Mindless fighting

John immediately put himself in front of Ellie, and she noticed what he’d seen: a wide blade, broken off half a foot above the guard. He looked around and quickly grabbed a thick branch that could be used as a club. The sword moved out of view as a figure stepped out from behind the tree.

John was slightly confused at what he was looking at. The figure was obviously a quite busty and athletic woman. The clothes she wore looked fine at first glance, but the more John looked, the more he noticed the telltale signs of ageing. Small holes and stitched patches covered the less than modest clothing she wore. John suspected that he probably wouldn’t be able to pick up any of these details had he not used his draconic vision. Her shoulders were bare and showed off her bluish-grey skin. But most surprising was that her head was replaced with a deer skull which floated amidst black and purple smoke.

John felt uneasy, although her appearance on its own was off-putting, there was also an air of eeriness that surrounded the figure. John could feel the malicious intent coming from her.

The figure stood motionless enough for John to use Observe.

Name: Dullahan Body

Class: Fae | Inclination: Agressive | Level: 7 (20)
Size: Medium (166cm Tall) | Weight: 64kg | Sex: F

General information:

The Dullahan also referred to as Headless Horsemen, is a type of Fae.

The body and head of a Dullahan are bound together by a single soul. When the head and body are separated, the body tries relentlessly searching for its head, often becoming aggressive and unreasonable, acting on instinct. In contrast, while the head is separated it retains its composure, usually asking for help from others in order to try to find its body.

Personal information:

This Dullahan lost her head long ago and has wandered becoming progressively more aggressive as the years have passed.

Her aggression has escalated to a level that she will lash out at anything she senses crossing her path.

Because of the extended period she has spent away from her head, her body has weakened considerably and become sickly.

John looked at her level and sighed in relief that she wasn’t at full strength. Before he had the chance to think of what to do next, the Dullahan sprinted towards him. John barely managed to bring up his club in time to block her attack.

John noticed that she was still using her sword as if it were a sharp blade but had accounted for its size change. Even if she would have hit him, he probably wouldn’t have taken much damage due to the dullness of the blade. She quickly pulled back and lunged again, this time getting past John's defence and scraping his stomach and tearing his shirt with the jagged edge of the broken blade.

-20 HP

“Fuck!” John yelped in surprise, not expecting the blade to break skin. Quickly thinking, he decided the best thing he could do with his wooden club was to **** her to drop her sword. He jumped back then swung his club as hard as he could, bringing it down onto her sword arm.

10 DMG

Her chest puffed up, then she seemed to silently huff before rushing at John again. She shoulder checked him before thrusting the broken sword into his stomach.

-30 HP

John spluttered and coughed. “John!” Ellie yelped; John momentarily looked over to see she was panicked and obviously trying and failing to think of any way to help him.

“Just stay back, I’ve got this.” He managed a smile. The Dullahan pulled the blade from John’s stomach and went in to pierce his gut again, but John jumped back. He quickly looked around and spotted a fist-sized stone; he quickly used Move sending it sailing into her back.

6 DMG

“Seriously! What the fuck!? I really need some more offensive skills!” John ranted as the Dullahan moved into a more defensive stance and began circling him.

John huffed and decided to swing at the Dullahan, hoping to get a good hit on her. He swung and landed a hit on her hip.

9 DMG

But the headless woman seemed to have allowed this as she took hold of the branch and pulled John in close, lunging at his shoulder. This caused Ellie to yelp again.

-25 HP

John let go of the branch and quickly retreated, moving back and between the trees; the Dullahan followed him. She didn’t rush after him, she walked towards him like a villain from a slasher movie, while he desperately tried to think of some kind of strategy. Okay, so she has been aiming for my torso, so I should try making my defence more focused on that area but I also need to think of how I can do more damage, maybe I can use the surroundings? But it doesn’t seem like there is much I can use other than the occasional branch or rock and some of these rocks are too big.

Still backing up he found another branch roughly the same thickness as the last, then he quickly cast Augment Body on his torso hoping that it would help, even if only a little.

He took a deep breath before taking a strong stance. She continued to move closer, and John swung the branch as hard as he could towards her, hitting her left shoulder and causing a loud cringe-inducing CRACK.

15 DMG Critical Hit

Her left arm swung limply but it only seemed to enrage her. She rushed at him, frantically slashing at him. John had managed to bring up the branch and held it with both hands. He felt the weight of each hit against the wood and could do nothing but back up until his back hit the trunk of a tree.

“Fuck all of this! Why can’t I just win a single fight? Is it that much to ask to not get the shit kicked out of me? I have magic fucking powers and nothing seems to have really changed when it comes to getting my ass kicked! Maybe I should just eat another one of those Crystalised Dragon Blood things, because it seems like right now I could do with doing something reckless like that again!” John yelled.

He was so focused on blocking the headless woman’s attacks and vocalising his frustrations that he never noticed Ellie approach. She had picked up a broken log around two and a half foot long by eight-inch thick. She had it lifted above her head, and John only noticed it as it came crashing down from above the Dullahan into the back of her neck and shoulders.

