Lord of Malice - Chapter Two - The Sponge

"Follow us, Lika.  Behind the altar that purifies the malice, there are berths and sponge pools to soak up the malice that the 'rest' brings to the surface.  It has to be pulled out of your body and diluted in the bath waters, then piped to the altar for purification."  Lika shrugged.

"Not understand. Rest good."  The female acolyte smiled softly.  They hadn't had a case like his in many years, but they had the experience to deal with it.

"This is your sleeping bag.  Just climb up into that stone berth right there."  She gestured to a recessed berth that was at waist height.  She chose the one she felt he would be most comfortable in.  "Just make sure to take all your clothes off before laying down.  Once the malice is partially drained away, we'll transfer you to the pool."  Lika shrugged again, and stumbled a bit while he removed his ragged leather armor, and worn leggings.  Since Lika hasn't advanced his physical abilities, he probably wasn't capable of making much coin, but if he had enough malice saturating his body, he could at least walk away with a bit of gold for some much needed self care.

"Oh."  Her mouth fell open.  Lika was full of scars, but even she could tell he would have been a great man if he was in better shape.  The results of malice saturation were easy to see.  Loose muscle tone, slightly emaciated, and near paper thin skin.  Whatever nutrition he took in was being converted into energy just to keep him alive.  A strange thing she couldn't understand though was the appearance of red lines beneath his skin.

"Lika, it is much worse then we assumed.  Please, lay down quickly so we may start right away."




"What have you two done this time!"  The acolyte's face reddened, while the female acolyte smiled benignly.

"Only what our training told us, Vahti.  We had the young man rest, and we transferred him into the pool to drain off his malice.  However...."  The Vahti sighed.

"When malice accumulates this much, the rest will do nothing for him! You have to purify him, drain away the malice, then let him rest!  This way, the normal way, is too hard on his body!  Keep him in the pool and keep draining the taint off until the water flows clear again!"  The guardian of the altar closed her eyes.  "What did you see when he tried to rest?"  They swallowed a lump.

"I'm not quite sure what I saw.  It looked like light shining out of his chest, and his advancement shot out of range of our devices.  We pulled him out in less then two minutes as he was convulsing, and put him in the water.  It turned the water pitch black, so we assumed he would start to balance out!"  The Vahti sighed.

"Its rare, but he is what's called a sponge."  They frowned.  "A sponge absorbs abnormal amounts of malice from creatures, and it saturates his body.  He's spent so much time hunting, and not enough time resting, that now his internal storage for malice is incredibly huge.  Dangerously huge."  She sighed again, and looked him over as they lowered him into the water.  "Oh damn.  He's absorbed so much malice, he even has veins filled with it.  Quickly!"

"Turn on the purifier, and begin conversion as its drained off.  There will be no way that we will keep up if we don't try to get ahead of it now.  Leave him to sleep in the waters, and keep circulating fresh pure water into the bath."  She sighed as she listened to the acolyte, and silently agreed with her.

"Its going to be a long night."




"General?  What are you doing here?"  The acolyte asked him quietly as he entered the temple.  He smiled softly at the female temple guardian.  He's spent many a long night cared for by this temple guardian, and her gentle touch was much appreciated.

"I've come to check on the young man who saved my miserable hide.  How is Lika?"  She lowered her eyes.  "What's wrong?"

"He's still being purified."  He frowned slightly.

"He's been in the city for three days though.  Did he only come to you last night?"  She shook her head.  "Then what's happened, Emilie?"  She smiled and blushed a bit.  Only the general could get away with using her personal name in the temple.

"He's been in the purifying baths for the last three days.  He's soaked up so much malice, we can barely keep up with it."  She sighed sadly.  "We thought we had taken care of it after the first night, but when we attempted to take him out of water, more seeped out like a curse.  We keep the water fresh, but as soon as it touches his skin, it turns as black as a moonless night."  He closed his eyes.

