The howling night breeze barely breathed along the alleyways of Abels Creek. Denver lightly trod the dirty ground, careful with every step. The stench of blood and decaying flesh soon pervaded the air. He covered his nose with a hand.
"We should be close to the first one," Lulu whispered. Denver had to carry her because she cared too little about stealth. She glanced at the silent man ferrying her around. "I'm surprised you can zero in on their lair without my help. You only needed a general area from me."
"Investigating the scene is a skill I had to master back at my old job. Knowing how to follow trails is also handy." Denver softly chuckled.
He stopped at his last step. He stared at the dark alley, his enhanced vision easily mapping the alley before him. "Huge open windows make it a good entrance for mimics. Humans running away from them will get hurt if they jumped. The stench also spreads through it, keeping the lair hard to track down by scent. I think we're already here."
Lulu looked at the small two-story shop across the street from them. She hummed and got down from his arm. "I'll be watching you from somewhere else. Remember. An average pack is ten-member strong."
Denver nodded and watched Lulu vanish from sight. He faced the building again and quickly accessed his system's Shop Interface.
"This should be better than an ordinary knife." Denver chuckled as he mused at the item offered. He held his hand out, and a red light shone an inch above his palm. It turned into a red goo, which assumed the shape of a dagger. The goo morphed into red metal and gold lining. On his hand lay a phantom dagger, which he bought from the system's Shop.
[You have obtained a weapon essence: Ravager's Tears! It is said that the source melded the brethren's blood into a blade of betrayal. Let it drink more to sustain its life! Damage + 20]
Denver stared at it before taking out his small knife. He pressed it inside the phantom dagger, letting it absorb the metal body.
[You have successfully combined your base weapon with the essence!]
[Equipped weapon: Crybaby! Classified as… Primary Weapon! Particulars… Damage 25. Bleeding. A small knife infused with the blood of the betrayed. It will cry for the hurt and the dying.]
Denver's brows lifted. "The weapon changes based on the kind of blade I use? I wonder what will happen if I buy an essence for my gun. I should buy one just in case, but this weapon essence already cost me 10,000 points. No matter. I'll just buy one when I get more points from these eaters. A whole pack should at least earn me something close to a thousand, right?"
Schwing! Schwing!
Denver tested the dagger's sound. However, it was only the sound of the wind getting cut. The dagger was extremely sharp, but Denver felt like its name wasn't earned all that much. Regardless, he slipped it inside his sleeve, and it dissolved into his skin. The only sensation left was the kiss of cold metal against him.
"…I'll need to get used to that." Denver chuckled before getting low and sticking to the shadows. The mimics needed to see and hear him before they could attack. Even a venator visually surveyed its prey.
The abandoned shop was a boutique. Clothes and fabric were scattered on the floor and stacked against the walls. Trails of blood and questionable liquids ruined most items on the floor. Denver climbed into the bay window, whose glass cover was long broken. The soft padding on the floor muffled his descent and his successive steps.
It didn't take long before he reached the stairs to the second floor. Squelching noises came from the room upstairs, and Denver slowly took out his dagger for a surprise attack. He kept low and peeked from the doorless frame.
The rusty smell of blood welcomed Denver. A muffled scream came from the lady in the hands of a mimic. Denver didn't have to doubt its nature when its mouth and neck opened. Its real mouth bit into the lady and easily detached her shoulder from her torso. Blood dripped from multiple places in her body, attracting other mimics in the room.
Denver saw at least seven mimics feasting on a single person. However, he also watched the first mimic growl at the ones who dared to pull on its food. The others only licked the blood on the floor. They were already lucky if some parts fell.
"Help… me… please…" A soft voice came from under the pile of discarded items. Denver spied on a man trying to crawl out. Their gazes connected, and the man cried again, "Help…"
Denver could hear the man; the pack leader could hear him, too. The pack leader turned to where the man was and released a guttural roar. The other mimics also turned to look for the human. At those noises, the man could only close his eyes and cry without a sound again.
Before a mimic could move, Denver took out his gun and shot the leader's head. The loud gunshot attracted the others, who quickly moved to attack. Denver held his dagger tighter and retreated from the corner. When a mimic showed up, he mercilessly slashed at its face. A loud shrill scream came from the dagger and the mimic, surprising Denver.
The injured mimic suddenly lost its human camouflage. Its face and hair were wiped off, leaving a monstrous-looking creature covered in skin. Upon realizing its disguise vanished, the mimic opened its long mouth and roared at Denver.
Denver, in response, pointed the gun in his left hand at it… and shot through its mouth. The pain paralyzed it before Denver lunged for the kill.
More mimics ran to rescue their kin. However, the shop's hallway was too narrow for them all. At most three showed up, only to find their kin standing motionless along the hallway. It then fell as Denver pulled out the dagger from its face.
Denver smiled and swiped his dagger, getting rid of the blood. A shrill cry came from the blade before gleaming with a lustful red light.
"Don't worry. There's enough tears for everyone."
…
The man stuck under the discarded items waited to die. Something kept screaming from the hallways outside. He didn't know how long that guy could hold off seven mimics. He would escape, but his legs were caught under the broken clothes racks. If that pack leader didn't throw him, he could have dared to run when he had the chance.
Roars came from downstairs, and the man realized the other pack members had arrived from their hunt. Even if that guy could handle seven coming from one direction, at least another ten entered through the door. The man could only pray for his heart to give up so he would die peacefully.
Minutes later, everything grew quiet. The man figured the mimics were eating on the first floor. He tried to free his leg, but it might get cut if he forced it.
Soon enough, he heard trudging footsteps coming from the broken door.
"Hey, are you still alive?"