Sero had been intrigued when a message had arrived for him. So much fear and desperation in the writing it was as if he could feel it leaping off the page at him. He had felt like the letter had been in fear of him at first but now he was aware of the truth. A daimyo was desperately seeking help. Someone was fearing for their life and the life of many under them. Something had come with the season that was not friendly to anyone. Out there in a once lost and abandoned village activity had sprung to life. Now they needed someone to remove that life once more. He hadn't waited long to spring into travel before arriving at the village in grey robes. As far as he could tell he was the first. His pale lips opened as he breathed in the cold, wet air. He moved through the empty streets like a phantom. A mere spirit in one spot and then another the next. Dead grey eyes peering around him for clues and information as he went. His presence seemed to going wild here. It felt at home...this place...it felt like his island. For once he was happy.

Still his progress through empty and worn streets led him to a dark and vine covered metal fence. He reached out and touched the worn metal. As soon as he did the fog within seemed to fade a little to reveal almost a replica of his own manor on the island. Minus the bodies but just as worn and abandoned looking as his own. A part of him suspected this to be a trick of the mind. He did not like tricks. That was all well and good though. He would bring his own treats with him. Pale fingers reached through the fence and gripped at the center where it connected. His arm strained a little before metal began to cry out. Slowly he wrenched the gate from its spot and tore apart the metal hinges. Once it broke free he tossed it to the side and silently stepped onto the grounds. His own mist rolled into the property with him like one horror invading another. For a moment he thought he heard sobbing within. He tilted his head and a slow smile painted those thin lips. Oh it was too late for tears. He was here now and now amount of crying or screaming could hold him at bay.

His strides carried him gracefully, almost like floating through the mist towards the front door. The property was extensive and worn down just like the house. It was wonderful that he was alone. Whatever was in that house that was like him. He was going to kill it. He was going to establish his dominance here amongst the other horrors in this world. The dead bowed to him. Rising like this would prove to be a mistake for them. Still he passed across the leaf covered ground and reached the front door. He tested it with the same hand that had ripped open the gate and found it was not only locked...but rusted shut. Did it regret appearing with him here? No matter. He would not be stopped by some simple door. His hand reached up and placed against the wood before he focused his chakra into it. At first only the paint peeled away from it. Even so he distinctly heard a horrified scream within....yes they knew he was coming for them. He smiled once more as suddenly the door melted like liquid from his hand leaving only heated paste around it. He stood in the entry way now....he was home.

620

rolling first encounter

The member 'Sero' has done the following action : Dices roll

'Haunted House Dice' :

....well thats nifty...rolling again

The member 'Sero' has done the following action : Dices roll

'Haunted House Dice' :

The door melted away as if hell had come for this home. He shuddered a little in excitement as he looked within the dark hallway. Oh how he looked forward to this. His aura flooded the hall and seemed to darken it. Spiders in webs skittered away and he let his head fall back as he let out a shuddered breath. He felt so comfortable here. No one was telling him to stay away. They didn't know yet what to fear. He was like a returning prince to this land of the haunt. Soon to be the king of it. Soon to rule over the darkness. Silence fell for a moment. He expected to be attacked as soon as he entered yet all he was greeted with was hesitation. Oh how it itched at him that he wasn't even greeted. His teeth clenched as he looked into the darkness. His ears strained as he moved to the right. He stood before the closet there. A place for people to hang their coats. He could hear it. Breathing within...muffled and terrified. He reached forward and touched this door too. Once more it melted before him and he was staring down at a child...young teenager by the look of her.

He watched with dull eyes as he seemed to search for any hint of danger. Instead he found sobs and a girl in a slightly torn sundress. Well that was a pity. Still when he turned away she reached up and grabbed his sleeve. Shocked his eyes widened as he looked back towards her...he could see her fear of him but something else was there...hope? What in the world? Why would someone show hope after seeing him? Still he watched her as she opened her mouth. Waiting as she spoke...it was trembling and quite but still she spoke up to him. "My little brother...they have him...please....take me with you to save him...I can feel you...and you are powerful...help me...he is all I have left" Some part of him wanted to tear away from her and throw her bodily outside. Yet at the same time he knew this was his mission in truth. Part of why he had been summoned. He sighed as he looked to her and slowly nodded. He could have his fun and still tear this place apart while looking for a kid. "Do not get in front of me...Unless you too intend to die."