"Is there any hope?"  She shrugged.

"The veins are slowly disappearing, so it appears to be working." The general frowned.

"Veins?"  She nodded and gestured for him to follow her.

"He had veins of pure malice beneath his skin.  The amount of malice we've been able to recover from his body will keep this temple going for a year.  I've never seen such an abundance of pure malice embedded within any person's body."  The temple guardian whose title was Vahti, came out from behind the altar.

"We've done it!  He's free of the malice!"  Emilie frowned.

"How?  He was still full of it earlier!"  The Vahti smiled.

"We pierced the veins with a probe, and it seeped out like dead blood.  Thick, black, and full of malice.  See the results for yourself."  She gestured behind her.  The general went around the altar and watched as they laid Lika within the berth.  The golden light Emilie had seen the night before poured out of his chest, and they watched as it illuminated thick veins throughout his body.  Within a few minutes, Lika sat up, put his feet on the floor, and opened his eyes.

"How do you feel?"  Lika smiled, and even though it reached his eyes, they shivered slightly.

"Like a new man!"  The general turned to Emilie.

"What is his status?"  She took an instrument and touched the two prongs to his skin.  She jumped back.  "What is it?"

"Standard levels for a knight are ten, and you are a level fifteen, right General?"  He nodded.

"Yeah, it took many years to reach that height, and many nights in the purifying baths."

"Lika is level twenty."  Lika smiled happily, but that smile looked incredible spooky to everyone for one reason only.

When they drained his malice, it also drained away all color too.  His eyes, and his hair was a pure snow white.

Lord of Malice - Chapter One - The Kill Thief

The older warrior growled under his breath, which was common for him when he trained nobles who tried out for the military.  Everything about these sorry excuses for soldiers made his joints ache.  He was not only the top instructor for his country, but also the top warrior when it came to fighting the malice filled beasts.  These people were who they sent to him though.

"Spoiled rotten ungrateful brats that don't even know their left foot from their right!  And they give them swords!"

The soldiers were out of formation, and their uniforms less then pristine.  This was supposed to be a simple Cull and Return mission, but their discipline left a sour taste in the warrior's mouth.  Blood seeped from multiple wounds on the 2nd company's soldiers, while 1st company now took the brunt of the beast's assaults.  Most of those wounds were from their own weapons.

First company soldiers were more disciplined and skilled, but they lacked the raw power necessary to cull this many tainted creatures of the forest.  2nd company had the raw power, but lacked respect, discipline, courage.  To top it all off, half of 2nd company were the ones who were supposed to be on guard duty, while the rest scouted the area around the camp.

"We're surrounded! How in the hell did they get behind us?"  The large warrior in front shook his head. These were not raw recruits, but they sure acted like it.  The beasts had easily moved into this position for the last hour, and went unchallenged by 2nd company as they bragged about their battle skills.

"Second Company, about face! Destroy your targets!" The warrior called out. They had turned towards the beasts that were engaged by 1st company, and it took precious seconds for them to respond.  "Did I ask you to do something, or give you an order!" It wasn't a question.  Fools for nobles, and their sons, just made his teeth itch.

"Bloody beasts! We'll show you what we're made of!" The first soldier opted for his spear, and thrust it forward.  His face showed the pain he felt, as did the whine that left his lips.  His wounds were already more then just surface, and each time he moved, they opened painfully.  They had little effect on the creatures they now faced, and if they couldn't pull it together, many would die on this day.

They turned as they heard the sound of a sword strike bone and flesh.  All sneered with contempt.

"Oh great. Its the kill thief."  A young man came out of nowhere and slashed at the rear flanks of the beasts who tried to get into their defensive lines.

Some beasts were already weakened, and with his attack, they fell before they could turn.  The old warrior started to smile as someone skilled with the blade sliced their opponents almost recklessly, yet was skilled enough to dodge, block, and counter attack. Then he heard the grumbles behind him.

