Wisptown’s library.
It was a humble establishment, located close to City Hall. One of the frontiers of misinformation that the megacorps had failed to penetrate as easily, was hardcopy. It was difficult to sow lies in printed editions of books that existed prior to their acquisitions of the publishers of said books.
The older tomes contained more reliable information, and she was in search for anything she could find about Project Darwin, or more broadly, similar initiatives like it.
Unfortunately, record-keeping wasn’t exactly high on the list of governments’ priorities when they attempted their last-ditch efforts to combat the Veilsurges when they first emerged – both due to resourcing and moral constraints.
Some of the projects that they engaged in were horrific but justifiable in their eyes, given the apocalyptic nature of the threat. Gene splicing, which she had originally considered, had been widely explored. Attempting to merge human DNA with those of Veilcreatures. There had been no reported successes. At least, none were made publicly available.
Various other more direct forms of weaponry were researched, biochemical weapons, autonomous nanomachines, the latter of which had been outlawed entirely, after a swarm had turned on its creators in Guang Zhou and tore a bloody path through the city.
The work of a poltergeist which took possession of the tech.
Only multiple coordinated EMP pulses had subdued the swarm, before Ghostslayers made their entry and killed the ghost. They managed to intercede before the swarm had a chance to escape the jurisdiction.
The fact that many of the population centres had fallen to the Veil also meant that it was hard to dig up anything on the projects – even assuming that they were publicly available.
Her efforts attempting to list and source buyers for Carmen’s house were equally as fruitless. Even if they lived in a nicer location in Wisptown, “niceness” was relative, and didn’t change the fact that they lived in the slums. People weren’t exactly jumping at the opportunity to relocate to Wisptown, especially to a house that had been the site of a Veilsurge.
As night fell, having finished a dinner of takeout dumplings, her most critical objective for the day remained.
Completing the quest.
She was equipped with the Nagantra she had purchased from Gale’s Gunstore, one reserve stim which was an off-market knock-off of Panacea’s entry-level stuff, and deodorant.
The latter would come in handy if the teethling was where she suspected it to be.
Ideally, she should have been equipped with stims that did more than dull back pain, a weapon that packed a bigger punch, at least triple the training than she currently had, along with backup, a drone, and perhaps some body armour.
Functionally, she was a civilian with minimal combat training save for her experience in the Veilsurge, and a fully organic one at that. One with a glorified switchblade, which were her [razor claws]. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the money to spend or people to trust. As for cybernetics? Until she was wealthy enough to buy out a section of the suburbs, they would remain a distant dream.
All in all, she was prepared to go at this alone. It was better that no one knew of her abilities. Otherwise, it would not be long before she wound up dead in a laboratory like the magical girl she had stumbled across. She would just have to take calculated risks, gradually building up her repertoire. She was also confident that killing a single teethling was well within her risk tolerance, after spending some time at Gale’s makeshift range testing out the Nagantra.
Casting a gaze around the riverside, Evantra could see that the place was deserted. Under an overpass in the far distance, she could see trash cans lit – likely by a gang of teens with nothing better to do with their time.
She scanned her surroundings, where she was crouched, but nothing seemed amiss.
Evantra had a hunch she knew just where the teethling was situated. She gritted her teeth as she leaned up against the park railing, cordoning off the canal. She was greeted by a large pipe entrance and shredded metal bars beneath her.
She sighed.
---
Creeping into the drain, she held the Nagantra aloft, with a small torchlight above the weapon in an overhand grip. Her footsteps treaded murky water, and Evantra winced as she felt the rancid liquid seep to moisten her socks.
She pressed forward into the darkness lit only by her torch. She risked giving away her position, but attempting to creep up on the creature that could very likely see in the dark didn’t make much sense. While in the library, she had done her research – and teethlings were about as easy as they came, especially isolated ones. If she caught even a whiff of a swarm, she was out.
Pressing forwards, Evantra heard a singular, low drone around the corner.
