Glitch Hunter

by Skyler Grant

  Kationa removed the second and third stones and switched their positions.

  The air began to hum again, warping and distorting. The figure that appeared this time was human, female with black hair and pale skin dressed in rags. Her eyes were a dim red and she hissed after taking in the surroundings.

  Bloodthirster

  Alignment: Red/Black

  Level: 15

  Hitpoints 159/159

  Bloodthirster Grimoire Entry unlocked

  Bloodthirsters are the result of a vampire’s attempt to spawn that has gone awry. Instead of coming away thinking and reasoning they are consumed with bloodlust and fury that has granted them access to red quintessence as well as black. Bloodthirsters are immensely strong and are best engaged at a distance. With their bite they can extract quintessence or life energy from others using it to bolster their own abilities.

  Vulnerabilities

  Bloodthirsters are not resistant to any weapon types but they do naturally regenerate health quickly, something enhanced by their bite. Elementally they are vulnerable to fire and resistant to cold.

  "We need to go all out. Glaive, shoot her with your holy round and then charge. I'm going to hit with her flames. If you can do the same Kationa, join in. Daggers for Ryn," Yasmine said, barking out the instructions with practiced ease.

  The Bloodthirster turned towards the sound and began to move at Yasmine.

  Yasmine struck her blade making it ring out before returning her hammer to her waist. That hand freed she pointed at the Bloodthirster and chanted, “Calara” A stream of fire erupted catching the Bloodthirster halfway.

  “Devorum Del Ixnius," Kationa intoned, a stream of blue flames erupting from her.

  Alex switched to the holy round in the chamber of his potion-caster and leveled his arm. The round exploded on impact, a brilliant white blast of flames.

  You have hit the Bloodthirster with your Holy Fire

  34 Holy Damage

  34 Damage Dealt

  Alex charged forward. The Bloodthirster had already reached Yasmine and with a backhand sent her sailing across the cavern to smash hard against the wall.

  A dagger flew past Alex burying itself in the Bloodthirster's neck.

  Alex drew his sword back. Before he could deliver the blow the Bloodthirster flared brightly and transformed into ash.

  A Bloodthirster has been killed

  Partial Share Awarded

  You have gained 2 red XP

  You have gained 2 black XP

  "That was easier than I thought," Alex said.

  Yasmine staggered to her feet with a grimace, arm twisted at an unnatural angle. "Tell it to someone without a broken arm."

  "Going to take a potion?" Alex asked.

  "Dissonant damage, no point. It won't heal in time for the next fight."

  Jess said, disappointed, "Why did she have such terrible taste in clothes? If I were called a Bloodthirster I'd totally be all dressed in a red leather corset."

  "What she lacked in fashion sense she made up for in a vulnerability to fire," Yasmine said.

  Kationa was busy drawing another glowing crystal from her bag and placing it on her forehead. Once more the glow faded.

  "I'm out of extra juice. I've got some power left, but any magic I cast might be unreliable," Kationa said.

  "One in four. Maybe this is the time our luck changes," Yasmine said.

  Kationa changed the pattern of the stones once more. The air thrummed, and unlike previously no monster appeared. Instead the runes on the wall began to glow one after another, flaring brightly, and then the stone vanished to reveal a chamber beyond.

  There was only one object there, a sword rack holding a blade that looked as if it might have been made of obsidian, the blade black as night. And loud, the dissonance coming from the weapon was as strong as what Jess put out.

  Alex focused on it, trying to get a read on what the sword might be.

  Ebonhart

  Condition: Excellent

  Quality: Legendary

  Alignment: Red

  Grimoire Entry Unlocked

  Ebonhart

  Ebonhart is one of the twelve dread weapons of the Selesu. The blade is constantly seeking a carrier, once a mundane touches its hilt they become transformed into a Glitch. In the hands of its carrier the blade is capable of tremendous destructive power. The especially strong-willed can sometimes survive long enough to receive instruction from a member of the House of Carnage who can help them to mitigate the effects through a life of devoted service and intense meditation.

  WARNING

  If unbound to a carrier this object is capable of driving an entire city to madness and murder in an effort to possess it.

  Ryn was the closest to the vault when it opened and with a maddened look in her eyes she was already moving towards the blade. Alex tackled her from behind and she struggled beneath him, and tried to drive a dagger between his ribs.

  You have been hit by Ryn Cosis

  9 Piercing Damage

  4 has been absorbed by your armor

  5 Damage received

  "Keep her down. Baroness, Cassandra, keep back. Kationa can you send it away?" Yasmine asked.

  "I'm fine," Cassandra said, although Alex could hear the burr in her voice. The words were almost growled, anger barely under control, and she was scraping at her own face with her fingers.

  Ryn shifted and this time managed to get the blade into Alex's shoulder.

  You have been hit by Ryn Cosis

  11 Piercing Damage

  4 has been absorbed by your armor

  7 Damage received

  Alex didn't want to stab her. Instead he slammed his head downward in a head butt. It bounced hers off the stone floor and seemed at the very least to daze Ryn.

  "I can't get a lock. It's too damned strong," Kationa said.

