[Melas] Chapter 91: Werebeast

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The Werebeast continued growing larger. Its body doubled in size every moment that passed as it shaped itself into a terrifying bipedal creature; it stood on two clawed legs as it raised its clawed hands up in the air as bone-like spikes jutted out of its elbows. Needle-like brown brown fur now covered its body, somehow growing out of its flesh in an instant. And a dozen more eyes popped out of nothing.

I didn’t just stand and watch this transformation. Instantly, I grabbed a Cluster Bomb and hurled it at the Monster’s feet. Gennady and Elda were a step behind me, both sending a bolt of energy and a knife at it respectively. The Werebeast knocked the projectiles from the two aside, then kicked the Cluster Bomb away.

The explosions resounded in the distance as Sevin gulped. “Uh, this is a problem, right?”

“Less talk, more action!” I yelled, dropping all pretense of using mana tech and conjuring a Fireball. I hurled the spell at the Werebeast as it charged us, and the blast knocked it back momentarily. And it was just a moment, because it toured through the plume of smoke the instant after and continued barreling over to us.

Gennady dug into his pockets and produced a small cylindrical object. He threw it in the air and instantly, a noxious gas burst out at the Werebeast. The gas enveloped it, seemingly stopping it in its tracks. It writhed and turned, roaring a terrible sound through the forest.

“Step back and don’t inhale it!” Gennady shouted at us as he covered his nose and backed up. “Attack it from afar while the gas dissipates. It should take only a few seconds at most— I’m not sure how long or if it will actually paralyze the Werebeast, but throw everything you’ve got at it!”

I nodded, not needing to be told twice. I created a pair of Stone Spears as the Werebeast twisted on the spot. The magical projectiles launched at the Monster, but broke on impact— its thick skin too tough for even the earth.

After a few tense moments, the Werebeast seemed to break free from the paralytic effects of the gas. The veil around it that had been holding it back was torn apart like strings. I backed up even further, sending a Lightning Strike down at the Monster.

The sky flashed and thunder rolled through the snowy hills. But the blast didn’t even make it flinch. It came charging at us once again, just in time for Elda to toss a dagger at its eye. It roared, prying the weapon off one of its many eyes.

“Come here, you furry fuck!” she taunted it, breaking off to the side. I cringed at the insult, but focused instead on casting magic at the Werebeast. I sent a Fireball to it as it chased the woman, ripping apart trees like they were weeds on grass.

“Get back Sevin— stay behind me.”

The young man had been firing his rifle at the Monster in a panic, but now he was fumbling to replace the mana crystal on it. It used Inferior mana crystals, and ate through it quickly. However each bolt it shot was nearly as powerful as a Magic Missile. Barely scratching the Werebeast though.

“Hey Gennady, think your Annihilation cannon will work?” I called over to the Dwarf who had produced what looked to be a spear, but with two prongs at the end. Electricity shot out from the long taser looking thing, blasting the Werebeast from afar. It stumbled right as it tried to swipe at Elda, who had managed to take out two more eyes.

“Definitely not,” he said, grimacing. “And I wasn’t prepared to fight a Werebeast, so I didn’t bring anything that could penetrate its thick skin. It doesn’t have a regeneration like a Horned Ursa, but it’s far more durable.”

I sighed, feeling annoyed as more Fireballs bounced harmlessly off the Monster. I shook my head, instead focusing on what would work. I haven’t actually used this spell in a fight yet, but… here goes.

Even though I had been enjoying myself in Jahar’taw, I had not been relaxing. Even when I had been on the ship coming from Luke, I had been practicing my magic. Magic which I hadn’t gotten to test out proper. Now, it was time.

I pointed a single finger in the direction of the Werebeast. I felt the mana in the air accumulate at the point just beyond my finger, closing my pure magical eyes as energy coalesced into a sphere. It was about the size of my palm at first, not too large and not too small. However, I focused on the energy, compressing it into a tiny ball.

