Adventurer Series 3: The Daemon

Chapter 3: The "Man" who had no Empathy

Finishing his drinks in a hurry, Karl slammed his cup on the table, making a loud tunk. Everything he did frightened me in some way. When I looked at him, all I saw was malice; when I sniffed him, all I smelled was blood. Karl was the total opposite of Kurtis in every way, and he accepted it, thinking there was nothing wrong or unethical about his behavior. It only made me want to distance myself from him more.

Karl stretched his arms upward as he exited the brothel. When he stepped outside, I could see the darkness around his head manifest again; this time however, it looked as if a dark figure was leaning over his shoulder and whispering into his ear. As soon as the dark figure disappeared, Karl looked to his right and dodged a sword that was thrown his way. Kurtis told me to stay back as he drew his sword. When I looked out the broken window, I could see two women with swords standing next to each other. They both mimicked each other's stance and movements.

"You two, again?" I heard Karl say. He sounded annoyed at the two.

The two women held their ground.

"Who are these two?" I could hear Kurtis say.

"My number one on my 'to kill' list."

"You flatter us, but you know why we're here." One of the women said.

"Well, you can take your contract, roll it up, and shove it up your noses!" Karl's vivid imagery that sparked from his words made me shiver, "In fact, I just might do that to you, but I won't stick them up your noses."

"What will you do with them, I wonder?" the second woman asked, spinning her sword.

"Why don't you stand still and let me kill you so you can find out?!"

"Are you three really flirting with each other?" Kurtis asked.

"We're not flirting, Kurtis; I hate these two bitches!"

With that said, Karl dashed forward at a great speed, catching one of the women off-guard and knocking her back. The other woman was now clashing swords with Karl, staying on the defensive. Karl's attacks were very strange to look at; he swung heavily and barbarically, yet somehow maintained a steady technique with his attacks.

The first woman started rushing Karl, but was blocked by Kurtis' sword. Soon, the two brothers were fighting with the two women. It was a spectacle, to say the least. Unfortunately, it looked as though the two women were more adept at fighting together then Karl and Kurtis were. They flipped and flew through the air like a pair of birds and easily isolated Karl. Kurtis tried to help his brother, but was constantly ignored through the technique of the two women.

"Dammit, let me in!" Kurtis complained.

Karl, on the other hand, was holding his own against the two women, keeping a rhythm between his aggressive strikes and defensive blocks. He always had a follow-up to any attack he blocked, or defense he struck.

Then, he managed to strike one woman's sword out of her hand, and quickly followed it by punching her to the ground. The other woman fought Karl out of desperation, but Karl blocked her strike, grabbed her by the throat, and started choking her.

"You two have been a major pain for me these last months; but now, you're going to die here." Karl growled.

The woman tried to free herself from Karl's grip, but to no avail. The fear in her eyes made me feel sympathetic to her. She didn't want to die, and even though she tried to kill Karl, I didn't want her to die either.

"Karl, let her go." Kurtis said as he stood next to Karl.

Karl glared at Kurtis, "If I spare these two, they'll just keep coming after me until one of us is dead. I've killed many Hunters who have been after my bounty, but these two always survived their failed attempts, but not today; today, I'm getting rid of these two thorns!"