Doesn’t sound like a swarm to me. I'm in luck.
It’s getting closer.
Evantra held up the Nagantra. She watched as the creature entered into the cone cast by her flashlight, likely inspecting the disturbance she had created.
She pulled the trigger for half a second, satisfied at the lack of recoil from the weapon – it was far easier to handle than the Remington. The teethling in question was similar to the larger variant she had encountered, but it didn’t do the creature any favours. Her bullets ripped through its form, tearing the creature in twain. It tumbled to the ground, hitting the water with a splash.
DARKSTALKER QUEST COMPLETE
Difficulty: Level 2 [Fairy]
Description: Slay the teethling (razor variant)
Execute [ritual of consumption]?
Evantra withdrew a small vial of her blood that she had painstakingly extracted in her bathroom, taking care to clear up any traces lest Carmen catch a wind of it.
The body of the teethling disappeared in a black flash as the droplet of blood touched the corpse.
Ghostslayer Rank: Fairy (Level 2)
Catalyst: Darkstalker (level 1)
- [Razor claws]
- [Darkvision]
- [Skill locked]
Quests: [None]
Rituals:
- [Ritual of consumption]
Veilsouls: 8
Evantra’s eyes widened as they read the newly unlocked skill.
“I knew it!”
Evantra’s heart leapt into her throat as she twisted towards the voice. She raised her weapon in its direction and gritted her teeth when she made out the familiar girl.
“Wait! Don’t shoot! Wait!”
“You’ve got to be fuc— what do you think you’re doing here?”
“You are hunting Veilcreatures, I was right!”
Evantra gritted her teeth as the perpetrator emerged into the cone of her torchlight. Noelle Laurent stood triumphantly before her, the ends of the girl’s jeans muddied by sewer water, but her expression unwavering, save for the brief flashes of disgust that crossed her face at regular intervals.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Were you stalking me? Do you think this is a game? Get out of here—”
DARKSTALKER QUEST: OFFERING DETECTED
Rank: Level 10 [Imp]
Description: Slay the salamander
A growl emitted from deeper within the sewers ahead of her.
Shit. Why didn’t I see this quest before?
You idiot, the quest locations aren’t static.
They’re tied to the creatures’ locations. The salamanders must have moved in closer. Besides, not every Veilcreature has a quest associated with it—
“Get back! Salamander!”
Evantra shouted towards Noelle, waving for her to retreat.
“Oh, a salamander? Those are easy, all you have to do is aim for the insides of their mouth if you don’t have the bullets to pierce their hide. That way, they won’t regenerate. It’ll be a piece of ca—”
Two salamanders burst out from around the corner, each half the size of a fully grown crocodile, but twice as deadly. Evantra glimpsed the magma on their breath, glowing orange in the depths of their maws. They barrelled forwards, carving a path through the murky sewage water.
Then Evantra’s eyes went wide as it saw the lead salamander pause, and turn towards Noelle.
“Run!”
The girl was paralysed; her limbs rooted to the spot. The salamandar's body contorted, before it spat out the superheated projectile in Noelle's direction. The passage of the magma briefly dispelling the darkness around them.
Noelle's wide green eyes began to glow as the glob of magma rapidly approached, reflected in her irises.
Evantra leapt into the path of the projectile. She screamed, her voice tearing through her throat and ringing throughout the enclosed pipe as heat burrowed its way past her skin into the muscle, sinew and veins beneath, carving a path to her bone. Through tear-filled eyes, she watched as the Nagantra flew out of her grip, clattering in the murky water at Noelle's feet. Evantra forced down the urge to scream and forced her lips into compliance, against her every instinct.
She watched as the lead salamander, the same one that had spat the glob of magma that had eaten through the skin and muscle of her left arm advanced on her, thick, dark red teeth visible, lined with heat that originated from within.
Evantra screamed as she leapt forwards.