"Kill thief."  A term that many beast hunters had learned to hate.  An adventurer who waited until the beasts were weakened, and took the last shot on the prey. This allowed them to take a half of the malice that flowed through the beasts, which also lowered the other hunter's experience and malice gains.

Kill thief was easily the most insulting word to use in their language.




"You look exhausted. Sit here and we'll get you a bit of meat."  The young man slid down to the soil against a tree and closed his eyes.  The warrior took a few moments to examine him.  Muscles looked slack, and skin too thin for someone who could move like he did.  The man was starved nearly to death, at least in his own eyes.  Then his eyes opened wide.

"Bloody kill thief! Why don't you go back to the woods where you belong!"  The warrior turned to his troops.  The one they just insulted had saved their miserable hides, his own included.

"Kill thief?"  The warrior asked dangerously low.  "How many kills did he steal from you?" He asked the first.  "And what the devil is your name?"

"Rogers, sir! I've lost at least ten kills to this guy!"  He turned to the next one.

"And you?"

"Near to twenty!"  The warrior growled.  "Simmons, sir!"  He turned to the last grumbling one, while the fourth just looked away, more embarrassed then angry.

"And you?"

"Johnson, sir! He took only seven of mine!"  He looked at the last one.

"And you?"  He heard the sigh.

"He saved my life at least five times, sir."  The warrior smiled.  "Sorry, sir.  Its Thompson."

"Were all the kill steals like this?"  They all nodded, except for Thompson.  "Thompson?"

"He didn't steal my kills, sir. He kept me alive and helped me finish my kills.  I lost a few points but I'm still alive."  The warrior smiled.

"An honest man."  He looked at the others.  "As I saw it today, he saved your sorry hides, and you blame him for doing that?"  He shook his head, and stood up.

"He didn't save me!  He stole...."  Bam.  He landed flat on his back after the warrior landed the sweetest punch on his chin that Thompson had ever seen.

"He's only a level one thief!"  Bam.  Simmons landed right next to Johnson.  The warrior then shifted his gaze to Rogers.  Unfortunately, Rogers was beyond arrogant because of his family's noble status.

"He's just a trash hunter, sir! I don't know why...."  Thompson smiled slightly.  He disliked Rogers intensely, and it was quite satisfying to see him laid out so easily.

"Colonel."  Another soldier stepped forward.

"Sir!"

"Drag these three back to the city. By their hair if need be.  They are not worthy of wearing our country's uniforms."  The colonel nodded, and gestured quickly.  Three other soldiers separated out of the first company of twenty soldiers and began to drag the others back through the brush.  The warrior looked over at Thompson.  "Get some food together for this young man.  He deserves a fine meal for what he did."  The warrior knelt down beside him

"What's your name, son?"

"Lika."  The warrior frowned.  His name sounded familiar, and then he remembered that Lika also meant trash, or filth, in the old tongue.

"Lika?"  The man shrugged.

"No name.  Called."  The warrior tilted his head.

"Are you alright?"  The man shook his head.

"Words hard. Hear good. Speak bad."  The warrior nodded.

"Not your language?"  The man shook his head.

"Tired.  So tired."  The warrior looked closely at him.

"What level are you?"

"One."

"But you moved like someone who was at least mid range soldier!  How is that possible?"

"Sleep lots. Not level."  The warrior started to smile.

"Do you know how we increase our strength almost magically compared to normal people in this land?"  Lika shrugged.

"Sleep?"

"Not quite.  When you've regained some strength, go to the temple in the city, and tell them you need to rest."  He looked intensely at Lika.  "Remember, not sleep, but rest.  Its quite different for us warriors then it is for regular folks.  Here."  He held out a token.  "Give this to the one who guides you to a berth.  It will pay for your rest."  Lika took the token, and focused on the engraving on it.  It was made of bronze, but the relief was superb.  A titan being sliced in two by a glowing sword that was held by nothing.

