Project Knightfall

The knight’s sword gleamed in the morning light as he charged.

Nick didn’t hesitate. He hurled a fireball toward the oncoming threat, the flames crackling in his palm before roaring through the air. But before it could reach its target, a bolt of arcane energy streaked from the side, intercepting the spell. The fireball and arcane energy collided midair with a thunderous crack, the resulting explosion sending a shockwave through the clearing, scattering leaves and dust.

Before he could react, another arcane blast came flying toward him. Nick barely had time to dive out of the way, his feet skidding across the dirt. The mage’s eyes glinted as she moved to the edge of the clearing, her hands glowing with crackling energy.

“I’ll handle this one!” she called out while preparing her next attack.

Nick cursed while raising his hand to throw another fireball, but as he did, the ground beneath him shifted. Roots, thick and gnarled, erupted from the earth, coiling around his ankles and dragging him down. He glanced over his shoulder to see the druid, her hands raised as the forest bent to her will.

“Of course,” he groaned, yanking at the vines. “It wouldn’t be a party without a preachy vegan.”

“For the record, I like steak,” the druid responded while flashing a V-shape with her fingers. Above her, branches twisted and shifted, casting long shadows across the clearing as more roots surged forward.

Nick’s eyes narrowed. “Bullshit,” he replied while tossing a fireball into the oncoming storm of wood. The flames exploded against the roots, sending up sparks and embers, but the vines didn’t slow. They pushed through the fire like they were barely scorched.

The druid smirked, her arms outstretched as if she were the conductor of the forest itself. The earth rumbled beneath Nick’s feet, and the air hummed with the pure energy of nature.

Out of the corner of his eye, Nick saw the knight closing in on Ray. The man’s sword almost seemed to shimmer as he charged her head-on.

Ray didn’t flinch. She stood eerily still, watching the knight with a calm, almost curious expression, as if the chaos around her was little more than a passing storm. Her hand flexed at her side.

As the knight’s blade came down, she moved—her arm a blur that Nick’s eyes couldn’t track. Her hand shot up as if to catch the blade mid-swing. 

But the sword didn’t stop.

It sliced clean through her palm with a sickening crunch, severing her hand at the wrist. The knight pressed his advantage and swung his sword again, this time carving a deep line through Ray’s chest, the force of the blow driving her back.

Blood sprayed across the clearing, staining the dirt and grass.

The knight didn’t stop. He pivoted, bringing his sword down again, cleaving through Ray’s abdomen in a brutal arc. The blow should have been fatal, the sword slicing through her vital organs like a knife through butter.

She staggered. For a brief moment, her body faltered, and she fell to one knee, her severed hand lying in the dirt beside her.

“Ray!” Nick shouted, his heart racing. He didn’t have much time to work with her yet—it was way too early for something like this to be happening again.

He moved as if to run to her, but a burst of arcane energy shot toward him, forcing him to dive out of the way. 

“Whoa there, cowboy,” the mage said as she stepped forward, her eyes burning with determination. “Let’s sit back and watch the show. We can have a nice little chat after the leech is dead.”

Thick roots erupted from the ground, wrapping around his legs and dragging him down. The druid’s hands twitched and more vines surged forward, twisting and constricting as they pinned him in place.

He struggled against the vines, flames flickering in his hands as he tried to burn his way free. But the more he fought, the tighter the roots coiled around him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could still see Ray lying on the ground, her body lifeless, blood pooling beneath her.

“Damn it!” he cursed, throwing a fireball toward the druid in a desperate attempt to break free. The air around him buzzed with energy as the mage intercepted the attack again.

A wave of fatigue rolled over him as he realized he didn’t have enough mana to keep throwing fireballs like this. In a minute or two, he could maybe manage one more…

The knight stood over Ray, his breath heavy, chest heaving from the exertion. Blood dripped from his sword and fed the widening pool in the dirt.

And then, Ray moved.

