Chapter 5: On the Brink of Death

 

Odysseus vomited, the smell of cooked flesh lingering in his mind as if he had been there when the man incinerated the crowd.

Why? Why had he been shown that? Who was the man? What was that power and Why… Why did he sentence so many defenseless people to death?

As much as he tried not to, Odysseus could recall the fear on their faces, their bodies shivering, the tears in some as they knelt not out of reverence, but fear. 

The screams, they haunted Odysseus, tormented him, a strange chorus of voices reaching out and asking… 

Why?

Was this a vision of a future? A memory of a past? Or maybe an event that was happening at this moment.

Odysseus had no answer, only questions as he clung to his head and vomited. Perhaps the worst part, the smell of cooked flesh tormenting his mind made him even hungrier, making him more appalled by what he’d borne witness to.

He had seen gruesome things before, scavs tearing one another apart for breadcrumbs, gutter rats skewered by falling rusted debris, and elderly folks left to rot in their own filth and sickness while those blessed by the machines walked on by.

But nothing like this, mass indiscriminate murder. There were even women and children, infants held in their crying mothers arms before they were consumed by the flames pointed at them by the stranger with scars.

You must keep moving. 

Suddenly, an echo, one felt not heard, a caress on his mind that spurred him to move.

Sick to his stomach, Odysseus still managed to rise to his feet, heeding the warning in his mind as beastly howls sounded in the distance between the lightning and rain.

Danger.

All across Odysseus’s body, alarm bells rang, every ounce of his being screaming out a warning as a message displayed.

 

YOU HAVE BEEN MARKED. Run.

Support System Menu
SPONSOR: &(1 ERROR! CoRRupted Data!&^
Title: A Strategic Goddess’s Beloved Name: Odysseus		HP: 69/100
CLASS: Challenger LvL 1		MP: 0/10
Free Points	5	AFFINITIES  Divine 150 Chaos 10 Fire 2
STRENGTH	8(5)
VITALITY	10(7)
SENSE	12(9)
DEXTERITY	13(10)
ARCANA	1(0)
EGO	20
[SEALED]
[BUFFS]: Protection of %^!@()[ERROR! Data does not exist!] [DEBUFFS]:  Malnourished (-3 All stats), MARKED(Someone is tracking you.) [RESISTANCES]: Divinity 175%, Chaos 10%, Fire 2%
SKILLS: Shard of Aegis (25MP), Telumkinesis, (10MP)

 

Odysseus quickly pulled up his menu, eyeing the debuff and how his arcana was still zero despite him adding a point into it.

Acting quickly, Odysseus selected the skills, reading what each did to decide on whether or not he should place the rest of his points into mana.

 

Shard of Aegis (25MP)[A piece of an artifact belonging to a bigger whole. Grow stronger to unlock more forms and functions.]/[Petrification ailment to targets struck]

 

 

Telumkinesis (10MP)[Designate a weapon to gain control over it, moving it as though it were your own limb within a meter radius around yourself. Each minute consumes 10MP]

 

Designate a weapon? Useless. I have no weapon! Even if I sunk all my points into arcana my debuffs wont let me summon the item!

Odysseus eyed a nearby rock before looking down at the bundle of poisonous berries on the ground. He reached down, stuffing them into his thread-bare shorts before climbing over the slick tree blocking the cave. 

Outside, it had ceased raining, leaving the forest devoid of rain and instead flooded with darkness mixed with fog darker than black where even moonlight failed to breach as the tree top canopies masked the earth.

Another howl, this time closer, his head snapping towards the distance where a light could be seen on high.

Several lights, all blood red, shining glows that made eye contact with Odysseus. 

“Shit.”

The red lights scattered, taking off, moving downwards and towards his position at a rapid pace. 

Odysseus wasted no time and bolted, fleeing madly through the shrubbery as maddened howls and snarls bounced off the nearby trees.

Shtshitshitshitshitshitshit! Odysseus said over and over again, racing over logs, bushes and past plant life until his foot caught, snagged on a vine on the forest floor that sent him careening into the earth.

[-3 HP]

“Uuuhgk…” Odysseus groaned, attempting to climb to his feet. 

Berries! Use the berries! The voice poking at his mind urged. 

“Berries? Use the berries…” Odysseus muttered, blinking, his forearm scrapped up with his ribcage thumping with dull pain. “Berries…”

 

“AWWWWWHOOOOOOOOO!”

The cry sounded, this time so close Odysseus didn't need to turn his head to hear to know they were nearly upon him. 

