When Clouds Rain Red

Riley was a bit surprised when Lily asked him to come to the guild office to discuss an issue from an earlier incident last night. She usually went to Walt regarding guild issues, him being the vice-guild master. He was often the last person she would confide in.

Having no reason to procrastinate, Riley immediately made his way to the guild house. He ignored everyone, not even bothering to activate Judge and Jury, even if there was a new face. He was too tired right now; he had just woken up not even thirty minutes ago. Even as paranoid as he was, the likelihood of him being a problem after being allowed in was low. The other guards weren't ignorant...

Or at least most of them weren't. Walt would allow nearly anyone in if they did not have an active warrant for their capture or death.

Even then, Walt was a fantastic judge of character. If someone of questionable intent were to enter, he would keep them in line, watching them like a petrivor.

Riley was at the door of the community guild house office before he knew it, opening the door to meet Lily. His eyes fell upon Lily, the woman sitting at a large desk, and then he moved to Walt, who was leaning on the far wall next to the window.

Riley's eyes narrowed.

"So, what's got the both of you on edge?"

Lily slid an off-white, nearly yellow piece of paper toward him. "We had an otherer, who we commissioned to do a quest, pull off the near impossible."

Riley nodded, taking the paper and looking it over. His eyes lingered on the number—sixty-seven harescourge.

"So, where does the problem lie? An exemplary newcomer adventurer isn't worth calling for me; I want you to get to the point."

Lily didn't speak; she sat back further into her chair as Walt stepped forward. "The problem is that this individual is, without a doubt, a serial killer. We don't have any proof, and you know my morals will prevent me from killing without proper evidence. I want you to use Judge And Jury on him, find out what he's done, then kill him." He bit, his voice icy and cold. The bastard just didn't want to get his hands dirty.

"He goes by Bravo," Lily added, sounding quite irritated.

"Like the cartoon show or the phonetic alphabet?" Riley muttered to himself, scratching at his neck.

Neither of the natives knew what he was referring to, but that didn't matter much.

"Regarding the sixty-seven harescourge, this quest was completed within hours, and it was his first quest. He arrived with nothing but the clothes on his back and killed all those with minimal gear he bought with loaned funds and returned with no effective injuries." Lily slammed her hands on her desk, glaring up at him. "He has no level, abilities far too low compared to what he is capable of, and all his skills and titles are blocked. He's dangerous."

Nodding slowly, Riley felt uneasy. "How long till you think he will strike?" His gaze flicked to Walt, the older man shrugging.

"Can't be too sure. The idea was to have him die in the harescourge quest, and then he managed to kill more than most adventurers at level thirty could. It will depend on how long we can manage to keep him occupied with vepis. Even then, allowing him to kill vepis unchecked will be detrimental too. It is possible his otherer title granted him a skill that allows him to adapt to kill. It wouldn't be the first time we saw a similar skill- I doubt you have forgotten Francis, that fucking nut."

Riley chuckled, shaking his head. "How could I? He was at least rank fourteen, not the fastest, but he still leveled up quickly. He was difficult to kill with so many active skills with no time limit. Those claws and the rock armor were a bitch to deal with."

Walt nodded, his features grim. "I'm at least eighty percent positive he is above rank nineteen. And unlike Francis, I think Bravo relies on resistances. He likely leans towards using passive skills, though I wouldn't doubt he has an active one for damage dealing. That or a very powerful title, if not one of both."

"Do you think his resistances are high enough to withstand any of my attacks?" Walt laughed, looking at Riley, catching his cold glare. He stopped, realizing Riley was serious.

"No, he won't be able to handle any of your attacks. I can guarantee that. Just ensure he doesn't get away when you go for the kill. If he got any stronger resistances, he might become an actual threat and not just a potential threat." Walt looked down at Lily, who had remained silent for the time. "Anything you would like to add before we send Riley out on this private quest?"

Lily nodded, taking a deep breath. "Don't make light of what I am about to say, but I don't think he follows our rules. The world order isn't acting right with him, so even his health might behave differently from ours. I suspect it's why he survived all of the harescourge."

Riley leaned forward, "Go on."

"I don't believe his body registers damage the way ours does. It's only in theory, but judging by the damage his armor took, the damage a harescourge deals along with its magic and his health ability... Getting hit doesn't deal damage to him as it would with us. I think it is based on the physical condition of his body, not the health count." She stood, staring at him with caution. "Be careful, and don't let his health- What do you call it?"

"Stat."

"Don't let his health stat deceive you."

Walt put his thumb to his chin, humming lowly as Riley gave a slow nod, thinking.

"Isn't that a double-edged sword, though?" Lily nodded, though she was still insistent.

"He will likely die before it hits zero, but it doesn't mean he still can't use that against you. It's more dangerous not knowing the point at when he will die and when he won't." Riley could see what she meant.

"Also, he could have suffered a lot of damage and still live if he hadn't been hit in vital spots. So that's something else to watch out for." She continued, about to go on a little longer, until Walt laid his hand on her shoulder, glaring down with a harsh realization.

"Do you think it's possible that he can cause others to act in the same fashion? Thus, how he was able to kill so many harescourge. He wasn't dealing damage to them. He was inflicting wounds."

Walt now looked worried, slowly gripping as Lily yiped in pain. Quickly letting go, he apologized. Looking back up to Riley, he was growing pale. His overwhelming seven-hundred-forty base health stats would be rendered useless.

He had absolutely no room to make mistakes because if he did, he could really die.

"I think Bravo's threat just went from potential to immediate."

Riley and Walt both agreed fully. Bravo was dangerous and needed to be dealt with.

It's too bad none of them knew the irony that their plans to deal with him would only strengthen him.