Slowly, she sat up, her violet eye glowing faintly. Her gaze drifted to her severed hand lying beside her, and with an amused gleam in her eyes, she reached out, picked it up, and studied it. She raised her stump and examined the point where the hand was once attached, holding them against each other like puzzle pieces that should fit together.

The knight’s eyes widened, his breath catching as Ray’s hand fused itself back onto her arm. The wounds across her chest and abdomen began to close, the torn fleshing knitting together with unnatural speed.

“What the hell…?” the knight shouted, his voice faltering.

Nick, still bound by the vines, stared in disbelief. “So this is NaN…”

Ray stood up fully and smiled. “This is interesting.”

The knight took a step back, fear creeping into his eyes as he, and everybody else here, realized that this monster was dangerous in a deeply unsettling way. His breath hitched, his grip on his sword tightening, but he didn’t move to attack again.

Nick’s mind raced, eyes flicking to the mage. She had been the one countering his every move, her mysterious magic energy crackling around her fingers as she prepared another attack, her eyes locked on Ray as her next target.

Perfect.

A grin spread across Nick’s face as his fingers twitched.

In the blink of an eye, a shadow fell over the mage. She glanced up just in time to see the large wardrobe materialize above her head, but she had no time to react. The piece of furniture slammed into her with a brutal crunch. Arcane energy fizzled and died, leaving behind only silence and the mangled remains beneath the wardrobe.

=You have defeated (1) Adventurer.=

“Melissa!” The druid’s scream pierced the air as she watched the mage be crushed. The roots binding Nick loosened just enough for him to break free as the druid shouted her companion’s name in shock. He wrenched his legs from the remaining vines, standing tall as flames flickered across his fingertips.

His mana reserves were dwindling. One more fireball and that would be it for this fight.

The druid’s eyes went wide with horror, her hands trembling as she tried to regain control of the vines. But her concentration was broken, and with it, she lost any hope of stopping him.

Ray returned her gaze to the knight, her expression frozen in a happy little smirk as she titled her head to the side. She casually flexed her hand as if testing the sensations after reattachment. 

The knight swallowed hard, his eyes darting between Ray and Nick.

For his part, Nick gave his full attention to the druid. “I’d surrender if I were you,” he said, his voice calm despite the exhaustion knocking at the edge of his vision.

She shook her head violently, backing away as her trembling hands tried to summon more vines, or roots, or anything to stop him. “No… not to something like that…”

“How do you like your steaks prepared?”

“…H-huh?”

He hurled the last fireball with a grunt of effort. The flames exploded against the druid’s chest, engulfing her in a burst of heat and light. She screamed, stumbling backward as her robes caught fire, the vines around her withering as her connection to the forest broke completely.

She crumbled to the ground, her body twitching as the fire consumed her, leaving the stench of charred flesh.

=You have defeated (1) Adventurer.=

-Level up! Fireball is now Rank 10/-. Power and speed slightly improved.-

-Fireball has reached the first threshold and evolved into a new form! New effects unlocked.-

Nick exhaled heavily, his breath ragged. Darkness encroached at the edge of his vision but he staved it off, turning his attention back to the last enemy standing.

The knight backed away from Ray, his sword shaking in his grip. She hadn’t moved from her spot, watching him with sparkling eyes like a child waiting for something marvelous.

She took a single step forward, her reattached hand stretched outward. “You’re scared,” she observed, her voice soft and innocent.

The knight raised his shaking sword. “Stay back…” he muttered, barely loud enough to be heard.

Ray tilted her head to the side. “Why?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out. His gaze flicked toward Nick, desperation creeping into his expression. “What is this monster? Why aren’t you attacking her?”

Nick simply watched without responding. There wasn’t any reason to humor the final words of a man who would assault a young girl. This moment belonged to Ray, and it would be a good learning experience for her.

Ray giggled softly, the sound like broken glass that shattered the tense silence. “Mister, I’m not a monster,” her voice carrying a disarming sweetness. “I’m Ray.” 