When the pressure on the ball felt too much to handle, I released it. A beam of red light burst out, drilling a perfect hole through the trees between myself and the Werebeast. The magical attack came at it incredibly quickly.

The Monster whirled around, spotting the growing light in the distance. It roared, then saw the magic, and threw its weight to the side. The beam nicked the side of its elbow— its bone-like protrusion was sliced cleanly off by the powerful spell.

“What was that?!” Gennady asked me, staring aghast.

“That,” I said as I panted, “took a lot of energy.”

“Well you better find some more before it eats us all!” he yelled, loading his harpoon gun and shooting it at the Werebeast.

It roared, charging at me in anger. Its eyes were fixated on me and only me. They burned with anger— with fury. It easily knocked aside the harpoon Gennady shot its way, although the enchanted tip still lit it ablaze.

I backed away from my friends, knowing that it was focused only on me currently; I pre-cast half a dozen Explosive Orbs as the Werebeast reached me. I activated my Aura Shield and rolled under its feet. The blasts resounded behind me, sending the Monster staggering forwards.

It whirled around, even more angry than before. “What does it take to kill you?!” I screamed, hitting it with a Burst Cyclone

The blast of wind blades tore apart its fur, cutting deeply into its thick skin. And yet, it still loomed over me with the same ferocity as before. I raised my dagger in a panic, shielding my face as a second barrier and third barrier came over me. The Monster swiped once, breaking through all the shields in the single hit.

I flew back, struck by the impact but not directly hurt from it. I heard Gennady scream as my head spun. Sevin scrambled to my side while Elda flung more knives at its face. I looked up at the Monster, roaring and swiping at the agile woman.

It nicked her on the shoulder, causing her to stumble for a moment. The Werebeast was about to follow up with another strike, however Gennady tossed a sphere in the air. The object glinted— then it flashed with a ringing bang.

I realized what was coming, and quickly covered my eyes before it even went off. I got up, opening my eyes as the Werebeast swung its arms in a blind frenzy, still discombobulated. I raised a finger, feeling the spell drain me of my energy again.

The beam of energy shot out, this time striking the Monster right in the chest. It reeled back, its skin burned and it screeched a terrible sound. I did not hesitate— I immediately followed up with a Frost Javelin, aiming right at its eyes. The Werebeast raised a claw to block the projectile, however I edged it just around its arm. The Frost Javelin struck true, piercing the burned flesh with the searing cold projectile.

The Monster locked eyes with me for a moment— well, it locked multiple eyes with me. Then it turned to Gennady as the Dwarf loaded his harpoon back onto the harpoon gun. Next to him, Elda was being tended to with a healing potion by Sevin. She got up, readying her throwing knives in her hand while the young man cocked his rifle.

It paused for a moment, as if it was suddenly capable of thought. And maybe it had always been capable of thought. But it didn’t matter. Survival instincts kicked into the Monster’s brain— it tried to turn and flee.

“Don’t let it escape!” Gennady bellowed, firing his harpoon at it. The projectile barely missed, nicking its shoulder and setting it ablaze again. “Damned you!”

I focused on the ground just ahead of the Werebeast as my friends pelted it with projectiles. I felt my body straining as I released the earth, collapsing it into a pitfall. The Monster stumbled and fell into the pit.

It was not a massive pit. It would’ve been able to climb out of it in an instant if it weren’t injured. And it actually crested the vertical incline faster than I could even cast a second spell. However, Gennady was prepared for it.

He tossed a trinket at it, which exploded into a web of energy bindings. It caught the Werebeast mid climb, wrapping around the Monster and causing it to fall back down. This was the moment I needed. As the Werebeast hurriedly tore off the bindings keeping it down and scrambled up the hole, I tossed every single Cluster Bomb I had down at it. Then I knocked it back down with a quick Fireball.

The Werebeast fell, and the Cluster Bombs— dozens of them— exploded at once.

I grinned as I watched explosion after explosion blast the ground apart. Loud bangs resounded throughout, and I stepped back and away from ground zero. Was it enough to kill the Werebeast? Probably not. Did it eat through my entire stock of Cluster Bombs and half my gold coins? Definitely.

