Jessica led from the front as we walked near a fence and tried to stay out of the light. We took around thirty steps along the fence. I felt a growing unease building, until the hairs on my neck were standing on end, “Stop!” I said in a hushed voice, “something is wrong!” We were in danger, and if we continued to walk something bad was definitely going to happen.

“Do you feel anyone?” I asked Jessica. “Anything?”

“Nothing.”

“Double-triple check please.” I trusted her completely, but this feeling of mine hadn’t let me down so far. My wariness put everyone on high alert as they scanned our surroundings. Given there were no monsters in the vicinity that Jessica could see, was the warning growing the further I moved away from the remaining two cultists for some reason?

Was this feeling caused by the game telling me to go back and kill those two remaining humans? It shouldn’t be… My skill had never previously warned me of something that wasn’t an imminent threat. More likely, it was a monster or human player that could somehow evade Jessica’s tracking.

I started to trace every crevice, tree, and splotch of darkness in the distance. Eventually my eyes came to rest on a small farmhouse. I could see it! An orange hue so small it was barely noticeable flickering through the window blinds on the second floor. “We’re being watched,” I said.

“From where? How can you be sure?” demanded Richard.

“Don’t freak out,” I answered him with sufficient volume in my whisper to be heard by everyone. “And don’t all stare. But it’s the second floor of that barnhouse at about two-o’clock. I’m not one-hundred percent sure they’ve seen us, but I’m ninety-nine percent sure.”

“We can make a run for it.” Lucas suggested. “We could climb over the fence and disappear across the field. We don’t have to fight.”

“Yes we do,” Maria said.

Jessica shook her head. “We should avoid a confrontation if we can, that’s what we agreed upon.”

“I understand that…” Maria paused. “I don’t know about you all, but I hate feeling like I’m being chased…”

“I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder non-stop either,” Alan agreed with Maria. Eventually it was only Lucas and Jessica that wanted to run. Everyone else was for dispatching this threat, even Anna.

“I know I promised to only kill one person,” I found myself wanting to explain my reasoning to Jessica. “But my skill is warning me this person is a real danger. If we don’t act now… we will be followed. We might not get another chance to choose when to encounter them.” My intuition was that if we moved on, in the future this person would be much more violent or bold in their assault. Either we were being watched by someone who was planning an ambush using their own special powers or they were waiting for more people to arrive. Both situations screamed bad news.

I could see the conflict in Jessica’s eyes, “What’s the plan then?” Slowly that conflict morphed into acceptance. Lucas came around shortly after, and with everyone in agreement we started to plan on killing another person this night.

“Remember, don’t look, but he’s on the second floor of that barn house just to our right, about a football field away.” I wasn’t even staring at the farm building myself. “As far as he’s concerned, we have no idea of his presence.”

None of my party members could see our enemy even if they tried, but at least they understood the location and layout. “I think we just pretend we are sneaking out in that direction and when close enough make a dash into the building. Jessica, hopefully as we get nearer, you’ll get him on your tracker: we won’t lose him then even if he runs.” And that plan was as good as any. I just hoped he wouldn’t dart the moment we moved in his direction. I really felt it important to deal with this threat while we had the advantage.

With Jessica and I at the front, we all moved forward at a cautious pace. Following an earthen path wouldn’t take us directly the barn house, but instead a diagonal that would bring us within fifteen feet. That would do.

“I can feel him now,” Jessica suddenly whispered to me. “He’s still there.”

“I can see him too; he’s watching us. If we were to walk on past, he’d alert the others and we’ll have no end to our troubles.” I reaffirmed that we were making the right decision.

“There’s a blind spot for him after we move past the barn house door.” Thomas muttered from behind me. “We can disappear from sight and then make our move.”

That sounded like a good plan, but I was worried about how long it would take us to get in through the barn door if it were barred. In that moment, I didn’t know if we should bait him to leave the house or just force our way in. If spent too long forcing our way in, he might be able to alert the others.