Then he saw one, or at least its eyes, the seven foot tall monster skulking in the shadow of a tree nearby, the only thing visible being the trio of red eyes and the fur that dotted around its eye sockets.

The creature snarled, the sounds akin to a feral dog but more vicious, repugnant, and vile. Even in the dark of moonless night, Odysseus could tell it had fangs, that it had a wide maw, and that once its friends caught up, he would be dead.

Reacting quickly, Odysseus reached into his pockets, grabbing the smooshed globs of poisonous berries where he began smearing them on himself, covering his face, neck, and arms with the slimy fruit as thumps of hooves touching the ground drew near.

Odysseus held his breath, his head snapping in every which direction at the glowing orbs and snarls that surrounded him.

His heart began to rapidly beat, the malnourished teen flinching as one suddenly lunged forward only to stop a mere inches away from Odysseus and snarl with rancid breath.

Does it smell the berries? Odysseus wondered, his hands balled into fists. Even if this was the end he wouldn’t go down without a fight, no matter how meager or futile it would be in the face of lumbering giants.

The creature hissed, it's hot breath coating Odysseus’s face and causing him to close his eyes and tense up. 

And then it went away. The creature backing off and allowing Odysseus to breath again.

Huh… it worked. The berries- 

[-20HP]

Before Odysseus could finish his train of thought and get a reprieve, the monster was lifting him into the air, the creature’s fangs biting into Odysseus’s shoulder and tossing him widely back and forth.

“AH! LET GO! STOP! STOP!!!” Odysseus screamed, his eyes wide with fear as the creature slammed him into the ground and knocked the wind out of his chest, causing the teen to involuntarily gasp.

The sound of his gasping drew the others in, the lanky creatures rushing out of the darkness to pull and grab, to tear at Odysseus who swung madly, attempting in his panic to fight off the monsters that were tearing him apart.

[-7]

[-3]

[-5]

[-9]

He could feel his flesh ripping, his bones aching, every fiber of his being screaming out in sheer panic as he struggled to protect himself against hunger incarnate.

Then he felt it, wetness on his face from saliva dripping down, an open maw attempting to devour his head. Reacting quickly, Odysseus shoved his arm into the monster’s open maw as it clamped down, devouring his arm fully with pain assaulting his mind.

Immediately he grabbed hold of something wet, a tongue by the feel of it, with the monster reacting and pulling back, lifting the teen out of the mosh pit of monsters and swinging him widely around.

[-15 HP] 

“GAH!”

Odysseus let out a scream as a crunching was felt, his shoulder dislocating and his muscles tearing as his arm was broken. Still, he held on to the creature’s tongue, the pain threatening to make him fade to black and die alone in the dark.

Stay awake! Stay awake! Stay focused and keep calm!

The voice in his head urged again with a primal rage awakening inside Odysseus.

With his free hand, he aimed at the red orb, jabbing his thumb into the creature’s eye and causing it to yelp. 

The monster responded by screaming, only for Odysseus to grab the tuft of the monster’s fur and pull himself forward, headbutting the creature. 

Finally his assailant let out a groan, the monster hitting the ground with Odysseus involuntarily letting go of the creature’s tongue as he lost control of his arm.

 Ah… I’m dead. 

Odysseus fell onto his back, his eyes pulsing, breath ragged with his eyes staring at nothing, bracing for the monsters to descend and rip him apart.

Yet they never came, the darkness around him silent. 

I’m alive? 

Odysseus eyed his system, he had less than ten HP left, a visual representation of his health it seemed.

Move.

The voice commanded, ordered. For a moment, Odysseus saw it, a woman. One clad in armor with a stern look on her narrow face that resembled a bird of old, her inhuman gaze staring down at him as if she were disappointed in him.

Move.

Bleeding, broken, crying, Odysseus used his one remaining arm to roll himself over where he began crawling, using his feet to kick at the dirt to propel himself onward.

I'm alive. I need to move. I'm alive. I need to move. I'm alive. I need to move. The words resounded in Odysseus's mind, if this was the start of a grand adventure then it fucking sucked!

“AWWWWWHOOOOOOOOO!”

Odysseus flinched, the howls of more horrors carried in the wind and making his breathing even more ragged.

You must move faster. Go. NOW!

There it was, the voice, his invisible benefactor, this time not gently coaxing but raging, arousing Odysseus's willpower to rise to his feet despite the malnourished teen bleeding profusely.

Now on his feet, clutching his broken arm, the chorus of inhuman vicious howls began to escalate as the scent of injured prey flooded the air from his wounds.

 

Left with no means to fight, no way to hide, Odysseus did the one thing he could do.

 

He ran.