so I thought. The creature clenched its muscles and broke free.

"Impossible! I made sure to increase the effect so that Ice Lock also causes hypothermia in seconds and freeze the target to death. For it to not be affected… This thing… really isn't alive?"

The beast let out another powerful shriek and quickly charged. It clenched its right fist and was aiming for a powerful blow. I immediately generated an ice block shield, however…

"GUAAAAH!!"

It broke it as if it was glass and his fist dug straight into my stomach pushing me back. However I managed to quickly regain my balance.

"Tsk. You're a pretty annoying bastard, but I will acknowledge your power. So far you're the strongest thing I faced in this world. Anyone else would have probably died by now…

Alright. Let's kick things up a notch shall we?"

The beast took another stance and was ready to leap at me one more time, but instead of charging it relaxed its body and began scanning the sky. The hell? Is this some cheap tactic? As I carefully observed it… it started sinking into the ground, as if it was absorbed by the darkness. It vanished completely.

Naturally I kept my guard up. After a few minutes… the sun came up.

"Was it perhaps… afraid of the sunlight?"

"Who knows. I don't feel its presence anymore." (Yuki)

I sheathed Yuki for the time being. I waited a few more minutes and started to notice that people were slowly coming out of the various houses. This town… doesn't make any sense.

"Let's not dwell on things, Yuki. For now… let's find Sasha and Stella and regroup. And maybe afterwards we can find some answers around here."

------

I reunited with everyone. And people eventually came out of their houses. But… I could almost see it in their gazes. Everyone here had their spirit broken. They were dead inside and they didn't bother glancing our way at all. It's like we were from a different world and they couldn't see us.

"I don't like this place at all. People here are very rude. They're ignoring us completely." (Sasha)

"Agreed. Even if we ask in the nicest way possible, they won't even answer simple questions like 'what's your name'. It's frustrating."

"Although the scenario here does make me curious… at the end of the day, whatever is happening here is none of our business.

These people should at least appreciate money. So let's go get some supplies and get the hell out of here. There's no point staying in the company of such rude people."

"Rude? That's a bold statement, miss. You wouldn't be saying stuff like that if you knew the nightmare we have to go through."

A voice finally called out. It was an old man in a wheelchair. I don't know if he was crippled or not, but he's probably in his 80's.

"Pardon me, ladies. But living in this place is a curse. Most reached the point that they think the only salvation would be death. The only reason we all keep going is for the sake of our children. But… some even ask themselves, is it even worth raising children in this nightmare?"

"You seem rather knowledgeable, old man. Can you perhaps give us a better picture of what's going on here?"

"As long as you don't mind sharing money for my information, I would be willing to have a chat with you over a bowl of stew. You girls should try it, too. Nothing wakes you up better than our special local stew."

Well… because of how many calories this body burns I won't deny that I'm starting to get hungry. Not to mention after last night's battle. I said this isn't my problem, but I would lie if I said I wasn't curious. Gathering information won't do me any harm, and I am not obliged to do anything for these people anyway.

"Alright, old man. Lead the way."

I said that, but I ended up having to push his wheelchair. Aight. Let's see what this stew tastes like. Hopefully it's better than the people at least.