I don't want to know

The thing screamed wordlessly in three different voices, drowning out the screams of the NPCs beyond it.

Through the dust, I could just make out a hulking shape - broad and at least twelve feet tall.

“Ah, shit,” I muttered as I started running.

I bolted through the training room door and into the hallway.

The ground rumbled.

The wall began to crack.

I burst into the main room and found it empty.

The wall at the end of the hall, the one I'd just come from, exploded in a shower of brick and plaster. Thick dust billowed through the room, hiding whatever the hell was coming after me.

My breath came in ragged huffs. Maybe I should have put a few points into Endurance…

That three-toned scream filled the air again as the shadow of the thing lumbered rapidly through the dust.

It emerged from the cloud, and its glowing eyes locked onto me.

It really was about twelve feet tall. Humanoid… technically.

Its four arms were proportioned strangely, as if the bones had been cobbled together from different creatures. Flesh had been stretched over them and sewn into place, the stitches visible in places where the skin pulled too tightly.

Its eyes were empty hollows glowing an angry orange. Its face was malformed, like its skull hadn't originally been intended to be a skull. The skin was taut and stitched across the misshapen structure beneath it.

It didn't have lips - just raw, jagged skin stretched around an oversized maw.

It was too large to fit through the doorway, so I stopped for a moment and cast Spark Lance.

The yellow bolt of light shot from my hand, struck the thing in the face, and exploded.

The creature screamed its three-toned scream and smashed through the wall.

Its large, thin hand wrapped around my neck before I could move. Its fingers creaked as it lifted me off the ground and began squeezing the life out of me.

I couldn't breathe.

I really couldn't breathe! This thing was actually strangling me, and it was going to kill me!

Pause.

Nothing happened.

Menu.

Nothing.

Exit.

Fuck!

I jerked and kicked, but the thing was way too strong. I doubted I would have been able to break free even if I'd maxed Power.

A flash of bright light filled the room.

The creature staggered and turned.

Master Cassian stood there, a glowing aura surrounding him, his blade held at the ready.

The creature roared again and slammed me into the stone floor.

Stars burst across my vision. Pain flared as my head struck the floor, and I felt something in my ribs crack.

Cassian darted in, moving far faster than he had when we'd sparred. His blade sliced through the taut skin of one of its arms.

A strip of flesh peeled away. There was no blood. No ichor. Underneath was bark. Like the thing was part tree and someone had sewn human skin over it.

It released me and swung its fingers at Cassian.

Cassian darted out of the way. For a fifty-year-old man in plate armor, he was damn quick.

I rolled out of the way and limped toward the door. Five damage was half my health.

And if Cassian was only dealing two points to it…

Nope.

This wasn't a fight I could win.

Outside was bedlam.

NPCs ran down the road, back the way I'd come. Some tripped and fell. Others stopped to help. Some dragged wounded people behind them. Mothers searched frantically for missing children. NPCs carried bags stuffed with their worldly possessions. Others just panicked.

Smoke drifted overhead.

“WAAAYFAAAIRRRERRR!”

Another Fleshwood Hunter emerged from between two buildings, its baleful eyes sweeping across the street. It swatted a man who got too close.

He hit the wall with a thud I could hear from where I stood.

A red stain remained on the stone after he crumpled to the ground.

My eyes scanned the area and landed on a Roman-looking bathhouse. Large. Stone. Sturdy.

Granted, so was the Adventurer's Guild. And the Guild's walls had withstood three blows before collapsing.

A pair of columns flanked the bathhouse entrance. With any luck, there would be more doors inside. It was possible I could cheese this fight.

Maybe.

I sent a Spark Lance at the Hunter.

It screamed as its eyes locked onto me.

I started backing up and sent another Spark Lance.

This was going to take a while.

It lumbered after me as I ducked through the doors.

The moment its face appeared in the doorway, I sent another Spark Lance into it.

The columns cracked.

I backed through another door into a hallway and blasted it again.

Two points.

I guessed that point of Elementalism helped.

I hit it with another Spark Lance.

It smashed through the wall, and I retreated farther down the hall. When its head appeared again, it got another Spark Lance.

I passed through another doorway into a large, open bathing area.

Massive columns supported the roof overhead. In the center was a large public pool, mercifully empty thanks to the rampaging monsters.

The Fleshwood smashed through the next wall.

This was a bad place to fight. It was too open. No real choke points. Though…

If I could collapse the roof on it, I might be able to deal some damage.

I had no idea if I could even target the columns or what would happen if I did, but it was worth a shot.

I turned and ran, skirting the edge of the pool before darting into another room at the far end - a changing room, by the look of it.

I turned around just past the doorway and sent a Spark Lance at one of the columns.

It cracked.

I fired another.

The column broke, sending huge chunks of stone crashing into the pool.

The ceiling held.

Hopefully that came with another boost.

The Fleshwood lumbered straight toward me, knocking another column down as it passed.

Thanks for the help, I thought with a grim smile.

I sent another Spark Lance into a column.

It cracked, then broke as it came down.

Nice.

The creature was nearly on top of me, but I needed to get at least one more spell off. It lunged as the Spark Lance struck another column.

The column exploded just as the Fleshwood's thin fingers wrapped around my chest.

The ceiling collapsed. Huge blocks of stone came raining down.

One smashed into its back, knocking it to the ground. Another landed across its legs. Then two more slammed into it.

Its grip on me relaxed, and I scrambled out of the way just as another chunk of stone crashed down where I'd been.

The rain of broken stone gradually slowed. The thuds became fewer. The splashes in the pool grew farther apart.

I sucked in deep, painful breaths.

It wasn't moving. I'd killed it.

Thank God, I'd killed it.

Every part of me hurt. I had no idea what was going on with this game, but I was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to inflict pain like this.

The three-toned scream ripped through my thoughts. A large hand grabbed my leg and yanked me off my feet.

My head slammed into the floor again.

I struggled, kicked, and swung my sword at it, but the thing dragged me inexorably toward it.

One of its arms was completely shattered. Dark sap spilled from the splintered stump. Another looked broken, but still twitched. The third was pinned beneath a slab of stone, though the closer I got, the more the stones pressing down on it shifted and rolled away.

I cast another Spark Lance as it opened its mouth far wider than should have been possible.

The yellow bolt went straight down its gullet.

I skittered backward out of the Fleshwood's reach, even though I'd just watched the death notification appear.

My head was still pounding.

Everything still hurt.

As soon as I opened my character sheet to take a look, another three-toned scream tore through the bathhouse.

I looked up.

Another Fleshwood monstrosity squeezed through the broken wall on the other side of the room.

“Fuck me sideways!” I yelled, staggering to my feet.