  "What if I'm holding it? It won't bond with me," Yasmine said.

  Cassandra looked to be trembling with barely contained fury, scratching at her cheeks. Sabrina was a strange pool of calm, looking rather fascinated but untouched by the sword.

  "I'm going to have to put you far away from civilization," Kationa said.

  Yasmine sheathed her blade and stepped forward to take Ebonhart from the stand. The dissonance grew sharper, more shrill—it didn't want her. A dull red glow began to surround the blade.

  Beneath Alex, Ryn screamed in rage and struggled with all the strength she possessed towards the blade. From the mouth of the cave Alex heard the sound of metal armor in motion, the soldiers charging towards the room.

  Kationa was busy sketching runes in the air with a frenzied sort of panic. With a flare of purple light both Yasmine and Ebonhart vanished.

  Cassandra collapsed and Alex felt Ryn go limp beneath him.

  "Where is she?" Alex asked.

  "The sand sea of Mesal," Kationa said. "I had to dump her into the most inhospitable place I could think of quickly. That blade can not be around people."

  "Can you get her back?"

  "Eventually, hopefully. The blade is going to have altered her dissonance, changed her magical attunement. If she travels a few weeks and makes efforts to purge herself of its influence, I can maybe find her again."

  A few weeks. That sword might have ended Falkirk too—but it was tied to red quintessence and not black. It wasn't the threat Alex was here to stop, and now he was facing that ticking clock alone.

  30

  “When corpses can just up and come back to life? Public service, grave robbing. I’m doing you all a favor I am.” Defense recorded in the Brightshy courts.

  In the aftermath there were people who needed tending to. Alex had bloodied Ryn's nose and she'd have a nasty bruise from hitting the stone. Cassandra had some self-inflicted injuries on her face given how much she had struggled to keep control. Cassandra had her guards take the both of them back to her estate for treatment.

  Alex was worried that Sabrina might have hurt herself as well, but she assured him tha
t she was fine. Given the effect the artifact had he was impressed at the self-control she’d exhibited.

  Ten guards had died. In a frenzy of rage they'd slaughtered each other and there were reports of deaths in the town as well.

  Kationa wanted to go back to her laboratory to rest and Alex followed.

  "I'm not going to keel over, Glitch Hunter, you don't need to be concerned," Kationa said.

  "You burned a lot of power. You know it isn't just that. I want some answers," Alex said.

  Kationa pushed open the door and grimacing settled down on a chaise that leaned against one wall. "I already told you that I won't be able to get Yasmine back for weeks, at best."

  "I know. I don't think Ebonhart was actually the danger facing Falkirk, do you?"

  "Ebonhart, if we hadn't sent it away, would have probably slaughtered this entire city. In the end there would be one blood-drenched man or woman holding a sword surrounded by bodies. If they took the sword elsewhere it would repeat," Kationa said.

  "It is that bad?" Alex asked.

  "Selasu was an enlightened civilization, praising scholarship and martial discipline. When quintessence and Glitch first entered our world, red was disproportionately represented and rage and wrath fueled more of the same." Kationa said.

  "They decided to do something about it?"

  "The dread weapons. They gathered almost all of it into those blades, what is left of it is just a trace of what once was. Their most disciplined and controlled fighters took possession of them and most fell to their influence. Selasu burned, but those few who had mastered their blades formed the House of Carnage."

  "How did one of those weapons wind up here?" Alex asked.

  "The vault tells us what we need to know. It could be opened. If they had been interested in disposing of the blade they could have locked it behind tighter walls and tighter seals," Kationa said.

  Alex nodded and took a seat in a chair near Kationa, leaning forward. "Someone wanted possession of a weapon that could raze whole cities. Were we protected from its effects because of our own quintessence?"

  "More insulated than protected. That blade contains far more red quintessence than you have black in you, or I have purple in me. In either of our hands it would in time corrupt us, transform us into something other than we are now."

  "Is Yasmine going to be okay?" Alex asked.

  "I don't know. I hope so. I call her a fool, but really she isn't one and she understands the dangers of corruption. With luck, on the other side of the teleport, she threw it one way and ran the other—and has spent every moment since getting as far from it as possible."

  "If that blade wasn't what was threatening Falkirk then we've got a problem. It’s getting close and Yasmine is gone," Alex said.

  Kationa looked over at him and gave a weak smile. "And we're left with one inexperienced Glitch Hunter between us and the Abyss."

  "A lot more than just me, I think. You are here, Cassandra and Ryn, Sabrina, Jess and anybody else who is willing to do what they can to help save this city," Alex said.

  "This is leading up to something. What do you want?"

  "I need to pinpoint the source of what is happening. Find why those ships are going missing, find me the center of the vortex."

  "Magic isn't an infinite resource and my recent activity has drained me. That isn't just talk to better a negotiating position. It’s a statement that I am unreliable right now. I'll do what I can, I have some ideas, but you'd best place your hopes elsewhere," Kationa said.

  "You're not my only hope," Alex said, rising to his feet. "Take care and check on Sabrina if you could. While she’s pretending that blade didn't faze her, you know it must have."