For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off this picture.  Even when he closed his eyes to get some sleep, the token was still in his hand.

"General?  Why did you give that young man the token for the temple?  Isn't that your family's guarantee of patronage?"  The warrior smiled.

"He saved our lives, Colonel.  Even at level one of the path, he still found a way to become stronger then many of us.  What would you do for someone who saved two companies of our kingdom's soldiers?"  The Colonel sighed, and his long tapered ears fell downward.  "Don't be upset, Colonel.  He did a great thing for us.  A great thing."




Lika entered the temple warily, but was warmly greeted by an acolyte just inside the door.

"Hello, young man.  Can I help you?"  Lika handed him the token.

"Soldier said come.  Sleep?  No, wait.  Rest.  Yes, said rest."  The acolyte smiled softly, and took in his haggard appearance.

"You've never rested here before, have you?"  Lika shook his head.  "Follow me then.  The General was correct in sending you to us.  Your malice is far too high for your body to recover."  Lika frowned.

"Malice?"

"First, you should eat a bit before you rest, and I'll tell you what malice is, and why it exists in the world."  He handed him a plate of vegetables, and gestured that he should sit down opposite him in a chair.

"Now, let me tell you a story, and you listen while you eat.  Its a bit long of a story, so try to stay awake."  Lika nodded, and was thankful that the warrior didn't mean him any harm, unlike most of the hunters he's met here since he fell through the darkness and landed in that putrid lake.  As he ate the raw root vegetables, carrots and some seemingly random herbs, he listened to a tale that was similar to his own world, yet so very different.

"Long ago, The Creator made our land, and put us in the middle.  His sons decided that they liked our daughters too much, and came down to take them as wives.  This would be like you taking an animal, like a full dog, as a wife."  Lika gagged, and made the warrior smile.  "I hope you don't dislike demis.  Anyway, the titans were born from their seed, and ravaged our lands, killing many for fun.  The Creator became angry, and sent more powerful sons to destroy their evil offspring.  He also locked the rebellious son's physical forms away so they couldn't have more children. The titans flesh was eaten by the pigs, boars, bears, dogs, and wildcats, but this caused a new problem.  The hate and anger they had in their hearts was stored in their flesh.  This gathered in the animals, and accumulated until it became something called malice.  This malice gathers in normal animals, and turns them into the beasts you warriors fight."  Lika tilted his head.

"Malice bad energy?"  The acolyte nodded.

"Well, yes, and no at the same time.  The temples have figured out how to distill, and purify this dark energy and make a powerful fluid called Ydin in the old tongue.  Ydin is so powerful, we only need a cup of it to power this entire temple for a month."  Lika blinked.

"Strong. Lots malice in world?"  The acolyte nodded.

"There is a lot of it.  There seems to be an excessive amount of it too, like something is adding to the quantity since the time of the titans."  Lika closed his eyes for a moment, and the acolyte looked at him oddly until he opened his eyes again.

"Titans hate. Malice is hate, right?"  The acolyte nodded.  "People hate. People make malice?"  The acolyte blinked, and groaned inside himself.

"We've looked for that answer for a long time, but it was so simple.  I wonder if the Vahti knew the answer all along."  Lika shrugged.

"Vahti smart then Vahti know. Answer dangerous, not spread."  The acolyte smiled softly.

"That would be just like the Temple Guardian.  She would not want to make the lives of others harder then it already is.  She probably hopes the Creator will take steps to fix that eventually."  The acolyte stood up.  "Ah, here is an assistant.  She will assist me with your first 'rest'.  If you have too much malice accumulated in your body, it will be safer for you to pull it out in small amounts, and keep purifying it as we go."  He gestured for Lika to follow him.

Without the knowledge of what would happen during this rest, Lika had no idea just how hard the night would be, but he would find out.

The cost of absorbing malice could be extremely high, and sometimes, it could prove fatal.