The upside was that we were now a decent distance away from the two sleepers. Our enemy would have to scream at the very top of his lungs, and even that might not be enough. Not from inside the barn house at least. Waiting for him to exit on him own also had its downfalls as well.

“I understand some of you probably don’t want to dirty your hands with this,” I whispered as we came closer to that sinister upstairs window. “I’ll send my undead squad in, just be prepared for him to try and escape out of a window.”

Hopefully, the time our enemy realized we were aware of his presence, my undead would be upon him. No matter how powerful he was, twelve melee skeletons should be able to overwhelm him in an enclosed space.

“Don’t look up,” Jessica muttered as we walked directly under the window. It was possible now to see him in plain site by just using my peripheral vision: a figure peering from the shadows while half covered by the window shades.

It took several seconds of slow walking before we were no longer in sight of that window and everyone gathered at the side of the barn and crouched down. I didn’t stop, however, and rushed to where I was relieved to see a back door, time was of the essence. He would be watching for us to continue our journey and come into view again. If we took too long he would be on high alert.

I cast Vast Shadows and grabbed the back doorknob. It jiggled in my hand but wouldn’t budge. The door was locked; fortunately, the challenge was nothing more than a slight hiccup. I channeled Decay and held it for nearly ten seconds, then grabbed the doorknob again.

I squeezed hard and twisted. The metal mechanisms inside had been rusted to fragility and the lock popped with a burst of red smoke: a mixture of decay and rust spraying into the air.

My skeletons flooded into the hallway and then raced through the house. I didn’t know the layout, but it didn’t matter. Once we were up the main stairs, they were like ants entering an enemy colony. There were enough of them to clear every room in mere moments.

It took five seconds for them to be upon our enemy. His shout of surprise was loud enough for me to hear, but wouldn’t have travelled to the sleepers. Glass shattered and then something smashed into a wall. It sounded like he was cornered and throwing whatever he could at my troops.

My undead weren’t intelligent, and I couldn’t see through their eyes, but I did know when they had killed something. As soon as our enemy died I received a status message and my undead troops regrouped around me.

You have learned the Passive Ability: Blood Thirsty LV 1.

I wanted to check what this meant, but now wasn’t the time. I took a brief look through the door. Bloodstains on the far wall showed where my undead had forced him and there was a body… of a woman in fact, in leather armor. There was bag floating above her, which I grabbed but disappointingly had only some rations and the most basic of daggers. Despite my sense of danger, it wasn’t the gear of this person that had posed any the threat.

The prickling on the back of my neck had disappeared and I was pleased with the outcome. The others, too, seemed relieved when I came out and confirmed the enemy had been killed. We could now hope to shake off the cult and get away.

Jessica took to the front once more and led us through the fields of this once intensively farmed region. Every step was taking us away from the True Believers. Avoiding them was our number one priority for now.

Such a low population area like this didn’t pose too much problem during the day, but at night it was a different story. There was a high density of monsters and even though they were only low level, we had to be careful. A goblin that was only level five or six could still toss a spear faster and stronger than an Olympic medalist. Offense and defense were not balanced in this game and a surprise attack against our lower members could prove fatal.

Even for Jessica, Alan and I, a critical hit from a javelin or arrow striking into our heads or hearts might mean death. And for everyone else, it probably wouldn’t even have to be a critical. Fortunately, I could detect the life force of goblins, while anything I couldn’t see that Jessica could track was an undead and she could keep us clear of danger.

It was over two hours of steady moving before the first ray of sunshine came over the horizon. An orange hue covered the land that illuminated a world so full of life and at the same time, so full of death. We pushed on until the sun was clear of the horizon and the day was bright.

“As far as I can tell, one should is following us,” Jessica said as we came to a stop in a grove of trees, after making good progress, “I haven’t felt anything besides monsters for the entire journey.” We’d been traveling through overgrown farmland and the occasional cluster of trees. Visibility around us on all sides was good.

“I’ve been looking back, nothing on our tail,” Richard added. No one could have followed us without us seeing them.