He watched her nod before her eyes shifted passed him and widened. He heard the wall slide open behind him. He had known the would come soon but this...he could sense them...like him but weaker....barely more then a genins ability. She was afraid of it but he was bored with it already. His left hand shifted and rose to about shoulder level. Within his palm mist shifted and formed into a long object before suddenly a Yari was in his hand. With that he spun rapidly. Faster then the rotting corpse behind him could even begin to react as it launched at him. A simple zombie against him...what an insult. His spear slammed forward and with a squish and a slam that rocked dust off the wall he slammed the zombie through the eye with the spear so hard it punched through the back of its skull and held it there against the wall. He waited until the light faded from its eyes to yank the spear free. Old dead blood and brains coating the blade. His dead gaze returned to the girl as she looked at the dead thing slowly slumping to the ground as if surprised it was dead. "Come now. Keep up if you are coming. I won't wait all day."

639/1259
1200 Basic monster dead
59 remaining

Next encounter

The member 'Sero' has done the following action : Dices roll

'Haunted House Dice' :

Sero watched the young girl as she stared at the dead zombie behind him. It meant nothing to him to end the thing but to her....She had tried so hard just to run from these things. This place had tormented her and terrified her. She had no chance of overcoming a single thing in this place on her own and yet, this being that just arrived found them to be a mere annoyance. Something about this place seemed to drive him to inhuman levels. Or was he not human before he arrived? He hadn't even hesitated before slaying that thing. He had take less then a second faster then she could even perceive. One moment he stood there unarmed and the next he had a spear plunged into the eye of the walking corpse. Was this how all Shinobi were? No...she had been near other Shinobi before. He was beyond the norm. He wasn't stronger then them by what she had seen so far but somehow he was far more threatening. Somehow he was the embodiment of death. She wondered briefly what she had gotten into as the life or the unlife of the zombie seemed to fade away. She turned her head and looked towards the melted remains of the door. A cold breeze stirring the entry way as she looked. Outside was right there...she could simply run from this madness. She could escape these things and this being and leave them to slaughter each other. She could feel it like a premonition that a lot of death was coming to this place. Yet her body would not move towards freedom. She needed to save someone too. Her little brother had been dragged deeper into this madness then even she had. She had to stick with all this until she saved him. He was family after all.

She rose to her feet with a little bit of a stumble and wiped away the tear streaks on her face as she heard Sero speak. He was ready to leave her there if he had to. She doubted he cared really if she survived yet somehow she knew, if she was meant to survive this place she would have to walk the path his blade would carve for them. She swallowed down her fear and panic and really looked at him for the first time. He wasn't much taller then her....nor much older by the look of it...fifteen maybe? He was barely a couple years older then her and yet...he didn't feel like he had ever had a childhood. She shivered as she realized that the fear she had before seemed to emanate from him just standing there. As if he was all the horrors of the world rolled into flesh and born into this realm. She could feel his blood lust simply dripping off of him. She wanted to run but at the same time she understood she had to stick with this person in order to progress. So she swallowed and took a deep breath before stepping out of the closet and stepping around him to be behind him. She knew it was supposedly where he wanted her to be yet it didn't feel safe standing there. It was as if that aura was watching her. Like some monster in him had its eyes set on her now even when he wasn't directly looking at her. It was then that she understood. His aura enjoyed fear. It liked the terror it caused others and she knew why he was here. Sero was establishing dominance in this place. He was here to show he was the apex predator to these monsters...some level of insanity resided there...and she would use it to save her family.

638/697

Sero watched as the young girl looked towards the door. He smiled just a tiny bit on the corner of his pale lips as she did so. He could see it in her. The human urge to run and survive. He enjoyed the sentiment of survival humanity clung to. How they abandoned their young and fled for their own survival. Always the soul stained with cowardice. He enjoyed seeing the doubt in her eyes and watching her mind stir with the flight response screaming inside her. Yet something was odd...his smile turned to a frown as he studied her. She actually looked away from freedom and dried her tears. He couldn't understand how she would choose to stay. This little girl with no abilities wanted to remain in this house of horrors and for what? Some little brother? She could survive without him easier anyways. Still she stepped into place around him and took up a spot behind him as he had instructed. He studied her with one grey eye for a moment more like a new study he had never seen before. Finally he turned from her and continued through the entry way. He felt some sort of admiration for her perhaps...Courage was easy to claim when you had power...but without any and progressing into this house of horrors with someone so dark was truly a feat.