However, as the smoke cleared up and the Monster lumbered out of the pit, it was slower now. And I took the time I needed to recuperate— to prepare.

“Death Ray,” I said, grinning.

A beam of light cut through the smoke, then dug straight into the much slower moving creature’s skull. It took the brunt of the hit— and collapsed.

Gennady stared at it— at the hole it bored through the Wereebeast’s face as it fell to the ground, dead. Then he turned to me. “...not gonna lie, Melas. But that’s a terrible name.”

“What about Death Beam?”

“Even worse.”

“End Lazer!”

“Stop it.”

I sighed as I got up. “Well, I can’t think of anything else. Unless you can suggest a better name, I’ll stick to it.”

Gennady furrowed his brows. “I think you should just go without a name until you can figure out a good one for it.”

“Mhm, maybe,” I mused with a thoughtful look. I glanced to the side when I heard the sound of leaves rustling. “Looks like they’re back.”

“About damned time.” The Dwarf got up after me as Elda and Sevin returned from the village. The young man was explaining to Birzhan about our encounter as the woman walked beside him, not bothering to contribute at all.

“...it was not a Horned Ursa— look, there.”

They reached us and Sevin pointed down at the crater where the Werebeast lay. The old Dwarf’s eyes widened as he took a look at the corpse while Gennady and I strode over to them.

“Seems like you gave us misleading information, old man,” my Dwarf companion said with a chuckle. “Might want to recompense us some more.”

“I…” Birzhan trailed off. “Of course, I apologize for our mistake. We shall scrape together what we can—”

“Wait, wait, wait—” Gennady flushed. “That was a joke, you bloody fool. We don’t need extra coins for this.”

“We don’t?” Elda blinked.

“Even if we do, we won’t be taking any,” I said with finality in my voice. The woman just shrugged and shot me a grin.

“Was a joke.”

I rolled my eyes. “Not a funny one,” I murmured under my breath. She gave me a mock glare and I ignored it. I turned to Birzhan and smiled beneath my mask. “This is the Monster that has been terrorizing your village. It has been disguising itself as a Kobold— so it probably caught most travelers unaware before it transformed.”

“How did such a beast come to our home?” he asked, voice quivering as he regarded me.

“Gennady thinks it’s because of all the volcanic activity. I know you said that eruptions here are the norm— but you’ve got to admit that the one in recent years are unusual. He thinks that because the animals around the area have been fleeing— migrating away— it has left the Kobolds starved and hungry. And one of them must have mutated into a Werebeast.”

I looked over at my Dwarf companion and he nodded. “Werebeasts— or any Were-Monsters— aren’t ordinary creatures. They are when Monsters just shift. Randomly evolve. They become something else entirely that is much stronger than their previous forms. And it also has diminishing returns depending on how strong the Monster is in the first place. For example, a Kobold— one of the weakest Monsters out there— becomes a Werebeast, an A Ranked threat. Meanwhile Crymson Wolves become Werewolves, B Ranked threats.”

Birzhan’s eyes widened. “Are you saying that even the animals are migrating away from Qala’taw? It can’t be…”

“Unfortunately,” Gennaady said with a shake of his head, “I think you need to consider moving your village away from Qala.”

“But…” Birzhan spoke softly.

I grimaced as I saw his facial expression contrast. I didn’t really like this. Aren’t we doing something good here? In the first place, we came here almost like heroes, to slay the beast terrorizing their lands. But now we are forcefully evicting them from their homes— in the name of what was best for them, sure, but it wasn’t what they wanted.

I sighed as I watched the visible hesitation in the old Dwarf be pushed aside. Instead, he focused on our reward.

“I understand your concerns, Master Gennady. And thank you for your help in exterminating this Monster. We’ll consider it. For now, let’s focus on your rewards—”

I perked up, excitedly speaking over him. “I want to take a bath!”

Author's Note:

That announcement bums me out more than anyone, I really do apologize for it. Sorry.