Thrusting her left arm into its yawning maw, Evantra felt her fingertips sizzle as they came into contact with the roof of its mouth.
Then she activated her skill.
[Razor claws]
The fingernails on both her hands instantly lengthened into sharp claws, similar to those of the teethling she had encountered. Even as her fingertips fried and tears were brought anew to her eyes, she felt the claws grow out of her nailbeds and spear straight through tender flesh and into the salamander’s brain.
Level up: Level 4 [Fairy]
DARKSTALKER QUEST COMPLETE
Difficulty: Level 10 [Imp]
Description: Slay the salamander
Execute [ritual of consumption]?
Even as the creature sagged, pulling her down with it, Evantra noticed the second salamander advancing towards her. She tried to pull her hand free from the roof of the first salamander’s mouth, and winced as her elongated nails were stuck in its flesh.
Trapped.
“Noelle, the gun! Kick it to—”
Noelle ran.
Evantra watched, as the girl sprinted desperately away, making straight for the sewer entrance.
Leaving her behind.
Evantra activated the ritual, her bloodied and fried fingers in contact with the roof of the salamander’s mouth. She watched as it disappeared in a flash.
Ghostslayer Rank: Fairy (Level 4)
Catalyst: Darkstalker (level 1)
- [Razor claws]
- [Darkvisio—
The notification disappeared as a surge of burning pain sluiced through her dominant hand, the muscles, sinew and tendons within ruined by the path of the magma orb that Evantra had intercepted. No one could have prepared her for the agony that the creature had inflicted, and every instinct of hers was screaming at her to curl into a ball and weep.
Not yet.
You’re not dead yet.
You have too much to make up for.
You don’t get to rest.
Evantra lunged away from the salamander, narrowly escaping its jaws as it clamped down onto empty air. She grabbed the Nagantra in her left hand and—
She waited.
The first salamander roared, sending ripples outwards through the murky water beneath them before barrelling towards her with surprising speed. She knew that there was no way she could have outrun it, especially with its ranged attack. So, just as its jaws began to widen, she lunged forwards, jamming the Nagantra against the roof of its mouth, and held the trigger down.
Through blurry eyes, she watched as the interior of the dark canal lit up like fireworks. Bullets tore through the roof of its mouth, drilling into its brain, with some emerging out of the top of its skull. As the rounds impacted the top of the sewage drain, they sent sparks flying into the air above her.
She sagged to the ground, her quarry finally defeated.
Level up: Level 5 (Ghoul)
Evantra passed out from the pain.
---
She woke to a soft, steady beeping noise and voices around her.
“Shouldn’t have been possible… Panacea’s nanotech was overkill.”
“…recovered faster than expected…”
“…she has… incredible resilience… or an anomaly in the tech…”
She opened her eyes and was greeted with a clinical white roof and dark green curtains pulled around her bed.
“It isn’t unheard of you know? Victims of Veilsurges throwing themselves at Veilcreatures. Heard she lost her parents to the wraith that hit Wisptown two years ago, poor thing. Must be her way of dealing with the trauma—”
Two doctors were speaking softly at her bedside on her left. On her right, Carmen was seated on her chair, her head resting on her bed – asleep. Lucas was lying on a pair of chairs beside her bed.
Then she turned to regard her hand.
Her unblemished hand.
“Carmen,” Evantra’s voice came out as a croak.
The woman slowly blinked, and rose from where she was sleeping. Then her eyes shot open when she realised that Evantra was awake, and she pulled her into a hug. Then her grip on her shoulders tightened to an uncomfortable degree, the moment that the woman realised that she was alright, her relief evaporated and was replaced by anger.
“Eres un estúpido idiota, what the fuck did you think you were doing? Huh?”
Evantra ignored her question.
“Carmen, who paid for this?”
Carmen stared at her. Then she raised her hands in exasperation.
“That’s all you have to say? What were you thinking Evantra? Going into the sewers to shoot up creatures of the Veil? Right after diving Veilsurge just yesterday, do you have a deathwish? You couldn’t wait longer than a day?”