  Alex went to the Windicott estate. Guards allowed him through to see Cassandra who was seated in a salon with an empty bottle nearby and another already partially gone through. She had a bandage on her face over where her nails had dug furrows.

  "Just in time, Glitch Hunter. Have a drink—or have a dozen if you're so inclined and pass it to me," Cassandra said.

  Alex sniffed at the bottle. "If you're trying to get drunk on fine wine you're doing it wrong."

  "Am I? Sodding hell, I'm usually trying to stay in control instead of lose it," Cassandra said.

  "Didn't like what that sword made you feel?"

  "Nobody makes me do what I don't want to do, Glitch Hunter. I beat that thing, I did."

  It was true. Ryn and the guards had been driven into a fury and lost all control. Cassandra and the baroness were made of different stuff.

  "You won't hear any argument from me. You were strong," Alex said.

  "I don't feel strong. Want to fuck, Glitch Hunter?"

  "Ask me again when you're not tipsy and traumatized, and you'll get a yes," Alex said.

  "Limited-time offer. Act or miss out," Cassandra said with a frown, as she took another drink.

  "Then I'll unfortunately have to decline. I came here on business."

  "It’s always business. Did you know I had a large sum tied up in that stupid vault? The original stone, the location of both the vault and the others. Information sells dearly and while it’s nothing I can't afford to lose, it is so tremendously disappointing," Cassandra said.

  Alex believed that Cassandra’s lack of focus had to be some sort of after-effect of the sword, she had been quite close to it.

  "You'll make it up," Alex said.

  "Of course I will, that is what I do. What do you want, Glitch Hunter? I don't mean the business today, sod that. If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?" Cassandra asked.

  "My memories only go as far back as me entering this world. There is only a month of me. I want to say something like "stay alive", but if that was true I wouldn't be doing the job I do."

  Cassandra said quietly, "I want power, true power. I want to be able to take anything I want, make every fucker that has ever messed with me bleed. I want to never be afraid again. That is what that damned sword was promising me. Was it lying?" She settled back to let out a shaky breath.

  "There was real power there. I'm told it’s almost impossible to master, but I’d be more inclined to bet on you than against you. I think it would have been a constant voice in your ear though, urging you to give in to rage and fury," Alex said.

  Cassandra closed her eyes. "No one is the master of me but me. What did bring you to my door now, Alex?"

  "That sword wasn't the danger facing this city that brought me here. This city is still in grave peril and I still don't from what," Alex said.

  "How much time do we have?" Cassandra asked, opening her eyes and gazing at him.

  "It could happen within days."

  "What about beforehand? Will be their signs? Dangers?"

  "Yes, and I can only imagine that they are going to get worse," Alex said.

  Cassandra nodded. "Then I'll start getting people out. It is all very well that you want to fight this threat and defeat it, but if the goal is saving lives than we should be prepared for you to fail."

  It was something that Alex had not even thought of, but an impulse that he could hardly fault.

  "That would be a good idea," Alex said.

  "Still, not why you came. The missing girls, I'm sure. I've found nothing, but if a new body is reported I'll reach out to you. I'll also tell those who choose to remain in town that they should be prepared to defend it. Is there anything they should know?"

  "Steel may work, but Glitch are often vulnerable to fire."

  "I'll pass the word and hope we don't wind up burning the town around our feet. Unless you've changed your mind on my offer you should go. I'm going to issue some orders and then drink until I pass out," Cassandra said.

  "Still tempted, still no," Alex said, as he moved towards the door.

  It had impressed Alex how much Cassandra was thinking ahead. Really that sort of planning should have been coming from Sabrina. Perhaps she had too much confidence in his success to see the possible dangers of failure.

/>   Alex's last stop for the night was back in the keep, but this time it wasn't any of the residents of Falkirk that he needed to speak with. There was XP that he had been gathering and it should be enough for a new upgrade or two. Originally Jess had drowned out his bracer. As he became more familiar with her frequency he got most of his functionality back. It was also time to try to speak directly to whoever was at work behind his bracer. There was clearly some sort of intellect there and it didn't wish Falkirk to be destroyed. Perhaps he could convince it to give him more aid?

  First for some upgrades.

  Experience Interface

  You have 22 Black

  You have 1 Green

  You have 4 Purple

  You have 5 Red

  Cumulative XP: 47

  Level 4 Requirements: 40

  You are eligible for a level advancement

  Alex had been putting away some Experience, but he hadn't known it was that much. The leveling-up he would have to leave later for when he was with Sabrina. He should have enough for some new black abilities and a new red.

  Black Experience Interface

  Current Options

  Grimoire Recipes (10 XP)

  Your Grimoire will more often reference potions, oils, and potion-caster ampules useful for fighting enemies. Furthermore when any of these references are mentioned for one of these items mentioned as low-level you will automatically unlock the associated recipe.

  Improved Deductive Engine (10 XP)

  Your Analysis Mode will acquire a new deductive engine notably improved over the standard model. You will be able to identify Glitch with less clues, and deduce Glitchemy concoctions from ingredients.