Still as they exited the wide hallway that was the entry way with the corpse left behind he entered the great hall. The webs had been parted here...someone had made it through here. Drag marks could be seen in the dust on the ground. A small individual had been dragged her unconscious...or dead but no blood was in the marks....perhaps he still lived. Still off to the right a couple of sets of boot prints could be seen. His grey gaze followed it towards yet another grizzly scene. Another man had come here on his own power and encountered something. He had been chased towards the bottom of the stairs on the right while the drag marks went towards the stairs on the left. Grey eyes followed the path to the base of the stairs on the right before he saw it. Another undead man was eating something. He could hear the tearing of flesh and crunch of bone being eaten. So these things were driven by something after all. The urge to eat.

He heard the girl next to him clasp her hands over her mouth to stifle a cry but even that was enough noise. The zombie rose its head and looked around itself before spotting Sero standing there. Its glazed over eyes seemed to switch over to the dripping spear tip and then back to him before it let out a scream and suddenly burst forward towards him. It was about the same speed as the last one. Hardly more then a genin. If this was all this house had to offer him he was going to be bored. After all what fun was there in smashing through the weak? Still he couldn't just ignore something coming at him and this specimen he was studying. The girls willpower intrigued him. So he would preserve her. Quietly he stepped forward. A single step carrying him across the space as his free hand grabbed the zombie by the throat. Its eyes widened in surprise even for a dead thing before it was lifted off its feet and slammed to the ground hard enough to crack the marble floor. It might of survived that if a spear wasn't plunged into its brain through its skull a split second after it bounced off the ground pinning it back down. Holding it there until the life faded from it once more. Just more fodder in his way. Surely there was something in here that could prove to him he wasn't wasting the trip.

659/1356
1200/1200 monster dead. 4 points so far

156 wc remaining

Next encounter

The member 'Sero' has done the following action : Dices roll

'Haunted House Dice' :

Sero lifted his spear and flicked it back down splattering the human butter off the blade like droplets in a line across the floor. His grey eyes took in the display of it like art on the dusty floor boards...already soaking into the dust...just enough to keep the droplets from spreading out. This blood however was fresher then the last one. The first one had been clotted like it had been dead for some time. After all he knew the difference between fresh and old meat. He ate people for a living but unlike these near mindless savage things...he cooked his meat. It was odd that their bodies would be decomposing and they would still be moving. He too was a cannibal and his body did nothing of the sort. Either way they were hardly a challenge. If anything they were at least a slightly entertaining bother. His gaze shifted to the man that the one he just killed had been eating. His guts were strewn out around him and chunks had been swallowed it seems. His lifeless eyes still stared in horror at the ceiling. His death had not been a kind one. Such brutality was usually his specialty but against civilians it was pointless. At the very least they could of hung him up like a sign.

His head turned as he heard the girl behind him suddenly begin to unload her lunch onto the floor in front of her. The scent of it reaching him above even the smell of the mans insides and the dead thing at his feet. It was fresher anyway. He rose an eyebrow as he noted she was crying again. So her humanity was still fighting her will. He wasn't surprised really. Instead he just smiled a little and turned to walk back to her. His eyes scanning the area looking for where the path they were tracking led as she continued to vomit and cry. Her sobs filled the room as he tried to concentrate around it. Blot it out like everything else. Such emotional displays were simply weakness. It had been so long since he had cried. Since he had felt so lost. He hardly remembered that side of himself. He simply knew that he hated it. Truthfully they were nothing more then a bother to him though. To her he supposed this was how she gripped her sanity. Such reactions were so human it was sickening. Either way he remained well clear of the splash zone.

Still as she finished she started to take in deep breaths. Staring at the dead man across the room. She seemed to have less hope in those eyes. The one thing about her he had enjoyed was fading. Typically he would of enjoyed that all the more but at the moment it wasn't exactly him causing the reaction. Which really dulled the whole event for him. Still he waited patiently. He could still feel this house and could tell it felt him. He was far from alone in here with her. If he left her behind he had little to no doubt she too would die. Finally her sobs ended and silence aside from her wavering breath filled the room. Then she spoke up. Her voice trembling as if she was in agony. "That was Mr. Akuyo. He was watching over my brother and I while we were traveling. He was with my brother when we got separated and now....now he is dead." She suddenly flinched which caused Sero to turn his head....The mans fingers were twitching. "Mr Akuyo?" She almost whispered out in response...barely audible. It was impossible for him to still be alive.