30 DMG

The Dullahan’s attacks stopped, and she turned to Ellie, who had begun to back away. “Ellie, run!” John ordered. As the Dullahan moved towards her, John swung and knocked the skull clean off her shoulders, sending it flying onto the moss floor. John swung again and again, hitting her in the back another three times.

10 DMG

8 DMG

9 DMG

The headless woman dropped her blade but had pulled out a long dagger from somewhere John couldn’t see, and before he knew it, she’d thrown it right at Ellie. Time seemed to slow down as John watched the dagger fly through the air towards her back. He tried calling out but couldn’t make a sound. When the dagger finally reached her, it easily entered her back and she almost instantly dropped to the ground.

John was frozen, emotions bubbled inside him and he knew he wouldn’t be able to do a thing until the Dullahan had been dealt with. He used Move on two thick branches swinging them right at the Dullahan while bringing the one in his hand down as hard as he could; red began creeping into his vision as all three branches connected.

15 DMG

17 DMG

14 DMG

The Dullahan didn’t seem to care about these hits and knelt to grab her dropped sword. His vision continued to slowly redden when suddenly something seemed to hit the headless woman. She flew back towards a tree, and another dagger identical to the one she’d thrown at Ellie was pulled from a sheath on her leg before her right hand was lifted above her head and pinned to the trunk with the dagger.

The red cloudiness of his vision began to recede and he began panting. Looking up he saw what he could only describe as a giant fairy, or at least giant in comparison to what he would expect a fairy to be. She was around three feet tall with beautiful blue and green butterfly wings. She was barely wearing anything, and what she was wearing was sheer and almost completely see-through, only obscuring her chest and crotch. The small woman was a vision of beauty and her extremely long, flowing golden hair only helped to solidify that beauty. John couldn’t place the expression on her face, the best he could describe it as was determination mixed with anger and concern.

“John, I think you should go take care of your human mate over there; I’ve got this handled.” The fairy’s soft voice caused him to act quickly and without questioning what was going on, only being thankful that he would be able to go help Ellie. John raced towards Ellie who was now lying on her side, she didn’t know what to do and her hands shook, hovering over the blade. John’s breathing became as ragged as Ellies as he saw the blade protruding from the front of her chest it had pierced right through.

He took a deep breath, “Okay Ellie, you trust me right?” he asked; she didn’t say a word but slowly nodded. “Good, here is what I’m going to do: I’m going to count to three, then I’m going to pull out the blade, okay?” Ellie responded the same way as before, only nodding. He laid beside her pressing his forehead to hers and put his hand on the handle of the blade. “Right, here we go… One… Two…” Before getting to three he kissed her on the lips and placed the blade in his inventory before quickly using Healing Touch which caused the wound to close extremely quickly. After almost a minute of using the spell, John dropped it but continued kissing her. Ellie rolled on top of him and her tongue made its way into his mouth.

They continued making out for a few minutes while lying on the mossy floor of the forest before they were interrupted. “Ahem,” the Fairy vocalised, “not that I don’t find watching you two prepare for mating arousing, but I believe there is something more important right now to focus on, wouldn’t you say?”

Ellie rolled off John and stood offering her hand to him.

They all walked towards the Dullahan. “So what do you want to do with her then, John?” the fairy asked.

Being much calmer now that Ellie was safe, he noticed her using his name and realised she’d done it before too. “Uh, I’m not sure… Uhm, how do you know my name by the way?”

“Me? Well I’ve been following you for a while; I didn’t know what your intentions with my forest were.” She fluttered around as she spoke.

Before John could say another word, he noticed a notification which he quickly clicked on.

New Quest: Don’t lose your head

Destroy the Dullahan’s body - It shouldn’t be too hard while she is so helpless
+$1000
+200exp
+Choker (magic item)
-200rp with the Dullahan’s head

Or

Help reunite head and body - Not as easy a task, hope you have some rope or something with you.
+$2000
+600exp
+Dullahan Armour set
+Dullahan’s weapon
+75rp with the Dullahan

Accept/Decline

“You have got to be fucking kidding me! I don’t want to do either of those!” John yelled towards the sky.

“Uhh, what?” the fairy asked; Ellie was too busy checking out the godly vision fluttering around to notice John’s outburst.

He rubbed his face then pinched the bridge of his nose. “The simplest way to describe it: I get objectives to complete which also give me rewards; I just got a new one that I either Kill this Dullahan or find her head… But why would I want to do either!? Sure, she attacked us but she’s helpless now,” John said absentmindedly staring as the headless woman thrashed her legs while her left arm continued to limply hang from her shoulder. “And like hell I’m going to try finding her head; if I do that it’s likely that she’ll get way stronger and be able to kill us easier.”

“Sounds fun. What do you get for doing either of those?” the fairy enquired.

The fairy looked at him expectantly causing him to groan. “Killing her gives me a magic choker and finding her head gives an armour set and a weapon.”

“Fun, let’s do it,” the fairy beamed. “This is going to be so much fun, but first...” She waved towards the Dullahan and the body seemed to slump, then the dagger pulled out of her hand and fell to the ground. The Dullahan began to slump towards the floor but began levitating. “There, she’s **** and I’ll just float her along with us”

“What? What do you mean ‘float her along with us’? There is no us! And John, how the hell do you even know her? I thought this was your first time here?” Ellie questioned.