A Bored Lich

Chapter 364 - A Hero's Hesitation

Thomas, lost in thought, took another step towards the creature. The meat, its enticing scent beckoned for him to draw closer. It was a siren's call.

The monster opened its jaws for another bite. It hesitated, and the claw tightened around the prize. It brought its nose to the air and sniffed.

Thomas alternated his stare from the jaws to the meal, then back to the jaws. Even though his instincts had overtaken his mental faculties, he stepped back. That monster was irrefutable, absolutely strong. He could feel it now, the chill in the air that seemed to punch through his body.

'I'm an idiot. Why am I trying to fight this thing, because I assumed I was strong enough?' Thomas thought.. 'There aren't any bandits left to eat. This thing slaughtered them, and it's not my job to take on every monster I find. Maybe Doevm can teleport me out of here. I should just leave. Screw humans anyway. They didn't ask for my help. They don't even know this thing exists!'

Thomas took another step behind the pillar. A sharp crack made him jump. He almost didn't want to look at the broken glass, right under his thoughtless foot. He cursed under his breath.

The monster stepped off the bandit and entered the ruin. Thomas grasped his spatial ring. He could leap out, using the surprise to get a clean hit. Maybe he could kill it. Maybe. Maybe he would die. Alone again.

"Naive." Doevm's words once again echoed in his head.

Thomas looked up the stairs, estimating how long it would take to dash up them. The monster might not fit in the narrow hallway, even if it had just thrown a corpse from the second story.

He shook his head, took a breath, and drew his spear. He had made up his mind when he entered the place; to kill whatever he found. It was what a hero would do, right? 'Is that what I want to be?' He bit his lip hard, and clutched his spear. He had to take the first step, but when?

Monsters were stronger and faster than humans. He waited, letting it get as close as possible. He imagined dashing forward, leaping off the chandelier, and getting smacked back down. He frowned. 'That thing's massive. It's probably got more reach than my spear. Rushing in is my only option but I can't block while in mid-air. I'll have to slide under it and go for the throat.'

The monster's approach stopped. Thomas swallowed his saliva, waited another few seconds, then heard it retreat. Before he could ask himself why it would do that, he heard the thing's stomach grumble. Monsters killed to eat. It was a necessity. Both Thomas, and that thing were no exception.

'Move,' he thought. He shook his legs but they wouldn't budge. 'Its back is turned to me. Move!'

By the time Thomas worked up the nerve to peek again, he only saw the body being dragged away. He waited a couple of moments, hearing the monster climb up the side of the ruin. The quiet returned. He breathed a sigh of relief.

The world spun as the built up tension faded from his body. He caught himself on the pillar and stood there for a few moments, just breathing. It was strange to breathe without needing to, nearly as strange as his soundless heart.

He punched the pillar and cursed. "Doevm," he called out through the mental connection. "Something's wrong with me. Please respond."

"I am still busy," Doevm responded.

"With what?" Thomas cried.

"We're being accused of mass-murder. I'm trying to talk my way out of it but the town guards are practically hysterical."

"I haven't even been gone for an hour! What happened?"

"A little bit after you left, an entire town's worth of guards showed up and started making accusations. Elero insists on talking our way out, and I've gathered that a lot of people have been abducted by bandits, likely the ones you're tracking."

"And why are you getting accused of anything?"

  "The woman we found was one of the missing people. Standing next to her doesn't exactly paint us in the best light."

Thomas rubbed his temples: "I know you can handle that but I'm in some trouble here. I could use some advice."

There was a pause before Doevm responded: "...I've bought myself some time. What do you need?"

"There's a monster in the ruins. I think it took down the bandits. I tried to fight it but...I just couldn't. I froze up. Is this another side-effect of becoming an Undead? I faced down the demon king but I didn't freeze then. Why is the monster different?"

"It's not a side-effect, and that's all I know. Can you escape?"

Thomas peeked around the corner again. "Escape? No, I-I can't do that or it'll kill someone else. I just want to know what happened to me."

"How should I know? I'm not a hero."

"You are an all-knowing Lich who defied fate itself and you mean to tell me that you don't know what's wrong with my head?"

"Correct. I recommend you run away immediately."

"But-"

"Can you handle it or can't you? You chose this, not me. If you're not even going to stand by your own decision, why should I help you?"

"I just want to know why I froze up, please. I don't need to know the possibility of dying or a reminder of how stupid this decision is. I just want to know why I froze up."

Another painful pause made him grit his teeth. "There are two major factors that differentiate the present circumstance from your fight with the demon king: you're hungry and alone."

He wanted to offer an excuse but Doevm had already forced the truth into his head, and there was no pulling it out. On the battlefield, he couldn't walk two feet without finding a demon to snack on. When the demon king made him lose control, Elero was there to save him. Now he was alone, his control slipping away by the second. There weren't any bandits to eat, the monster had ensured that. Thomas's stomach rumbled loud in the silent, empty room.

'So saving people was just an afterthought,' he thought to himself. 'As soon as I heard there were bandits, I told myself it was ok to go after them.' He slid a hand down his face. 'That means I froze because I had no reason to…' He cursed under his breath. 'Because I'm naive.'

"Will there be anything else?"

"Does it have any weaknesses or things I should know about?"

"You intend to continue?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Asking for weaknesses is too broad. Give me a description."

Thomas relayed as much detail as he could, occasionally answering questions about behavior, shape, or displays of intelligence.

"It sounds like a canine-type monster," Doevm explained. "It could be three things: either a werewolf-"

"Werewolf?" Thomas sputtered. "It's not even the full moon. It's the day!"

"If you'd let me finish, I was going to remind you that the moon can no longer be full ever again."

Thomas facepalmed: "Oh yeah."

"Idiot. The damaged moon could affect werewolves in unpredictable ways, however judging by the bone structure you described and the conditions of the first two corpses you found, you're likely dealing with a lycanthrope."

"Isn't a werewolf and a lycanthrope the same...sorry I interrupted you again, didn't I?"

"...Anyway, a lycanthrope can freely change its form and a werewolf can't. Another difference is that a lycanthrope also retains its intellect in its animal form, hence the state of the first two corpses you discovered. Your best bet would be to find the lycanthrope in human form and kill it. You don't need silver weapons. A normal spear will do. They are quite strong so be careful."

"You make it sound as though the lycanthrope is like a normal human," Thomas argued. "It can transform into a monster but it doesn't act like one, right? It's not like my case. It has control of itself. Should I even bother?"

"It's eating people, are you ok with that?"

"True, but bandits are bad guys. They don't count."

"They don't count," Doevm echoed his words and he grimaced.

'I can't believe I just said that out loud,' Thomas thought.

Doevm continued: "And did it eat the missing villagers? That would do away with these guards."

"I haven't seen them yet…I'll look for them. It couldn't have eaten them that fast. I'll hurry up and find them."

"The town guards are getting antsy again. Can you handle it or can't you?"

"I-I can do it." Thomas relayed. "Good luck."

"Same to you."

Thomas fell to his knees, clutching his grumbling stomach. He took a few breaths and turned towards the ruin. 'I still have time.'