620/776

Sero watched as the man who had been dead a second before and had more then enough wounds to still be dead began to stir. At first it was a finger twitch but it was enough that he frowned and his eyes narrowed. Something was seriously off about this place. It seemed to stir as this dead man did. The dust around him seemed to tremble as a red aura lifted from under the floorboards and wrapped around the man. It was transparent but it seeped into him and into his lungs. Once it was gone the dead man choked and spat up blood as he began to come around. His arms swayed back and forth as he gurgled out for air. The girl covered her mouth in horror as the being returned to the land of the living. This man she had known for a while that she had seen dead was now coming back as something horrifying. Something from beyond the grave and within the underworld itself. This was an unkind curse set upon her and those around her. She couldn't understand how this had happened. Her bottom lip just trembled as she stared in disbelief. Slowly the dead man began to sit up. His arms stretched out in front of him and grasping at air.

Suddenly there was a whistle of air as a spear flew over her shoulder. She blinked in surprise as suddenly the new zombie was hit in the chest so hard with a spear it flung him back and pinned him to the wall. Slamming him there like a giant nail. Sero began to move forward then only stopping when she grabbed at the hem of his robe desperately. Watching the Zombie seeming to struggle to get around the spear pinning it there...its jaw snapping at them and its eyes filled with hunger. She held onto Sero's robes tightly as she spoke. Her voice torn as her hopes were dashed. "Ple.....Please don't hurt him....He was a good man...What happened to him isn't his fault." Sero looked back at her and rose an eye brow before he stepped forward. His robe tearing from her grasp as he hardly noted her strength against him. She didn't hate the man even now that he was man no more. She was either a saint or a fool. He really never made much of a distinction between the two himself. Both were on a quick trip to the grave. All for nothing in the end. Still he stood next to the spear as he looked at the dead man in front of him. When he spoke his voice was cold and the temperature seemed to drop around him.

"Look at it....all it knows is misery now. In this world there is one law no man can escape...or couldn't escape until now. All life ends and death is final. All that lives will die. Yet this is obviously both dead and alive....I can not abide by it....its a perversion of my reality. That ends here." With that his right hand lifted over the spear hilt. Slowly it peeled away like mist along the base towards the tip up until it nearly released the creature back into the palm of his hand. The moment the creature was free however it bolted forward. To which Sero reacted calmly by letting the mist fade away to reveal a bastard sword and slammed it through the mans nose into his head. A wound to the chest did little to nothing to this thing but once again a wound to the head let him see the life fade from it again. Calmly he let it fall of his blade to the floor and looked back to the girl. "Now he may rest....awaiting me in hell."

646/1422
1200/1200 Monster 3 dead....6 Ep total

222 words remaining.

Next up

The member 'Sero' has done the following action : Dices roll

'Haunted House Dice' :

Sero paused as he looked down at the body as it slumped. Truth was he had become so used to killing that bodies were nothing new to him. However some disturbing facts seemed to be lining up as he progressed further into the house. So far it had appeared that cannibals were attacking people but that assumption was changing. The one he had just killed had been known by the girl before this. While it could of been a trap he had seen the man dead on the floor. He had been dead. As far as he could tell there was no puppet strings being used. That red aura had appeared and the man had shifted back into life. Now with that being a possible technique part of him wondered about its limitations or requirements. What was going on that could do that? A medical ninjutsu? An attack seal? He was fairly educated in seals and as far as he knew there was none that even remotely could do such a thing. Making the dead move was one thing but to actually act aggressively? Entirely different. The thing had been hungry. He had felt its killing intent like an actual being. Perhaps something was amiss here but he could handle it. The things were weak. Perhaps too much for a freshly minted genin to handle but at his rank it was a simple matter of a killing blow. Still he reached down and with his sword pushed through the insides and made sure the wounds were not faked. A spear through the chest should of been fairly debilitating for a person but aside from being pinned to the wall the thing hadn't cared. Aside from that its hostile nature seemed increased in comparison to the ones before. Especially the on near the entrance. The one near the entrance had actually attacked with a sense of stealth. Even a hidden panel....whether or not it had been placed there was yet to be determined but he suspected that intelligence was relevant to time since revival.