The break wasn’t for anyone else but me. My leg was still in dire need of rest, and I had pushed it too hard already. Bandages were useful, but it wasn’t a cure all item. And the effect of Bandages was diminished as I gained more levels and HP. The damage done to me from those attacks was much larger than those items alone were capable of healing.

I took this brief moment of respite to open my stats and take a look the effect of Blood Thirsty.

Name: Mike Reynolds (27) Class: Necromancer Level: 22 EXP: 7%

HP: 1130/1130 MP: 35/460

STR: 5 Fear Resistance: 5

AGI: 2

DEX: 5

VIT: 29 +14

WIS: 27 +23

Available: 3

Skills: [A] Summon Skeleton LV. 9| [A] Summon Skeleton Mage LV. 2| [A] Decay LV. 3| [A] Reanimate Dead LV. 3| [A] Bone Armor LV. 2 | [A] Vast Shadows | [A] Temporary Grave LV. 1 | [P] Sixth Sense | [P] Bravery LV. 2 | [P] Mutated LV. 3| [P] Pain Resistance LV. 2 | [P] Skeletal Mastery LV. 4| [P]Intimidate Living |[P] Inner Calm LV. 2 |[P] Necrotic Vision|[P] Blood Thirsty LV. 1

It was there in the passive list, and I opened the description.

Blood Thirsty: You lose yourself in the carnage. Damage against human enemies +3%.

It was a positive trait, game-wise at least; I had worried it might be a curse. I thought on it a moment longer, is the implication that it has reduced my inhibition to kill humans?So killing other people would become easier and easier. I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing.

There were also the three stat points waiting to be used. I decided to hold onto them for now.

Jessica approached as I closed my character sheet, “Is your leg okay?” She didn’t have the slightest inhibition as she grabbed my thigh and felt the bandage, and for any blood leaking through.

“I’m fine, just a little sore.” I said. “I’m sorry… I know I promised you.” I had to take this burden to ensure these people around me were safe, so I was safe, so Jessica was safe. I knew she understood that.

“I don’t know how to explain…” Jessica looked at me with sorrowful eyes. “It’s not that I feel sorry for these people—I know they are bad people…” She paused. “It’s more like… I’m scared… of what It will do to me.”

That was when I suddenly had a realization. “Do you have Blood Thirsty as a passive?”

Her face showed surprise for a moment and then realization. She must have guessed that I probably just received the passive this morning. “I do… Level Two.” She had killed more people than me, mostly during the Ghost Hand invasion. Her bow was as good as any gun, and when defense wasn’t very strong due to low levels, each shot was basically a death sentence for anyone hit.

“What does the description say?” I asked.

“Bathe in blood. It’s not just that… Inner calm is Level Four as well. The things I rationalize without even thinking is scary…Things that should tear my heart in two don’t even make me flinch. Instead, I have to make a mindful effort to think about what decisions are still human.”

“Is that why you shot the second True Believer in the thigh?” I asked. When they rushed us originally, she had killed one instantly and disabled another.

She gave a nod, “I’m scared of how fast it levels.”

This was something I could see in her eyes when we were in the dungeon. There was a calmness that seemed inhuman, completely uncaring. I even felt this own way about myself, and my Inner Calm was merely Level Two. I never once saw those uncaring eyes look at me though.

“You’re still you, and you’re still human,” I said. “You are in control of how you feel. It just makes the hard decisions easier.” I couldn’t be sure of that, but as of now I hadn’t had any dark thoughts about my party members: at least not when I was mentally stable.

“I’m scared of what will happen if I have to keep hurting people.” She somehow ended up in my embrace. “What if eventually Blood Thirsty creates a desire to kill? I don’t want to be a senseless murderer.” I could only hold her close and let her release her feelings.

We sat with Jessica in my arms for a dozen minutes, long enough for everyone to rest their legs for a moment. It was a good chance to ensure we weren’t being followed as well, and no one came sneaking up on us during the break. Our goal now was to get our bearings.