“Who paid, Carmen.”
Carmen sighed, and averted her eyes. Evantra rose with a groan, and Carmen pushed her right back down on the bed.
“It was Officer Foster.”
“This was top of the line. My hand was incinerated. Panacea’s nanotech treatment?”
Carmen gave her a curt nod.
“Are you serious? Do you know how expensive that is? You should have just chopped the fucking thing off!”
Evantra’s raised her voice, and Carmen flinched back as she shouted.
As she swore.
Evantra’s fists were tightly clenched. As she looked her at the machinery close to her, it was clear that they weren’t in Wisptown. There weren’t any medical facilities that hosted Panacea Corporation’s services in the slums. She had likely been moved to the outskirts for the treatment.
“I’m sorry Carmen. I’m sorry for shouting.” Evantra whispered under her breath as she stared at her arm.
“Evantra?”
Lucas had awoken blearily from where he was sleeping on the chairs. The boy gave her a slight smile, and the anger in her expression fled. She reached out to him and wrapped him in a hug. The boy’s hands dug into her sides tightly, and she could feel him shaking.
Her breath caught when she glimpsed the expression in his eyes when they eventually untangled from their hug.
I’m going to need to talk to him.
I’ve seen those eyes before, and I know what road it leads down.
I would know, I’m on it.
The curtain surrounding her bed was drawn to the side with a rattle.
Officer Foster shifted from foot to foot uneasily. He was still in his uniform, and he was holding his cap in his hands. Just like Carmen beside her, he had dark circles under his eyes.
He gave Evantra a brief smile and a nod, which she returned weakly.
Standing beside him, was Noelle.
Evantra stumbled to her feet, and practically all of the onlookers rushed to prevent her from standing up. She came to a halt before Officer Foster.
“I’ll pay back every cent.”
The man was pale-faced as he stared at her, his eyes flicking anxiously away and back, glancing towards Noelle beside him.
“Evantra, there’s no need—”
“Thank you. I won’t ever forget this. We owe you a debt twice over now. I’m sorry you had to deal with this.”
Officer Foster cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the sincerity of her proclamation. He turned to regard Noelle, then gestured to Lucas and Carmen to follow him.
“Let’s… give them some privacy.”
Evantra frowned in confusion.
“What for?”
Officer Foster only paled further, and Carmen exchanged a look of discomfort with him. Noelle stepped forwards, anxiously wringing her hands together, casting a quick glance towards Officer Foster, who gave her a reassuring nod.
“E-evantra. How are you feeling?”
“I’m good actually, my hand’s all healed up.”
She gave the girl an easy smile, and watched as Noelle searched her face, her brows creasing with every passing second. Evantra watched as the girl gritted her teeth, her shoulders trembling.
“I-I ran. I should have stayed. Passed you the gun. I… I’m so sorry.”
Noelle bit her lip, and tears began to well in her eyes.
“I regret it so much. You must be so disappointed—”
“Disappointed? No. Why would I be?”
She stared wide-eyed at Evantra, as she continued.
“You can only be disappointed in someone if you have expectations of them. I didn’t expect anything from you.”
Noelle froze, her body locking up at her words.
“What’s wrong?” Evantra frowned in confusion.
The girl walked away; her shoulders slumped. Evantra watched Carmen place a light hand on her shoulders, ushering her away. Officer Foster shot Evantra a forced smile, and gestured for her to join them.
“What? Was it something I said?”
Then her attention turned inward, and her eyes widened. Finally, having the opportunity to review the notification she had received upon completing the [darkstalker] set.
Ghostslayer Rank: Ghoul (Level 5)
Catalyst: [Darkstalker] (Level 1)
Darkstalker skills:
- [Razor claws]
- [Darkvision]
- [Clot acceleration]
Veilsouls: 10
Darkstalker ritual unlocked: [Ritual of Veilsight]
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