Still he watched the girl crawl over and stare at the body on the ground. The man was beyond saving but still she lifted his head and place it in her lap. Really Sero would of hesitated to do such a thing himself but that was due to not knowing if death via brain damage was permanent to these things. He once more was satisfied with having cast aside those pesky human emotions long ago. With those gone he could think tactically instead of taking unnecessary risks. For all he knew one had to be bitten or scratched to be infected first. Based on what he had observed reflecting back on the others each of them had a piece torn out of them like a bite. Perhaps this jutsu had to be spread like a blood born pathogen. Any direct contact with bodily fluids could lead to becoming infected. A clever jutsu really. Still he had seen worst monsters in men than he did in these temporarily undead things. However she began to hum a lullaby and he shook his head returning his gaze to the floor. The area he had cracked with the choke slam before was where the red aura had originated from .His grey gaze studied it for a moment. He wanted to get down there. Whatever was the source of that mist had come from there....if he was to discover the source and punish it than he needed to get down there and handle business. Little did he know that he was about to get exactly what he wished for.

He raised his sword to plunge it into the cracks when suddenly he felt the floor around him shifting. The house was reacting to him? No, there was another one down there. He could feel its hunger...he could sense it coming after him. His grip tightened on the hilt of his weapon as he decided to ride this out. His grey eyes looked to the girl as she looked to him scared. There was that pesky hope in her eyes again...fading but there whenever she looked at him. She didn't see any fear in his eyes which reassured her. Yet the floor shaking under him seemed to discourage her even more. Still he spoke. His voice cold. "I would follow me down carefully. Or make a break for the exit if you are giving up. Either way avoid getting bitten." And then the floor under Sero split open as two rotting hands ripped upwards and grabbed his ankles. He allowed himself to be pulled down into the floor and down to the basement with that. The floor around him crumbled away and the basement was barely lit by the light from above and a single light bulb. When he hit the ground he landed in such a way that his feet absorbed the impact like springs. The thing that had grabbed had buried itself in rubble but was slowly clawing its way out. Its eyes seemed to have just a little bit of intelligence to them. Filled with hunger but sentient. When its eyes looked up it froze as it looked upon Sero staring down at it with widened eyes as killing intent dripped off of him. "Good...you understand touching me was a mistake...now face your judgement." With that he lifted his blade and swung downwards slicing down into its brain. Its eyes filled with terror in its final moments. Yet another one was dead. Yet there was more to this basement....a couple of vials were on the ground but the ruins of a seal were indeed in place. So science had been mixed with jutsu here. His eyes lifted as the wall above him crumbled and the girl climbed down. He sighed as she still hadn't ran away. So she was still in this until the end. He yanked his sword free of its last victims skull and looked around. Spotting a staircase nearby. "That leads up. Its our next goal. Since you insist on remaining don't fall behind."

1028/1250
Zombie 4 dead. 8 points so far 1200/1200

50 words remaining.

And again

The member 'Sero' has done the following action : Dices roll

'Haunted House Dice' :

Sero watched the girl slowly climb down. She was certainly a hindered individual but the original point of the mission was to save whom he could. Since she refused to leave and likely wouldn't make it outside of the village on her own anyway that left her with him. The first to arrive and currently her only option. He could tell already it was going to be a long night. Still he knelt down and began to examine the zombie he had just killed. He had separated its brain into two parts by the looks of it. His fingers dug into the gash and slowly pulled apart the skull with a cracking noise. His eyes examining the brain as he looked through it. The lack of blood from the body being dead for a while made looking around easier. The stench however made even his nose crinkle. He could see how some sort of red mineral had mixed its way into the bloodstream and still seemed to almost glow. This one didn't have any bite marks on him but on the upper arms were injection sites. The veins in the area were blackened by it. The whole ordeal was beginning to look more like science then a jutsu.