She held a hand out, as if to greet him, the gesture almost comically innocent.

 “No… stay back…!” the knight shouted again, his voice cracking.

Her outstretched hand remained steady. “Why are you scared? I just want to help.” She took another step closer, her head still tilted, a playful smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

The knight shuffled backward, but he stumbled, his sword slipping from his grasp and clattering to the ground. “No… please…”

Ray paused, her eyes settling on the fallen sword before returning to the knight. “You dropped it,” she observed, almost like a scolding parent. “Now you can’t defend yourself.”

The knight’s legs gave out as he fell to his knees, his chest heaving with panic.

She leaned in closer, her face inches from his, her smile widening as if she was about to give him a gift. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

And then, with a sudden, violent motion, her hand shot out and gripped his throat, lifting him effortlessly off the ground. His feet kicked helplessly, hands clawing at her wrist, trying to pry her fingers loose, but it was like trying to move steel.

Ray’s expression didn’t change as she tilted her head again, watching the panic in his eyes grow. “Why are you afraid?” she asked, her voice curious. “Won’t you regrow if you break?”

The knight’s face turned red, then purple, his gasps becoming shallow, desperate. His legs flailed weakly, scraping against the dirt, but her grip never faltered.

With a sickening snap, she twisted her wrist, breaking his neck cleanly. His body went limp, the life draining from his eyes as his head lolled unnaturally to the side.

Ray held him there for a moment longer, studying his lifeless body as though she were examining a broken toy. She frowned while turning his head slightly, watching how the bones shifted beneath the skin, now loose and unstructured. The weight of death didn’t seem to register for her as anything more than an observation.

Then, with a casual flick of her wrist, she tossed him aside. His body hit the ground with a dull thud.

As the knight’s body settled into the dirt, something shifted in the air. A ripple, like a wave of malice, pulsed outward from Ray’s body. The atmosphere grew heavier, thick with a palpable sense of murderous intent that hung in the air like a dark fog.

Nick, still barely standing a few feet away, felt the shift immediately. His breath hitched as the weight of it pressed against his chest, a primal, gnawing fear bubbling up from deep within him. It wasn’t the fear of Ray herself… not directly. It was something darker, more instinctive. It clawed at his mind, making him want to run, to lash out at anything or anyone in reach. His hands balled into fists, nails digging into his palms as he forced himself to stay grounded.
=You stand in the shadow of a predator beyond reason, where fear and rage threaten to consume all who linger too long.=

“So this is Aura of Bloodlust…” he muttered.

The title’s effect radiated from Ray, a magical manifestation of pure, unfiltered bloodlust. It wasn’t tangible—it was far more insidious than that. The air hummed with it, the oppressive sensation of murderous intent creeping into his bones and assaulting him with a primal urge for violence.

Ray, for her part, seemed entirely unaffected. She tilted her head to the side, watching the knight’s lifeless body for a moment longer before glancing around the clearing. After a few seconds, the suffocating aura of bloodlust dissipated, leaving the air strangely still, as if the world itself was holding its breath.

With the fight finally over, Nick collapsed to the ground, exhaustion nearly getting the best of him. His legs buckled under the strain, and a wave of dizziness swept over him. Darkness encroached once again at the edge of his vision a pounding headache struck like a hammer against his skull. He groaned, rubbing his temples and trying to force himself to stay conscious.

Ray turned to him, her innocent smile plastered on her face. “Did I do it right?”

Nick scratched the back of his neck, unsure how to respond. “Uh, yeah? That was fine. You did better than my last student, at least. Most people can’t regenerate and all…”

She giggled again, the sound light and carefree. “Yay!” She raised a bloodstained hand and licked the crimson liquid from her fingers, her expression thoughtful. “Does it always taste like this? This is kind of fun.”

Nick sighed, swaying slightly as darkness invited him. “Yeah, it kind of figures that you’d think that.”

He couldn’t resist the sweet lull of unconsciousness any longer. The darkness overtook his vision and everything faded to black.