Chapter 4 – Initiation (4)

Chapter 4 – Initiation (4)

Scrambling away from the treeline, Rowan kept his eyes peeled for the source of the roar. All around him, others did the same, backing off and staring intently into the forest.

All except for one woman, still curled on the ground. Of course, there had been others like her, but even they had gotten to their feet after hearing the roar.

For a moment, he was tempted to run out and grab her. To drag her back to safety. Those thoughts died the instant Rowan saw the…thing that stepped out of the woods.

He didn’t know how to describe the horror that was marching towards him. Its body reminded him of a lion, but that was about as much as he could recognize. Writhing tentacles protruded from its back, the same obsidian black as its gaping maw.

He cringed the moment he laid eyes on the creature’s mouth. It was disgusting. With its layered, circular shape, it was more akin to a flower than anything else. Rows of teeth circled the monstrosity’s maw, glimmering menacingly.

[Lesser Chimera – Level 9]

Rowan, still retreating from the beast, nearly stumbled in alarm as the screen appeared. Given the game-ness of the System, it made sense that things like this would appear, but that didn’t make him any less surprised.

A Lesser chimera. The name didn’t mean anything to him, but its level certainly did. If he was only level 1, did that mean the beast was nine times stronger than him? He shook his head. He couldn’t jump to conclusions; he had no idea what the levels even meant.

The chimera continued its advance as he observed it. It was odd. The creature seemed painfully slow. It was the size of a small car, and yet, it was moving at a crawl.

The monstrosity raised its head and let out a roar. Rowan felt himself shiver as he watched its disgusting mouth vibrate from the noise, spraying spittle onto the grass. Then, the chimera was gone.

There was a blur of motion, and then the beast was standing before the woman who was still curled up on the ground. Rowan watched in horror as, beneath the chimera’s feet, her body split in two.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he looked around at the others. Instinctively, he expected most of them to at least be panicking a little. Rowan could feel a slight tremble in his hands as his heart thundered.

But when he searched the faces of the others on the cliff, he found nothing. Sure, some people were visibly panicking, and he could even see a man emptying his stomach into the grass, but the majority showed no such signs.

About a third of the people wore blank expressions, not letting any emotions slip. Either they really felt nothing, or they were hiding their feelings and doing it well. But Rowan mostly ignored these.

What truly terrified him were the expressions on the faces of so many others. They looked excited, as if they were barely restraining themselves from charging at the beast.

Admittedly, even after the sudden attack, Rowan still harbored a bit of excitement himself. But it had waned as he’d watched the chimera cleave the woman in half in an instant. But for the others, it seemed like the violence had only increased their anticipation.

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He was pulled out of his thoughts as the creature advanced once more. Several people around him began pulling out knives, with one woman even drawing a pistol. Rowan let out a hiss of frustration.

Most of the others had something, whether it be an actual weapon or just a chunk of metal, but he had no such luck.