Finally the girl made it down and brushed off her skirt. Some webbing and dust grayed her blonde hair as well as he suspected fright had turned it grey. She was scared out of her wits but this time her green eyes simply looked away from his experimental exploration of the recent corpse. He was actually a little satisfied with the silence. After so much time had passed with people complaining about his methods some silence when he was needed was fantastic. He finished his exploratory investigation by slicing open the blackened veins and watching a red mist rise and fade into the air. So direct injection was a possibility and the red mist was man made. If man had made something then this was better for him. He could deal with men. His grey eyes lifted to the girl and then back to the roof. They couldn't remain where they were. The floor collapsing had likely made a commotion. Where his kills had been nearly silent before now they likely had attracted attention. Remaining where they were was likely to end in ambush. However that also meant that anywhere they progressed had become fortified. He would need to make preparations for both instances.

Quietly he held out his left hand and grey mist poured into his palm. He watched the girl as she looked back to him with curiosity before a kunai formed in his hand. Mist trails becoming solid until there was a whole weapon there. He held it out to her until she grasped it and spoke to her. "Keep that ready. Whenever we get to a new room you find a corner and hide there behind anything you can find...table, chair...anything. If something comes over the barrier you stab it in the eye with this. Do not scream though. If I am right you do not want any blood getting in your system. It is important that you do this...nod if you understand." Slowly she nodded and he looked up again....the ceiling was open which was too much of a risk...the door was the best option. He could quickly assess fortifications that had limited set up time better then ambushes which took less time to prepare. Quietly and quickly he moved up the steps...heading for the door leading back up another floor. Whatever was up there he would be ready for it.

613/663

Slowly he progressed up the stairs. Each one barely applying weight to it in a practiced way. If he could approach the next area without any noise he could burst in without warning. At least that had been his original plan at first. The moment the girl stepped on the first step and it creaked though he almost groaned...she had no sense of stealth about her. Such a waste of space...he briefly considered if he stabbed her in the brain if anyone would doubt she too had been a zombie. Along with that thought though he realized if anyone did question him and he didn't have a witness they would assume all of it was his doing. He sighed as he realized the importance of keeping a witness alive and progressed up to the door grumpily. With the sword in his right hand he reached for the doorknob with his left and slowly gripped it. Careful not to turn it. He pressed his ear to it before he slowly began to hear what was on the other side. A muffled sound of music playing on an old record play as a woman hummed to it. An eyebrow rose as he smelled the scent of meat being cooked. This one was more sentient then the others...perhaps human this time. Though cooking in a place like this...either they had snapped or they too were part of these dead forces. He was willing to bet on the latter if she was still breathing.

He opened the door and stepped inside as he looked around. The kitchen in comparison to the rest was clean. No webs or dust. However the cutting counter was dripping in blood. A woman seemed to be baking something by the looks of her from behind however when she turned she was not pretty to look at. Half her face had peeled off and the other half was pale and sunken. Another undead after all. She stopped in her tracks and almost snarled at Sero.."You!...What have you done with my bobby?! He wouldn't of let you up here unless." Slowly it dawned on her that Bobby was dead. Her gaze shifted to the blood soaked blade and her hand reached over and gripped a meat cleaver. The girl with Sero moved over to a corner like instructed and hid behind a stool of all things...still she was doing as instructed at least. Still Sero wasn't playing games with this cook. He raised the sword up and held it in front of him in both hands. Point directed at the enemy. He waited for a moment while doubt registered on the undead womans face...then she screamed and took one stride forward raising the cleaver above her head. In that one stride though Sero was suddenly behind her. A new line of blood dripping down his blade. The cleaver and the arm holding it separated from the woman. She looked at it before looking at Sero and opened her mouth to speak..."Please don" Her words cut off when a sword plunged under her chin through the roof of her mouth into her head and then yanked sideways. Her face flapped open revealing brains within and Sero flicked his blade once more. He turned to the girl that had come with him and nodded to her. "Your brother was upstairs at one point. I saw the drag marks leading up matching the approximate size catagory. There is a servants staircase leading up that way in old manors like this. It is time we go and see if he is still up there."

611/1274
1200/1200 Monster 5 slain 10 points.

74 remaining.

For the gods!

The member 'Sero' has done the following action : Dices roll

'Haunted House Dice' :

The zombie cook fell to the ground with a thud at Seros feet. She barely bled but it pooled around under her face flap. He looked down at it. Once more it seemed odd to him. These people had willingly mutated themselves and for what purpose? He doubted they had been so horrifying before hand. He understood becoming immune to all but head wounds somewhat but at the same time he had been born terrifying to commoners. Had the goal been immortality and they hadn't been aware of the side effects or perhaps....they had been aware but hadn't cared. He shook his head a little at the thought. He was not entertained by carelessness. Still he kneeled down and shoved the sword into the corpse to hold it there. Once more he lifted up an arm and examined the needle marks he found there. It was hard to tell but the further from the injection sites the veins were the less black they looked. He wondered just what that meant....Could it be that these people had already been dead prior to injections? He had considered injecting himself after modifying it to work while he still remained alive to avoid rotting. He was already basically dead anyway. However a new thought had occurred to him. What if the injections drove the person mad? What if this virus actually made normal people homicidal? What that would do to him was hard to fathom. He had rules to begin with so he couldn't risk it. If someone like him actually went mad, stopped following the more strict laws...an entire country could be in danger. The people he had spent years killing for could become his victims just as quickly. While immunity to most attacks was useful as well as a power boost....it was too dangerous a gamble. He had observed how these things fought so far....no real finesse to their combat even with the sentient ones. He saw fighting stances so poor only the untrained person would use them. Full of openings and yet more powerful then most genin purely in stats. If civilians were at that level after the injection a shinobi was infinitely more interesting. A possible challenge to him even.

Still the sound of a stool scoot and a sniffle drew his attention back as he drew his blade back from the corpse. She was looking at him again. Those damned eyes filled with hope. She was just so weak and pathetic that it made him irritable. Yet at the same time she had the courage to stick with him through these horrors. He had known shinobi who would have fled. Perhaps she was just too dense to actually run away. Or she was just properly motivated. Her green eyes shifted to the sliced of face and she turned away to dry heave some more. When she came back up she looked to the door Sero had indicated and shivered. She hated being here...felt like a prisoner of this haunt. However she had something worse then the devils here. She had this mystery man carving a bloody path for her. She looked to him and then the door again avoiding looking at the dead cook on the floor. Her stomach was empty but it still sickened her. She spoke quietly as she looked back the way they had come. Closing the door to the basement quickly. "If my brother....No...When we find my brother up there...We have to save him...If they hurt him in any way. Promise me you will kill them all." Sero raised an eyebrow before shouldering his sword and looking her in the eye before he spoke coldly. "Did you think any of the enemy was getting out of here alive?"

636/710

She merely nodded at his response. Of course she didn't need to ask such a question. She had forgotten it wasn't just this house that felt so terrifying and brutal on the soul...she had felt him when he entered too. She had thought she was a goner until he actually killed one of the others. He felt more like a monster just standing there than anything so far had. She had watched him cleave into the enemy time and time again without any hesitation. The arm on the ground was just playing with his prey to him. He was a cruel boy but he was useful to her. They would get her brother and get out of this alive. She just knew it. Still Sero didn't really care what was going on inside of her head. Instead he waited until she finished barricading the door to the basement...he assumed to keep any enemies from following them before she rejoining him staying about a meter behind him. The record continued to play some old orchestra he couldn't name but he hardly cared. He was onward onto his goal. Still he smirked as she resigned to following him once again. He could see her mind breaking and that was almost as enjoyable as wetting his new blades. Still he had plenty of work to do. He had barely cleared the first couple of rooms and an entire manor awaited him. He could only hope they had sensed him by now. He hoped a better challenge was heading his way.

He reached down and pulled open the door leading up the servants stairs only to look up and see a skinless dog with no eyes snarling at him. Maggots climbing about its face. Obviously this one wouldn't be as sentient...it was just a dog. Still it barked at him and then charged down the stairs. Sero calmly waited there by the door with his sword on his shoulder. The girl poked her head around Sero and gasped. She whispered frantically at him trying to get around him and close the door. "Close it close it close it! Quickly before it bites us!" Still Sero shrugged her off and waited. His cold grey eyes staring into the empty pits of the charging horror. He was waiting for the right moment. A moment he knew would come instinctively. He watched as the dog launched off the last three steps and flew through the air only then did he react. At just the right moment the door suddenly slammed on the dogs head against the door frame with a crunching noise as wood and skull splintered. It hit the ground and shifted to try and get up only to have the door opened a little and slammed over and over again on it until its head was so caved in brain mush leaked out its eye sockets. He was starting to have fun killing these things now. He didn't even have to use a weapon on that one.

511/1221
Monster 6 dead. 12 points. 1200/1200

21 words remaining.